Part II of II
The Apostle Paul Was Wrong About Women!
(March 2000; Modified March 2004)
 

The New And Natural Priesthood Is Spiritually Sexless

Peter spoke of Joel’s prophecy in Acts 2:16-18

But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants [men in service to God] and on my handmaidens [women in service to God] I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy (Acts 2:16-18).

This prophecy is to The Church that is neither Jew nor Greek, but all that love and serve God and are spiritually labeled the sons of God. This prophecy is to the circumcised of the heart – male and female – Believers that make up The Church of Jesus Christ.

The old priesthood was made of a select or chosen group of men – Levites, but has now been replaced by Jesus The High Priest Forever, after His death on the cross - resulting in Him sending back the Holy Ghost to abide in all surrendered vessels. At Jesus’ death, the veil in the Temple was split in two (Matthew 27:51) which meant all, male and female, can now come before The Lord on equal footing. Each and every male and female can go before Jesus, our Mediator and High Priest forever, for him- or herself, and there is no bias. What was the old priesthood (males only), is now comprised of men and women who, in the presence of God, are spiritually neutral and sexless. How so? Church of Jesus Christ, with Christ the High Priest, is made up of

...lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood [male and female], to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ (I Peter 2:5).

This is all Believers that God called out of darkness, and it’s not exclusively males. This is the Church of Jesus Christ/The Bride of Christ, male and female - and ALL IS ONE to Him. The Word of Truth is:

Before God there is neither male nor female because He sees the inner being/spirit, and spirit is the NEUTER gender (no male nor female). God operates through the spirit in us - not flesh because He will have nothing to do with the flesh. We are all one in Christ Jesus which means God is no respecter of persons in no way, form or fashion. God deals with us in the spirit.

From the above, it is clear that God never made males "the apple of His eye" and females the "lemon on his tongue." Women in Christ are free and it does not mean free to serve the men in the Church as cooks and bottle washers. It does not mean what the well-known radio preacher, R.G. Stair (who calls himself "The Prophet of God" "A Mighty Man of God") says about women having been made to strengthen men; to bear children; to be a wife, sister, be quiet, be holy, and be godly; to never have authority over men and are never to preach or teach men. Under the Old Covenant, God’s Word and His deeds were to all of His people. Whether you want to believe it or not, search The Scriptures, for they bear witness that there was no women’s court in Solomon’s Temple nor was there a women’s court in the Temple of Zerubbabel. In Denese Mann’s book, she states:

During festival celebrations, there was much levity between the men and women. This fact began to dwell on the minds of the teachers. They decided that too much hilarity might create temptations between the sexes, and for the first time the order was changed. A balcony was built in the court and women were sent there; thus a deliberate attempt was now made to separate men from women in the Temple on grounds of morality. (The Woman In Judaism. Mann, Denese Berg. Jonathan Publications, Hartford, CT, 1979 p. 18.)

Subjugation/segregation/oppression of women was not God’s doing, but that of weak and carnal men. This is not a segregated priesthood with men as masters. When God spoke to all the people, it was both men and women (Leviticus 9:23). When God said, He redeemed the soul of His servants (Psalm 34:22), He was speaking of both men and women. God didn’t just redeem the male’s life from destruction, but He redeemed women also. God was not partial then and isn’t partial now. We are all God’s sons in the spirit. This is for women as well, otherwise it means God has already condemned women to hell and what’s the point in trying to live holy?

Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you (I Corinthians 11:2).

In the above Scripture, Apostle Paul is alerting the Corinthians that he is about to hand down another ordinance. What’s an ordinance? Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms defines ordinance as follows: an order governing some detail of procedure or conduct enforced by a limited authority. Paul then proceeds with the new ordinance:

But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God….For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God. Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered (I Corinthians 11:3-13)?

The "head" is one whom others are in service to, and Jesus Christ only, is that Head over His Church. Jesus is head over all – The Chief. He is "The stone which the builders refused…the head stone of the corner" (Psalm 118:22; Matthew 21:42). The Gospel of Jesus Christ speaks of one head over all and that being Jesus Himself. Paul’s words of the man coming directly under Christ, and the woman coming directly under the man is not, I repeat, is not Scriptural when it comes to the Bible. Even Eve was not subordinate to her husband. Had she been, God would have made her out of Adam's feet signifying such. The fact that the bone for Eve was taken from Adam’s side (Genesis 2:21), meant Eve was created as an equal to Adam, not above Adam nor beneath him. She was created as Adam’s "help meet" (Genesis 2:18), and not his servant – not his chattel mortgage. (Help Meet is one who aids or assist – not a slave or lower class human being.)

For the man being the image and glory of God and the woman the glory of man isn’t Scriptural. THE IMMUTABLE GOD said, when He first created humankind, He made them (male and female) in His image (Genesis 1:26). God said it up front – why would He change that after He’d already created mankind – male and female. There is no need for male or female to literally cover their heads before praying or prophesying because GOD ALMIGHTY is the covering for each of them – HIS HOLY SPIRIT is over and about each. "Woe to the rebellious children [male and female], saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin" (Isaiah 30:1). God’s Holy Spirit is the covering for each of His children, and any other covering is demonic.

Using your God-given mind, think on the above Corinthian verses of Scripture. Do you really understand them? They cannot be understood because they are a lot of gobbledygook – Scripturally unintelligent. As you will be shown, Paul, himself, tells us that. Where in the Bible did you read Angels having power over anybody? Nowhere! True Church of Jesus Christ, may The Lord open up your spiritual ears to hear His voice as He tells you,

This means a husband cannot be a spiritual covering for the wife because he is not God; women in ministry having a male pastor over them is a demonic travesty; and women wearing a scarf or any kind of head covering means absolutely – "zilch" – "nothing" to, for, or before God Almighty.

After Adam and Eve discovered their nakedness, what did they do?

they [each of them] sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves [each of them] aprons (Genesis 3:7).

Adam did not make a covering for Eve, nor she for him. If Adam (husband) was Eve’s (wife) covering, why didn’t he cover her then? Who covered them both? God, of course.

made coats of skins, and clothed them [each of them] (Genesis 3:21).

No man can be a covering for any woman. We can also get from this, that God made

Paul is yet speaking, and in the very next verse tells the Corinthians and US, that what he had just spoken was garbage – a lie, and it was not from God. Read that next verse very, very carefully, with your spiritual eyes and ears open.

But if any man seem to be contentious [quarrelsome or contest what I’ve said], we have no such custom, neither the churches of God (I Corinthians 11:16).

In other words, Paul said, and I paraphrase, "I was just teasing, don’t get upset. We don’t have any such laws in The Church of Jesus Christ." Or he might have put it another way, "If anyone wants to react in a hostile way or fight about what I’ve just said – ‘cool your heels’ – that stuff wasn’t true – there are no such practices, and certainly not in the Church of Jesus Christ." Paul may not have meant it, but for hundreds of years, out of spiritual ignorance and lack of carnal intelligence, that customary example used just to prove a point to the Corinthians, put many women in hundreds of years of bondage by veiling their heads in The Church.

The false exemplary ordinance Paul wrote in those Scriptural verses would have been "just cause" for the Corinthians to contest and perhaps be divided. As ridiculous as that example was, which would have caused division, the division in their congregation was just as ridiculous. The division among them (Verse 18) and the doctrines in conflict with the truths taught them (Verse 19) was evident by the fact that when they came together it was not for The Lord’s supper, but for them to show off by bringing their own food and eating it while others present had nothing to eat. They were, in fact, shaming the poor and second to that, not helping the poor.

For in eating every one taketh before other [Believers present] his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not (I Corinthians 11:21-22).

Paul stressed to the Corinthians that what they were doing was wrong and were thus receiving Holy Communion in an unworthy state (Verse 27). They were damning themselves (Verse 29) and that was the reason for many being "weak and sickly…and many sleep [dead]" (I Corinthians 11:30). Paul’s final word to them on the matter was

brethren, when ye come together to eat [The Lord’s Supper], tarry [delay] one [your home cooked meal] for another [The Lord’s Supper]. And if any man hunger, let him eat at home [before coming to Church]; that ye come not together unto condemnation [disapproval of]…(I Corinthians 11:33-34).

What the Corinthians were doing with food in The Church was as sinfully ridiculous as the outlandish "head-covering-power-ordinance" Paul gave as a lead-in example before getting down to the crux of the matter at hand. Saints, it was never Paul’s intention for women (nor men for that matter) to cover their heads in the free Church of Jesus Christ. Christ’s death on the cross liberated women, so why would He do an about-face and incarcerate them again? The Lord would not do that, and neither was Apostle Paul attempting to do that with respect to the covering of the head.

Saints, Church, please take a moment and look back in Old Testament times. The Old Testament says nothing about commanding a woman to be veiled or have her head covered. (1) Sarah while in Egypt was not veiled; had she been, how would the Egyptians have seen her beauty, therefore causing Abram to fear for his life (Genesis 11)? (2) If Rachel had been veiled, how would Jacob have preferred her over Leah (Genesis 29)? (3) If Hannah had been veiled, how would Eli have seen her lips moving in prayer to accuse her of drunkeness (I Samuel 1)? (4) When Rebekah veiled herself (Genesis 24:65), did it have something to do with a pre-wedding status custom? Old Testament women were not required to be veiled or covered in any sort of way. The covering of women was commanded by men and not by God! The Oral Law/Talmud commands women to be covered, remember.

For women to be commanded not to speak in church is of man and not God. It was handed down by man, even by Paul the Apostle. Paul admitted women prophesied when he made the preposterous statement that "every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head" (I Corinthians 11:5). It is established that women do prophesy, but if they must keep silent, then who do they prophesy to - God? God doesn’t need it. So who do women prophesy to - walls - the air - or perhaps catch you while you’re standing next to your car on the parking lot and prophesy? God is not limited - not even to your man-made laws that inhibit His female vessels from being of service to Him and all of His people.

First, Jesus, who died for the individual male Believer and the individual female Believer is the only go-between God and His Church (Hebrews 12:24), the Bride of Christ (male and female).

Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity ( I Timothy 2:7).   

What was the purpose of almost swearing that he was speaking the truth, and not lying? That was a pretty suspicious utterance.

I [Paul] will [desire or command] therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting ( I Timothy 2:8).

Isn’t it God’s will that His children obey Him, and not Apostle Paul’s will? In ministering or preaching to God’s people, aren’t we in the habit of saying that it’s God’s will that one should do something, "based on Scripture," such as lifting up holy hands? Since Paul could very easily command in the above Scripture, which was spiritually gutsy, Paul could very easily slip into the Oral Law/Talmud and bound God’s female children. In the next two verses, Paul continues in "his" will – "his" desire – "his" command with the words that

Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak [by whose commandment?]; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law [Oral/Talmudic Law, not God’s Highly Holy Standard/Law] (I Corinthians 14:34).

And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home [woe unto those whose husbands are unsaved or there is no husband]: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church [dishonor, disgrace, filthy; how so with God?] (I Corinthians 14:35).

It appears women weren’t expected to learn anything. Apostle Paul was used to the fact that the Jewish woman "was present as often as she wished at religions functions; and she prayed if she so desired or studied Torah" if so inclined, according the author of the book, The Woman In Judaism, Denese Mann. The Woman In Judaism goes on to say that

since the woman was held responsible for her household duties and her family, she was exempted from those religious obligations which had to be performed at a set time. Examples of this kind of responsibility include laying of phylacteries or participating in daily prayers or holiday prayers. This rule did not apply to precepts…such as keeping the Sabbath. (The Woman In Judaism. Mann, Denese Berg. Jonathan Publications, Hartford, CT, 1979 p. 2.)

God did not exempt women from salvation and nor did He automatically bestow it upon them. God never gave women a choice to love and serve Him or not.

Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not [Paul will not tolerate, not God] a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression (I Timothy 2:11-14).

Notwithstanding she [the woman] shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety ( I Timothy 2:15).

In Genesis 3:16, God said nothing about every woman being saved via giving birth to children as Paul states. Whatever happened to women trusting in Jesus Christ to save them? God never changed the purpose of Jesus’ death for the saving of mankind – male and female. Remember, God is immutable; He changes not.

Again, Apostle Paul’s commands on silencing women do not line up with God’s Word. Paul goes on to say that if women are to learn (and why shouldn’t they learn), then it’s their husband’s duty to teach them at home (I Corinthians 14:35). This puts the responsibility of the woman’s salvation on the shoulders of the husband. That is not Scriptural. Each and everyone of us is responsible for our own salvation. Wasn’t it this same Paul who told us to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12). What an oxymoron! What about the woman who has no husband, is she automatically sentenced to hell? Perhaps she is to sit under the husband of another woman – some other woman’s husband as her covering? I don’t think so! This kind of conduct is not of God Almighty! This is men-folk wanting to be superior over all women; wanting to control all women, and last but not least, fearing the temptations between them and women. God forbid, Jesus never, ever said it was a shame for women to publicly speak in The Church.

Because of those First Timothy verses of Scripture, many women, called by God, have been spiritually squelched. The women have been spiritually tied down because of the belief that they can’t pastor a church; they can’t preach or speak behind the pulpit; they can’t serve on governing boards; they can’t be in authority over men; they can’t teach men; they must wear head coverings; and the laughable list goes on, and on, and on.

According to Paul, and he says it is based on the law, but what law? You should ask yourself, what law? Oral Law/Talmud or God’s Law, His High Holy Standard? There is no such directive in The Torah/Bible/Law. That’s the tradition of men – Jewish custom, and not God’s Law. After commanding the Church in the above Scriptures, why would there be need for Paul to make the following statement if he were not imprisoning people to the tradition of men:

If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge [admit or endorse] that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord (I Corinthians 14:37).

Again, if those commandments were truly of God and not the tradition of men, why should Paul care about what the people think. Saints, Apostle Paul knew in his spirit that there was a problem with that commandment silencing women. Personally, if what I have spoken is Scripturally sound, I don’t ask anyone to admit that it is true, for by the time I have finished giving you Scriptures as backup, you know it’s true. Paul gave these Corinthians (who were not raised in Judaism) absolutely no Scriptural basis for the things that he commanded because he couldn’t. It was hogwash he spat out that was based on the Oral Law/Talmud – men’s interpretation and traditions – and not God’s Law. If what Paul spoke lined-up with God’s Word, why should he care if the Saints endorsed it or not.

Memory Refresher A woman should not read in the Torah out of respect for the congregation (The Babylonian Talmud; Seder Mo`Ed IV; Megillah 23a. The Soncino Press, London, 1938, p.140).

Saints, face it, Apostle Paul "missed the beat" when he spoke commandments that enslaved God’s Saints of the feminine gender by forbidding them to speak. He was a man! He was steeped in the Oral Law/Talmud and Pharaseeical teachings, and without a doubt, he still held on to much of those teachings even though they didn’t line up with God’s Word. After all, with the New Covenant people being people of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is free, why would God allow women to be bound? God would never do that; HE DID NOT INSTRUCT PAUL TO COMMAND THOSE BONDAGES UPON FEMALES IN THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST!

If Paul’s commandments are from God, then the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to "free males," and not to "enslaved females" where it speaks of

1. the Believer having signs following them (Mark 16:16-18).
2. the Saints worshipping in spirit (not flesh); worshipping in truth (John 4:24), because we are Spirit-filled Believers made in God’s image (Spirit).
3. us all being kings and priests, a royal priesthood (Revelation 1:6; 5:10).
4. us being lively stones, built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood (males and females) (I Peter 2:5).
5. us being a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people - not peculiar men and debased women (I Peter 2:9)
6. us having God’s Holy Spirit poured out upon us (Acts 2:3).

Paul’s commandments are completely out of harmony with The Bible and Jesus Christ by making distinctions between men and women who make up the Bride of Christ/Church, and the ministry of God, thus relegating women to a second class position. If one cannot be free in The Church of Jesus Christ, then they might as well be dead.  It is not divided according to male, female, race, nor color, but is ONE and is headed by Christ, Himself. Where Christ is, there is equality, not favoritism. God did not single out the males to carry the Gospel to all people. No, indeed, no! It’s no because God sees us in the inner man – the spirit, and not in the flesh. God is Father of all – male and female, and why would He favor men carrying The Gospel over the women carrying the Gospel? Why would He treat women like step-children? What natural father, that truly loves his children, would favor his son over his daughter? Favoritism is not love, and God is love.

Wasn’t it this same Apostle Paul that instructed us Believers to "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (II Timothy 2:15). Rightly dividing the word of truth as in God’s truths/the Gospel of Jesus Christ is for one to compare Paul’s instructions to. Saints, there is absolutely nothing in God’s Word that completely ostracizes women from speaking in Church, or preaching and teaching men. That was man’s doing based on Judaism. As Saints, we are to be as the Bereans (Acts 17:10-11). We are to search the Scriptures – examine The Word for guidance into truth, and then follow that which we believe to be God’s will, knowing that God doesn’t waiver. God isn’t "wishy-washy"! God is immutable! Surely, you will see contradiction in Paul’s commandments about women and know that that is not God speaking.

If Adam Wasn’t Deceived, Why Did He Get Punished?

Addressing I Timothy 2:14 which reads, "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." This sounds as though Adam didn’t transgress or break God’s Law, correct? If Adam didn’t transgress the Law, (1) how did Adam know to put clothes on because he was naked? (2) why did Adam hide from God? (3) why did Adam get punished? There is but one answer to those three questions and it is simply, SIN – and willful sin at that. Plus, Adam attempted to throw the blame on "that woman" that God gave him. (Thank God for His fairness!) Adam willfully sinned and was punished.

And the eyes of them both [Adam and Eve] were opened, and they knew they were naked….Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God….I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself (Genesis 3:7-10).

Listen to God’s question to Adam after Adam stated he was afraid because of his nakedness:

Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat (Genesis 3:11)?

Adam knew he was naked because he had transgressed God’s Commandment to not eat of that particular tree, and his reply to Father God was:

The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat ["I did willfully sin, too."] (Genesis 3:12).

Brothers and Sisters, in God’s eyes, it matters who commits sin – the actual carrying out of thoughts, words, and actions that transgress His commandments. Adam, who was told first, not to eat of the fruit, was just as guilty of transgressing God’s Law as was Eve who initiated it.

Saints, Apostle Paul was not in the Holy Spirit when he wrote that Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. No, Adam was not the "first" to be deceived, which makes it worse because he just went ahead and ate the forbidden fruit given him by Eve. He didn’t even recollect God’s command, nor ask any questions of God or Eve. Adam, as a free moral agent, willingly made the choice to eat fruit from the forbidden tree and nobody is to blame but him. No, sir, Eve did not throw him down, hog-tie him, and ram that piece of fruit down his throat. Had she done so, surely God would have intervened on Adam’s behalf. Saints, Adam was guilty of sin and the Apostle Paul is guilty of writing parts of this Epistle while moving in his "Oral Law/Talmudic flesh" and not the spirit. It matters not who was deceived first, second or third. The sinful act was committed. One can think about committing an act a thousand times, but it is not until that persons acts on the thought, that it becomes a transgression – sin. To transgress God’s Law is to be deceived.  Adam was guilty of transgression of God’s Law as was Eve. Again, God is no respecter of person, and therefore, God isn’t holding the garden matter over women, but men are.

If God is yet holding over women (only) the Garden of Paradise incident, then why did both Adam and Eve get punished or cursed for the sin of rebellion? If Adam was not guilty or punished, why are all males still born with a sinful nature since they come from the seed of men? If Adam wasn’t deceived or didn’t transgress God’s Law, why was Jesus born into this world? Brothers and Sisters, because God is no respecter of persons, and sin is sin, both Adam (males) and Eve (females) were cursed for their sin, and from the looks of things in the Bible, it was pretty equal.

ADAM TRANSGRESSED GOD’S COMMANDMENT JUST AS EVE TRANSGRESSED GOD’S COMMANDMENT, the only difference being, Eve transgressed first through deception, and Adam willfully transgressed – deception nonetheless. All Adam had to do was "just say ‘no’ to apples," but he didn’t. The punishment God gave Adam and Eve was judged righteously and it was equal. The snake, Eve, and Adam all received punishment for the wrong they did in going against what God had commanded. The woman’s punishment was no greater nor less than the man’s, just different in nature pertaining to gender.

God dealt with the Serpent first because of his lie: "And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" (Genesis 3:14-15).

God dealt with Eve second because she bought into the deception: "Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow [pain] thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire [longing] shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee" (Genesis 3:16).

God dealt with Adam third because of his willingness to follow Eve to outright disobey after God spoke to him (Genesis 2:16-17) directly to not eat of the tree: "And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground..." (Genesis 3:17-20)

If it wasn’t equal in God’s sight, then His Word isn’t true, and we know that it is. Psalm 91:10 reads that The Lord "shall judge the people righteously." God being the righteous judge that He is, sets the standards of what is morally right and just. With God being the righteous judge, He therefore judges with equity – fairness and justice. God judges with equity – evenness, according to Psalm 98:9. God judged Adam and Eve equally.

Yes, Adam and Eve were both guilty of the same sin of EATING FROM THE FORBIDDEN TREE and it mattered not to God who initiated the act, but it mattered to Him that the act of disobedience was carried out. Even though God told Adam first of all, not to eat the fruit (Genesis 2:16-17), Adam was not responsible for Eve going ahead and eating the fruit since each and every one of us is responsible for our choosing to sin or not to sin.

And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman….And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh…because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh (Genesis 2:22-24).

This is marriage between male and female only, ONE FLESH ENTITY, and not a relationship between all men and all women making up the Body of Christ/Church. This marriage is not between all males and every single solitary female on this earth, nor all males in The Church to every single solitary female, whereby women have to dance to the tune of any and all men, and not the tune of God’s Holy Spirit. If it were not marriage only, because there are a great deal more women than men, God would permit men to have at least 10 or 15 wives, maybe even 30 or 40 so that all women could have a man to cleave to for that false covering of one flesh entity. However, that is not the case, and thank God!

Do All Men Rule Over ALL Women?

And God said, Let us make man [mankind – male and female] in our image, after our likeness [spirit]: and let them [not him, but each of them] have dominion over the fish of the sea….So God created man [mankind – male and female] in his own image, in the image of God created he him [mankind – male and female]; male and female created he them (Genesis 1:26-27).

Saints, in the above instance where God speaks of man, He is speaking of mankind – both male and female in the flesh with their spirits in the image of God. Oddly enough, God gave them (each of them) dominion over all things. That was "them" and not "him" alone. This meant that Eve was subordinate only as a wife, and not as a woman, for she as an individual had dominion over things. God is not about the business of preferential specification to the male gender only. In Genesis I, God tells that He made man, male and female, and in Genesis 2, He gives particular detail on this creation.

And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and keep it (Genesis 2:15).

There, God took that man, the male specimen and placed him in the Garden.

the Lord God said, It is not good that the man [male specimen] be alone; I will make him an help meet for him….And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof (Genesis 2:18-21).

There was God creating a wife for Adam so that he would not be lonely.

In Genesis 3, the man and his woman/help meet are living happily ever after, until the woman eats fruit from the forbidden tree. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat (Genesis 3:6). Did Adam ever refuse to eat? No. Did Adam search the Scriptures to know how God really and truly felt about them not eating the fruit? No. Just like Adam did not search the Scriptures or ask God to repeat what He said about that one particular tree, the men in The Church are behaving the same sinful way – not searching the Scriptures, but just acting on disallowing women to preach and teach in The Church because Apostle Paul said so.

No woman can possess the kingdom because she sits on her husband’s shoulder; nor will she ride into hell with him on his coattail. Based on that alone, no man can be a covering for a woman; nor can a church be a covering over a woman in the ministry because all men do not have rule over all women. God is the only covering for all humankind. Adam having been made ruler over his wife was not to say that all men are ruler over all women in the world, including The Church of Jesus Christ. That’s not God. The submission of wife to husband is not transferred to ordinary female-male relationship in the Church of Jesus Christ.

The Scribes and Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman caught in the act of adultery. Mind you, why didn’t they bring the man, after all, "it takes two to tango."

when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou (John 8:3-5)?

Again, mind you, this group of men brought only the woman to Jesus. Before going on, let us first see what Moses’ Law says about such sin:

the adulterer [man] and the adulteress [woman] shall surely be put to death (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22).

You can clearly see from the above Scripture that both the man and the woman should have been stoned to death, but where was the man in this sexual escapade? It’s clear from the actions of the Scribes and Pharisees that brought the woman only, and in shame, that through the ages, the Oral Law/Talmud explaining Moses’ Law has become partial in granting leniency to the man, but punishing the woman. Saints, that’s not God! He simply does not operate that way. God does not show partiality to the male gender because Eve was first to transgress His commandment.

Saints, John 20 happenings were for the benefit of women in The Church of Jesus Christ. The following facts attest to that:

1. Mary Magdalene (the woman) went to the sepulcher early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been rolled away.
2. Mary Magdalene (the woman) ran to tell Peter and John that Jesus’ body was gone.
3. Peter and John, along with Mary Magdalene (the woman) ran back to the sepulcher and indeed saw that Jesus was gone and only His grave clothes remained.
4. Peter and John went back home, leaving Mary Magdalene (the woman) there at the sepulcher, where she wept while looking inside.
5. Mary Magdalene (the woman), alone, sees two angels sitting there, and they asked her why she was weeping.

She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus (John 20:13-16).

If women in The Church of Jesus Christ were not equal to men, why did Jesus first appear to Mary Magdalene when He could have shown Himself to Peter and John as soon as they arrived? The answer is, because it didn’t matter since all are called to do His work. It was done that way because women were already treated as second-class in Judaism and and Jesus foresaw the same taking place in Christianity.  In hopes of His Church searching the Scriptures and seeing His love for women being equal to that for men, He expected change to come about for women. (Jesus did not discriminate against women.) To Jesus, men in His service are no better than women, for all are equal in His sight. There is liberty in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and He demonstrated it immediately after His resurrection by appearing to Mary Magdalene.

The woman Mary Magdalene proclaimed the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Women followed Jesus to the cross and the tomb. Women are certified as full-fledge/equal Christians because they were witnesses of the birth, crucifixion, burial, resurrection of Jesus, and Pentecost. In the first chapter of Acts, in the Upper Room was one hundred twenty Believers that included the eleven Apostles with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus. There they prayed and voted on Judas’ replacement. According to Acts, there was no distinction between the men and women because of pronouns used such as "them," "they," and "all," and that meant men and women. Had it been a "males only club," surely The Holy Spirit would have seen to it that the word got around to The Church via The Bible.

they were all with one accord in one place (Acts 2:1).

These were men and women, and the women had to have been speaking, teaching, and preaching as well, otherwise Peter would not have referred to Joel’s prophecy (Acts 2:16-18).

Yes, many times Peter greeted "ye men" or "brethren," but it did not mean he was addressing men only, because men and women (the people) were repenting and being saved. Proof of that is in Acts 9.

And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way [Christianity], whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem (Acts 9:1-2).

"This way" was the way in Christ Jesus – Christianity. If women were not out there preaching and teaching, "disciplining," why would there have been a need to arrest them?

And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles (Acts 8:1).

As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison (Acts 8:3).

And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women (Acts 22:4).

Women were imprisoned and persecuted even unto death because they were testifying – spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all people – men and women. As the author J.B. Moody wrote:

Why urge a woman to testify what the Lord has done for her soul when she joins the church, and then put an embargo on her mouth, saying she is no longer a witness for Christ, but she must be in silence….(Women in the Churches. J.B. Moody; Hall-Moody Institute, Martin, TN, 1910, p. 97.)

In Conclusion

And the Lord God said, Behold the man [male and female] is become as one of us [knowing good from evil; not little ‘Gods’ but 'gods']: to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life [Christ], and eat, and live forever (Genesis 3:22).

Now, Saints, if you want to believe that Eve alone was the transgressor, then Eve and all women should be the only ones having to take hold of the "Tree of Life." But, no, mankind, both male and female transgressed God’s Law, and they both were shown their nakedness and had to grab hold of the Tree of Life/Christ in order to have eternal happiness. God is fair! God is an equal opportunity Savior. Nowhere in Genesis can you read that God favored Adam over Eve.

The above Genesis 3 Scripture is saying that sin was not credited in the case of Adam and Eve. God simply asked who told them they were naked, handed down their sentence, and then told them they had to grab hold of the Tree of Life. When Jesus was in the earth those three days and three nights, he was there preaching salvation to Adam and Eve among countless others. Think on this question, why would God, WHO is just, when sin was not credited to anyone at that time, go ahead and punish Eve (women) beyond and on up to the end of time by enslaving women to all men? He wouldn’t and He didn’t!

God always has and always will practice equality among His people. He judged Adam and Eve fairly, and one’s punishment was no graver than the other, and nor did He make women to be less than men. We know that in the Old Testament, God treated women fairly because of Him allowing Zelophehad’s daughters to speak to the whole congregation (Moses, Priests, Elders, and all the people) about them receiving their father’s inheritance, which He gave them (Numbers 27). God was fair in proclaiming that "Both young men, and maidens…Let them praise the name of the Lord…" (Psalm 148:12-13). God is Love and life in Him is equal.

Since God is fair about receiving praises to His name from both men and maidens, it must be that Jesus’ atoning blood set the women in The Church "free" as well as it did men. If women weren’t set free, the blood of Jesus is not only discriminating, but it is weak. Since the blood of Jesus indeed is not weak and nor discriminating, women, therefore, are as free in The Church as men. The blood of Jesus was not weakened when it comes down to Eve’s sin, and women in The Church. Therefore, Christian women belong to The Lord, alone, and He would never subordinate His daughters to His sons while both are in the same service of loving and serving Him with their whole hearts, minds, souls, and strength. The subordination of God’s daughters in His Church is the result of men’s wrong doing and not an ordinance of God.

The Apostle Paul’s instructions for the subjugation of women in the Church of Jesus Christ does not overrule God’s instructions. For God nowhere forbade women to speak and work in His service apart from being housekeepers and cooks. You must never forget the immutability of God. He never changes, and He did not have a change of heart about women in the Church through those revelations of Paul’s. Without a doubt, Paul’s teachings on the subjugation of women in The Church of Jesus Christ are human elements that are erroneous. These beliefs of Paul’s were him putting Jewish culture above Christianity. It was Paul putting tradition of men above God’s Word. Again, no one else nor Scriptures, give testimony or verification to those teachings on female subjugation. Surely there would be verification, considering it such a serious subject.

Apostle Paul was a Pharisaic Jew, son of a Pharisee, and was not completely free from his "etched-in-stone" rabbinical training. On a personal front, as an ex-Catholic, I had to abandon the teachings that were contrary to God’s Word. I had to give up the belief that sin comes in sizes (mortal and venial); purgatory; Mary being a virgin all her life and not dying but ascended to Heaven – body and spirit; transubstantiation; Mary as the co-redeemer, etc. I had to give that all up and a whole lot more, because it was of man and not of God, and did indeed conflict with the Bible. As I, and many others, had to renounce those lies that had been ingrained in us through false doctrines, so was Apostle Paul liable for abandoning those Oral Law/Talmudic teachings that he had lived by, which did not line up with God’s Word. Paul’s teachings of oppression of women in the Church has caused much evil to come against women over the last 2000-plus years. Not only have the women suffered, but surely many men have gone to hell for this evil – the sin of quenching the Holy Spirit of God in the temple of truly Spirit-filled and "called of God" women.

Women in the True Church of Jesus Christ are full-fledged members through that sweet and precious blood of Jesus. Women are as men, (1) made in the image of God (spirit); (2) baptized; (3) washed in the blood of Jesus, only; and (4) they have God The Father and The Son making their abode in them – The Holy Spirit. With those four components, women cannot be unequal in the presence of God, because He made both male and female morally responsible to His commandments, and therefore would never make one inferior to the other in His service. God, would just not do that, and did not do that, and the men in The Church had better stop.

Any person or organization allowing subjugation of women in The Church of Jesus Christ is not taking counsel from God, but from the Apostle Paul’s statements promoting such fleshly female bondage. The time is now that The True Church of Jesus Christ must crucify Apostle Paul’s commands that contradict the plain and clear teaching of God’s holy Word with regard to women in The Church. It has been and continues to be harmful to take those erroneous Scriptures of Paul’s and make them truth above the numerous Scriptures that state clearly that both men and women are equal and free in Christ Jesus to carry forth The Gospel to all (together and not segregated).

Because a great deal of church-going people decidedly chose Paul’s words as "gospel" over Jesus' Gospel, you are not under God’s covering, but that of Satan for adding sin to sin. Repent before The Lord, and change your wicked ways, for you have caused much pain and suffering in the spirits of women in The Church. Paul himself said it best when he said, "For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage..." (II Corinthians 11:20), but yet, is guilty of such sin. The women in The Church of Jesus Christ have suffered by being denied freedom to preach and teach the Gospel to all of God’s people – men and women. Women have suffered at the hands of discrimination by their own brethren. The tragedy of these false teachings against women in The Church is that the men have suffered more so than women. Men have suffered because those that have passed on before us lost their salvation for suppressing the move of God’s Holy Spirit through the persecution of women in The Church. Yes, they lost it because they did not search the Gospel for the truth about God’s love not being partial, but walked in a lie, and hurt God and His Church. Please, Eve being beguiled first is no longer a lame justification for women being oppressed in The Church of Jesus Christ.

If, before God, women are such second class inferior creatures, then God would

1. never have depicted wisdom as a woman;
2. never have depicted Israel as His wife in the Old Testament;
3. never have chosen a woman to bare his His Son, Jesus;
4. never have allowed His Son Jesus to speak to women; to teach, heal, or have them around in His ministry; nor would He have raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead;
5. never have allowed Jesus to mention women in His parables;
6. never have had Jesus appear first to women upon His resurrection and make them the bearers of the news of His resurrection;
7. never have had Jesus refer to His Church as a Bride; and
8. never have permitted women to show up at Pentecost, and in the majority, at that.

If women are not free to speak, preach, and teach in your church, the Spirit of The Lord is not there; nor are you and nor will your church be in the great end time revival before Jesus’ return. The oppression/subjugation of women in The Church of Jesus Christ is discrimination, is hatred, is demonic, and is not from The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. GOD DID NOT INSTRUCT PAUL TO COMMAND THOSE BONDAGES UPON WOMEN IN THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST!

I say again to rob women of her God-given rights and privileges in His service is a crime, in comparison with which the robbing of widow’s houses is innocence personified, and woe to those who do it…. What I say unto you, I say unto all: ‘You are not children of a bondwoman but of the free. Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherein Christ hath made you free and be not again entangled with any yoke of bondage.’ ‘I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded, but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgments, whosoever he be.’ ‘They talk about a woman’s sphere As though it had a limit, There’s not a place on earth or heaven, There’s not a task to mankind given, There’s not a blessing or a woe, There’s not a whisper, yes or no, There’s not a life, or death, or birth, That has a feather’s weight of worth, Without a woman in it.’ (Women in the Churches. J.B. Moody. Hall-Moody Institute, Martin, TN. 1910, p. 126)

 

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