Silence and Submission pt. 2

What’s this passage actually saying?

 1) Being women does not give us an excuse to not seek out the truth that is God.  Having a husband, father, or pastor who believes is not enough.  We are children of God and therefore are called to search out the Lord and all that He would teach us.

2) The issue of women teaching or leading men isn’t about capability. Paul says a woman shouldn’t teach or have authority over the man given two reasons: because man came first, and because woman sinned first.  So, lets back up. 

In Genesis 2, God sets Adam in the garden, tells him to take care of it, to not eat the fruit on one tree, and then states, “It is not good that man should be alone: I will make him a helper comparable to him.”  There was no one else like Adam, and God pitied his solitude.  He made him a “helper comparable to him”.  I read dozens of studies on this phrase as I’ve been trying to figure all this out.  But the common theme is this: Eve was made because a)It was never meant for man to be alone.  He needed to be loved and to love. And b) He literally needed a helper.

The issue here is that “helper” is seen as a position of inferiority in the world we live in now.  Eve’s position was one of honor.  In fact Jesus said, “But whoever desires to be great among you, let him be your servant…just as (I) did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give (my) life a ransom for many.”  Putting yourself in the position of service is not weakness to Christ.  But it is true leadership and love. Eve was a partner “comparable” to Adam, unlike the animals he was charged with caring for.  They couldn’t be companions for him.  He needed an equal, and that was Eve.