Continuing Women and God

Later, God gives Israel two laws that effectively protect women in the society of Israel.  The first is the test for the unfaithful wife, where the accusations are based merely on jealousy and suspicion.  The second is the proclamation of clarifying women's inheritance of their fathers' property if there is no son.

The first, the unfaithful wife test, is designed so that only the guilty women will bear any punishment, rather than unfairly punishing innocent women.  If a husband believed his wife to be unfaithful, he may bring her to the priest, where a ritual is performed, and the woman must drink "bitter water" to test her purity (Num. 4:24).  This water is complete with a curse that is activated by the woman's oath that agrees to the curse.  If she wasn't pure, the water will cause her to become infertile and become cursed.  This test is similar to many tests that were "lie detectors" in the ancient world, but the difference is that God's law was protecting the innocent women from deceptive or paranoid husbands, and mostly from unfair punishment.

A man died in Israel without any son's in Moses' time, and the daughters of the man, five in total.  They came before Moses and asked if they might inherit their father's estate, seeing as there were no male descendants (Num. 27: 3-4).  Moses, seeing the complexity of the situation, took the problem to God, who said that the daughters of a sonless man might divide the property of the father amongst them (Num. 27:8).  Later in the book of Numbers, the issue is returned to and clarified more by God saying that every daughter that inherits her father's land must marry within her father's tribe to keep the land in the tribe (Num. 36:6).  In enacting this law and protocol, God raised the social status of women in the society, much as he protected them with the unfaithful wife test.

The Laws of the Chosen People

Finally, God has begun a new phase of this metanarrative, opening up the Israel chapter.  In doing this, He sets up the rules by which He wants His people to live their lives by.  The most basic of these rules are the Ten Commandments, which were given directly to Moses from God, twice.  But in Leviticus, God elaborates, telling the Israelites exactly how He wants everything to be done, from burnt offerings to the kinds of food one can eat.  Many of these laws and ceremonies pertain to women and their social and political roles in the society that was to be a blessing of God's to all other nations.

In the Ten Commandments, the first commandment that came with a promise showed the importance of women, equal in God's eyes.  God told the Israelites to honor their fathers and mothers so that the entire community might live long and prosper in the land that God was about to give them (Ex. 20:12).  In this commandment, God does not simply mention fathers as the only ones to be respected, but also puts women in a higher social status because of the necessity of respecting them.  For the first time in human history, God records the very specific rule of remaining faithful to one's spouse (Ex 20:14).  God leaves this gender neutral, and in doing so shows that it is not only the women who need to faithful, but the men equally so.  Unfortunately, this is ignored in multiple later cultures where it was frowned upon for a man to commit such a sin, but women bore the brunt of the punishment.  Communities in Puritan New England sometimes fell into this trap, harshly punishing the women, but barely raising a finger to find the male offender.  The last commandment that speaks of God's view of the relationship between man and woman is the last, warning the Israelites against coveting anything that a neighbor owns (Ex. 20:17).  In the list of things that might be coveted, God includes a neighbor's wife, setting up the patriarchal society of Israel.  There is no doubt, therefore, that men were meant to be the heads of the household, although hardly superior.  The married couple was meant to be a team, but like any team, there must be a definite leader.  The man must, in God's view, be this leader, though he should realize that neither gender is meant to be dominant or superior.

In Leviticus, God goes into great depth in describing the different rituals expected of the Israelites and the different, specific rules all must follow.  There is a certain list of "don'ts" that has made Leviticus famous, and they all apply to man-woman relations.  By regulating these relations, God shows how much He loves women and puts these laws in place for the protection of the blameless.  It's as if God knows how oppressed women will end up being (which He does), with no power of their own.  These rules make men accountable for their actions, but they do not exempt women.  In fact, God is as clear as possible that anyone, and that means ANYONE who commits adultery will be put to death.  Side by side and equal the adulterers will be in death.  How does it feel to be fairly included ladies?  But remember, God does not condemn the blameless and does not punish the innocent, so this wrath can be avoided by keeping our eyes on Him and Him alone.

God's rules for Israel, His chosen people declare His very Heart for women, more specifically their role in the new society.  Women were meant to be men's partners, although men were to be the leaders of the relationship.  The many, intricate rules God presents in Leviticus protect women in Israel by making the men accountable to God.  But, at the same time, God promises that the punishment for committing adultery will be equal, not sparing either woman or man.  God loves His people, not only Israel, but the entire world that was to be blessed by Israel, and wishes only to have them love Him with the same abandon that He does them.  But to be near to God, we must follow all His commands, regardless of being emancipated females, working mothers, or girls of the twenty first century.

The Other Women

Between Leah and Rachel and the Mosaic Law, there are a few women mentioned that illustrate the view of women God holds.  Because He made us, His ideal for not only a godly woman, but also her role in society is extremely relevant to the way women live their lives.  There is Potiphar's wife, the very pinnacle of, the very opposite of what a woman should be.  And, in contrast, there is Miriam, the prophetess, a woman blessed by God, one to which the entire nation of Israel heard.

Potiphar's wife is immoral.  That much we know, although her immorality is never focused in Bible studies, where people tend to emphasize Joseph's morality rather than her part.  The Scriptures tell us that Joseph was not only a young man when enslaved, but also handsome and attractive (Gen. 39: 6).  Potiphar's wife remains unnamed, showing Potiphar's possession of her.  Perhaps possession is not exactly the correct word, because the reason she is called specifically Potiphar's wife is the intended emphasis of her immorality and her failure to fulfill the role for which she was in.  Potiphar's wife's actions illustrate how God DOESN'T want women to behave and conduct themselves. 

To combat the argument that God only intended to have women be the maids of the male species, we look to the case of Miriam, sister of Aaron.  Moses has brought the people of Israel out of captivity in Egypt, where they have been for four hundred years, and now, after wandering, they have come to Mount Sinai after their victory at the Red Sea.  Songs of praise are breaking out everywhere, and it seems as though Israel has had a poetic revolution.  Interestingly, after Moses' song, it is stated that Miriam too sang a song of praise.  She is called a prophetess, which is a woman of high standing.  If God didn't believe that women were good for anything other than cooking and cleaning, why would He bestow this great honor on her?

Between the two stories of Potiphar's wife and Miriam the prophetess, we see God's view of the "right" woman emerging.  Potiphar's wife was condemned because she was immoral and deceptive, but it went deeper than that.  She belonged to her husband and disrespected him by trying to violate their marriage bed.  But this is not to say that God believe man to be the slave driver of the relationship.  Rather, this illustrates that he believes marriage to be a union based on mutual respect, although the woman and the man do have gender specific roles to play in the marriage.  There is just something, something totally mysterious, about a woman that makes her capable of becoming a mother.  Men do not have this capability, and gender role emerge from this, along with others.  God's second, more positive half of His view, is Miriam, the prophetess.  She is the holy woman, righteous, though not sinless, one that has truly tried to become more and more like Him.  He has not withheld positions of honor and standing, showing that He does not oppose women being prominent in society.  Both of these examples have a deeper meaning beyond the Sunday school one. They are drenched in setting up proper women's roles that, if followed, would lead to a happier, more peaceful society.

Making Israel: The Founding Mothers

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are considered to be the three patriarchs of the nation of Israel, God's chosen people.  God made the Abrahamic covenant with Abraham, Isaac was the promised son, and Jacob was, in addition to being the father of the twelve tribes of Israel, was renamed, by God, Israel.  The latter two of the trio, Sarai/Sarah already having been discussed, had wives that were talked about in great detail in the Word, and mothers of the nation of Israel.

When it came time for Isaac to take a wife, Abraham sent a servant out to his homeland to find a suitable girl (Gen. 24:3-4).  This is extremely important, because it shows the importance of the "right" woman.  No woman from Canaan would be suitable for the job.  The servant did go to Abraham's homeland, and among his people began his search for the girl God had chosen.  The servant prayed to God, asking that whichever girl gave not only him a drink, but also his camels, from her jar would be the one.  Rebekah was the girl who fulfilled this request, although we don't know how many girls were actually asked.  In describing Rebekah, Moses (the human author of Genesis) shows God's standard for women.  Rebekah is "...beautiful, a virgin..." (Gen. 24: 16).  In this simple line, God shows the world that he viewed this girl as beautiful not because of her hair or figure, but because she had kept herself pure, pursuing self-control rather than pleasure.  The servant immediately made a proposal of marriage, which was accepted by Rebekah's father and older brother.  This seems very much like an arranged marriage, until Rebekah's relatives want her to stay at home for over a week.  She shows her feelings in the matter by telling them she wished to go when they asked her opinion (Gen. 24:55-57).  This occurrence is completely opposite our modern stereotypes of ancient Middle Eastern social life.  A woman being asked her opinion?  Unthinkable!

Rebekah and Isaac's son Jacob found not one but two wives in the land of his forefathers when he was running from his brother.  Unfortunately, after deception on the part of the girls' father, Jacob had to marry two sisters.  This caused a lifetime of tension, because the one sister, Rachel, was loved while Leah was not.  God saw this and Leah's despair and blessed Leah with a multitude of children, while Rachel remained barren (Gen. 29:31).  This wasn't a punishment on Rachel, for it wasn't her fault that Jacob couldn't conceal his favor for her.  But the moral of this story is not God's way of telling men not to date the sister of your former girlfriend.  This particular account demonstrates woman's acute need for her husband's love and acceptance.  All of the children's names, of Leah, Rachel, and their respective maidservants, had to do with Jacob loving or accepting them now that a child was born.  Around the world, a woman's worth is derived from both the love of her husband and her ability to produce sons.  Even in America, women are torn apart every day as they learn their husbands no longer love them.  Rachel and Leah's story shows the pitiful, simple existence of women after the fall.  These women did not have the satisfaction of dwelling in their husband's love as the one and only.  They had to share, and the affect was devastating.

Sarai: The Matriarch

I don't actually like Sarah.  She's not the kind of woman I would expect to be the matriarch of an entire, godly nation.  She's too human for that.  While in most Sunday school classes, little attention is paid to her story; it is a story that demonstrates the different roles of women in the ancient Middle East, as well as God's view of women.

The first account in which Sarah, then Sarai, plays a role is the story of Abram in Egypt, where he deceived the Pharaoh to ensure his safety.  Sarai was, apparently, beautiful.  Now Abram knew that the Pharaoh would covet Sarai because of this beauty and he hypothesized that Pharaoh would take her (Gen. 12:12).  This assumption speaks volumes about the perception of women in the ancient Middle East area, showing that men, much as they do today, look at women as something to be attained and desired rather than respected.  In the next part, Abram does not defy this line of thought, knowing that God would view it as unholy; rather, he chooses to sin, deceiving the Pharaoh by saying that Sarai was his sister (Gen. 12:13).  This was a half-truth, for Sarai was his half-sister, but the intent was to deceive, which is a sin.

Sarai and Abram had no children, although God had promised that multitudes would spring from the loins of Abram (Gen. 15:5).  Sarai grew impatient and finally gave Abram permission to sleep with her Egyptian maidservant to produce an heir (Gen. 16:2).  In this moment, it should be noted that Hagar had no room to refuse this use of her body as a surrogate mother.  She had neither voice nor choice in the matter, illustrating the point that although women such as Sarai had considerable freedom, maidservants and slaves had nothing.  Sarai did not have the opportunity to support herself as women do today, but she did have the opportunity to own servants that were specifically hers.  In fact, the Scriptures refer to Sarai as Hagar’s mistress, and Hagar as the servant of Sarai, not of Abraham (Gen 16:8-9).  Hagar, after learning that she was pregnant began to hate Sarai, although it is not stated clearly why.  It can be inferred that Hagar was unhappy about the situation, that her son would be considered one of Sarai’s.  Hagar’s situation is a perfect example of female subordination, so much so that she didn’t even have a feasible claim on her son.

Sarah seems an unlikely candidate to be a holy matriarch.  She was unfaithful of God, she was deceptive, and she was petty in her treatment of Hagar.  But her story, along with Hagar’s, illustrates the gender dynamics and freedoms of this early age, showing differences even within the same gender.

Eve's Story

I cannot separate my feelings for women's rights with that of my faith.  To do so would require me to throw away everything I have ever believed.  I do not and cannot believe, like some, that any view of God means the oppression of women.  Instead of arguing a secular point of view in this issue, I have decided to do a study of the Christian faith and the role of women in society and in eternity.  Unfortunately, many people do not agree with this stance, but I will not attempt to argue or defend what I believe wholeheartedly to be the Truth.  Simply put, I come to this discussion with a Christian worldview.  I am not associated with any particular sect or denomination of Christianity (in fact, my church is nondenominational), and all my evidence comes straight from the Word.  However, I am human, so I encourage anyone who reads this to look up anything and everything I say.

In the beginning, God made man.  That much is very, utterly simple.  Jokingly, I'm sure some would argue that life was better for Adam without Eve.  And yet, God determined that it wasn't good for this man to be alone (Gen. 2:18).  So, the book of Genesis tells us, God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep and took part of his side to form his helper (Gen. 2:21-22).  Interestingly enough, the word helper is used.  The NET Bible, an online Bible that has been annotated by biblical professionals, tells us that the word used in the Hebrew text did not have the same connotations as the word “helper” is in English.  In fact, the Hebrew word is more of “indispensable companion” (NETBible.org).  This does not convey any of the subordination or oppression that many believe to be inherent in the foundations of the Christian faith.

It isn’t known how long Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, but the account of the fall of man is well documented.  God had told the man, in the very beginning that although he may eat from any tree in the Garden, the tree in the middle was forbidden (Gen.2: 16).  Eve was addressed by the “crafty” serpent, who tempted her with the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Interestingly, as well as a side note, the serpent never blatantly lied to Eve.  Eve didn’t die- right at that point.  From one perspective, all the serpent did was open the door to doubt, which flooded into Eve’s mind.  Now, before Eve is condemned as the sole perpetrator, the text does say that she gave the fruit to her husband, “who was with her” (Gen. 3:6).  Eve, however wrong, however weak, was not the only one.  The Scripture leaves no doubt that Adam, the man was with her, and it does not give the slightest implication that he was tricked into sinning.  The age-old argument that Eve was the only instrument in our fall is, in fact, wrong.

Following the first sin, the first evil, God cursed not only man and woman, but also the entire earth (Gen. 3:16-19).  But it is Eve’s curse that sets up the entirety of woman’s struggle.  God tells her that in addition to increased childbearing pains, she will desire to control her husband, but that he will dominate her (Gen 3:16).  In some texts, only the word desire is used, but because, again, the connotations of the word in English and Hebrew are different, theological scholars believe that control is meant rather than romantic desire, which doesn’t actually fit with the tone and purpose of the curse.  In this curse, God does not sanction struggle as holy or right.  Instead, he merely states that it will be, much as the curse of the ground will be.  In His intended creation, this conflict would not be present, but because of sin, the two sexes will continually be at odds over domination.

Eve’s story does not have the purpose of showing the sanctioned subordination of women.  In fact, her story is what makes this fight completely real.  Many feminists believe that women are, in fact, superior to men.  Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa wrote a book entitled The Superior Excellence of Women over Men.  This is not true.  No sex was meant to be superior to the other, and it is saddening that some believe the opposite to be true.  God did not whisper in Adam’s ear when Eve was made, “I still like you best though”.  Eve sets the stage for the fight that has lasted for all of human existence.