Transcription
A woman should not preach. A woman should not prophesy. A woman should not be a pastor. A woman should not be in authority over a man. Have you heard people say things like this? Well, I want to jump into the scriptures and see what they actually have to say. And I want you to stick around for this entire teaching because what I show you might surprise you. 1 Timothy 2:12, you've interpreted wrong. And I'm here to put it in context for you, and quite frankly, speak into some very insidious things in the church that have been holding women back from fullness.
Now, let me just say this. Depending on what tradition you were raised in, you might have already been offended by the first 10 seconds of this teaching. But if you would just listen and and look at the scriptures with me, I believe this can help you tremendously. I also want to say this. Would you please have a civil discourse in the comment section? I'm asking that, uh, of course, we have an open dialogue, but that you would do it and be charitable and be compassionate, and that Christ can be found in the comment section. Okay. So, let, let me just start by saying that oftentimes Christians are the most uncristlike people, and I want to make sure that we're building a healthy community here in the comment section. But let me read the scripture and then let's talk about it.
So, we're, uh, 1 Timothy 2:12, and it says, "I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man. Rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve." This is verse 13. Verse 14 says, "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor." And all the men said, "Amen." But listen, this verse has been used to silence women in the local church and many denominations for hundreds of years. And I want to look at this in context.
Now, if you're familiar with my other videos where we debunk the bad theology surrounding familiar passages, I'll often take you to the verses before and after. Now, the reason why I read the verses after is to show you that based on that, uh, way of interpreting the text, you would say, well, it's, it's well-established that women should be quiet. I'm going to introduce another concept, and it's historic context. Okay, what does that mean? So, let's start with this. It's a term called authorial intent. So, in other words, who wrote this book of the Bible and what was their intention? Another form of context is the historic context, meaning chronological. So, in other words, what were the societal and cultural norms at the time when it was being written? And then thirdly, when you talk about the, the group of people specifically, what issues were they dealing with and what was being prescribed to deal with those particular issues?
So, let's kind of take a journey here. So, Paul, the Apostle Paul, was writing to Timothy in Ephesus. Now, what do we know historically about Ephesus? Well, we know that it was heavily dominated by a cult of Artemis, which is, you may know as Diana. And that is a, that was a female deity-led cult. So, that means that women were held in high esteem and in a social hierarchy, uh, because of that cult behavior. In Ephesus, you, you had an overemphasis on female voices and leadership. So, it was being kind of dealt with in an extreme. So, again, he's dealing with the context of this cult-like behavior and trying to establish the church in the midst of that. Okay? Because women would serve as high priestesses and religious leaders. This is like in, and so many of them would bring the culture of that cult into the culture of the kingdom. And so he had to counterbalance that. Okay. And at the same time, there were false teachings that were rampant, and there were many women that were, um, basically propagating those false teachings, which we know by 1 Timothy 1:3-7. So, again, you use the Bible to interpret the Bible, and that helps create the larger context.
So, now, using that, let's take a look at our original verse. The emphasis in Paul's instruction is about correcting disorder, false doctrine, and establishing sound leadership, which, by the way, is male headship. So, I want to go on record and say that I believe in strong male headship, and that's why I read the verses after, uh, verse 12, because I believe in that. But strong male headship, once it's established, becomes the basis by which strong women are able to step into the fullness of the calling that God has for them, which includes preaching and teaching and leadership positions. So, uh, we're not about, you know, uh, eliminating that hierarchy, but it's rather establishing it, and then once it's established, it gives voice to women. But in the short term, and this is why the, the historic context is so important, Paul, as an apostolic leader, is simply saying, "Hey, because we're dealing with this larger cultural context where women are high priestesses and they're, they're very authoritative and they're teaching, if we bring that into this, this, uh, burgeoning local church context, we're running the risk of them, number one, preaching error, and then number two, eliminating God's structure for strong male headship." And, and so this was a limited, short-term solution, not a 2,000-year prohibition. And that's where people get this messed up. And if you take the.
Okay, now this is again where some of you are going to be offended, but I, hopefully, this helps you. The book of Leviticus is God's sacred laws for an ancient people, but that, that was temporary. Now we have modern plumbing and modern society, and we don't simply live under all of the Levitical rules. So, if you take a hyper, um, like, if you take a, a look at the scriptures and it's like a hyper-literal approach, then you would end up following Levitical law as well as 1 Timothy chapter 2. But you already understand, and I'm using an extreme example, that according to the book of Leviticus, that that was a type and a shadow, and it reveals God's heart, but it was for that people and not for us. In the same way, as the church was getting started, you have this, like, uh, limited structure that was put in place so that the church could thrive, not a, uh, eternal standard.
Now, how do I know that? Okay, this is the last and final part of this teaching. Thank you for sticking around this far. And if you're fuming mad right now, please, my, my desire, my intention is not to make you mad. Uh, but there's also many of you watching that this is a confirmation of what you've already sensed by the spirit. So, now, let's go, let's leave Ephesus. Let's leave this geographic border and let's go to other, uh, geographic locations of the local church, and let's see what women were doing there. So, now, let's leave this area that's dominated by the cult of Diana and let's go to other regions.
In Acts 18:26, you have Priscilla and Aquila, um, basically Priscilla is alongside of her husband and actually, and the scriptures say taught Apollos, who Apollos is referred to as a learned man, um, and they corrected his theology. So, so Priscilla, alongside of her husband, is teaching and correcting the, the theology of Apollos, who's a major Christian figure in the early church. So, so she is asserting authority over a man. So, that Acts 18:26 already debunks your eternal prescription of 1 Timothy 2:12 right there. But I can give you a few more examples.
When you look at Romans chapter 16, you have Phoebe, and she's called to be a deacon and entrusted with delivering Paul's letters to the Romans, which required her to communicate. So, a deacon is also a position of authority. So, this is Romans chapter 16:1 and 2. You have Junia, which is, uh, she's a woman listed in Romans 16:7, and she's described as outstanding among the apostles. I mean, apostolic leadership in the early church is the highest level of leadership, and a woman Junia is listed as outstanding among the apostles, meaning that a woman was able to carry the highest leadership position in the, in the local church. And so again, this contradicts the idea that 1 Timothy chapter 2 is for the entire body of Christ forever until Christ returns, because you have other context that are dictating other opportunities for women.
And if that's not enough, um, you know, you, and because some of you are like, I already know the arguments and I already see the comments being, while you're typing them, because I've been doing this debate for many, many years. But now let's go from, because I believe in a whole Bible approach. So, let's go from the New Testament, let's go to the Old Testament. Now, the question is, do women hold high positions of authority? And do they have the ability to communicate, uh, and, and teach to a degree? Um, within the Old Testament as well, you have Deborah in Judges chapter 4 and 5. She's a prophetess and a judge over Israel, leading and teaching the nation. That's a very high position. So, if God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, if you have Deborah as a judge over Israel, Old Testament, it's logical to conclude, because most of the early church was led by Jews that became Christians, that they would understand that women could hold these positions, and they would make provision for that.
And then lastly, in Joel chapter 2:28, which is repeated in Acts 2:17, you, it says, "Your sons and daughters will prophesy." So, prophesying in the New Testament often involved public speaking, teaching, and exhortation, because you had the Torah and scrolls, but you didn't have the New Testament because it was being created in real time. So, prophecy would have, would have included, you know, a public declaration and teaching and exhortation. And Joel 2:28 is literally confirmed and, uh, in Acts 2:17, and it says, "Your sons and daughters," which, by the way, daughters are female.
So, I think the problem, and I'm going to end on this. I think the problem is that most of you who are just vehemently opposed to what I said about women being preachers, women being teachers, women holding positions like pastor. I think the problem is most of you were raised in denominations where women were not allowed to do those things. And so what's actually happening when I'm teaching this is I'm breaking a cultural norm that you have. So, my encouragement to you is do not be like the people in the cult of Diana. This is because you call it a denomination, but do not be the people like in the cult of Diana that are, that do not understand male headship, but also understand how that creates the basis for a woman to thrive in the fullness of what God's called her to do. And so I'm trying to help bring you into that. My prayer is not just that I did a good enough job communicating this concept, but rather that the Holy Spirit is speaking to your inner ear, and that that little journey from your head to your heart is connected so that you can receive the fullness of what God has for you.
Because last thing I'll say, especially as a father to daughters, is if you were drowning in a swimming pool and a woman dove into the pool to save your life, you would not tell her, "No, thank you. Send a man." If you dialed 911 emergency services and you were literally bleeding out for your life and the paramedic that shows up is a woman, you would not refuse life-saving services. So, in the same way, I would say if a woman is going to save your soul by the proclamation of God's word, uh, don't refuse it either. There's wisdom in, in letting women, uh, preach and proclaim the gospel. We know that Mary Magdalene was the first at the tomb. The angel said to her, "Uh, he's alive. You why seek the living among the dead?" But then he didn't say, "Now go tell the children in children's church." He didn't say, "Now go cook a meal for the men." He didn't say, "Now go sit in silence." What the angel, the angel of the Lord on assignment said was, "Now go tell everyone that he's resurrected." So, my commissioning to all the women right now is, uh, let me be that angel in your life right now that says he is risen and tell everybody you know that he's alive.
All right, guys. If this helped you, go ahead and hit that subscribe button if you haven't already. And most importantly, hit the thumbs up so that this message gets to more people in their feed. And I cannot wait to see the conversation in the comments.