Women's Ministry In The Church

We are living in the wonderful age when the promised outpouring of God's Spirit is being fulfilled.

"And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." (Joel 2:28, 29; Acts 2:17, 18).

Revival, renewal, and restoration are taking place in the church today. God has promised to restore all things before the Lord Jesus comes again. One of the things God is restoring to the church today is the release of women into ministry. This has been a subject of great controversy and many have been hindered by two or three scriptures taken out of context. In this lesson, we will examine the role of women through the Bible. By doing so, we hope to establish what the word of God says about this issue.

1. WHAT DOES THE OLD TESTAMENT SAY ABOUT WOMEN?

1. In the Beginning: Together, man and women were to rule over the works of God's hands. "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion...So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion..." (Genesis 1:26-28)
2. Old Testament Types and Shadows:
   1. Miriam: The Prophetess (Exodus 15:20). Here, we will note the word "Prophetess" comes from the Hebrew word "NEBIAH", meaning "female preacher." Prophetess also means one who has spiritual insight.
   2. Deborah: Held office of both prophetess and judge of the nation of Israel (Judges 4:4, 5).
   3. Huldah: A prophetess who had authority in the land and spoke forth the word of the Lord with boldness (II Kings 22:14; II Chronicles 34:22).
   4. Esther: She had such authority that she saved the nation of Jews (Esther 2:16, 17).
   5. Abigail: Wisdom to David (I Samuel 25:3-38).
   6. Isaiah's Wife: In the case of Isaiah's wife, she was probably called a prophetess because she was the wife of a prophet, rather than one who prophesied herself. (Isaiah 8:3).
   7. Women assembled (served) at the door of the tabernacle (Exodus 38:8).
   8. The law of the Nazarites was for women as well as men (Numbers 6:2).

2. WHAT DOES THE NEW TESTAMENT SAY ABOUT WOMEN?
   1. Throughout the gospels, we find that Jesus restores dignity and honor to women. He, in no way, limited their opportunity to minister. Some examples are:
      1. Anna, the Prophetess: God chose a woman to be the first person to publicly preach about Jesus after his birth (Luke 2:36-38).
      2. The Woman at the Well: Representative of an evangelist (John 4:39-42).
      3. The first to see Christ resurrected were women (Matthew 28:1-10).
   2. In the Book of Acts, there is no prohibition of women ministering.
      1. Priscilla: With Aquila, her husband, took Apollos and "expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly" (Acts 18:24-26).
      2. Philip had four daughters who prophesied (Acts 21:8, 9).
      3. Dorcas was called a disciple (Acts 9:36).
   3. In the Pauline Epistles:
      1. Phebe: A servant at the church in Cenchrea (Romans 16:1, 2). NOTE: The word "servant" is taken from the Greek "diakonos". Here, it is translated as servant, but in twenty other places in the New Testament, it is translated as "minister".
      2. Priscilla is again mentioned (Romans 16:3).
      3. Tryphena, Tryphosa, and Persis labored in the Lord (Romans 16:12). In the 16th Chapter of Romans, Paul is calling special attention to these women who diligently served the Lord and ministered with him. He did not esteem them, or their work, lower than his own. In Philippians, Paul also acknowledged Euodias and Syntyche as fellow workers in Christ (Philippians 4:2).
3. WHAT, THEN, DOES PAUL REFER TO IN 1 CORINTHIANS 14:34-36, AND 1 TIMOTHY 2:11-12, WHEN HE SAYS WOMEN ARE TO KEEP SILENT IN THE CHURCH? WHAT DOES 1 PETER 3:7 MEAN WHEN IT REFERS TO THE WIFE AS THE "WEAKER VESSEL"?
   1. In both I Corinthians 14:34-36 and in I Timothy 2:11-12, Paul is speaking concerning women in relationship to their husbands.
      1. I Corinthians 14:34-36: Beginning with the 11th chapter of I Corinthians, Paul was giving guidelines for discipline in a believer's meeting. In these particular verses Paul was not forbidding women to minister; he was telling them not to cause confusion by "speaking out" or questioning their husbands during a church service. This was to be done at home.
      2. I Timothy 2:11-12: Paul was speaking of a woman being in proper relationship with her husband. Paul is not saying that a woman cannot be used by the Holy Spirit to minister, teach or prophesy. He is emphasizing that a woman cannot have dominion over, or assume a place of authority, above that of her husband. True ministry will flow only as divine order is established in the home.
   2. I Peter 3:7: This, again, deals with a husband/wife relationship. The word "weaker" carries with it the connotation of one lesser in authority. Not all women are to be weaker vessels to all men. Married women are considered the weaker vessel (or one in lesser authority) in the home and marriage relationship. In the home God has set a line of authority: first God, then Christ, next the man, then the woman (I Corinthians 11:3). In the marriage relationship the wife is to be the weaker vessel. But before God, she and her husband are heirs together of the grace of life (I Peter 3:7).
   3. Paul recognized that the church ("ekklesia") did not refer to a building, but rather a people (both male and female) that have obeyed the word of God to come out from amongst the world. Galatians 3:26-29 tells us who this church is. "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: For ye are all one in Christ Jesus." "And if ye be Christ's, then ye are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

A study of these scriptures and their meanings makes it evident that Paul was not saying that women could not minister in the church. He was saying that wives should not be a disturbance to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He was not saying that a woman cannot teach the word of God or proclaim the good news, but Paul did say that the woman could not have dominion over her husband nor could she teach such.

Women's Ministry in the Church

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