10 Ways the Bible Honors Women: Part 5

9. Women as Brides

One of the overarching themes in scripture is that the Church serves as the Bride of Christ. This can be a difficult doctrine to comprehend, especially as a man in the Church. The status of women is elevated in this metaphorical model. To Christ, his Church is worth redeeming, marrying, and remaining faithful to for all of eternity. We are one with Christ because his Spirit is put within us: an unparalleled level of intimacy. All women may not exist to be brides, but women are created to reflect God and take part in the Church as the Bride of Christ. God uses a feminine role to encompass all of the Church, men and women included, and to reveal the nature of our relationship with Jesus and our role on the planet. It is not a small matter that God would choose to express the depth of his love for us in the way a man would love his precious bride.

10. Women as Purposeful

Eve is commonly seen as the originator of sin and blamed for the fall of man. However, her name, which Adam gave her after the fall, means “life.” She is the progenitor of all mankind, and an archetype of the Church. God’s purposeful design for woman is reflected in the creation of Eve as a compliment to Adam and a representation of God’s own image. Genesis details the creation of both Adam and Eve, and they are each created in the image of God. This is less about Adam needing an Eve and more about God desiring to make humanity reflect him. Adam did not encompass the full image of God on his own, nor did he possess all of the qualities of the Trinity. Eve compliments Adam as a necessary component for human flourishing, but also as one who is made in the image of God. For example, Eve’s role as a helpmate for Adam reflects God’s helping of his children. In fact, the same word is used to describe both Eve and the Lord in Scripture. Her marriage with Adam foreshadows Christ, who is the second Adam, and his marriage with the Church. She is to compliment her husband Adam, as we are to compliment our husband Jesus.

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Part 1: Women as Leaders and Assertive
Part 2: Women as Equal and Courageous
Part 3: Women as Faithful and Valuable
Part 4: Women as Independent and Co-Heirs and Priests

10 Ways the Bible Honors Women: Part 4

7. Women as Independent

The story of Moses is, at face value, the story of a man being used by God in amazing ways. However, his story is only made possible because of strong women who were overlooked by the ruling men of the time. The setting for Moses’ story begins with Pharaoh underestimating the potential of the female gender: he orders all male Hebrew babies to be killed. The female babies are allowed to live because they aren’t a threat in his eyes. However, despite this pressure from a powerful and ruthless king, Hebrew midwives refuse to comply, and “God dealt well with them.” Pharaoh’s plan hinges upon the cooperation of women, and he does not account for their fear of God overcoming fear of him. In an attempt to regain control once more, Pharaoh then orders his people to throw Hebrew boys into the Nile. From his perspective, this seems to work. But in the end, the rebellious act of his own daughter in saving and adopting a Hebrew boy proves to be his undoing. If not for the rebellion of these women against corrupted authority and tyranny, Moses would not have survived to become the great leader of the Israelites.
(See this talk by Jen Wilkin for a more detailed exposition)

8. Women as Co-Heirs and Priests

One of the fascinating tenets of Christianity that sets it apart from other religions is the concept of inclusion of women in the priesthood of the Church. Additionally, women are included as co-heirs with Christ. If the Bible were a misogynist book, women would have no place in the Church’s priesthood and only men would inherit the promises of God. Romans 8 declares: “you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons...The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs- heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.” Some key points in this scripture come from the language used by Paul (who is not the oppressive misogynist many claim he is). First of all, by referring to believers as adopted “sons” of God, he is not making a gendered claim but rather doing just the opposite. In the culture of Paul’s time, women were not inheritors of property or wealth, and yet here Paul boldly claims women as heirs of the greatest Father of all. A better translation of the verse would be that we are all adopted as sons, like sons, like those who would inherit their father’s wealth. Our inheritance as children of God disregards gender as a factor; we all receive equal portions from God through Christ. Christ is the first heir, and all others (including women) can take hold of the promised blessings of the Lord.

In a similar way, women are included in what is commonly referred to as the Priesthood of Believers, which comes from 1 Peter 2. The Church partakes in the responsibility of a holy priesthood under Christ as the High Priest.  This means that women in the Church serve as priestly ministers under Christ. This is not the same as women leading churches as pastors but allows for them to be as integral a part of building up the Church as any other member.

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Part 1: Women as Leaders and Assertive
Part 2: Women as Equal and Courageous
Part 3: Women as Faithful and Valuable

Part 5: Women as Brides and Purposeful

10 Ways the Bible Honors Women: Part 3

5. Women as Faithful

The next example of honorable women comes in the stories of two faithful mothers. Both Hannah and Mary the mother of Jesus are prayerful and devout women of God. Hannah displays a unique depth of human faith as she prays with eager expectation to be given a son, although she is unable to have children. The Lord hears her, which implies that her prayers matter enough to God for him to listen to her complaint and her sorrow. Not only does she display faithfulness in prayer and worship, but also in her response to God giving her a son, Samuel. After she raises her son through his infancy, she dedicates his life to the Lord, trusting him to take care of her precious son.

Similarly, Mary’s trust in the Lord is evident in her reaction to God’s plan for her life. Upon hearing the news that she is to be the mother of the long-expected Messiah, Mary responds in a unique and tender way. Without doubting that God can or will perform this miracle, her only question is how. Implied in the question itself is the assertion that she believes God will use her as he said: something that, for most people, would be hard to swallow. Mary dutifully raises her son Jesus, never doubting his divine nature throughout all of recorded scripture. In fact, it is Mary that instigates the first miracle of Christ, prompting him to display his power and authority. Like Hannah, Mary reveals many ways a woman can utilize the gifts of faith God has given her.

6. Women as Valuable

One might think that a godly woman must fit a certain paradigm, one that includes status and saintliness. However, the next two examples are women of incredible value, not for their place in society or sterling reputation but rather for their strength of character that makes them unique in God’s eyes. Neither woman is Jewish, and neither is seen as worth anything in her society, and yet both women are included in the lineage of Christ. The first woman is Rahab, the great, great, great grandmother of King David. This woman is introduced as a prostitute in the city of Jericho, where she harbors Israelite spies. After hiding them from the city guards, she speaks of the greatness of their God and his reputation and requests to be protected when the Israelites overtake the city. Because of her courage, she and her entire family are spared. It is incredible that a woman of such disrepute could be seen as worth saving by the God of another nation. And yet God, in an extraordinary act of both mercy and kindness, found her faith sincere and her heart worth something. To the Lord, even the lowest members of society are created in his image, and a prostitute can look just as much like Jesus as Joshua. Rahab is mentioned in the Hebrews 11 “Hall of Faith” as one who is justified by her faith in God. Because of her faith and value in the eyes of God, she is not only saved, but also used as an integral part of the lineage of the Messiah, as his great (x30) grandmother, and all without a coveted Jewish heritage.

Our second non-Jewish woman actually has her own book in the Bible: Ruth. Interestingly enough, Ruth becomes the daughter-in-law of Rahab by marrying her son, Boaz. However, before that point, she was simply a Moabite widow living with her current mother-in-law in a culture in which she did not belong. Boaz, who is the archetype of Christ, sees Ruth as valuable and worth redeeming despite her lowly position as a beggar in his field. He goes to great lengths to redeem her from poverty and to restore an inheritance for her future. In the process, he also marries her! Ruth is not only valuable in the story’s parameters, but also in the context of all of scripture, because of the ways her story parallels our relationship with Christ. 

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Part 1: Women as Leaders and Assertive
Part 2: Women as Equal and Courageous

Part 4: Women as Independent and Co-Heirs and Priests
Part 5: Women as Brides and Purposeful