The woman teaching and having authority over a man

Sisters in the Lord, you must learn in silence with all submission; therefore without grumbling and without interrupting him who is teaching the Word of God. So, when the Church comes together in one place (that is, during the worship service) you must not talk with anybody, rather you must keep silent “for it is shameful for women to speak in church” (1 Corinthians 14:35 - NKJV), says Paul; and if you want to learn something, do not ask the pastor (while the church Is gathered together in one place), but ask your husbands at home, as it is written: “And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home” (1 Corinthians 14:35 – NKJV). You ought to keep silent in the churches, for women “are to be submissive, as the law also says” (1 Corinthians 14:34 - NKJV).

Therefore, since you, sisters, must learn in silence, you are not allowed to teach the doctrine of God, that is, the same doctrine that Paul, Peter and the other apostles taught to the saints and which Paul commanded Timothy and Titus to teach. Neither are you allowed to exercise authority over your husband because he is your head and you are to submit to him.

To sum up, therefore, what I have just said: “Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence” (1 Timothy 2:11-12 – NKJV).

A woman is not permitted to teach

With regard to the fact that a woman is not permitted to teach, the law also confirms it, and we know that the law is made for whatever is contrary to the sound doctrine (1 Timothy 1:10). For, when God chose the Levites, under the law of Moses, to entrust them with the service of the tabernacle and that they might teach His laws to the Israelites, as it is written: “They shall teach Jacob Your judgments, and Israel Your law” (Deuteronomy 33:10 – NKJV) he chose men and not women.

I can confirm this also by what we read in the book of Nehemia, for in the days of Nehemiah and Ezra, after the temple and the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt, when the law of God was read and explained publicly before the people, that was done by some men from among the Levites, as it is written: “Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused [helped] the people to understand the law: and the people stood in their place. So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused [helped] them to understand the reading” (Nehemiah 8:7-8). On the basis of these passages, nowadays among the Jews (the Orthodox Jews) the woman is not permitted to read the law publicly in the synagogue nor to explain any passage of the law to the congregation.

Obviously, the New Testament’s writings confirm that a woman is not permitted to teach, for the twelve apostles appointed by Jesus, whom He sent to preach (Matthew 10:1-8; Luke 6:12-16) were all men, as well as the seventy disciples whom He appointed afterward and sent before His face (Luke 10:1).

There were of course some women who followed Jesus, but they did not teach the Word of God, for they ministered to Jesus and His disciples, as Luke says: “The Twelve were with Him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means” (Luke 8:1-3 - NIV). As you can see, the women who were with Jesus and His disciples did not preach nor teach the Word of God, but they provided for Jesus and His disciples from their substance. Is it not written: “Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches” (Galatians 6:6 – NKJV)?

Replies to the main objections

Let us now reply to the main objections raised by some sisters and brothers.

● ‘Since a woman can prophesy, she can teach because he who prophesies teaches’.

That’s not true, because the gift of prophecy and the gift of teaching are two different gifts, they are not the same gift. That is confirmed by Paul when he says: “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them; if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching” (Romans 12:6-7 – NKJV). Bear in mind this, that Paul did not say: ‘I do not permit a woman to prophesy’ because such a statement would have contradicted the Scripture which says: “Your daughters shall prophesy” (Joel 2:28 – NKJV), but he said a different thing, that is, “I do not permit a woman to teach” (1 Timothy 2:12 - NKJV).

● ‘According to the Scripture, a woman can serve as a deaconess, which means that she can also teach’

That’s not true; now I am going to explain why. The Word declares that in the Church of Cenchrea there was a deaconess, for Paul wrote to the Romans: “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant [or deaconess] of the Church in Cenchrea. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me” (Romans 16:1-2 – NIV). Therefore, a woman can be ordained as a deaconess in the Church, if she has the necessary qualifications. But the deacons are not appointed to teach the doctrine of God, but to minister to the saints; that’s why among the qualifications a believer must have to serve as a deacon we don’t find this one ‘able to teach’. Therefore, it is evident that since deacons do not need to be able to teach the doctrine of God because their job is not to teach the Word, those sisters who are appointed deaconesses are not called to teach the doctrine of God.

● ‘A woman can teach because in ancient times God appointed some women prophetesses’.

That’s not true, for the ministry of prophet is different from the ministry of teacher, and the fact that one is a prophet does not necessarily mean that he is able to teach. Deborah (who lived in the days of the judges), Huldah (who lived in the days of king Josiah) and Anna (who lived in the days of Jesus), were all prophetesses, but they were not appointed by God to teach the law to the people because according to the law of Moses the precepts of the law had to be taught by the Levites, as God said: “For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, and people should seek the law from his mouth” (Malachi 2:7 – NKJV).

The prophet Micah also made a distinction between the office of a priest and the office of a prophet, for when God rebuked the people of Israel through him He said: “Her priests teach for pay, and her prophets divine for money” (Micah 3:11 – NKJV). As you can see, it was the priests and not the prophets who were appointed to teach.

A woman, under grace, can be appointed by God prophetess, but to be a prophet does not mean to be enabled by God to teach the Word; a woman who is a prophetess prophesies by the Spirit when the Spirit comes upon her, and tells the visions and the revelations God gives to her, but this does not mean at all that God has appointed her to teach the doctrine of God. In order to be able to teach, a prophetess needs to possess also the ability to teach, but that’s an ability which she can’t receive from God.

● ‘A woman can teach because when Jesus rose from the dead He appeared first to a woman, that is, Mary Magdalene, to whom He said: “Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God” (John 20:17)’

Now, according to the Scripture, “Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her” (John 20:18 - NKJV), but she did not go to teach the doctrine of God to the disciples of the Lord. Nor from that day on did she teach, because Jesus had not given her authority to teach. Jesus gave that authority to the eleven disciples, for when He appeared to them on one of the mountains in Galilee He said to them: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:19-20).

To confirm this I remind you that the Scripture says that (after the Spirit was poured out upon the Church) the early believers “continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42). As you can see, the Scripture does not say that some of the women to whom Jesus had appeared were teaching together with the apostles.

● ‘A woman can teach because Anna was a prophetess’.

Now, Anna was a prophetess who “departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day” (Luke 2:37). Therefore that godly woman was always in the temple, which was a holy place where the Jews always met. But Anna did not teach the law of Moses to the Jews in the temple, but she served God with fastings and prayers. Then, when the Child Jesus was brought to the temple to be presented to the Lord, Anna was there and “spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38 - NKJV). Does this mean that she taught the doctrine of God? How could we say such a thing when the Scripture states only that she spoke of the Child Jesus? I am convinced that if those women who want at all costs to teach began to serve God in the same way Anna served God, that is to say, with prayers and fastings, and stopped teaching, they would do something well pleasing to God.

● ‘A woman can teach because some of the women who helped Paul taught the Word of God’.

These women, according to this objection, were Priscilla, Euodias, and Syntyche, for it is written: “And he [Apollos] began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly” (Acts 18:26), and again: “I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord. And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life” (Philippians 4:2-3).

Now, if the above mentioned passages meant that Priscilla, Euodias and Syntyche did teach the Word, that would mean that Paul permitted them to teach. Then, if it were so, Paul told a lie to Timothy, because He told him that he did not permit a woman to teach. So, who says the truth? Those who say that these passages mean that those women taught or Paul? Perhaps we might say that Paul permitted some women to teach while he did not permit other women to teach! But if it were so, how could Paul say to Timothy: “I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality” (1 Timothy 5:21)? The truth is that Priscilla, Eudioas and Syntyche did not teach. At most, we can say that Priscilla and her husband Aquila told Apollos something about the new Way privately, but certainly we cannot say that Priscilla taught the brethren publicly as Paul and the other apostles did.

I am convinced that you, sisters, ought to follow the example of Mary, Martha’s sister, who “sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word” (Luke 10:39 – NKJV). Jesus said that Mary had chosen that good part, which would not be taken away from her. However, what happens in many Churches? It happens that many sisters have not chosen that good part, that is, they have not decided to hear the Word of God and to learn in silence, but they have chosen a part which is not fit for them, that is, they have decided to teach!

A woman is not permitted to exercise authority over her husband

I said before that a woman is not permitted to exercise authority over her husband, let us see therefore how a woman must behave towards her own husband. Paul wrote: “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing” (Ephesians 5:22-24), and again: “Let the wife see that she respects her husband” (Ephesians 5:33 – NKJV).

Now, the Church is the Lamb’s wife and she must submit to Her head, that is, Christ Jesus, therefore just as the Church submits to Christ with all reverence and doesn’t dare to exercise authority over the Christ of God, so, in the same manner, the wife must submit to her husband.

Sarah is an example of a woman who submitted to her husband, for the Scripture says that “Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord” (1 Peter 3:6 - NKJV). I would like to point out that even though she was submissive to her own husband, she was not a slave of her husband but a free woman, as it is written that “Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a free-woman” (Galatians 4:22). Why do I say this? Because some women think that in ancient times the wives of the patriarchs were treated and regarded as bondwomen. Consider this: the holy women who trusted in God were submissive to their own husbands, and because of their respectful behaviour they are called ‘bondwomen’! The reason why today many women think that those holy women were bondwomen is that they think that in this modern age for women to submit to their husbands, as did those holy women, is absurd. Today, what should be a normal thing for a woman, is considered outdated and inadequate; therefore, no wonder that many women do not want to submit to their husbands. Those women who call the obedience and the submission of Sarah towards Abraham ‘bondage’ are nothing but women who have become slaves of a perverse way of thinking, and if they want to escape the snare of the devil into which they have fallen they must repent and obey the truth.

We live in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation which has perverted the straight ways of the Lord, and we see with our eyes that many so called ‘feminist movements’ have risen and these movements are fighting against God, for their purpose is contrary to the sound doctrine of God. The fight which is called ‘the fight in favour of the emancipation of women’ is nothing but a device used by Satan to destroy the family. Furthermore, there are some women who do not know what the verb ‘to emancipate’ means. Now, to emancipate means ‘to set free from slavery’ and when a married woman says that she wants to become an emancipated woman she means that she wants to stop obeying her husband and submitting to him, and if she is unmarried she means that she doesn’t want to submit to man. After the woman was deceived and fell into transgression, God said to the woman: “Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you” (Genesis 3:16 – NKJV); these words were spoken by God, the Creator of all things, and the woman, who is just a creature, has decided to nullify the Word of God. Will she manage to nullify it?’ No, she won’t. Did her struggle improve our society? No, it didn’t, rather things in this world are going from bad to worse, and we see that what the woman is doing in order to emancipate herself is hastening the destruction of the family. Am I wrong in saying that divorces and separations are increasing in number because of the perverse ideas displayed by the feminists, who are under the leadership of the devil? Am I wrong in saying that today a woman who is obedient and submissive to her own husband is considered by the feminists (who are filled with hate for the Word of God because it reduces their claims to silence) a crazy and ignorant woman, and thus they encourage her to rebel against her husband to claim her ‘rights’? Today that old serpent, that is, Satan, is still deceiving the woman: he began in the Garden of Eden and is actively prosecuting his diabolical work to this day. Satan knows how to deceive the woman; he knows that it is sufficient to make her believe that God is a liar in order to cause her to fall into transgression. What did God say to Adam? He said: “In the day that you eat of it [that is, of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17 – NKJV); but what did the serpent say to Eve: “You will not surely die” (Genesis 3:4), and she believed the serpent and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thinking that she would not die, and the baleful consequences of that disobedience can be still clearly seen today.

Sisters, I exhort you to obey the Word of God and not to deceive yourselves (by thinking that the freedom proclaimed by the feminist movements is useful to you and to your families). The true freedom is in the Lord, for it is written: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17 – NKJV). On the contrary, where the spirit of this world is, there is no liberty but only slavery to sin. Sisters, do you want to be really free? Well, then, continue in the Word of Christ, for Jesus said: “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).

Daughters of Zion, be homemakers, so that your husbands, when they come home from work, may find the house clean and in perfect order and their clothes washed and ironed ready to be put on. Let them find savoury food, so that their spirit may be refreshed after a tiring day; do them good and not evil, they need you, you are the helper suitable that God made and gave to man; respect them and do not despise them (do not behave like Michal, David’s wife, who despised David in her heart when she saw David leaping and whirling before the Lord, and for this reason she “had no children to the day of her death” 2 Samuel 6:23 - NKJV); show them in deed and in truth that you love them; be faithful to your husbands, do not be quarrelsome, do not raise your voice against them; when they are tested by God stand by them to give them strength and do not behave like Job’s wife who, when she saw her husband’s sufferings, said to Job: “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9 – NKJV); bear children and bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord because this is one of the good works with which you must adorn yourselves.

The reasons of these prohibitions

Now, let us see why the woman is not permitted to teach nor to exercise authority over her husband but she must keep silent. Paul says that it is because “Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression” (1 Timothy 2:13-14 – NKJV).

Therefore the reasons of this prohibitions to women are these.

First, because man was not created for the woman, but woman for the man (1 Corinthians 11:9), as it is written that after God formed Adam, He said: “It is not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18), and He took one of his ribs and made it into a woman. So man was formed before the woman. Being created first, the man has the creational priority, he is the head; and creational priority entails functional authority.

Second, because in the Garden of Eden it was not Adam who was deceived but Eve. Paul confirms this by saying to the Corinthians: “The serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness” (2 Corinthians 11:3 - NKJV). Why is it not written that the serpent deceived Adam by his craftiness? Because it is not true that the serpent deceived Adam. Of course, when Adam ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he sinned, as it is written: “Like Adam they have broken the covenant – they were unfaithful to me there” (Hosea 6:7 – NIV), and again: “By the one man’s offense many died” (Romans 5:15 – NKJV). But we need to say all the truth about what happened in the garden of Eden, by saying that the serpent deceived Eve and not Adam. The woman herself recognized that she was deceived, for – after both she and her husband had sinned - when God said to her: “What is this you have done?” (Genesis 3:13 - NKJV), she said: “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (Genesis 3:13 – NKJV). And that is what the old serpent is still doing, for he is still deceiving the woman. Why do many women refuse to submit to their husbands in everything? Why do they refuse to be homemakers? Why do they refuse to bear children, and if they want to have children, they say arrogantly: ‘Just one or at the most two’? Why do they refuse to do what God commands them to do, but they want to do what they are not allowed to do? Because the serpent has deceived them by his craftiness, and through them he induces many men to sin. Yes, I am fully convinced that in the Church of God, many men are deceived into disobeying some commandments of God by these women, who, having been deceived by that old serpent, through smooth and flattering words, induce them to take crooked paths, and the consequence of their disobedience is confusion.

Therefore, women, submit to your own husbands as is fitting in the Lord, and do not have the presumption to teach. Be humble and respectful and you will be honored by God and by all those who love God and fear Him. Do not think about the so called emancipation of women, because you have already obtained the true freedom, and this freedom is in the Lord.

Some other words about the emancipation of women

The emancipation of women is a thing that the women of this world likes very much, because through it women and men are put on the same level both in society and in the family. Unfortunately, this so called emancipation of women is accepted even by many sisters in the Lord, who want at all costs to be considered equal to men and not inferior to them (in roles and functions), and therefore they don’t want to submit to them. So, besides going to work to earn their monthly salary (because the salary earned by their husbands was considered insufficient and humiliating to them), they took hold of the pulpit in some Churches and thus they are behind the pulpit teaching and rebuking the brethren. On the other hand, they say, if in Christ there is neither male nor female, why should only men have the opportunity to become pastors or elders?!!

First of all, I want to speak to you, women who keep the Word of God: take heed to yourselves and do not let this diabolical feeling enter you because it is a cancer which would destroy you, your family and the Church you belong to. Know this, that your head is man and whether you are married or not you must submit to man and as sign of this submission you must cover your head with a veil when you pray or prophesy. Be submissive to your husbands and respect them, love them and take care of them. Know that he needs you and by doing the housework you are a great helper to him.

Now listen, you ‘emancipated’ sisters, how long will you follow vanity and love lies? Is it not time for you to come to your senses and cast away your haughtiness and stop thinking that you have the same rights as men have? Do you not realize that since you gave heed to this so called emancipation you and your families have become less and less spiritual? Don’t you see that you are nervous, restless, full of worries and anxieties? Don’t you see that you are neglecting your husbands, who are forced to bear the baleful consequences of your so called emancipation? And what shall I say about your children? Don’t you see that they are growing bad because during the day you are not with them but you see them only in the evening when you have supper? Therefore, stop deceiving yourselves and walk according to the Word of God, that is, submit to your husbands and be busy at home. Resign from your post and work in your house where there is plenty of work for you to do. Then you will see that the money earned by your husband is enough to live, and it is not absolutely humiliating to you.

Now, I want to say something to you brothers who reject the emancipation of women. Continue to abhor it for the sake of your wives and your families; you will be called male chauvinists, antifeminists, selfish persons, etc, but don’t worry about that.

On the contrary, I say to those who accept the emancipation of women: ‘Stop supporting it. Don’t you see how many harms it has done to our society and to your family? Don’t you see the evil things caused by it in the midst of the Church?

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