What the Bible says about Gender Part 3

Sunday 04/22/18

Series: What the Bible says about Gender

Message – What the Bible says about Gender Pt. 3

Podcast: Download (35.4MB)

What the Bible says about Gender

We reviewed our handouts from last week and enjoyed a time of open discussion before proceeding in our messages. This link is to that segment of the service which I separated from the whole…Open Discussion Time.

Go over the Handout sheets

Now to the Old Testament, upon which all New Testament doctrines concerning the genders come.

Sovereignty of Father’s & Husbands

Num. 30:1-16, “(1) Then Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: (2) If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. (3) “Or if a woman makes a vow to the LORD, and binds herself by some agreement while in her father’s house in her youth, (4) and her father hears her vow and the agreement by which she has bound herself, and her father holds his peace, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement with which she has bound herself shall stand. (5) But if her father overrules her on the day that he hears, then none of her vows nor her agreements by which she has bound herself shall stand; and the LORD will release her, because her father overruled her. (6) “If indeed she takes a husband, while bound by her vows or by a rash utterance from her lips by which she bound herself, (7) and her husband hears it, and makes no response to her on the day that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her agreements by which she bound herself shall stand. (8) But if her husband overrules her on the day that he hears it, he shall make void her vow which she took and what she uttered with her lips, by which she bound herself, and the LORD will release her. (9) “Also any vow of a widow or a divorced woman, by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her. (10) “If she vowed in her husband’s house, or bound herself by an agreement with an oath, (11) and her husband heard it, and made no response to her and did not overrule her, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement by which she bound herself shall stand. (12) But if her husband truly made them void on the day he heard them, then whatever proceeded from her lips concerning her vows or concerning the agreement binding her, it shall not stand; her husband has made them void, and the LORD will release her. (13) Every vow and every binding oath to afflict her soul, her husband may confirm it, or her husband may make it void. (14) Now if her husband makes no response whatever to her from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all the agreements that bind her; he confirms them, because he made no response to her on the day that he heard them. (15) But if he does make them void after he has heard them, then he shall bear her guilt.” (16) These are the statutes which the LORD commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, and between a father and his daughter in her youth in her father’s house.”

Sons and leadership

There were no queens in Israel only Queen Mother’s. These were the birth mothers of the reigning king.

That the son, now had the charge of the kingdom, the estate and even his mother is made clear by King Asa removing Maacah as Queen Mother because she had used her position to influence idol worship. – 1 Kings 15:13 & 2 Chorn. 15:16

Inheritance was for sons – not daughters

We see this all the way through scripture. This was NOT bigotry but was the proper thing to do since men were to be the providers.

Widows and Orphans were ALWAYS provided for – widowers are NEVER mentioned.

Isa. 1:21-26, “(21) How the faithful city has become a harlot! It was full of justice; Righteousness lodged in it, But now murderers. (22) Your silver has become dross, Your wine mixed with water. (23) Your princes are rebellious, And companions of thieves; Everyone loves bribes, And follows after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, Nor does the cause of the widow come before them. (24) Therefore the Lord says, The LORD of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, “Ah, I will rid Myself of My adversaries, And take vengeance on My enemies. (25) I will turn My hand against you, And thoroughly purge away your dross, And take away all your alloy. (26) I will restore your judges as at the first, And your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.”

Exod. 22:22-24, “(22) You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. (23) If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry; (24) and My wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.”

The extraordinary case of the daughters of Zelo-phe-had

Num 27:1-11, “(1) Then came the daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, from the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph; and these were the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. (2) And they stood before Moses, before Eleazar the priest, and before the leaders and all the congregation, by the doorway of the tabernacle of meeting, saying: (3) “Our father died in the wilderness; but he was not in the company of those who gathered together against the LORD, in company with Korah, but he died in his own sin; and he had no sons. (4) Why should the name of our father be removed from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father’s brothers.” (5) So Moses brought their case before the LORD. (6) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: (7) “The daughters of Zelophehad speak what is right; you shall surely give them a possession of inheritance among their father’s brothers, and cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them. (8) And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter. (9) If he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. (10) If he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. (11) And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to the relative closest to him in his family, and he shall possess it.’ ” And it shall be to the children of Israel a statute of judgment, just as the LORD commanded Moses.”

Num 36:5-13, “(5) Then Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying: “What the tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks is right. (6) This is what the LORD commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them marry whom they think best, but they may marry only within the family of their father’s tribe.’ (7) So the inheritance of the children of Israel shall not change hands from tribe to tribe, for every one of the children of Israel shall keep the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. (8) And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel shall be the wife of one of the family of her father’s tribe, so that the children of Israel each may possess the inheritance of his fathers. (9) Thus no inheritance shall change hands from one tribe to another, but every tribe of the children of Israel shall keep its own inheritance.” (10) Just as the LORD commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad; (11) for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to the sons of their father’s brothers. (12) They were married into the families of the children of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s family. (13) These are the commandments and the judgments which the LORD commanded the children of Israel by the hand of Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho.”

This service had content that is NOT written out here, so I would encourage you to listen to it WHILE you read…Blessings!

I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. If you do not know Him, please use our ‘Contact Us‘ page and reach out so we may have the privilege of introducing you to the Lord. Neither money nor attendance at our church will be mentioned.

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Blessings!

Pastor Mark

View posts by Pastor Mark

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!