GENDER SPECIFICITY IN THE BIBLE

An extract from the Smith&Smith Bible Commentary, available without any cost from

http://sites.google.com/site/freecommentary

where the Bible-images mentioned below are much more fully explained

Summary: Gender Neutrality Destroys the Bible Mysteries and Imagery The language and content of the Bible are not gender-neutral, and that is deliberate, since the word-pictures carry sexual imagery. Not least of these is the mystery of Christ-and-the-Church as husband-and-wife. The Bible's language gives the male priority. So does its content. To avoid gender-specific terminology and to disavow genderinequitable roles, is to abrogate all the sexual and gender images of the Prophets, Law, Wisdom books, Gospels, Letters and Revelation. There is no Bible teaching about 'equality within marriage', but the teaching about submission in marriage concerns the sexual roles in particular (not submission in 'all things'). Creation is not gender-neutral. Gender Specificity You will notice that the main arena of gender-specific pictures is for marriage. That is where opinions flare up against God. The laws of the land are being changed to rebel against the Bible's stereotypes. It is the creation account, and Eden, which are the most hated and discounted. Here is a rundown... On page one we have the idea of God as Creator, life-giver, maker of a sexual system of multiplication. Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. That is not a subservient role, or a shared role. It is quintessentially a male-gender role of 'initial causation'. The earth is painted as a womb which brings forth life. The plants are bearers of fruit, with seed within the fruit.

Gen 1:11 And God said, Let the earth [dry-ground] put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit-trees bearing fruit after their kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth: and it was so. The whole picture of creation of life is immediately made explicitly sexual. Life is blessed to multiply via 'male and female'. The male is named first in such phrases, whether of man or animal. Gen 1:27 And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Gen 7:2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee seven and seven, the male and his female; and of the beasts that are not clean two, the male and his female: Gen 1:28 And God blessed them: and God said unto them, ['male and female'] Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. He was made first. Gen 2:18 And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help, meet for [corresponding to] him. Woman and Eve get separate names, but 'man' and 'Adam' are kept as the names for the male, and for the collective of both sexes. Gen 2:23 And the man said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman (From-Man), because she was taken out of Man. Gen 3:20 And the man called his wife's name Eve (Life-(bearer)); because she was the mother of all living. The genealogy traces his line only, that is, through the males. Sons are mentioned before daughters. (The order of mention is a live

issue in the Bible, indicating importance.) Daughters are not named. Gen 5:3-4 And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: 4 and the days of Adam after he begat Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters. Gen 6:18 But I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. In other words, the entrenched linguistic conventions, and social conventions, are already there from page one, not because of mindless prejudice, but direct from God, and from His scheme of life on earth. The idea of dominion is obvious from the start. The light overcomes the darkness; Gen 1:2-4 And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. The greater light dominates the day, and is stronger than the night and its lights. Gen 1:16 And God made the two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. The image and likeness of God is set apart to dominate creation. Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. [Figuratively, Christ and his Church are set apart to rule, in the end]

The man has the naming rights over woman and over his wife, as he had naming rights over the animals. Gen 2:19 And out of the ground Jehovah God formed every beast of the field, and every bird of the heavens; and brought them unto the man to see what he would call them: and whatsoever the man called every living creature, that was the name thereof. The husband is designated to 'rule over' the wife [after the sin of Eve]. The context is sexual -- a partner corresponding to the male, for reproduction and through which the living are given birth to. So 'rule over' means 'she submits her body to him alone, not to any other man'. Gen 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy conception; in pain thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. The wording of 'image and likeness' is reserved for Adam as the 'son' of God. Gen 5:1-3 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; [and in His own image, Gen_1:26] [=Adam was God's 'son'] 2 male and female created he them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. 3 And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: Luk 3:38 [who was] the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. Eden is made as a 'voluptuous (sexually) pleasurable' garden, with desirable and tempting fruits. Gen 2:9 And out of the ground made Jehovah God to grow every

tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is 'watered by' streams of life-giving waters -- made fertile. Gen 2:10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; ... The idea of priority is there from the start: Creator before creatures; male before female; creatures for God; wife for husband. The rest of the Bible remains consistent with these usages, both linguistically and role-wise. Gender Equality and Gender equity are not teachings from the Bible but are 'read back into' the text, out of come-lately values It annoys me greatly to hear people quoting the Bible ingenuinely. They may be unbelievers arguing against the Bible, or believers mishandling the word, but that there has to be an argument about what has been the accepted practice of millennia, shows up that something spiritual is trying to win ground by blinding our minds. That 'something' opposes God, and the Bible. And the people love it. The mantra 'we are all created equal; in the image of God, every one of us' is wrongly understood and wrongly applied in the feminist cause. In the first instance, the spiritual prophecy housed within the creation of the Image of God to rule, is fulfilled only in Christ. The subsequent history of the Messiah and the New Testament make that abudantly clear; and the spiritual meaning is the ultimate intention, the longest lasting and the more important. You do not hear feminist-inspired arguments loving the deeper meaning of Genesis 1. Compare: Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Col 1:15 ['our Lord Jesus Christ'] who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation [=heir and ruler]; Unbelieving 'believers' may quote a later verse, to avoid that pointed point, but the theme of the Bible's interpretation of scriptures is: In the beginning it was like so, therefore you also follow the pattern of it, in order to reflect its glory... Gen 9:6 Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. [This seems to apply to all human life as sacred] Now I bet that most of those who quote this 'created equal' idea, in defence of feminism, do not believe in the death-penalty. That is the sort of ingenuine motivation in quoting the Bible which tries to blind everyone to the truths in scripture, law and prophecy. (The deathpenalty, for instance, is fundamental to the spiritual law of sin and death. If you scrap it, you scrap God's blueprint.) The New Testament verse trotted out in support of gender reform, is that 'in Christ there is neither male nor female'. It too is wildly overquoted and misquoted. Gal 3:28-29 There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female; for ye all are one man in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye are Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, heirs according to promise. Notice that the future and spiritual heritage is the binding theme (What has that to do with gender roles in your marriage?). The usage of a present tense ('can be', no male nor female) for a future state, is common, e.g... Mat 5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. One meaning therefore is probably that 'in Christ there will be no male and female in the age to come': Luk 20:34-36 And Jesus said unto them, The sons of this world ['age'] marry, and are given in marriage:

35 but they that are accounted worthy to attain to that world ['age'], and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: 36 for neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. The same could be said for master-slave; Jew-Gentile; rich-poor; civilised-barbarian; leader-subject; religious-not religious; circumcised-uncircumcised. It is not talking about marriage roles on earth. You only have to read other verses by the same authors to come across explicit teaching on gender roles within marriage... Eph 5:31-33 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh. 32 This mystery is great: but I speak in regard of Christ and of the church. 33 Nevertheless do ye also severally love each one his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see that she fear her husband. Notice the theme: You should reflect, the way God wants it to be. It is blindingly obvious that feminism, the driving force behind seeking to change gender stereotypes, set itself against the Bible from the start. When anti-Bible vested-interests are quoting the Bible to prove their come-lately point of view, they must be recognised as unbelievers in scripture, and from that, they must be known as believers in an alien god, one not as described in the Bible. As a general rule, false-arguments from the Bible focus on this life, and its physical form, rather than emphasising the spiritual significance and powers of God, especially for the next life. But instead of therefore scrapping the ancient heritage of the form of marriage (as 'outdated and unspiritual anyway'), there is a need to reinforce Christian compliance to the Bible's precepts, in order to understand them by lived experience. Living a wrong sexual life, for instance, is no recipe for learning how to please God. I am not advocating trying to live up to 'the ideal marriage', for that will disappoint us all; But why try to live up to the sinful alternatives? I am not advocating a return to Middle-Eastern practices, but

perhaps only a ceasing to join the mad rush away from all things Biblical. Sex is a powerful image for how we are to receive spiritual life from God, and God wants it that way, with His eye on the future good. Legitimate sex, in legitimate marriage, is the way He wants it done, but there are ways other than moralising legalism to achieve the spiritual equivalent. God for instance, is well-known for His breaking the rules, like marrying a second wife to move His divorced-wife to jealousy. That is the 'mystery of the gospel going to the Gentiles'. If those who quote the Bible, believers or unbelievers, are not telling of the power of the Spirit of the Life-giving God, they have missed the main game. But how can they even play the game, when they disregard the given, physical rules? Bible Imagery depends on Pre-existing Gender Specific Roles, as outlined in the Bible from the start All the parts of creation are used as metaphors for spiritual truths about the next age. In fact they have been purpose-designed to hold the image of the invisible future. Let's look at some which have already been mentioned: God as Creator Revelation makes clear that the praise will go to Him on the basis of Him being Creator. The theme is the defeat of false gods. The 'Beast' is literally the 'creature', and all creation falsely worships the 'image' of 'the creature'. Idolatry is about worshiping the image of a visible creature rather than worshiping the invisible Creator (and His True Image, Christ). Earth as a womb The final shaking and removing of the land (and also the skies, and sea) pictures the earth 'writhing as in childbirth', in 'giving birth to the spirits of the dead', in which the old earth 'dies in childbirth'. The mystery of Christ and the Church This is explicitly made a model for our marriages too, by Paul, who was taken into God's heaven (to see how things were, and tell us what he could). But the focus is on the mystery being outworked through the church, into eternity, not on rules to live by now. Eden of fruitfulness, pleasure and desire Paradise represents the desirability of living with God. The covenant

of forgiveness is explicitly pitched as a marriage covenant. The Bride of Christ will 'live with God' in His tabernacle, under His roof; and Eden appears to be His house-garden. Sexual marriage Man is made to be 'joined with' God. What does that mean spiritually? You, whether male or female, receive His spirit. You remain faithful to Him alone. You are co-heir and are entrusted with running part of the estate. You are expected to bear fruit for Him -of righteousness, just-dealing, mercy and so on. Mankind in God's image Mankind 'reflects God's glory'. That's a prophecy, not a sad reflection on God! Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. Male gender having priority, and dominion Man leaving his father, is like Christ leaving heaven for earth. Dominion reflects Christ's dominion over the 'beasts' in the endtimes. Husband having priority and dominion Males reflect Christ's glory; Wives reflect the husband's glory. Christ is head over the body, the church. That's the setup. We are all pretty much bluffed by it. Eve sinning before Adam Christ lays down his life for his wife, like Adam joined Eve. She needs his salvation. He has rule over her. The interpretations are only partial. Scripture outlines a top-down point of view. The point is that the fuller meanings of the beginnings are way beyond our normal understanding. We cannot confidently argue about marriage roles based on a bottom-up analysis, made before the denouement. Ask yourself how you could understand these deeper things of scripture, were it not for the helps given by visible object lessons, and their written interpretations. To remove gender inequality from the Bible, or from society, would be to put on a blindfold and earmuffs. Here are some gender unequal object lessons and spiritual meanings: Father and Son and Spirit as male roles for God: Father Father is one of the meanings of 'Creator'. The feminine form is Creatrix. But 'mothers' are in need of sperm-givers, and God is not like that.

Fathers take responsibility. God sacrificed His son in response to sin in His creatures. Jesus as God's Son The true Image and likeness; A daughter is not quite an exact image of a male. The priestly, servant and sacrificial nature of a firstborn son is one of those image-complexes of the Bible, junked by modern society which does not recognise the prototypes of scripture; Firstborns are not treated equally to others in the Bible, but what do we care nowadays? The story is one of redemption of the 1st Adam by the 2nd Adam. He is heir to the father's throne, the king of the coming kingdom. What do you care about that? We trash the idea of an angry king or an angry God, so we will be in for a surprise when we fall as dead, in His overpowering presence. Spirit Inseminating=life-causing. (Female Spirit is an invention of other teachings. Listen to the proven prophets, and confusion about God, drops away.) The Life image is about the next life. The begotten-of-spirit image is a promise of resurrection (a new birth into a new world). Church and Bride as wife, servant, fruit-bearer We are to do the righteous works of God. We are not equal to our maker. We are loved, from above. Head and body The members of the church body receive the word of God from the Spirit. The church is accepted by God -- married into the family, part of the Trinity! Is that what you would prefer to do without? Master and slave-girl Mankind is redeemed from slavery to sin, to serve a new master, righteousness. How can we catch the joy of that, when we despise slavery, and such marriages? Father-in-laws arranging a marriage between their children How can we appreciate even the picture and the feelings, seeing that we condemn arranged marriages? God is the Father of the Son whom He wants to marry off to a suitable bride. Abraham, is the father of a multitude of children of faith, collectively known as the Church of God's chosen ones, the Bride.

The Seed of Abraham is the Messiah Christ, adopted by God as His own chosen Son and heir. Bride-price; Bridal gifts and ornaments The blood sacrifice of the Lamb of God, is Jesus laying down His life to redeem his wife from slavery, for the purposes of marriage. Spiritual gifts are the gifts showered upon the bride to make her look radiant. The Holy Spirit of God is what makes her spotlessly clean from guilt before God. (Listen to a false prophet's religion, and you get a backwards view of who gives what and gets what, in an arranged marriage. Such confusion is a result of shunning the teaching aids supplied.) Shepherd-Bridegroom and Sheep-Bride In the Bible, the two ideas are mixed. How can we begin to understand the picture, or even notice that it is there, if we despise the way God arranges the pieces? The Good Shepherd figure is the leader, guide, healer, protector of the vulnerable and weak, who lays down his life for the sheep -and there you can begin to notice the mixing with the heavenly Bridegroom-Bride metaphor. Raider-Bridegroom and Kidnapped-Bride Middle-Eastern marriage ceremonies stage a mock hit-and-runaway-with-the-bride scene. That reflects the unexpected return of Christ to rescue his chosen beloved ones from the grip of the Devil. He has to break down the gates of Death, to do so. That involves an end-times fight, a resurrection and a rapture. King and Queen We want to get rid of remnant monarchies, which is like getting rid of God, Christ and Christianity. How will we navigate if we remove the buoys? The promise is that the first resurrected will rule with Christ; They are described as a bride, and as virgins, named after Him and His Father, with him constantly. What is not appreciated these days, is that the king's court is a place of justice, mercy and spirit, a legal 'court', with real teeth. The queen seated beside the king plays the role of interceding. Bride-priest Priests draw near for service; and wives are near, and do serve. Revelation uses both pictures interchangeably, for the redeemed. Wives serve their father-in-law -- which is another unwelcomed picture of life as it should be in God's eyes. This life gives us no warmth for priests, or in-laws, or kings, or slave-owners, and many such things, but the heavenly equivalent is untainted by corruption and sin. It will be a positive joy to have God

as your Father. Why not start to picture the positive side of the promises given? The heavenly woman in Rev_12:1 Try to decipher the vision John saw of a woman in the sky, and you realise that she is full of all these images and more. But you would be greatly impoverished if you discounted them one by one as 'morally wrong and offensive'. Mother city and virgin daughter; This is a sad image, since cities in the Bible get raped by 'invaders' 'going in through her gates'. Her daughters are stolen; her delightful treasures plundered. It seems to be an out-working of the curse on woman, of suffering in things to do with childbirth; and the childbirth is about Christ being born, in suffering, and to suffer, and then there is the resurrection to new life, which costs the mother her old life. Sexual relations on earth include horrible and unwanted things like adultery and cuckolding. These are part of the Bible's message, and the wise will take to heart the bad with the good, in order to understand the way we treat God, and God's chosen. The mother-city prophecies include a turnaround; redemption; cleansing; sanctification; ultimate rejoicing. The other woman, in Revelation, 'Babylon the Harlot' How else can you understand God's jealous anger against false worship, false gods, false images and false truth? A jilted husband is the ultimate picture of red-hot anger. We have laws against such behaviour now, and legalise prostitution instead. We do that sort of thing to God, knowing so much better than He. Why is he angry? The theme of the Bible is broken covenants; The 1st command of the Law was 'Don't' run after other gods (spiritual harlotry). But we are not allowed to discriminate against sinners any more, only on the basis of their sin. So God should 'get over it' and 'get on with life'. Why is He so touchy anyway? The Song of Songs, is explicitly sexual ..and is about Christ and his Bride It makes you feel loved, if you let yourself be sexist. Sex Life, is the ruling spirit of the Universe, so sex, is not banned from scriptures which illustrate that spiritual truth. It is pervasive. Christ as Lord and Master The Bible projects a servant God; Such a Lord is valuable indeed. The Biblical 'husband' is such a servant-lord. Jesus was a teacher of disciples. Wisdom is the teacher of man. Jesus was Wisdom incarnate. We take the submissive role. That is pictured as wifely.

The Bible portrays the spiritual conflict as strong households at war; A 'strong man guarding his goods' (prisoners) is a male-centred image. The 'household' image has a 'master' at its head, and plenty of servants. How can we 'fit in to His house' when we say 'Jack, and his wife, are as good as his master'? The Bible's word for 'master' is also used for 'owner'. Do you want God to disown you? Why then do we disown His imagery and rolemodelling, and refuse to submit to them? Seduction Satan targeted the woman, with false wisdom. That's usurping a husband's spiritual role over his wife. Spiritual seduction is the enemy throughout the Bible. Satan opposed Man, by picking on the weaker half. (He opposed God, by picking on the easier target, the mortal, murderable Son of Man.) Birth and Labour Imagery is big in the prophecies It speaks of resurrection, among many related things. Children are the natural consequence of sexual marriage. Children of God are the spiritual consequence of submitting to Him. Sowing seed to another god, reaps fire. Firstborn-child The heir of the future kingdom. He gets the inheritance, and its rulership, to share out as he pleases. Fertility cult jargon figures here and there in the Bible, along with astrology, and pagan worship The picture in the sky is of god + goddess producing many children of God, and some wayward wanderers. The invisible God uses the visible skies as a pregnant metaphor for the kingdom of heaven. Eph 5:32-33 This mystery is great: but I speak in regard of Christ and of the church. 33 Nevertheless do ye also severally love each one his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see that she fear her husband The characteristic of our times is a throwing off of respect for God and Bible. But can we even agree on an alternative? If we are so smart, why couldn't we have made a more durable Bible? We are witnessing a loss of agreed-upon morals and of absolute truth. Since we are so 'liberated' from restraint, why are we mired in troubles of our own making? There is a descent into chaos, a growth of false religion and a decline in true religion. If we are so wise, why couldn't we point out where God went wrong?

Why do we prefer a meaningless life and extinction, to searching for and receving the Spirit of God? The rot set in when we despised the depths of the writings of the truly inspired prophets chosen by the God of the Hebrews. When their Messiah did arrive, as advertised, on time, we took it as an excuse to throw off religious restraint, to practise heaven on earth, to rely on unproven prophets, to preach universal love and forgiveness, and to joyfully drop the fear of God. Somehow we have missed the point. If those ear-muffs are not so tight now, you might hear the Bible's version, that we should fear the one who loves us: Eph 5:32-33 This mystery is great: but I speak in regard of Christ and of the church. 33 Nevertheless do ye also severally love each one his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see that she fear her husband.