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What "law" tells the woman to be silent in the church?

q.gif (1639 bytes)    I have a question if I may.   "Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church." I Corinthians 14:34-35  The highlighted word above "law". Can you help me understand in what context that falls. i.e., Is it the law of the land or Old Testament law? If the latter, can you tell me about it?

 

a.gif (1659 bytes)   I Corinthians 14:34-37 says, "Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only? If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord."

"They are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law."  The Lord gave the commandment for the woman to be under obedience to the man when Adam and Eve sinned. Genesis 3:16 says, "Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and HE SHALL RULE OVER THEE."

This commandment was given for Eve to be under obedience to her husband, because Eve listened to the serpent's temptation and disobeyed the Lord. That, in turn, led her to tempt her own husband to sin. Both Adam and Eve sinned, but the Bible tells us that Eve actually believed what the serpent was saying; whereas, Adam also sinned, but knew it was wrong all along. I Timothy 2:11-14 says, "Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not 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."

The part about the woman then being silent, is clearly understood in all of these passages as the natural result of her being under obedience to her husband. If she is obeying that command, in truth; then she is going to naturally defer to her husband, and let him do the speaking in the public forum.

It would be like us being part of an American delegation going to a foreign country. If the President was in our group, and someone asked our delegation what was the position of the United States on a matter, would we all speak and give our opinions? No. We would all defer to the President. He holds the highest position in the group, and we would not think of speaking. We would naturally know our place, and let him do the speaking. Even if we did not agree with him, we would not interrupt him, or argue with him. If we did not understand his position, we would talk to him in private about it, but we would certainly know our place.

The Bible gives the clear command for the woman to be under obedience to her husband. She is to take that command literally, and seriously; and thus let him do the talking. The New Testament takes the command literally, and seriously, and expects women to still follow that today.

The women who have trouble with this command in the church, are the same women who do not know their place in the home. They are the ones that have not obeyed the command to be under obedience to their husbands in the natural realm of the home, and so they find themselves very frustrated in having to be silent in the spiritual realm of the church. They find it very difficult to practice something in the church, that they have never been able to practice in the home.

God never gives a command, but what He gives the grace to follow that command. And when He gives a command, He gives us peace when we follow that command, but frustration when we do not. You show me a woman that just cannot let her husband do the decision-making, and I will show you a woman that is living a life of frustration. The problem? She has not taken her Commander-in-Chief seriously in what He has commanded us.

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