Divine order in the family 2
by Ivan Ho 31 Oct 2022
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. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.
1 Timothy 2:11-15 KJV
There seems to be a lot of confusions nowadays regarding gender issues, especially in Western countries. I learnt recently that in some schools in Australia, for example, teachers are told not to address students as boys or girls. They would no longer define a person’s gender as being either male or female but instead, a person can be anything according to individual choice. Just as the serpent suggested to Eve to rethink and redefine the command given by God, the deceiver is planting seeds of confusion about a person’s gender identity by challenging what God creates the person to be.
In the beginning when God created mankind in his own image, he created first a man, then out of the man God created a woman.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Genesis 1:27 KJV
Not only did God create man according to clearly defined gender of male and female, he created Adam and Eve as husband and wife, being the foundational unit of a family. God sets his creation of family in order so that there ought not be any confusion and conflicts between husband and wife as both respect and accept God’s divine order and the respective roles assigned to the man and the woman within the family.
It is important to realise that when God gave his mandate and command to Adam, Eve was not yet created even though she was always in God’s mind and not an after thought. In order to fulfill God’s given purpose for man, the woman was created to help him fulfill his calling. The woman wasn’t created to compete with the man but to complement her husband.
And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found 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; And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, 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.
Both husband and wife are supposed to work together as one unit under one voice of command. Eve received the command from Adam who received his command from God first. It is not to say that God does not speak to women directly but within the context of marriage, God does not speak to the wife without first speaking to the man. That’s what the word “head” means as it is the faculty that receives the commands from God so that the whole body can function as a whole unit. Without the head giving instructions, the hands may be doing one thing but the feet are going in a different direction . That is why the wife needs to follow her husband who is the head of the family, and not usurp his authority. This is how God designs the family to function.
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.
1 Corinthians 11:3 KJV
When the woman thinks and behaves as if she is the head of the family, confusion and conflicts would invariably set in.
At the garden of Eden, chaos began when Eve entertained the serpent who came to approach her and distorted the command God gave her through Adam. The woman who was deceived then became the new leader who gave Adam the forbidden fruit and he ate as well. As a result both fell into sin by disobeying God’s original command.
For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
1 Timothy 2:13-14 KJV
The deceiver succeeded to get man to rebel against God’s words by isolating and targeting the woman. This is still the devil’s favorite strategy to breakdown families and cause all kinds of chaos in the societies. Many wives, instead of communicating with their own husbands, are connecting with third parties, some of whom are sent by the enemy to cause conflicts and destruction to many families. With the advance of social media, such problems are escalating even more today when people are connecting with all kinds of voices, whether they are within the Christian networks or not. When people violate God’s line of communication, they become agents of demonic powers to cause family disharmony and destructions.
To be continued…