“GOD WILL NEVER USE A WOMAN TO INSTRUCT A MAN”

Women in Ministry

This is a very popular doctrine that must be addressed. First of all I strongly believe in a wife being in total submission to her husband, as long as he does not insist upon defiling her conscience toward God. Furthermore, I believe the Word places the man as the domestic head of his household. His wife and his children are to be in total submission to his authority as husband and father.

However, I submit the Lord is able to and will use the wife to rule and govern His people separate and apart from, but in harmony with, her marital status. I submit He has done this in the Old Covenant and is certainly doing it today.

It is most worthy that we look into the Old Covenant for this truth. During that dispensation, women were very seldom used by God as spiritual or natural leaders. In fact, there are only three who come to mind who could possibly fit this description. Nevertheless, they did exist and were mightily used by the Lord to fulfill His purpose. God used them in spite of their marital status. Miriam, Huldah and Deborah were the three outstanding women used by the Lord in both the governmental, military and spiritual leadership of His people. They are all called “Prophetess” by the scripture and were all citizens of the Old Testament.

First of all let us look at the word “Prophetess.” Our Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance tells us it is the feminine gender of the word prophet (Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (index #5031 and #5030).

Below are the Hebrew definitions used to describe the activities and responsibilities of the prophet and/or prophetess:

• He or she speaks not his/her own words, but those that are divinely received.
• Activated by a divine spirit, either rebuked the conduct of kings and nations or,
• predicted future events.
• He or she is God’s messenger,
• A declarer of God’s will.

We will now list what the Greek says on this subject. The following definitions are taken from the Strong’s

Concordance and Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon index numbers 4395, 4396, & 4398.

PROPHETESS:

• A female who declares and interprets the oracles of God.
• She speaks by divine inspiration.
• Is moved by the Spirit to speak of the future events pertaining especially to the Kingdom of God other hidden things which are revealed only by Divine Inspiration.

The Prophet or prophetess is to teach, refute, reprove, admonish, and comfort. One who is filled with the Spirit of God. She, by God’s authority and command, in words of weight, pleads the cause of God and urges the salvation of men.

As most theologians would agree, the Lord directed His people under the Old Covenant almost exclusively through the office of the prophet. He was God’s first messenger to His people. However, a closer look at these times will reveal the Lord did incorporate the female as His vessel of spiritual authority.

At first glance we see Miriam; the sister of Moses and Aaron.

Micah 6:4KJV

For I brought thee out of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

Beloved this is exciting! The word sent, as it is used here according to Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (index #7971),means to send words to another or to inform by a messenger. Isn’t it obvious the Lord is here declaring He indeed used Moses, Aaron and Miriam as messengers to His people?

As we read the history in the Old Testament concerning the plight of Israel as they journeyed from the land of Egypt, we never see where the words Miriam spoke were only for the women and children of the camp. Quite the contrary, she was highly respected by all the people. Now grant you, this was a high honor to be bestowed upon a woman, but nevertheless, it was. This is why I believe her punishment was so severe when she spoke out of her emotions (Exodus 15) against Moses’ marriage to a foreign woman. She had been exalted above all women to the position of Prophetess, the orator of God, and to whom much is given, much is required.

HULDAH THE PROPHETESS

Now let us move on to a great woman of God, Huldah the prophetess:

II Kings 22:8-20 KJV

8 And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.

9 And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do work, that have the oversight of the house of the Lord.

10 And Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.

11 And it came to pass, When the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.

12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest , and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king’s, saying,

13 Go ye, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.

14 So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achobor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college) and they communed with her.

15 And she said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me,

16 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants

thereof even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read:

17 Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might

provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.

18 But to the king of Judah which sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall ye say to him,Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard;

19 Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when

thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they

should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also

have heard thee, saith the Lord.

20 Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king the word again.

In the 13th verse, we find the king commanded Hilkiah the High Priest, Shaphan the scribe, and several other advisors, to inquire of the Lord for him (the king) and the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of the book (the book of the law). It must be noted Huldah was a married woman. Her husband was the keeper of the priestly garments for those who ministered in the temple. They lived in the temple’s parsonage where those who were given over to the work of the ministry lived. But look at the sovereignty of God.

Here is a devout couple given to the service of the temple. The husband runs a dry cleaning business, exclusively for priestly garments, while his wife stands in the room of the Prophet, the orator of God, the interpreter of the Word of God, the revealer of the heart and mind of God and the dispenser of the judgments of God for the entire nation. I sincerely believe this alone destroys the doctrine that God will not use a woman to instruct a man in the Word. It most certainly proves He will use a woman to stand in the highest spiritual office of that dispensation.

It was not the High Priest that God was speaking through or the scribe, nor the king. It was the WOMAN Huldah.She was the dispenser of the judgments for all Judah. Moreover, it was not her husband who was being used for this divine connection. No beloved, the Lord was using this woman separate and apart from her marital status. This woman was given over to the service of the Lord and He was able to reveal His will and judgments through this yielded vessel. The king responded to all the counsel of Huldah, not his advisors, not the High Priest but the woman who was in touch with the true and living God. There is another point we must establish here. This woman received the word of the Lord separate and apart from her husband, her priest and her king. They were all helpless in their pursuit of the mind of God. This woman had been indeed raised to the same office as Moses, Elisha, Isaiah or any other prophet of the Lord.

DEBORAH THE JUDGE

As we continue our search for the truth concerning the Lord’s heart and mind toward the use of the woman, we discover a most astounding creature, Deborah the Prophetess - Judge and deliverer of Israel.

Judges 4:4-14 KJV

4 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.

5 And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the

children of Israel came up to her for judgment.

6 And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?

7 And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera the captain of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his

multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand.

8 And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not Go.

9 And she said, I will surely go with thee: Notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be

for thine honor; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with

Barak to Kedesh

.

10 And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him.

11 Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh.

12 And they showed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor.

13 And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon.

14 And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand:is not the Lord gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after Him.

Astonishingly enough, once again, we discover this prophetess was also a married woman. Her husband’s name was Lapidoth. The next fact may tend to be a shock to those who would foster such a doctrine which says God never used a woman to rule or govern His people. What are we to do with Deborah? In the 4th verse, we discover she was a judge of Israel. If we pull out any good Bible dictionary, it will give us the definition and responsibilities of a judge.

The following is taken from Davis Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible;

Judge: A civil magistrate or elder, who possessed civil and religious authority.

A man whom God raised up to lead a revolt against foreign oppressors, having freed the nation and who

thereby his call of God was looked upon by the people to maintain their rights. The judges were saviors like unto Moses.

Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon;

Judge: One who condemns and punishes the guilty

One who defends the rights of another, especially the poor and oppressed. One who rules and governs the people.

The Old Testament boasts of twelve Jehovah appointed Judges:

Othriel of Judah - deliverer of Israel from the King of Mesopotamia

Ehud - expelled the Moabites and Ammonites

Shawgar - smiter of 600 Philistines and Savior of Israel.

Deborah - led Naphtali and Zebulun to victory against the Canaanites Now when Barak sat before Deborah (under the Royal Palm Tree of Deborah) she gave him the instructions of the Lord which effected the whole nation. She told him of the divine strategy to subdue the Canaanites.

If the doctrine in question was correct in its inference,why would the Lord insult this great man of war by

humbling him at the feet of a woman? Why would the Lord choose this woman to instruct this man in military maneuvers? It was not the husband who judged Israel, it was the wife. It was not the general who

knew the plan of God; it was the married woman,the weaker vessel!

Barak recognized and respected the civil and spiritual authority Jehovah had given to this vessel, so much so until he would not ride into battle without her presence.

THE LORD WILL USE WHOM HE WILL. THE QUALIFICATIONS DO NOT APPEAR TO BE GENDER: THEY SEEM TO BE YIELDEDNESS.

Read the rest of the story and discover the victory and deliverance that was brought to Israel by the power of God working through this woman, Deborah. God will use a woman to instruct, lead and guide a man.

We will deal with this topic more in the Chapter, Misinterpreted Scriptures: Women in Ministry (Chapter

10).