It always pains me to see men making the types of inflammatory and chauvinistic comments seen on the screen shot above. The Bible simply doesn’t say what this guy suggests!
Unfortunately, there are myriad “Hebrew Roots” and “Messianic” men who LOVE to give their wives a “biblical concussion” with their twisted ideas about passages like Ephesians 5:22-24 and 1 Timothy 2:12.
YES, ADONAI does have a hierarchy, but He never said that women are to be treated like little brainless robots, designed to “obey” their husband’s every little whim and wish – whether the husbands are right or wrong. That concept is beyond ludicrous!
Romans 5: 1. Therefore, because we are being made righteous by faith, we will have peace with Elohim through our Master Y’shua the Mashiyach 2. By whom we are brought by faith into this grace, in which we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of Elohim. (AENT)
Ephesians 2: 17 Also, when he came, he announced as Good News shalom to you far off and shalom to those nearby,[a] 18 news that through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers. On the contrary, you are fellow-citizens with God’s people and members of God’s family. (CJB)
Last time I checked, women are not only considered “God’s people” but are also members of His family – which means, they need NO ONE’S permission to seek or speak to Him!
Unfortunately, men like the one in the screen shot are plentiful, terrorizing women with their twisted theology about how God insists they are to be obeyed without question by their wives.
I received one of my first “biblical concussions” from a man like that, two decades ago, in the early years after the creation of our website, The Refiner’s Fire. It came in the form of an email from some mean-spirited, old pastor who referred to himself as a “Messianic Apostolic” (some weird, made-up “religion” that was apparently based on keeping constant control of everyone in his congregation, and complete subjugation of women - who were not allowed to cut their hair, wear makeup of any kind, and had to wear long skirts, etc.).
Anyway, his comments to me as a webmaster “daring to teach men around the world” were basically that my husband was a “wimp” for not making me behave; and that I needed to “sit down, shut up, and remain barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen, where women belong.”
To drive his point home, he even sent us a screenshot from some real estate site, of what he thought was our house, to let me know that he knew where we lived and that he was jumping on the next plane to Colorado to personally give me “a lesson I would never forget”….
He was wrong about where I lived, but needless to say, that was the day we removed any personal info from the website! There are some truly crazy and dangerous people in this world! I’ve kept that man’s emails over the years as a reminder to be very careful.)
Returning to the point, the plain facts are: If “husbands loved their wives as even as the Mashiyach loved his assembly and delivered himself up for it” (Ephesians 5:25), then wives would automatically be more willing to respect, honor and submit themselves to “obedience.”
Here are a couple more facts:
(1) This is a two-way street! Mutual love and respect is a give-and-take situation.
(2) We are told there is “no Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, nor male nor female, for in union with the Messiah Yeshua, you are all one.” (Galatians 3:28).
Instead of recognizing this simple fact, many “religious” men will do a lot of scripture twisting, instead of conceding that there are ALSO scriptures that tell THEM that THEY, too, have a responsibility to submit to their wives!
See for yourself:
1 Peter 3:7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. (CJB)
Scripture is clear... we are to build each other up!
Having said that, I will leave you with the following passage to contemplate:
Ephesians 5:28. It is fitting for men so to love their wives as (they do) their own bodies. For he that loves his wife loves himself. 29. For no one ever hated his own body; but nourishes it and provides for it, even as the Mashiyach (did for) the assembly.
30. For we are members of his body and of his flesh and of his bones. 31. For this reason, a man [1] should leave his father and his mother and cling to his wife; and the two should be one flesh.[2] 32. This is a great mystery; but I am speaking of the Mashiyach and of his assembly. 33. Nevertheless, let each of you greatly so love his wife, even as himself: and let the wife reverence her husband. (AENT)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Rav Shaul apparently favors gowra rather than anash when speaking of men or husbands in this Epistle. Every place gowra is used seems to tap into the protector-male aspect rather than generic maleness or just being a husband. It appears as Rav Shaul is doubly emphasizing the responsibility of men to provide for their house, wife and family.
[2] See Genesis 2:24.
Great answer to his bashing!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Fallingwaters!
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