Keeping Silent

1 Timothy 2:12-14

Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

Now we see this text has been regarded by some as the most confusing and utterly problematic of all Scripture. Yet it need not be. A lot of teachers have taken it to mean that women should not preach or teach at all. So then, a lot of cultures expect their women to behave the same way. But really, when it comes right on down to it there is no need for boss babe central to be occurring in the church. Nor should the women completely hide themselves in a corner for fear of accidentally saying something. Surely God has more respect for women than that. The text says they were the second most important thing he made apart from man. Look with me at that little word subjection found in the text; it is very important. It is not a picture of a slave driver collecting his property as some are wont.

Rather, it speaks a word of a person's rightful place. If man had a favorite seat in the house, woman's would be right next to it. Yet when it comes to the things of God, Romans 8:20 speaks of the condition of the created things being as those subjected not unto futility but rather to hope. So also, they await the deliverance of the Lord. I do not know about you, but I find myself possessed by a very short impulse control. What if I should accidentally laugh, mutter something, or Heaven forbid breathe wrong. Hagar once found herself in the rather difficult position of doing to Abraham as a lord and the father of her son. But when she met Jesus, all that had changed.

Now it should be seen that Abraham did as her lord for a time while Sarah obeyed in both word and deed. Whether those occurred at different times of her life in 1 Peter 3:6 or not, is another matter entirely. Yet the matter remains that when Hagar met the Lord, nothing was the same ever again. In him she found answer for Sarah's cruelty and for all the wrongs she had suffered. Indeed, her little boy found life at the hands of the one who alone had the power to make all things possible. So also, was there shelter to be found with him. Here, he alone kept the books and settled the score, leading Hagar about in a way few others have known. Certainly, her knowing him so as in Genesis 16:13 would have been strange indeed to a woman like Sarah. Herein is seen the contrast between the leadership of man and that of the Lord. God alone is always perfect while man is prone to error. That is why you must make sure the one leading is God. Notice those words suffer, teach, usurp authority over, and the result of it all is silence. Is that not just how Satan does. Remember, he came to steal, kill, and destroy as in John 10:10. It takes an Almighty God to bring healing out of all this. If no men are around to be found nor yet to rise up, well, that is a different issue altogether. See, it is rather hard to suffer and to teach what cannot be easily found.

But even so, God can turn it all around as they are ever so fond of saying in the church. Once I heard the story how God used a person's anger to open an entire region that would have otherwise been closed. Scripture tells how Deborah of Judges 4:4-6 is a prime example of this. The text is set among the time of the judges, when every man did what was right in his own eyes. It sounds almost like today, does it not. But there is no room found in God's house for people who do nothing. I do not know about you, but I always strive to do my best with what I am given. I can hear someone saying now 'what about those who don't.' God can be trusted to take care of them and in the meantime step in. So, rose Deborah who was often found sitting out under a tree in her husband's front yard, judging the nation. Note that her task was not to lead nor yet to rule. There were other people there for that. Men came and went much like Barak through whom God got the victory. Yet it was Deborah who served as his guide along the way. Behind her was the Lord. So often we are prone to get it twisted. See, God does not have a problem with women; man does.

For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

1 Corinthians 14:34-35 also speaks on the topic of women in the church. Its' primary instructions seem to be to avoid much confusion. Here, the directive to ask the husband at home is given. Some of you are saying, 'what if the woman has no one but the Lord.' You are right and I am very glad you brought that up. See, when Jesus walked among men so long ago, he did one of two things; sometimes he did both when interacting with those to whom he ministered. First, he taught nothing without a parable as in Mark 4:34. In that day, parables were stories that told the heart of the matter. They are a far cry from the long, rambling, and often pointless tales that some of us tell today. Second, to the religious leaders came a question. How Jesus showed them such respect. So often, he could have come in shouting, calling names, and saying they only had themselves to blame. Yet he did not simply from respect even when there was none shown to him if for no other reason than that the divine order be preserved. But when he did speak, the Word came with power, authority, and always by permission. Whether by his own of Mark 11:28-30 or by invitation was it given. Luke 4:21 tells how the religious rulers invited him in to say on at the synagogue. In doing so, he brought the whole Word to all those gathered.

My, what a perfect Lamb of God he was. Even Pilate, whose origins are otherwise unknown, inspected him finding no wrong. How fitting it would be for the Levite to place his hands upon the perfect Lamb thereby showing his faultlessness. As the eternal father to the fatherless and mother to those without, he contains both perfectly. Sure, in the beginning as in Genesis 5:2, God made both male and female. Still their divine order remains. First Adam was formed, then Eve so none would be without. Genesis 3:1 tells that Eve was among the first to be deceived. Had she but thought to ask the Lord why there was even a talking snake with them in the first place, the whole thing might have gotten sorted out a whole lot sooner. But she did not and here we are. There is still a mess ages later that cannot be sorted out with the Lord's help. Whether there were talking animals in the beginning or not is sort of irreverent now. The point remains had the Lord been her covering all along none of this would have happened. For the created order, Adam sat over her. As with all things though, he was only human and prone to error also. The fact he ate the fruit offered is proof enough of that. When it comes to his people God will act without delay. You too might be in a situation where you have nothing and no one. But allow God to elevate your faith a little. Even if it cannot be great, a little more is better than none in the kingdom of God. Look up, dear believer. God is in the house. He has not left you leaderless, powerless, nor yet with nothing as some are wont to think.

The master has hardly gone out on a trip leaving his house defenseless and unguarded. Even when you do not see him, he still is working. God is in the house. It is a house not unlike my body being not yet made perfect. My strength may fail, and I get awful tired sometimes. At others, my body hurts and I know not whether I live or die. Then too, I wonder what of all the plans he has for me. See, as Isaiah 38:18 says it is awful hard to praise him from the grave. But at times I hear his still small voice reminding me of Psalm 118:17; you "will not die but live and will" declare the glory of God. Still the promise of God remains to us his people. His voice in Psalm 19:4 and Romans 10:18 has gone out till "the ends of the world." For it is his work, his message, and his voice. Best to let him do the talking while he is coming into his own house. Believe me, nothing will ever be the same again. Indeed, there is nothing lost, missing, or broken in the house of the Lord.