Head Coverings & Prophesying

Transcript

GR 1336
10-15-06
Head Coverings and Prophesying
I Corinthians 11:4-6
Gil Rugh

All right, we're in I Corinthians 11. I'm aware that at times it might seem like a diversion from the true ministry of the church to be spending time on issues like the role of women, the role of men. Sometimes people wonder, wouldn't we be better off spending our time in preaching the gospel and talking about those major doctrines of the Word of God that will build us up and unify us as God's people. You know as I was working on Corinthians again this week, I was thinking about the church at Corinth. And here is this church, not a mega-church, we'd probably consider it a relatively small church, remember it meets in a house, in a significant metropolis of a city. You have a mere handful of believers and the Apostle Paul writes them a letter and he's focusing on issues like the proper role of men and women. You'd think he'd spend most of the letter talking about effective strategies of outreach, how to reach your neighbor, how to get new people into the fellowship. But here he spends a significant portion of what we have as chapter 11 talking about the proper roles of men and women. And as we noted in verse 3 of chapter 11, this is all rooted in the person of God Himself. There is one God eternally existing in three persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And we noted in verse 3 there is an order among those persons, that the Son is submissive to the Father, the Father is the head of the Son. And that order that exists within the triune God is manifest throughout His creation. There is order among the angels, there is order among human beings, there is order in the animal world. God has established an order which is a reflection of the order that exists within the Godhead Himself.

It is of utmost importance to God that His people conduct themselves in a manner and in a way that is a reflection of who He is, of the work that He has done. Paul wrote to Timothy who was ministering in the church at Ephesus, and in I Timothy 3:15 he told Timothy, I write to you so that one will know how he ought to conduct himself in the household of God, how you should behave in the family of God, how God's people ought to conduct themselves. That's the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. It is a place where the truth is proclaimed and where the truth is to be manifest in the way we live our lives. Some would say, we would be a lot more effective in the world if we would stop fighting among ourselves. There is an element of truth in that. Sometimes the church is guilty of fighting over things that are not biblical doctrines and biblical truths, they fight over insignificant matters that the Bible doesn't specifically address. That is sin, it is sad, it is a denial of the unity and oneness that the Spirit has produced in the family of God. But sometimes that statement, we should stop fighting, is a way of saying, stop criticizing us for our bad doctrine. It's another way of saying, allow us to continue to promote false doctrine and don't you criticize us for it. These are serious matters. They have to do with the manifestation of God's character and God's work in our lives. So these are not matters we can let go. These are matters of importance to the opposing side, if you will, those who claim to be Bible-believing Christians but believe that the Bible does not designate roles and order in God's creation, that men and women are the same and any variation in their roles would be a denial of their equality.

One of the most influential churches in the evangelical world today, not only in this country but in other places in the world, has provided this from their elders for people who would be members of their church. It requires that all members be willing to “joyfully sit under the teaching of women teachers at (they name the church).” Furthermore, they require “that all members joyfully submit to the leadership of women in various leadership positions at (they name the church).” So if you were going to be a member of that church which prides itself on reaching out to the unchurched, you must agree that you will joyfully submit as a man to the teaching of women teachers, and you will joyfully submit to the leadership of women leaders. It's not open to discussion, in fact they say if you are not willing, you should look for another church, because this is not a church for you. So there are strong convictions. The problem is, this kind of thinking has infiltrated throughout what is called the evangelical world, I mean by that the churches that claim to be Bible-believing, Bible-teaching. It is present in our city and it becomes acceptable. Pretty soon more and more women are involved in ways, and I've had people who have moved on from Indian Hills to other churches in this city say, well, we're not comfortable with the role women play, but we've adjusted to it more than we thought we would. What does that mean? That I've adjusted to something that is unbiblical? That I've decided that I can accept things that are not biblical? Has the Bible changed? I must first be sure that this is what the Bible says, not just a tradition that has been practiced. Or our practice is based on a misunderstanding of the Bible. But we must be sure that the Bible is doing the speaking and the teaching.

Beginning in verse 4 Paul begins to unfold the truth that flows out of verse 3 of chapter 11. Verse 3 says, 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. And we noted that that word head denotes being in a position of authority. The one under the head is in the position of being submissive. We elaborated that in some detail. Now beginning with verse 4 and down through verse 16 he's going to talk about the details of this and specifics of it. I want to make some general observations with you. I told you as we moved into this we are going to look at some of the general matters and then we'll be able to move, I think, more quickly and easily through the text itself.

Let me read you beginning with verse 4, so we have these verses in our minds before we look at some overall material. Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head. Every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head, for she is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved. For the woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut off. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her cover her head. For a man ought not to have his head covered and on we go. I want to look with you at two matters in our study together today that are basic to everything else. 1) The issue of the covering. Is it cultural, or does it apply right down to today? 2) What are we talking about when we talk about praying and prophesying? And we're going to focus on prophesying because that's where the issue is. We will talk about praying in our follow-up studies, but we'll focus on prophesying because that's where there is some confusion. And then I want to look at some of the prophets and prophetesses in the New Testament and the Old Testament to get a proper perspective. I was asked coming into this by one of you, what are you going to do? Are all the women going to have to start to wear head-coverings when we get into this passage? And I gave them a heads up. I said, keep your eye on Marilyn. If she shows up next Sunday with a hat, go shopping.

What we're going to talk about, is the head-covering a cultural matter? There is endless material on this subject. You don't want to try to read it all, and I haven't, I don't want to give you that idea. What are the cultural issues? Even some who would hold the basically same position that we hold on the role of women and the role of men and that the order that God has established is the man is the head of the woman, are sometimes confused on this matter of culture. One man who is basically where we are generally says, concerning this passage we're in in I Corinthians 11, admittedly the detail of this passage related to head-coverings is difficult because of the scarcity of historical data. He starts out by saying, this is a difficult section because we don't have enough historical data to be sure what the practices were. But then he goes on to say, Paul had to be referring to local Corinthian customs. Now if you don't know for sure what the custom was, how do you know Paul was referring to a local Corinthian custom? It seems, therefore, that Paul is not stating a divine universal requirement, but simply acknowledging a local custom. In Paul's day, numerous symbols were used to signify the woman's subordinate relationship to men, particularly of wives to husbands. Usually the symbol was the form of a head-covering, and in the Greek/Roman world of Corinth, the symbol apparently was a veil of some kind. Covering the head appears to have been a customary symbol of subordination in Corinthian society. Now you know what happens when something is put into a commentary? It becomes accepted as established fact. Now how does this start out? The man said, admittedly the detail of this passage related to head-coverings is difficult because of the scarcity of historical data. Then he went on to tell us what the historical situation was, that he didn't have any data for it. In Paul's day numerous symbols were used to signify the woman's subordinate relationship to men. Usually the symbol was in the form of a head-covering. How do you know if you don't have enough historical data to demonstrate it?

Then you have these key words. He says, usually the symbol was the form of a head-covering, and in the Greek/Roman world of Corinth, the symbol apparently was a veil. Covering the head appears to have been a customary symbol. What we're saying is that doesn't apply today. Where we end up going is, you don't have to wear a head-covering, all you have to do is manifest femininity and masculinity. I appreciate the fact that this and other writers do maintain the distinction between men and women and the roles. But I am concerned we've written off something here that we say we don't have any reason to write off. I want to be very careful, I want to allow the text of scripture to teach me.

Another writer, and this man has written is acclaimed to be by others than himself, the most significant commentary on the Greek of I Corinthians written in the last 95 years. It runs over 1400 pages. He has 50 pages just on I Corinthians 11:2-16. And if you want to know all about all the Greek writings and all of .............. But what he ends up doing is going to all the scholars, and I am overwhelmed with his scholarship. I feel like an intellectual pygmy, trying to wade through his stuff. But he ends up going through all the scholarship as he sees it, and then coming and trying to redo the text of scripture so it conforms to what he thinks scholars are saying. That's not interpreting the Bible. He writes, on the basis of all his evaluation, you know we have 50 pages of sorting through supposedly helpful Greek material. The wearing of appropriate head-covering denoted respect and respectability. Within the various clothing code of first century Roman society, a veil or hood constituted a warning. It signified that the wearer was a respectable woman and that no man dare approach her. In other words, as one potentially or actually sexually available. Self advertisement, especially as it relates to perceptions of the worship leader as an object of sexual attraction diverts attention from God who should be the center of undivided attention. To employ a dress code which suggests sexual availability while leading worship is unthinkable.

Now I have several things we ought to be aware of if we read this. He says that the wearing of appropriate head-coverings denoted respect and respectability. Within the various clothing code of first century Roman society, a veil or hood constituted a warning. It signified that the wearer was a respectable woman. Now my concern is if the head-covering in Roman society in the city of Corinth in the days when Paul wrote, the head-covering a woman wore signified she was a respectable woman, why did Paul say she only had to wear it when she prayed or prophesied? Does a Christian woman only have to be respectable when she prays or prophesies? Can she abandon respectability? I'm not praying or prophesying, I don't have to be a respectable woman. Not wearing the head-covering, he said, identified her as one that was sexually available. Now we're going to say it's all right for a Christian woman to advertise herself as sexually available as long as she is not praying or prophesying? Do you sense a disconnect here somewhere? I read this stuff and say, did I miss the connection?

And you'll note, he's changed something here. Self-advertisement, especially as it relates to perceptions of the worship leader. Now praying or prophesying has been translated into our day as the worship leader. Wait a minute, we have to decide what praying and prophesying is. Is that just the same thing as being the worship leader today, and a woman has to be respectable and not advertise herself as available for sex only when she is a worship leader? This is the kind of thing that goes on in this cultural, and I use this man because other seminarian professors are saying he has written the finest commentary. In fact one seminarian professor says, this is one of the finest commentaries ever written. I say, does this come out of I Corinthians 11 and does it follow.......... It would seem to me a respectable woman had to wear a head-covering in Paul's day in the city of Corinth, that a Christian woman to be a respectable woman had to wear a head-covering all the time, right? And since the Christian woman wouldn't want to be walking down the street advertising herself as sexually available, she would have had to wear a head-covering all the time. I mean, it seems somewhere we lose sight of the passage of scripture we're talking about and launch out into confusion.

Here is another commentator, just so you get an idea. The commentators who write thick commentaries on books of the Bible can come to two totally different views. This commentator has more wisely observed, even if we were sure of prevailing customs, we would need to be able to distinguish between Greek, Roman and Jewish customs as well as differences in geography, how one dressed at home, outside the home, in worship, and differences between the rich and poor. These kinds of problems rendered generally useless a large amount of a literary evidence that is often cited in reference to this text. Now here you have someone who has written a commentary almost as big and he's recognized with just as much authority comes to the exact opposite confusion. We don't have any idea what the culture said of the day. So people run to culture, cite all this evidence and that supposedly becomes the authority to redo the biblical text. We need to understand the biblical text as it stands is understandable. We need to be careful.

My understanding is the head-covering will be the head-covering. We'll talk about more what it involves as we move in. But when a woman prayed or prophesied, she had to have her head covered. And if a woman prayed or prophesied today, and we'll elaborate on the praying as we move along, she would have to have her head covered. Well head-covering doesn't carry that significance today. How can you say that? You don't even know what head-covering signified in Paul's day, other than what he tells you in I Corinthians 11. Regardless of what it signified in secular culture, Paul says it signifies the authority that is upon a woman, a man's authority over a woman, even when she prays or prophesies. So I can get that from the biblical text. I read this commentary as I'm trying just to follow along what he says, and I can read page after page after page, and I say, I am overwhelmed with his information and scholarship. And I am dumbfounded by his inability to understand the simple biblical text and try to explain it away. So my understanding on the head-covering has nothing to do with the culture of that day. They bring in culture to try to explain away the biblical text instead of accepting it as the absolute authority as it stands.

The second thing we have to determine is what is prophesying. If we don't understand what prophesying is, and we connect praying to that but I'm not going to get into praying today because we basically understand what prayer is. I'll have more to say about that as we move through the text. We can handle that a little more simply. But a significant amount of problem comes when we don't identify prophesying right. This man I just quoted equates praying and prophesying with being the worship leader, leading in worship. Is that what it meant to prophesy? Some equate prophesying with preaching and teaching. One writer of a commentary, not one of the ones I've quoted, but a new one and I generally like his commentary. But he defines prophesy this way, prophesy is pastoral preaching that offers guidance and instruction. It is related to instruction. Now here is how we get into trouble. Well prophesying is simply what we would call preaching today, speaking forth the Word of God, and it's tied to our teaching. Now in Paul's day, because of the culture, when a woman was preaching or teaching, she had to have her head covered. Then in our day a woman wearing a hat doesn't symbolize the authority of a man. So all a woman has to do is be feminine and she can preach or teach. So you see how we misdefine the word prophesy. As we're going to see, it is misdefined if you just say it means preaching or teaching, and then you connect that to what they view as a cultural thing, a head-covering, so now women can preach and teach today and they don't have to have their head covered because that doesn't mean anything to us today. So all we're concerned about is she be feminine, the man be masculine, and then she can preach or teach. Well, no. All of a sudden we've come to a conclusion that I would understand the basic text of I Corinthians 11 teaches just the opposite of what she can do. And of course you view that with I Corinthians 11, when you get to I Timothy 2 where Paul says, I do not allow a woman to teach or be in authority over a man, you have to bring culture into that, too. Well that's related to particular problems in the church at Ephesus in that day, that's not something that is binding on all churches. That was just for the church at Ephesus in Paul's day, some of the certain limited cultural, social local church issues. Well, how do I know that? Well, that commentator told me. And since he's a commentator and wrote a book, when he says it, it is translated as fact. We need to be careful that the biblical text is what is speaking.

What is prophesying? I believe the Bible clearly teaches between prophesying and teaching. Go back to Romans 12. Now talking about prophesying, we're going to get into the spiritual gifts when we get to I Corinthians 12-14, but we do have to talk about prophesying at least to some degree here. We'll get into more of the distinctions between being an apostle, a prophet, a teacher and so on, the other gifts when we get to I Corinthians 12. But we need to say this about prophecy so that we understand that the woman has to wear a head-covering when she comes to Indian Hills Community Church. Can a woman preach if she wears a head-covering? Can a woman preach if she doesn't wear a head-covering, as long as she is being feminine? These kinds of issues.

What is prophecy? Is it the same as teaching? That's what we want to look at here. Romans 12:6, since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly. If prophecy, according to the proportion of faith. So our gifts differ. If your gift is prophecy, then prophesy. Verse 7, if service, in his serving. If serving is your gift, then serve. He who teaches, in his teaching. So you see Paul clearly distinguishes between the gift of prophecy and the gift of teacher. If your gift is prophecy, then prophesy; if your gift is teaching, then teach. If it's the same gift, why do you distinguish them? If prophesying is the same as serving, if prophesying is the same as showing mercy, I mean why do we blend the gift of prophesying and the gift of teaching when Paul separates it just like he does the other gifts?

Look over in I Corinthians 12:28. Verse 27 says, now you are Christ's body, individually members of it. We were placed into Christ's body by the baptism of the Spirit as verse 13 of chapter 12 says. Now he says in verse 28, God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers. Then he lists the rest of the gifts. He has clearly marked out as distinct the gift of being an apostle, the gift of being a prophet, the gift of being a teacher. So on what basis does a commentator say prophecy is pastoral preaching that offers guidance and instruction, it's related to instruction. Another writer says basically prophecy is modern day preaching. Well wait a minute, do we lost any distinction here in apostles, prophets, teachers. So clearly distinguished again.

One other passage, what I've done is taken the three major gifts. While you're here, look at I Corinthians 12:29, all are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? This is clearly distinguishing between apostles, prophets and teachers. Look over in Ephesians 4:11. These three major passages on the gifts—Romans 12, I Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4:11. Again, the gifts given to the church. And He gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers. I mean, is it not clear in each of these passages that distinguish between apostles, between prophets, between evangelists here, between pastors and teachers. So we ought to be careful, people just run off and say, a prophet spoke forth the Word of God, preachers speak forth the Word of God, teachers speak forth the Word of God. So they're all basically doing the same thing. Wait a minute, what does the Bible say? Well, as I examine each of these, you read them with me, he clearly distinguished between an apostle, between a prophet, between a teacher.

More helpful view on this is by one writer who says, however, to equate preaching with the spiritual gift of prophecy is fallacious. Such an equation is also quite artificial. While preaching is essentially a merging of the gifts of teaching and exhortation, preaching per se is not listed among the gifts, although preaching is talked about in the New Testament, use different words. Prophecy has the primary elements of prediction and revelation. While both the preacher and prophet proclaim, the reception of direct revelation from God is the crucial essence of the prophetic gift that separates it from other forms of proclamation and preaching. I mean, that's the essential element.

We're going to look at support for it. One who has the gift of prophecy, as a prophet or a prophetess, received direct revelation from God. I'm a teacher of the Word, I preach the Word, I don't get direct revelation from God. I take the revelation that has been given to others and explain it to you. I don't come to you and say, the Spirit told me last night, the Spirit informed me. God came to me in a vision last night and revealed new truth. But prophets did receive revelation, that which distinguishes them from teachers. There is an overlap with apostleship. When we get to I Corinthians 12 we'll talk about the distinctions between the apostles and prophets, who both received direct revelation, but they are distinct and separate gifts. But both are involved in receiving direct revelation, in that sense they're the same. Just like a prophet does have an element of teaching in it because when he gave forth the revelation he received from God, he would be teaching and exhorting people. The prophets gave their revelation, they exhorted people to submit to it. Does that mean their gift was exhortation or their gift was prophecy? When they gave them the revelation from God they were teaching people God's will. Does that mean they were teachers? No, because to be a prophet or a prophetess you had to be one who received direct revelation from God. That's what marked the gift of prophecy off from teaching.

Look over in Revelation 22. And incidentally the book of Revelation is identified as a prophecy. Verse 18, Jesus says, I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, was direct revelation to John. And we'll talk about the gifts that he had as an apostle and also as a prophet. He identifies himself in the context of the book of Revelation as a prophet, but we know he was also an apostle. We have to clarify those gifts, but that has to wait until chapter 12 because the only gift he talks about in chapter 11 is prophecy, we have to understand it. Look back in Revelation 22:6, He said to me, these words are faithful and true and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets sent His angel to show to His bond servants the things which must soon take place. You know the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets has communicated His truth, even using angelic beings. And that was true in the Old Testament. The Angel Gabriel came and revealed God's truth to Daniel, the prophet. So here, John says and writes that even in his day the God who controls the spirits of the prophets gave them revelation. That's the same as Peter said about the holy men of old spoke as they were moved by the Spirit of God. Prophets received revelation from God. Old Testament prophets did, New Testament prophets did. So that's a key element.

Back up to Ephesians 2. In the context of chapters 2-3 Paul is talking about the revelation that God has given, new information from God regarding the church. And he says in verse 19 that you are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God's household. Remember God's household? It is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth, according to I Timothy 3:15. Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone. The foundation of the church is the apostles and prophets. These gifted individuals formed the foundation for the church because it was to them and through them that God gave the revelation like we have in chapter 2-3 regarding the church. Both the apostles and prophets received revelation from God. It doesn't say the foundation of the church is the apostles, prophets and teachers, because the teachers were explaining the revelation that had been given through apostles and prophets. For example, we have the books of Luke and Acts written by Luke, the beloved physician, who was not an apostle. But he must have been a prophet, for he received direct revelation under inspiration and wrote those two books. The writer to the book of Hebrews separates himself from the apostles, but he writes scripture and he received direct revelation. He would have been a prophet. So the prophets and the apostles who received direct revelation are the foundation of the church.

This is consistent with what Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost at the beginning of the church. Come back to Acts 2. Peter is preaching and he quotes from an Old Testament prophet, the prophet Joel. And we're just going to take it from Peter's sermon in Acts 2, which marks the beginning of the church, as you are aware. And Peter quoting from Joel 2:28 says in verse 16, this is what was spoken through Joel the prophet. It will be in the last days, God says, that I will pour forth of my Spirit on all mankind. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. That involves young men seeing visions, old men dreaming dreams because God often communicated to the prophets through dreams and visions. Look at verse 18, even on my bond slaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of my Spirit and they shall prophesy. So again the revelation that God would be giving. And we find that there was new revelation being given. We have our New Testament, it is the New Covenant, which is new revelation unfolding that had not before been told, as well as additional information that expanded and fills in to what was given in the Old Testament.

Turn over to Acts 11. We'll look at some prophets and prophetesses in the book of Acts, then I want to conclude by looking at the four prophetesses in Old Testament history. Acts 11, and here we are in the city of Antioch. And Paul who has recently been converted has been brought from Tarsus, he's called Saul here. Verse 25, Barnabas goes and finds Saul, he finds him in Tarsus and he brings him to Antioch. Verse 26, when he had found him he brought him to Antioch and for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers. The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. The word disciple gets crossed out of the vocabulary now, and followers of Jesus Christ, rather than being called disciples are called Christians.

Now note verse 27, now at this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. Antioch is north of Jerusalem, as you may be aware. But you always come down form Jerusalem, it is the focal point. Prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch, one of them named Agabus. Stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit, now you see the Spirit is communicating directly to and through Agabus, that there would certainly be a great famine over all the world. This took place in the reign of Claudius. It was fulfilled. And you find that these prophets now are being used of God to communicate truth to the church during this foundational period. Because remember this early period of the church, they couldn't go to the different letters that we have that form our New Testament to know what God would have them do. So often He communicated through the prophets and prophetesses directly. Not all that material was preserved for us because God only preserved what was necessary for us His will for us to know. But how was the church to function in those early foundational days? Well there were prophets and prophetesses to reveal God's will in these situation, or what God was going to do, for the prophets often had a predictive element, as here, there will be a coming famine. That just confirmed to the church what God was doing in the world in those days.

Turn over to Acts 21. Now here we have Paul traveling and he comes to Caesarea in verse 8. As Luke is writing he uses we. On the next day we left and came to Caesarea. Luke is part of the group with Paul at this time. And entering the house of Philip the evangelist who was one of the seven, one of the seven deacons appointed in Acts 6. He's the deacon, he's a gifted evangelist. We stayed with him. Now this man had four virgin daughters who were prophetesses. He had four unmarried daughters, they all had the gift of prophecy. They were prophetesses. So now you have the Apostle Paul and his company staying in the home of Philip the evangelist, and there are four prophetesses in the house. You'd think you'd get more revelation here than you can write down. As they were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus, here comes Agabus again, down from Judea. Evidently his residence is in Judea, where Jerusalem is located, because that's where he came from in chapter 11 when we saw him. Now he comes down from Judea to Caesarea. He is a prophet. And interesting, you have Paul there, the one through whom God often spoke directly. You have four prophetesses through whom God could have given His revelation, but He chooses to send Agabus, who has to journey to Caesarea, because he has a special revelation he wants communicated to Paul and his company. Coming to use, verse 11, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands. Often, as you are familiar with the Old Testament prophets, they used symbolic action in communicating the revelation that they had received.

He said, this is what the Holy Spirit says, in this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him over into the hands of the Gentiles. And when everybody hears this, they start begging Paul, don't go to Jerusalem. They believe what Agabus says is going to happen to him, but it's going to happen to him at Jerusalem. So the solution is, don't go to Jerusalem. You won't get arrested. But Paul says, I'm not afraid, I believe God wants me at Jerusalem, and I'll accept His will at Jerusalem. And in verse 33 he's arrested and bound. And that will begin his journey as a prisoner to Rome, that encompasses years of his life.

I just want you to note here what has happened. Agabus comes and has a message directly from God. Again, you see these kinds of pieces of information that God chooses to reveal for the benefit of His church and His servants. Most of it is not recorded. We have the major revelations recorded as our Bible. The books of Luke, Acts, Hebrews in addition to books written by apostles or by John who identifies himself as a prophet as well as an apostle in the book of Revelation.

So this is my understanding of how prophets and prophetesses work. They receive direct revelation from God, they are unique people. That doesn't mean they stood in authority over the church, doesn't mean they were the leader. It means they were a vehicle through whom revelation came.

There are four women identified as prophetesses in the Old Testament and I want to look at three of these with you and just mention the fourth. Come back to Exodus 15. In Exodus 14 Israel has come through the parting of the Red Sea, the Egyptian army has been wiped out when the Sea drowns them. So the first part of chapter 15 Moses who was a prophet, because we are told that God would raise up a prophet like Moses at a later time. So Moses was a prophet, he was also the leader of Israel. And here God speaks through Moses. We have the first five books of our Bible called the books of Moses. Indeed he was a prophet and he received revelation from God, and we're well aware that Moses spoke face-to-face with God. Moses went up on the mountain and God spoke to Moses. He was a prophet. Here we have the song of Moses in the first part of chapter 15. I want you to come down to verse 20. Miriam, the prophetess, Aaron's sister. And Aaron was Moses' brother, so that would make Miriam Moses' sister. So Miriam is the sister of Moses and Aaron. Here she is identified as Aaron's sister. She took the timbrel in her hand and all the women went out with her with timbrels and with dancing and Miriam answered them, sing to the Lord for He is highly exalted. The horse and his rider is hurled into the sea. Evidently this and perhaps other, we're not told whether this is the completion of the song, doesn't mean everything was recorded here, just what God wanted. But God revealed things through Miriam. So we're reminded here, she's a prophetess. Evidently the singing that these ladies did was a singing of what God had revealed to Miriam. She received direct revelation from God. But you understand, Miriam was not the leader of Israel. You can't read the books of Moses and have any confusion on that. Moses is the leader. She's not even identified as the teacher because Aaron is the head of the priestly line. And if you were here for our study of these sections in the Old Testament, you remember it was through the priest that was delegated the responsibility by God to be the teachers in Israel. So prophets and prophetesses stand as a unique group, even in the Old Testament. They are recipients of direct revelation that they pass on. It became the priest's responsibility to instruct the people in this revelation and explain it and so on. It will become certain individuals delegated to be the leaders, whether like Moses, whether like Joshua, whether like the judges, whether like the kings to lead the nation. So Miriam is a prophetess.

Look over in Judges 4. And I have read some marvelous things about Deborah, the woman who is identified as the judge in chapters 4-5, the prophetess as well as the judge. One commentator referred to her as the warrior leader, as the armies of Israel. Looking back I thought, I've missed something. You read Judges 4-5, she's not identified as the warrior leader of the armies of Israel. Judges 4. Israel, as you are aware of the cycle of the judges, Israel is under bondage to their enemies for rebellion against God. Verse 4, now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. She used to sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim. The sons of Israel came up to her for judgment. Now here you see how her judging took place. She had a designated location, she sat under a certain tree and it became identified as the palm of Deborah. And when anyone needed advice, wasn't sure what God would have them do, they could come to Deborah and she could be God's spokesman to them. And evidently God spoke to Deborah and told her, call Barak, and here's what he has to do. Because verse 6 says, she sent and summoned Barak and said to him, behold the Lord, the God of Israel has commanded. So we know God has given revelation to Deborah on this because she said, here is what God has commanded. Go and march to Mt. Tabor. Take with you 10,000 men from the sons of Naphtah and the sons of Zebulun. I will draw out Sisera. He leads the armies of those who are holding Israel in bondage. I will give him into your hand, the end of verse 7.

So you'll note, Deborah is a prophetess, she's judging Israel in that she give Israel guidance as they come to her, what does God say on this subject, what should be done on this subject. When it comes to leading the armies of Israel, Deborah does not become the Joan of Arc of Israel. She calls Barak and says, here is what God has commanded. You put the army together, 10,000 men, and lead them out to battle and God is going to give you victory. Barak is to provide the leadership to the army. God has given revelation through Deborah to Barak, Barak falters here. Barak said to her, if you will go with me, then I will go; if you will not go with me, I won't go. Bad mistake. What he's really saying is, I'm not willing to assume the leadership role that God has given me. You have to come along, Deborah, I'm afraid.

Deborah rebukes him. You know what she says? I will surely go with you, nevertheless, the honor shall not be yours on the journey you are about to go on. You know what? You forfeited the honor of being recognized as the one who led the armies of Israel in victory. For the Lord will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman. We're well familiar with the account, where Sisera will end up with his head nailed to the ground at the hands of a woman. And it won't be Deborah, because it doesn't say, if you aren't willing, I'll take charge and I'll lead the armies out, and the woman will get the credit for the victory. No, Deborah is not going to become the leader of the armies of Israel. That's never God's will. But the victory will go to a woman because Barak was not willing to step forward and fulfill the role that he should have, that God had appointed him for, as the man designated to lead the armies of Israel.

So here you see Deborah indeed is a prophetess. Not minimizing her role and importance in Israel. I mean, all of chapter 5 had to do with revelation through Deborah, I take it, because she's the prophetess. It's the song of Deborah and Barak, but I take it the revelation comes through Deborah, she's the prophetess. And we have a whole chapter as we have it, 31 verses in scripture that Almighty God speaks. I mean, we don't want to minimize Deborah in any way. But we also want to understand her role. God spoke through her, but that doesn't mean she assumed the leadership of the nation, assumed the leadership of a portion of the army, took command. She became the vehicle through whom God gave His instruction, for example, to Barak, who should be the leader. You can read chapter 5. And in that context, verse 7, the peasantry ceased, they ceased in Israel until I, Deborah, arose. You see she's the one speaking here. Until I arose, a mother in Israel. She identified herself as the fierce warrior, as the strong leader. I'm a mother in Israel. She mothered the people, and she is God's spokesman to them.

One other prophetess we'll look at and I'll name the fourth. Go to II Kings 22, Hulda the prophetess. We sometimes modernize her name and call her Hilda. We'll pick up with verse 14. Now what has happened here is Josiah has discovered the copy of the law in the temple. Can you imagine what would happen if we lost all the copies of our Bible and one day someone was remodeling the church and found a copy of the Bible? And nobody knew there was a Bible. That's what happened in Israel. They had lost all the copies of the law. Here is a nation functioning under the law of God, didn't have a copy to read. They're remodeling the temple and they find a copy of the law that sort of got discarded like some people's Bibles. You know they start out carrying them to church, they end up on a coffee table, and then on a shelf and then in a cupboard. And then who knows where they are. The next generation, they're never looked at. Well he finds a copy of the law, he reads it and says, we're in trouble. We haven't been doing what God says. And he says, you'll bring curses and judgment on us for not doing what he says. So you know what he does? He's the king, but he's not a prophet. God doesn't speak directly to him.

So you have Hilkiah the high priest, and the king after he reads it, verse 12, commands Hilkiah the priest to go, verse 13, and inquire of the Lord for me. So Hilkiah is the priest, the high priest. And the priests were the ones instructed with teaching Israel. But what Josiah is looking for is revelation from God on this situation. Hilkiah can't give it, he's a priest but he's not a prophet. So they go to a prophet, or more particularly, a prophetess. Verse 14, so Hilkiah the priest and the men who accompanied him went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum. Note how often these prophetesses are identified in their relationship to the men in their lives—Miriam to her brother, Deborah to her husband, Huldah, the wife of Shallum. Can't tell where she resided. She said to them, verse 15, thus says the Lord God of Israel. So the king of Israel sends the one responsible for teaching in Israel to go to the prophetess and get a direct word from the Lord.

Thus says the Lord God of Israel, tell the man who sent you to me, thus says the Lord, behold I will bring evil on this place because they have forsaken me, and so on. But tell the king of Judah I will be merciful to him and so on. So you see what Huldah does. She gets direct revelation from God as Deborah did, as Miriam did. They don't become the leaders in Israel, they don't become the teachers in Israel, not the kings, not the leaders of the army. But they do become the vehicle of revelation. We say, “wow.” That seems like an awful important position. It is, but we ought to understand it for what it is, not make it into something it's not. We don't minimize it, but we don't confuse it. A prophet or a prophetess had to receive direct revelation and then communicate it forth.

There is a fourth prophetess, we're not going to look there because she is not a good one. Noadiah, Nehemiah 6:14, the prophetess along with the prophets who oppose Nehemiah tried to create fear in him. So here is a prophetess named and prophets named, and they oppose the work of Nehemiah in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and tried to cause him to fear. Evidently since they are identified, she's identified by name as a prophetess and then the others are called and she's put together with the prophets. They evidently tried to claim that God had said something to them that would provoke fear in the heart of Nehemiah because they said they attempted to put fear in his heart. So she ends up being a false prophetess along with the false prophets, because she's not speaking God's truth, but a prophet of her own devising as other prophets are identified in the Old Testament.

So we have three of God's prophetesses mentioned in the Old Testament and we get some understanding of their role from the context in which we read it. And I take it we come to the New Testament, that's what we're talking about. We're talking about a prophet or a prophetess. They are in the same line. In fact Peter on the Day of Pentecost, Acts 2, quoted from Joel the prophet who said, I will pour out my Spirit on your sons and daughters and the men and women alike will prophesy. Peter didn't understand any difference what Joel the prophet would have been like and what the prophets and prophetesses would have been like. I take it it's because the issue somewhat is to make a distinction between the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament prophets. Old Testament prophets, one writer who has written a doctoral dissertation, a subsequent book on the subject and is followed by a number say there are two kinds of New Testament prophets—those who prophesied accurately and those who had a mixture of what was true and what was false. I mean, there is no end to the extremes we'll go to to avoid the simple, basic truth of the Word of God. If you prophesied a lie you were a false prophet. We'll get into this as we move further along, get into I Corinthians 14 and the tests of a prophet, so there is more to come.

So we understand what prophesying is. Some people say, why don't women wear head-coverings to the worship services at Indian Hills if you take the Bible literally? Because the Bible doesn't say you have to wear a head-covering to attend a worship service. And we don't have women prophesying at Indian Hills so they don't wear head-coverings. So it's not a matter, do we take the Bible literally or not. We take it so literally we think the head-coverings only apply to what the Bible says they apply to. Right? Right. It's not so difficult. You say, well we could have handled this a lot simpler, we could have gotten through this in one message without all the other stuff you brought in. Right, but I just want you to be aware of what is going on, so that when you go to a church and there is a woman up there with a fancy hat preaching or leading the worship, you grab your Bible and run for the doors. Wait a minute, we understand, we put the culture together and a current understanding of prophecy and it's okay. And you'll say, it's not okay, anathema, I'm out of here.

So people don't wear head-coverings. We have to cover prayer, I'm aware, and we'll get into this next time. Paul said, pray without ceasing. If women are to pray without ceasing and Paul said women should wear head-coverings when they pray and if they pray without ceasing, women ought to wear head-coverings all the time. You know I thought that one up myself, and I was going to use it as an example of what no one would ever use. And then I found a paper of a man who wrote a paper for a seminary class and that was his argument, why women ought to always wear head-coverings And we do know that in certain cultures and around here we have people, you see women wearing head-coverings all the time. Why? Well they worship all the time, they pray all the time, so they ought to wear head-coverings all the time. We have to be careful, we're in the context of I Corinthians 11 and we want to handle the Word of God faithfully and accurately so that we don't get off tract on anything.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your Word. Thank you for its clarity. Lord, in these days there often seems to be much confusion, even in the church. So we know you are not a God of confusion and you are not a God who communicates in foggy, confusing ways. Thank you, Lord, that we as simple people do not have to be of the wise and the noble and the greatness of intellect to come to your Word as your people with your Spirit. As we diligently apply ourselves to the study of what you have said, we can understand it and live it out in our lives. How richly blessed we are to be entrusted with your truth. And our desire is that we be faithful in our study and in our living with this great responsibility. We come in Christ's name, amen.