Day 1
1 Timothy 2
8 Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing
Then from 1 Timothy verse 12, Paul moves to the issue of gender and leadership. God himself is described in masculine terms. So the head of the church is masculine that we read in Ephesians 1:22-23,
22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way
Then Colossians 1:18,
18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
Also Matthew 16:18.
18 And I tell you that you are Peter,[a] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[b] will not overcome it.
Male headship is something the scriptures both new and old affirms. That’s why there is no debate about who is to lead a home. Husbands are leaders of the home, that is what Ephesians 5:22-23.
22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Saviour.
Or Colossians 3:18,
18 Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
Then Titus 2:4-5,
4 Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.
Day 2
1 Timothy 2
9 I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes
In a home a the leader is the man .see 1st Peter 3:1-7,
Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behaviour of their wives, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewellery or fine clothes. 4 Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, 6 like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.7 Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
All above verses are emphasizing that men are the leaders and a good example to have is that Jesus never appointed a woman, all the apostles were men. Look at the list in Matthew 10,or in Luke 10, or In acts 1:13, 26. Even when you go to elders, each elder must be the husband of one wife, not the wife of one husband. So, the elders in the New Testament were men. See 1st Timothy 3:1-2,
Here is a trustworthy saying: whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. 2 Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
or see Titus 1:5-6.
5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint[a] elders in every town, as I directed you. 6 An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe[b] and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.
Think about it differently, it is not that women are not wise, is not that women are not spiritual, but only men wrote the books of the bible, all the 66 writers God used were men. Also only men preach in congregation assemblies, you know basically that’s the way it was. Acts 11:25-26,
25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
You will note it is the men speaking, or even go to Jerusalem conference in Acts 15:1-5, all the people addressing the meeting are men, orActs 20:7, or 1 Timothy 2:11-14, 1st Corinthians 14:34-35.
Day 3
1 Timothy 2
10 but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.
11 A woman[a] should learn in quietness and full submission.
So, the message Paul wants Timothy to give, is that women are subject to men in the church, and even in spiritual teaching. Just listen to what he is saying.
I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be quiet.
The words are clear, For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. In other words, Paul is trying to justify why men are the leaders of the church. One is because of the creation story, or because of the fall of man.
Look at , verse 15.
But women will be saved through childbearing, if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.
In other words, there is nothing in this discussion that suggest that women are not going to heaven,or that God cannot use women. He says that if they are in faith, and they are in love, and they are in holiness and propriety which we have been discussing, then they are candidates of heaven!
But it is very important to understand that we should not use this verses in order to imply that women don’t have a role to play in the church. Listen to 1st Peter 3:7
7 Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
Day 4
1 Timothy 2
12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man;[b] she must be quiet.
Women deserve respect.even Mary was highly honored to be Jesus mother. Luke 1:26-56,
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
There even many women who ministered with our savior, they followed Jesus and disciples, and were involved in ministry. They were part of the team that was going all over Israel. Matthew 27:55-56,
55 Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph,[a] and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.
Luke 8:2-3,
2 and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; 3 Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.
On the list of women ministers are Mary and Martha.Don’t we know about them? The two of Jesus the closest disciples, Luke 1:38-42,
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said
What about one we meet later , the lady called Dorcas, and also the lady called Lydia? What about phoebe, and other women?They are all commended for being involved in ministry in Acts 9:36-42, Acts 16:11-18, Romans 16:1-2.
Day 5
1 Timothy
13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve.
Also some Old Testament women were upheld as good examples. And the New Testament keep referring to women as examples, 1st Peter 3:5-6,
5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, 6 like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.
Also in Hebrews 11:11, 31. yes! Women were commended for their role as home makers. That makes them leaders in terms of what happens in the home. Look at Titus 2:4,5, Proverbs 31:10-31, Proverbs 19:14, Proverbs 18:22, to see this.
So today , I think it will be important for us to involve women in ministry.For example, who can teach children better than women? Although men should also be involved in Sunday school. Proverbs 1:8
8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching
That means a son should not forget mother’s role in his life thus children are being asked to listen to their parents including women .The impact of women on children is seen in 2nd Timothy 1:5,
5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
See that the faith Timothy had come from his grandmother and mother, yes! In Titus 2:3-5, older women are supposed to teach younger women.So women should teach the word.
See also, John 4:19-31 and 39, the story about the Samaritan, who went and preached in the whole village and got a revival is in John 4:42.Yes women played a role as evangelist! or even go to Aquila in Acts 18:26 with the wife Priscilla.It even sounds like Priscilla was even the one who is more knowledgeable in discipling Apollo. God values people for their service. They don’t have to have authority. In other words, the fact that women are told not to have authority, they are not being told not to be involved in ministry. Matthew 20:25-28.
25 Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave ‘” 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
It is important to notice that Prayer is done everywhere; so, it means that women will be in some of those places ! evangelism is not limited to church assemblies. It means women can preach even if they are not leaders in the church. They can preach everywhere.
Day 6
1 Timothy 2
14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.
Then verse 9 and 10 is talking about modesty applied in and out of church assemblies but they are out there! They are still in some leadership out of church. The principles in this subject is general not just in church assemblies. Look at verse 13, 14, 15,
13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. 15 But women[c] will be saved through childbearing ‘” if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.
While the principles of verse 11-12 apply in church assemblies, they are not limited there. But the context of 1st Corinthians 14, does refer to assembly of the whole church, where women should not speak even to ask questions. In other words, let’s be clear, women still have a ministry that is not necessary leading in the church.
But what do we mean by saying women should be silent or quiet in the church? You know, I think basically it is suggesting restrained reserved manner. Look at 2nd Thessalonians 3:12,
12 Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat.
Both women and men Christian work in quietness and win their own bread. 1st Timothy 2:2 tell us to lead a quiet and peaceful life. But also in 1st Timothy 3:4, subjection of women meek and quite spirit is what we want. So quietness leads a submissive attitude in contrast to a loud stubborn rebellious manner of some woman in a church. That will create a problem, does this verse prohibit women to lead or even teach spiritual even outside the church assembly, but 1st Timothy 14:31 prohibits women in congregational assembly to speak and that is what is written there.
So, spiritual teaching and leadership in general is covered but note that , 1st Corinthians 14 once a woman has a gift of the holy spirit she must use in the whole assembly. Women acting or speaking quietly in submission, are welcome.Women should be silent and submissive for they are not permitted to speaking in a shameful way and so you can compare 1st Timothy 2 about women with 1st Cor 14 regarding both the circumstances where it applies and the conduct, and I think that will be important.
Why are we men being asked not to allow leadership of women ? Of course the argument Paul is using is that man was formed first as par Genesis 2:18. It is the same thing repeated in 1st Cor 11:3, 8, 9. Woman was created to be a helper, or companion to man, not a leader of the man, or have authority over man.
Day 7
1 Timothy 2
15 But women[c] will be saved through childbearing ” if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.
Man and women were created with different natures for different roles. That’s first argument as to why men should lead in church . The second argument is, when women tried to lead, she was deceived, Genesis 3:16.She even took the lead and made a sinful decision without consulting her husband, then man and women were punished! but the punishment was for sin. God required that woman would always be subject to her husband.
So what we are really talking about is, to be an overseer in church, or to be an elder or to be a pastor, is what we are calling leadership positions, and are not for women accursing to this passage. You know when you say an overseer you mean bishop, when you say a pastor you mean a shepherds. When you say elders and bishops these are all same people. and their work as leaders is to set good examples, number one, to watch for members souls, and to teach truth and rebuke error, and oversee or rule to the local assembly. If you are in leadership do that.
So, the word of God is final. Men may have a role of leading , but women are supposed to also read the word of God and follow the word of God. Men should say to church like Paul, follow me only as I follow Christ and please understand that in churches it is not one leader. It is a priority of leaders, to lead.
Anyway, question, do you understand then prayer should be part and parcel of your life? Do you understand that you are supposed to live your life in a modest way? So that you can become an attraction to people who want to know about Christ. Do you understand there needs to have a structure rather than anarchy? Order is required at home and in the church. may the Lord help you to understand that.