Women Are to Listen and Learn

Transcript

GR 1360
07-08-07
Women Are to Listen and Learn
1 Corinthians 14:34-35
Gil Rugh

Paul has spent some time talking about spiritual gifts. 1 Corinthians 12-14 have been on the subject of spiritual gifts. Through the first 25 verses of chapter 14 he contrasted speaking in tongues and prophecy, two gifts given to the church. And he showed why prophecy is a more desirable gift and more important gift for the church. Then in verses 26-33 he applied what he had been saying to the church, stressing the importance of order and peace in the church and in the context of its worship. When the church comes together, there is to be order, there is to be peace. It is to be a time when the Word of God is communicated in a clear and understandable way so that people can learn and thus grow, be edified. That's the goal of the church coming together—to be nurtured and nourished on the Word of God so that they might grow with respect to their salvation. This can't take place in the context of confusion or chaos. As we noted, that's why we do what we can to minimize distractions so that we can give the attention of our minds to the truth of God's Word. Even spiritual gifts given by the Spirit of God have to be exercised in a controlled way so that there is order, so people can profit and benefit.

He concluded that section with the first statement of verse 33, for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. This is an important matter. Turn over to James 3. James gives a similar kind of warning and he uses the same words that Paul uses. In James 3:13, who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above. This is not wisdom from God, but this kind of wisdom that produces bitter jealousy, selfish ambition and so on is earthly, natural, demonic. Is earthly? It has just to do with this earth, this world. It is natural. It is devoid of the Spirit of God. It is demonic, demonic spirits are influencing and promoting that kind of wisdom. Remember that statement as we proceed, I'll refer to it from time to time. There is a wisdom which is earthly, natural and demonic, but that's not the wisdom that comes from God.

Verse 16, for where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there are disorder and every evil thing. That word translated disorder in James 3:16 is the same word translated confusion in one Corinthian 14:33. God is not a God of confusion, of disorder. Disorder is a result of functioning with a wisdom that is earthly, natural, demonic. Remember the Corinthian church was a church that was wracked by division. That's how Paul started the letter in the opening chapters. I hear there are divisions among you, the jealousy and conflict, even over spiritual gifts that brought chaos and confusion to the church as each person was ready to promote himself in the exercising of his gift. Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder. That's why Paul inserted the chapter on love in the midst of the gifts in 1 Corinthians 13. We can't function with selfish ambition and jealousy. We must function with love. Then he goes on to say in verse 17 of James 3, the wisdom from above, from God, is first pure, then peaceable. There is our word. God is not a God of confusion, but of peace, 1 Corinthians 14:33. The wisdom from above is peaceable, partakes of God's character. Verse 18, the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. God is not a God of disorder, not a God of confusion. He's a God of peace, and that must characterize the functioning of God's people together.

Come back to 1 Corinthians 14. The church must be a place of peace, of order, so that when God's people come together they can concentrate on the Word of God, hear the Word of God in a clear, understandable way and be edified, grow and mature as they come to a better understanding of the revelation God has given. It's also a time when any unbelievers who would come into the meeting of the church can hear the truth of God in an undistracted context and have the opportunity, by God's grace, to believe and be saved.

Now with all Paul has had to say in correcting the issue of spiritual gifts and drawing the contrast and pointing out the errors in the church at Corinth, you'd think he'd be ready to wrap this up and get out of here. And then he does something that is striking, to say the least. So you come almost to the end of the discussion, he says, and the women are to keep silent in the churches, they're not to say anything. It is improper for a woman to speak in the assembly. We say, oh, Paul, I would have saved that for another occasion. You know we think of the issue of the role of women and the place they play in the functioning of the church and so on as an issue related to our day and our culture. But it's not. Two thousand years ago Paul had to address this, and he had to address it on several occasions. He's already spoken to it in this letter to the Corinthians. Much of 1 Corinthians 11 was about women and their role in the worship service. And we will refer to that a little bit later. So we're going to work through this and don't allow your mind to keep running back to 1 Corinthians 11 and say, what about that? Because we will get to that. But first we'll work through what he says here, and then we will coordinate it with what he has already said in 1 Corinthians 11.

The last part of verse 33 goes with what follows. As in all the churches of the saints, the women are to keep silent in the churches. You're aware that in the original manuscripts of our Greek New Testament there were no breaks, even the words ran together. They didn't break the words apart. There was no punctuation. In fact, they were written in all capital letters, and you just knew what the words were and how they should be read and punctuated. So sometimes as we have inserted punctuation, we have made perhaps not the best choice, and I think here—as in all the churches of the saints, the women are to keep silent in the churches—is more the connection. God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. And that's true everywhere. But what he is really talking about here is what is going on in the churches in regard to the role of women.

This is a controversial subject, can't bring it up without it being somewhat sensitive. To say as in all the churches of the saints, the women are to keep silent. You say. That’s a put-down of women. In other words, the church comes together, the men can talk and the women have to be quiet. I don't think that sounds right. In fact some evangelical commentators, one who has a very outstanding commentary on the book of 1 Corinthians is so bothered by these two verses that he has decided that they are an interpolation. In other words, they really don't belong here at all, they just ought to be omitted. That in spite of the fact there are no manuscripts that we have that omit these verses. They are in every manuscript, early and late. So being a scholar, he builds a case of how as a scholar he would see these verses should be omitted. And if you read it you think, well I guess that makes some sense. But then the other scholars who evaluate his work make clear he is just walking on air, because there is no good reason to reject these except you have decided in your mind this is not the way it ought to be, so I have to get them out of here. At least some other commentators are right up front. One writer on this subject just flat out says, Paul is wrong. It's his rabbinical background that is influencing him here, but this is never God's intention.

We have to come to the scripture and take it a face value, but let me read you what some commentators have written on this. One said, the command for women to keep silent in the churches had become particularly problematic to gender sensitive ears. That's followed by nine pages of discussions on various ways to interpret this. Here is another one, and this is perhaps the most scholarly commentary on the Greek text of 1 Corinthians, and you'll love this, you'll learn a lot. Judgments about translation become immensely difficult because they are inextricably bound up with Paul's assumption that the Corinthian readers would interpret and understand such words. And he has the Greek words—the word to be silent, the word to speak—in accordance with the context of situation, known both to the author and the addressees. Here an abstracted rendering on the basis of word-for-word lexicography alone could actually violate contextual understanding. And so with that much light shed on the text, there's not much else to say.

What he's really saying, this expression, Paul assumption is that the Corinthian readers would interpret and understand the words he used in accordance with what he calls the context of the situation that both Paul and the addressees knew. Now we know, we always say that we interpret the Bible in its context. But this commentator is not talking about the context of 1 Corinthians 14, he's talking about the context of Paul's readers, and the context of Paul. But we don't know what that is. And if you just go to a Greek dictionary or a Greek lexicon and look for the meaning of the words that he used here like keep silent, the word to speak, the word to be subject, you could violate the contextual situation. Now I have a problem, if only Paul and his readers knew what the context was in which he was speaking, how am I supposed to interpret this when I can't even use a Greek dictionary to give me the meaning of the words, because I might make a mistake and violate the contextual situation. In other words, you can't be sure what's going on here, so we will speculate.

And I do appreciate and I want to give credit to one commentator who was at least honest. He goes through all the possibilities on this text, and these are only those who would fit within the evangelical framework, not off-the-wall writers. After giving all the various possibilities, he says, from all this it follows that we are to imagine the circumstances addressed by Paul. So now, we don't know for sure what the circumstances are, so we'll just use our imagination. Now what in the world? We're going to come to the Bible with our imagination and try to dream up what might have been the context? You know what that means—then we can make this say whatever we want it to say. So he says he agrees with another commentator, that he agrees with this commentator’s postulation. In sum, Paul inveighs against women assuming authority by being noisy. So the real problem in the church at Corinth was women were being noisy. So Paul says, be silent, stop being noisy. I guess the men weren't noisy, and I'm not going anywhere on that. But we know that the men who had the gift of prophecy had to use it and be instructed on how to use it. Men who had the gift of speaking in tongues had to be instructed in not using it to create confusion. Why does he tell the women not to be noisy? Well, I've used my imagination. Well, since when do we interpret the Bible on the basis of our imagination?

So I give you these examples because you realize we come and instead of saying we're just going to take it at face value in the context of the letter that Paul is writing, we act like we've got to move on. Why? Well this is controversial today to talk about let the women keep silent, they're not permitted to speak, they are to subject themselves. So there must have been something unique in the church at Corinth that had to be addressed. However, there is a problem with that. The preceding statement says, as in all the churches of the saints the women are to keep silent in the churches. This is not unique to a situation at Corinth. This was true at the church at Ephesus, which is on another continent. This is true of the church in Jerusalem, true of the churches in Galatia, true of the church in Rome. This is true in all the churches wherever there are churches comprised of believers meeting together. The women are to keep silent in the churches.

So let's look at what he says here and make sure we understand it as he said. Just going to walk through and look at the comments, then we'll branch out from there. The women are to keep silent in the churches. Now the one commentator said, well you could get led astray if you just look at the meaning you'd find in a lexicon. And on these words I went through half a dozen Green lexicons and Greek dictionaries this week, just to see what kind of meanings are given. I couldn't find any disagreement on any of the meanings of the words here like keep silent, to speak, to be subject. I mean, there is universal agreement, that's why he says you can't depend on the lexicons, because he discards all the lexicons to come up with his own meaning that fits his preconceived idea of what should be said here or meant here. The women are to keep silent in the churches. The word to keep silent means they just shouldn't speak. They are not to speak. Now, we're not talking about coming in the building. I was going through material back around 1981, we were doing a series on this and it was newer to us as a church in working through some of these things. So I have some folders, 4”, 5”, 6” thick, and I was just going through. We had questions that came in and comments, everything from well if that's true, then women can't even come in and ask, where's the restroom, because that would be speaking in church. But obviously he's talking about in the meeting of the church. He's not talking about being in a building, because they did not have formal buildings for their church meetings. He's talking about when the church assembles together, as he mentioned up in verse 23 of chapter 14, the whole church assembled together. Now we're down in verse 34. The women are to keep silent in the churches. So when the church meets together to be taught the Word of God, to have the Word of God communicated to it by prophecy, by tongues, whatever, the women are to keep silent. They are not to be speakers in that kind of context. They are to keep silent in the churches.

He further emphasizes that. For they are not permitted to speak. That's what it means to be silent—you don't speak. They are not allowed to speak. This expression here, the way it is presented indicates that's the governing principle—they don't speak in the meetings of the church.

But are to subject themselves. So the other side of keeping silent, not speaking, another way to say it is you subject yourself. In other words, I am now standing teaching you the Word of God, you are all subjecting yourselves to me and my teaching. That is never a role a woman is to have in the functioning of the church. They are to subject themselves. That's in contrast to speaking, they don't do that as the church meets together. As the Word of God is being presented it is done by men, not the women. To give a prophecy, to speak in tongues, to teach the Word, all would involve assuming a role of authority. We have to look at 1 Corinthians 11, where it does talk about women prophesying, but we'll leave that for a little bit later here.

Now what is the reason to do this? Well, the culture of the day, the problems in the church at Corinth. Well, we've already noted Paul said this is true in all the churches, and interestingly we go back to 1 Corinthians 11 and Paul uses a very similar expression when he talks about the role of women in functioning in the meeting of the church. That this is true everywhere, wherever the church is. So here he reminds them of it, and then he grounds it, they are to be subject as the law also says. This is not tied to some kind of limited cultural situation in the city of Corinth. This is true wherever the church of Jesus Christ is meeting, and this is to be done and it's in accordance with what the law tells us. Now we have noted in previous studies that the law can refer to the first five books of the Old Testament, the Mosaic Law, or it can refer to the entire Old Testament. Paul doesn't quote a particular verse here. However, he has already used this argument in discussing the role of women in the church.

Back up to 1 Corinthians 11. If you weren't here for our study of 1 Corinthians 11 I invite you to get tapes or CDs from Sound Words, we won't be going through the details of this chapter again. We spent some time here. But as Paul is emphasizing the importance of the women functioning in submission in the church, he supports it, verse 8, for man does not originate from woman, but woman from man. For indeed man was not created for woman's sake, but woman for man's sake. He takes us back to Genesis 2 and that is probably the prime reference he has, although there are other references throughout the Old Testament that would support this emphasis on the role of women. But foundational is Genesis 2—God's work of creation. The woman was taken and made from the side part of the man. That indicates the superior position of the man in his role as authority. And furthermore Genesis 2 says the woman was made for the man, not the man for the woman. It is not good for the man to be alone, I will make a helper suitable for him. So Paul takes us back to the law, to the opening portion of the law, to the matter of creation. And with this we noted in 1 Corinthians 11:3, but I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, the man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of Christ. That work of creation is a reflection of the order that exists among the persons of the triune God. The Son is submissive to the Father, and in creating man as male and female, He created the woman to be submissive to the man. That is a reflection of the order that exists in the godhead. So when he says that the woman is to be submissive as the law says, he's already given a direct reference to the law in a similar kind of context in this letter. It is what God created us to be, it is a reflection of His very character as God who eternally exists as three persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Paul gave similar instructions to Timothy when he was at Ephesus. Come back to 1 Timothy 2. Paul is writing the letter to the Corinthians from the city of Ephesus, if you remember, we'll be told that in chapter 16. Paul writes to Timothy while Timothy is at Ephesus on a later occasion. And he gives similar instruction to Timothy. We're talking about, according to 1 Timothy 3:15, Paul is writing so you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth, how the church of Jesus Christ is to conduct itself. In chapter 2, and again, we've spent some time in previous studies on chapter 2 and you could get CDs or tapes of that. Verse 3, a woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. Again, it sounds very similar to what he just wrote to the Corinthians, doesn't it? A woman is to be silent. She is not permitted to speak. Rather, she is to subject herself. How are we to conduct ourselves in the church? Paul writes to Timothy, a woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. You'll note again the not speaking and the submissiveness go together. I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. Again, you'll note—to speak, to teach the Word of God, to give forth the Word of God puts you in a position of authority. A woman is to remain quiet. She is to be submissive.

The reason. I read one person who was the president of an evangelical seminary for years. He said the real problem at Ephesus was the women weren't educated, so of course you couldn't have educated women teach and be an authority over men. But now we have women who are educated, so it's all right for them to teach and be in authority over men. Now where in the world does Paul say, I do not allow an uneducated woman to teach? And the problem is, Paul doesn't say, now this is a problem at Ephesus. He roots this instruction in the matters of the opening chapters of the law. First creation, it was Adam who was created first, then Eve. God's very intention in creating the male first and then the female establishes an order that must be recognized. Don't miss this point, because we're going to see something very strong in importance said in a moment. God's intention in creation here.

And then he supports it with the facts of the fall. It was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression. So the order of creation and the facts of the fall. Has nothing to do with the culture, has nothing to do with the social setting or the educational standards or whatever in the city of Ephesus. This has to do with God's intention in creation. So all of the discussions on culture and the place of culture in this is just a red herring, leading you off to no place. Talking about how difficult it is to translate these verses, how confusing it is for us because we don't understand the contextual situation that Paul was writing to. The Spirit of God directed him to write what we would need to know two thousand years later. It was relevant and pertinent and the Corinthians could understand it, and it's relevant and pertinent today and we can understand it. We just don't like it. If anything, it's too clear. And remember there is a wisdom which is earthly, natural and demonic. And that is the wisdom of the world. And we are not to allow ourselves as God's people to be shaped by the thinking of the world. Do not be conformed to this world. But we're so out of step, it is so outdated and behind times, it is such a putdown of women, it is so contrary to the wisdom of the world—that wisdom which is earthly, natural and demonic. We need to be careful. This becomes even more clear as we move along. This is the consistent emphasis of scripture when it talks about men and women and their relationship. When you come to talk about the husband and the wife in Ephesians 5:22ff the emphasis is that the woman is to be submissive to her husband, just as the church is to be submissive to Christ. The husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. It has nothing to do with the culture. Titus 2 says the older women are to teach the younger women to be submissive to their own husbands.

I want you to go over to 1 Peter 3. I don't want to get off track, but I want you to notice the consistency of emphases. In 1 Peter 3 again we're talking about husband and wife, in 1 Corinthians 14 we're talking about the church, in 1 Timothy 2 we were talking about the church, but these are rooted in God's intention in creating a male and a female. We've been taken back to that. A woman is to be submissive to her husband even if the husband is an unbeliever, because of order of creation. That's verse 1; wives, be submissive to your own husband, so if any of them are disobedient to the Word they may be won by the behavior of the wife. The adornment is not to be just external. They say well if you take it literally that means they can't braid their hair. No, it's a contrast. The focus is not the external because it says they shouldn't be putting on clothes either, at the end of verse 3. The words translated “dresses” is the word “clothes.” Had been part of a group early on in my conversion experience where women weren't allowed to wear jewelry because the Bible says they weren't to be putting on jewelry. But they thought if anything they should be putting on more clothes. But Paul says your adornment shouldn't be putting on your clothes. It's obvious in the context. Your adornment shouldn't be all about what is external, but what's internal. Let it be the hidden person of the heart, now note this, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit. Now you ought to have this underlined, which is precious in the sight of God. We have a clear distinction drawn. God finds a quiet and gentle spirit in a woman precious in His sight. We have to decide, do I want to be honored by the world or be honored by God. We say, this is just in the marriage relationship. Well you know everything has been taken back to creation. God created a man to fulfill a man [role]. He created a woman to fulfill a role. You don't lose your femaleness established in creation because now I'm not in the church, or now I'm not in the home. People say, that only applies to the home, that only applies to the church. Creation applies to everything. That's why God did not appoint queens to rule in Israel. The only queen whoever sat was a godless woman, a reprobate. It applies throughout God's realm of creation because He established this order. Now obviously there is a unique relationship between a husband and a wife and the authority there. In the church there are certain guidelines. But the principle of order was established by creation. It's what you are in nature.

Come back to 1 Corinthians 14. They are not to speak in the church, they are not to be the teachers of the Word of God. Verse 35 he carries it further. If they desire to learn anything. Now they can be taught, we read that in 1 Timothy 2. But if they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home. It's improper for a woman to speak in church. So even as the teaching goes on, the prophecy is given, or the tongues message is given and someone is teaching, whatever, the women were not allowed to ask questions in the meeting of the church. The men could. The women could not. So if they want to learn anything, if they want something clarified, if they didn't understand something, they are to ask their own husbands at home. Not in the meeting of the church, not in the meeting where the Word of God is being taught. But their husband at home. Why?

It is improper for a woman to speak in church. You say, what if they don't have a husband? Well this is not unique to us. Paul wrote about singleness in 1 Corinthians 7, he encouraged it. So obviously a single woman wouldn't have a husband to go home and ask. Or the I Peter 3:1 woman who has an unbelieving husband couldn't go home and ask him. Paul is dealing with the general situation. That woman would have to ask in a private context apart from the meeting her father if she's a single woman living at home, a brother who may be a believer, a godly man in the congregation, something like that. What God does here is promote the order that He has established, and that reinforces it so that the woman looks to her husband for clarification and understanding. Puts good pressure on the husband. If he's a godly man, he'll have to either give the answer, or if he doesn't know it, find it out and help her with it. So it builds that relationship.

If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home. How broad does this go? I take it anytime the church or that portion of the church assembles together where the Word is taught. You say, does this apply in a home Bible study? I just tell you how I see it. The church at Corinth would meet in a home, a setting where the Word of God is being taught and explained, I would take it would be governed by this. What about Sunday School class? Well, it's a formal meeting of the church family. We come together for instruction of the Word. I take it these are binding principles. I mean, these churches that met in homes would be a lot like our home Bible studies in that sense. But they were to ask their own husbands at home.

Now how serious is this? Well some commentators say we oughtn't to make more of this, this oughtn't to be a divisive issue, there is room. But you'll note what Paul says here, and we'll look at a couple of passages. It is improper for a woman to speak in church. That word translated improper, Greek word there, isekron. The word originally means “ugly, deformed.” More broadly it came to refer to anything that excites disgust. It's a very strong word. Paul used it when writing to the Ephesians in Ephesians 5:12, talking about the sins of unregenerate people. He says it is disgraceful, same word, even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. I mean, it is so vile, it would be disgraceful to even talk about them.

This word has already been used in 1 Corinthians, back in 1 Corinthians 11:6, for if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut off. But if it is disgraceful, there is our word translated, “improper” in chapter 14 verse 35. It's the same exact Greek word. It is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or shaved, let her cover her head. You say, that's the culture of the day. Well, you'll have to go back and listen to the studies we did on this. But just take you down to the context, down to verse 14 of chapter 11. Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him? If a woman has long hair it is a glory to her. Nature refers to that which God built into us when He created us, that which is natural to us as male, natural to one who is a female. Even nature teaches you that because God created it in you when He created you. It isn't tied to a cultural thing. He talks about what is true by the nature of being a man or a woman.

Come back to Romans 1. Paul uses very similar language. I want you to see the seriousness of that which is disgraceful, dishonorable. He uses this kind of language when he talks about homosexuality. We need to grasp the seriousness of this. I meet people that at one time attended Indian Hills, now they are attending a church and a woman has a leadership role, prominent part to play in the meeting of the church. And they said, well, it bothered us at first, but we've come to realize not every church is perfect. Well, will you also accept it when they have a homosexual up there doing that? Oh, no, that would be disgraceful. Well, look at Romans 1:26, talking about the character and conduct of those who have rejected the living God and the revelation He has given. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passion, for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, that which is contrary to nature. Remember we talked about the hair of the woman? Does not even nature teach you this? This is what is built into you from the creation. So a violation of that is an act of rebellion against the creator. God created a man and a woman and the sexual expression is between a man and a woman. That's why homosexuality is viewed as even more vile than an immoral relationship between a man and a woman. That does not make the immoral relationship ever acceptable. But homosexuality is a violation of that which is natural. A man with a man and a woman with a woman, that is contrary to God's creation work and a violation of that. It would be like having sex with an animal. A violation of the order of creation that God has established. Men carrying out the same activity.

It is a degrading passion. It’s contrary to nature, that idea of disgraceful, degrading. The word here is they create, down in verse 27, men with men committing indecent acts. That's not the same word translated disgraceful or improper, but it's a synonym. If you go to a Greek dictionary or lexicon it gives basically the same meaning for this word translated, ”indecent” as we have for the word translated, “improper’ or ‘disgraceful” in 1 Corinthians. Because these are unnatural acts. What I want you to see is how strongly God speaks about a woman stepping out of her created place. It's the same kind of activity as the person in homosexuality. We tend to minimize it because our culture is doing it. But you know where our culture has gone with homosexuality. Marilyn and I will sometimes watch these programs where somebody is buying a house. So they'll take you through their alternatives and the pros and cons and the cost. I'm just amazed at how many people--this is Joe and his partner Sam. And they're buying a house. It's just normal. Nobody said, oh, Joe and Sam? And this is our bedroom. Nobody is embarrassed. So we don't want to follow the wisdom which is earthly, natural and demonic. We say, “We'd never do that.” But God says it is disgraceful for a woman to do that which is unnatural, when she functions outside the role He has created her for, and that includes providing leadership in the church, for giving teaching in the church, instruction in the church.

In spite of this one commentator, and I think I've enjoyed his commentary on 1 Corinthians more than any other I've been using, yet here is what he writes on the subject. I conclude that Paul's instructions are conditioned by the social realities of his age and the desire to present a serious breach in decorum. In other words, I've decided that Paul's instructions here are conditioned by the social realities that were present in Corinth. And you don't want to breach the decorum that was practiced in the city of Corinth at that time. I mean, just totally blows away everything that Paul said here. I'm taking this back to the foundation of God's creation work. I mean, this is consistent throughout the scripture.

We have one problem that we have to identify and since we haven't run out of time I'll have to do it. What about chapter 11 where Paul says a woman can pray and prophesy in the church? I mean, we just said a woman is to keep silent, she is not to speak. They are to subject themselves. But in 1 Corinthians 11 Paul says that a woman can pray or prophesy if she has her head covered. Which is it? Does she have to be silent and not speak, submit herself? Or can she pray or prophesy with her head covered? Obviously one has to be right. One has to be wrong. No, both have to be right and I take it Paul was aware. He wrote chapter 11 you know. And this was a letter without chapter breaks. So he just didn't have a lapse of memory and now he said be silent. Oops, I forgot.

What happens very simply, I take it, we just take it as it says. 1 Corinthians 11 is true and correct. There would be women who were gifted as prophetesses and with certain restrictions they were allowed to give their prophecy in the meeting of the church. They had to have their head covered as a clear indication to themselves and to the church that even though they were in a position now that could be normally one of authority, they are acknowledging their submissiveness to the men. That's what the head covering indicated, remember. That's the exception to a woman being silent. It's not a conflict. He's given the exception. You tell one of your kids you're going out for the evening, and they have an older brother. You say, you're not allowed to go across the street unless your brother is with you. Then as you are walking out the door you remind them, remember, you are not to go across the street. And they say, I'm not to go across the street. I thought they said I could go across the street with my brother. Right. There is an exception. But you reinforce the basic truth. We have speed limits and traffic signals. The speed limit says you can go 40 miles an hour, but I get passed by a fire truck and it's going a lot faster. I get passed by a policeman and he's going a lot faster. I think I'll turn him in. You say no, there are exceptions to that. But they don't put with every speed limit sign—except for the police, except for emergency vehicles. But the exception is there. But other than the exception it applies to all of us. I can't get stopped for going 70 in a 40 miles an hour zone and say, I drive like a policeman. No. My brother is a policeman, I drive like my brother. None of that counts. That's not the exception given. I don't understand why there is so much of a problem. Paul gave the exception in 1 Corinthians 11, he doesn't have to repeat it every time he mentions something. When I was growing up there were certain things I was not allowed to do, with certain exceptions. I knew the exceptions. My dad would remind me what I wasn't to do and I already knew the exceptions. I kept those in mind. It's not so difficult, it's only difficult when we don't like what the Word says in one place, so we try to play the Word off and say, well there must be something else here because Paul said women could prophesy. Yes, and he very carefully restricted it. And this would be a more rare occasion. You say, there you are, reading into scripture. And it's true, the scripture doesn't say, on the rare occasions when a woman prophesies. But we do have a pattern. You'll remember when we studied 1 Corinthians 11, there were only four prophetesses mentioned in the entire Old Testament. Many men were prophets, but there were only four women, at least that are mentioned—Miriam in Exodus 15, Deborah in Judges 4-5, Hulda in 2 Kings 22, and Noadiah in Nehemiah 6. That's it. Come to the New Testament and you have Anna in Luke 2, and she would fall under Old Testament prophetesses, but indeed a prophetess. You have the four daughters of Philip the evangelist in Acts 21. We don't know anything about them except we're told he had four daughters who were prophetesses. So there were prophetesses. 1 Corinthians 11, I don't think in any way we ought to say there is a problem. There were women prophetesses. Jezebel is mentioned in Revelation 2, she called herself a prophetess, but we don't count here because she wasn't genuine. I mean there were genuine prophetesses, nothing wrong with them. They had a prophecy, they could give it, but they had to have their head covered, they were acknowledging their submissive role even though they were in a position normally associated with authority in the church. So I don't see a real conflict there.

So what Paul is saying, there has to be order and decorum in the church. That's true of the exercise of the gifts, that's true of the function in the roles of men and women. The men can't bring chaos. They have to use their spiritual gifts in order. And the women, when the church is meeting together, the general rule for them is they are silent, they don't speak, they don't even ask questions for clarification. They do that at home privately with their husbands. There is an exception. A woman prophetess was allowed to give her prophecy in the church, but she had to have her head covered, acknowledging that she recognized and was functioning under the authority and within the bounds of the authority that God established in creation. That was the argument of 1 Corinthians 11.

Paul said to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 14:36, was it from you the Word of God first went forth? Or is it come to you only? In other words, you act like you are the sole authority in these matters. The Word of God didn't originate with you, and it didn't come only to you. This connects it back to the end of verse 33, as in all the churches of the saints, this is to happen. The Corinthians are acting like they are a unique case. They're not a unique case. The Word of God didn't come from the Corinthian church and it wasn't given just to the Corinthian church. And the truth of Genesis 2-3 would be binding on the church in Corinth, the instruction of Paul is binding on the church at Corinth, and anyone who functions otherwise is disgraceful. And he has more strong things to say about this that are pertinent to us. We like to divide the Word of God, these things are important things but things like spiritual gifts and role of men and women, we oughtn't to divide over that. Paul is going to go on and say, if you don't acknowledge what I say is the correct view, you are not recognized. And that becomes a serious matter.

We must function biblically. It puts us out of step with the world around us, but what would you think. The world around us has a wisdom which is earthly, natural and demonic. We have the Spirit of God bringing us the wisdom of God. That naturally puts us in contrast with the world. We ought not always be looking for ways that we could be like the world, be conformed to the world, and be willing to even redo our scripture if it will make us more acceptable to the world. God's plan as the Creator is the beautiful plan, the perfect plan, and the only plan that is acceptable before Him.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your truth. Thank you that you are the sovereign Creator. You are the Savior. Thank you that in Jesus Christ your Son we find life, in your Word we find your provision, not only for salvation, but for a life of godliness. It's all here. Lord, you know how easily we drift. We are prone to wander. We find ourselves looking for ways to avoid the clear instruction of your Word. We find ourselves uncomfortable with your truth because it is contrary to the wisdom of the world. Lord, we are greatly blessed to be entrusted with the treasure of your Word. May we have hearts and minds that are ready to hear it and ready to obey it. We pray in Christ's name, amen.