A short note for the men who hate the idea of women teachers

Please understand, this article is not meant to degrade men in any way, as I can assure you, I am not some man-hating women’s libber. Matter of fact, my husband is a man, and as such, the spiritual head of our house. Unlike many who seem to view their role as “head of the house” as having a God-given right to be an abusive slave taskmaster, my husband views us as equals with specific gender roles and purposes.

However, not every man is like my husband. You see, I am often reminded by both men and the occasional woman, that I shouldn’t be teaching Scripture, because that’s a “man’s job.”

Well, I beg to differ, and here’s the reason why – and please bear with me:

Bottom line: BOTH men and women have been guilty of creating the world in which we live right now – BECAUSE, instead of adhering to YHWH’s Divine Instructions, we’ve constantly strayed. We are “equally” to blame – and have been, right since the very beginning!

(And let’s just be brutally honest here: we’re certainly no longer what YHWH originally intended! Today’s society includes (and sometimes seems to be run by) people who aren’t even sure of their gender or their roles – and we’re all being FORCED to cater to their nonsense….)

Consider:

When YHWH created Hava (Eve) from Adam’s rib, He clearly expected Adam (the “head of his house” - Eden) to teach her everything he himself had been taught. However, when haSatan (in the guise of a serpent) started asking Hava some pointed questions, we see that she, for some reason, “added to” what she had been taught – which actually kicked off the “fall of humanity.”

Why? Well, remember, in Genesis, Adam is told not to EAT the forbidden fruit, 'for if you do, you shall surely die" (Genesis 2:15). That was it: Don’t eat from that tree or you will die. Period. (Notice YHWH didn’t provide a timeframe for Adam’s death after eating the fruit. He simply stated that there was a death penalty.)

One would hope that Adam passed this on to Havah at some point. But while conversing with the serpent, (Genesis 3:2), what does she say? She says she should not TOUCH OR EAT the fruit, lest she die. In other words, she “built a fence” (kind of like what many Jewish Rabbis have done). Her "fence" (like all "fences" that humans pass along) became part of her normal understanding of the command.

As a result, when she did touch the fruit and then DIDN'T die, the serpent was easily able to convince her that the fruit was safe! YHWH never said not to “touch” the fruit, so touching really meant nothing; but, because she then broke HIS command by actually EATING it AND getting Adam (the “head of his house”) to stupidly join her, guess what? They BOTH got evicted from the Garden and ultimately DIED! And consequently, we are all STILL suffering and dying to this day….

So, getting back to the crux of my article about those “macho” or overly zealous “religious” men who hate women Bible teachers, it seems they have forgotten some very important details concerning women teachers.

For instance, they seem to have forgotten that ADONAI used a WOMAN to bring them into this world; and that most likely it was their MOTHERS who gave them most of their baths, changed their diapers and helped them take their first steps. It was also most likely a WOMAN taught them how to read, write and provided them with simple arithmetic skills. (Google the stats for elementary teachers where you’ll discover that MOST elementary teachers have been, and still are, WOMEN.)

There are also many women high school teachers and college professors, and there are plenty of MEN and BOYS taking their classes. Yet, once some men “find Jesus” (and especially “Torah”) – BAM! – somehow, women suddenly become lesser citizens who need to be subjugated!

My first experience (of MANY) with that type of thinking came in 2004, when our website, The Refiner’s Fire, was still fairly young; and was discovered by a guy named Gary Reckart - a rabid Jew hater who at the time pastored some “Messianic Apostolic” church (whatever THAT is!) down in Florida.

I still have his emails wherein he not only called my husband a “wimp” for not keeping me “barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen, where I belonged”; but he also Googled our address, sent us pictures of what he thought was our house, and threatened to “jump on the next plane” to personally teach me a lesson in what “a woman’s place” was!

His maniacal emails scared us so badly that we removed ALL personal info from our website for many years – which is a GOOD thing, because we’ve received several “death threats” over the years (mostly from Jew haters, but also from several who had a problem with a woman Bible teacher).

But those days are OVER with! I know who I am today, I certainly have more qualifications than most of the “armchair scholar” men here on Facebook; and I’m not ashamed to share my God-given writing and teaching gifts, nor hide the fact that I feel YHWH has tasked me to do what I’m doing! If someone has a problem with that, it’s THEIR problem; not mine. Nobody is forcing them to read my teachings or to be in my life in any way….

There is NO DOUBT in my military mind (yes – I am a former Army Sergeant Major!) that I have just as much right to teach Scripture as any man does. My ministry is simply an online ministry. I don’t head a congregation (and wouldn’t want to), and my intent is not to lord myself over men. My goal is to teach Scripture; nothing more, nothing less.

To read more about why it’s wrong to suppress a qualified woman’s right to teach Scripture, please check out my article on women teaching men.