Being married and working in the ministry can be a beautiful experience if you have these two things; a balance in your life, which will allow you to work for God and a spouse that understands and accepts the calling that God has put on your life. God is no respecter of person (2 Chronicles 19:7; Acts 10:34), so when He calls out an individual, it does not matter if you are man or woman (Galatians 3:28). God sees your ability and not your gender. Now don’t get me wrong, there are some offices that are gender specific, for example, the priesthood, a woman can never be a priest. The office of the priest was given to Aaron and his sons (Exodus 28:1). The office of a prophet is something totally different, this is not gender specific office. If you are wondering how you can identify the difference between a male and female prophet, it is simple, one is male and the other is female. A man is called a prophet and a woman is called a prophetess, other than that, there is no difference. Once an individual has been chosen by God to perform a specific task, it becomes the responsibility of that person to create a balance within his or her life to serve God accordingly. There are many examples of men in the Bible working in the ministry while at the same time being a husband, but what about a woman working in the ministry. Is it even possible for a woman to work in the ministry, be a wife to her husband, and mother to her children? I say that it is possible. There are women in the Bible that served God just as well as any male and were still able to carry out their roles as wives. Why then do we not recognize these women and the contributions that they made to the ministry? Why have we silenced their voices and hid their works from the world? It is through their stories that these women reveal, a woman can lead and be led at the same time.
Deborah, a Mother in the nation of Yisra’el (Israel), a chief judge and a prophetess. During her time of serving God, she secured the position as the head judge. What does that mean? I’m glad you asked, that means as a woman, Deborah was the highest ranking official in the law and over every judge. As a chief judge and an expert in the law, it was Deborah’s duty as a judge to preside over the cases of the children of Yisra’el that came before her, at all time (Judges 4:4-5). The nation of Yisra’el (Israel) consisted of men, women, children, and most importantly, Lapidoth, Deborah’s husband. It was considered unlawful to go against the judge’s (whatever judge is in authority) ruling, insomuch that whomever went against the judge’s decision will be put to death (Deuteronomy 17:8-12). This meant the entire nation of Yisra’el (Israel) had to adhere to Deborah’s ruling as the chief judge, this included her husband. Did you think that was all that needed to be said about Deborah?
There was so much more to she was as a servant of God. Deborah called for Barak, whom was an army general. Upon his arrival, Deborah asked him, Didn’t God command you to take a certain number of men with you and go to war with the captain of Jabin’s army and he will deliver them unto you? Barak’s response was, Yes, he did, but I will not go to war unless you (Deborah) go with me. Wait…the head of the army is telling a woman that the only way that he will obey the command of God is if she goes to war with him, even after God has promised him victory over their enemy. What does this say about Barak as a general and what does this say about Deborah as a prophetess? Although Barak was promised victory over the enemy, his guarantee came with God’s servant, Deborah being by his side because Barak knew that God was with Deborah. What other way is there to ensure your victory than to take God with you. Barak had enough insight to know, although, he was the head of the army, Deborah was his spiritual leader and advisor. This did not make him a weak man, it made him a wise one.
Huldah, wife of Shallum worked in the ministry as a prophetess of God’s. The Bible states that Huldah dwelled in Jerusalem in the college (2 Chronicles 34:22), which means she was always studying the law. I’m guessing her husband always knew where to find her if he needed her. But why was Huldah dwell in Jerusalem in the college? For this very reason, one day Hilkiah, the high priest found the book of the law that Moses wrote. After his discovery of the book, Hilkiah had the book sent to king Josiah by Shaphan, the scribe. While reading the book, the king found that the commandments and covenants God had been broken. The king was so sorrowful and concerned of what will become of them all (2 Chronicles 34:15-19). The king then called for Hilkiah, whom once again was a priest, and told him and a few others to go and enquire (to ask a question) of God of what is going to happen (2 Chronicles 34:20-21). As a high priest, you would think that Hilkiah went to talk to God on behalf of the king, right? Wrong. Hilkiah went and found Huldah. If Hilkiah could not have performed this task, there was another well-known male prophet serving God at this very same time named, Jeremiah. So why would Hilkiah and those that were with him seek out Huldah instead of Jeremiah? Many have said that Jeremiah was traveling. But how far could he have been traveling? Also, didn’t Hilkiah and the others travel to get to Huldah’s location. Let me tell you why they went to Huldah and not Jeremiah, they reason they went to Huldah and not Jeremiah is because she was just as qualified to speak on behalf of God as he was. When Huldah spoke, she spoke the words of God by leading with, “Thus saith the LORD,” which ensures that these are not her words, but words coming from God himself. For those that may still doubt that Huldah was a servant working on behalf of God, when she sent word back to the king of his reaction to finding out what he discovered in the law, that was all the confirmation he needed that God was with Huldah as His prophetess (2 Chronicles 34:26-27). Once again, there is no evidence of Huldah’s husband trying to keep her from serving God. When God put a calling on the lives of Deborah, Huldah, and other women in the Bible, he never gave them the power to usurp authority over their husbands (1 Timothy 2:12) in the marriage. As women of God, they understood His (God) desire of the husband being head of the household (1 Corinthians 11:3). As wives, they were aware of their duties of assisting (Genesis 2:18) their husbands when they were not working in the ministry.
The Bible never suggested that these women confused their roles of working in the ministry with the role of being a wife or vice versa. Another thing the Bible does not mention is that the husbands of these powerful female figures never interfered with their wife’s ministry. Sure, there is a thin line between working in the ministry and performing your duties within the household, but if you can maintain that balance with a spouse that is understanding of your position, you can and will make your marriage and the ministry flourish. How did we get so far removed from pleasing God and fulfilling His desire?
There are two major reasons that caused this shift to occur: (1) worldly teachings-women are equal to men and (2) religious teaching-improperly interpreting the Bible for someone’s personal gain. Women have been fighting for over 100 years to be treated the same as their male counterparts. From the fist recorded Women’s Rights Movement in 1848 to the most recent Equal Rights Amendment in 2018, women have fought for equal pay, the right to vote, to hold positions in Congress, etc. With each amendment filed, the jargon remained the same, “women and men should be treated equally, across the United States and anywhere the U.S. had jurisdiction.” As women began to triumph in the courthouse, troubles were starting to stir up in the household. For the first time, women went out into the workforce, and for many families this caused a major shift in their home life. Women were not home as much for the children, many children became key-latch kids, and some husbands had to pick-up the slack around the household. This caused the family structure that was set-up by God to become distorted.
There are many religious organizations that teaches the doctrine, “Women cannot speak to or hold a position of authority within the congregation,” and to support their doctrine, they would take you right to what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35. Well, let’s analyze what Paul said, 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 anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for woman to speak in the church. First and foremost, Paul said, “your women.” Who is the “your” Paul is talking to? That answer can be found in 1 Corinthians 1:2. He was speaking to the church of Corinth. The entire book is addressing the issues the church of Corinth was having. One major issue was the chaos going on in the church. Their problems ranged from how a man or woman should pray and prophesy before God to speaking in tongues to improperly preaching and teaching the doctrine, along with many other issues. In 1 Corinthians 11:5, Paul says that if a woman prays or prophesy, she must cover her head. Well, why would Paul say something that contradicts and then say that God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33). Paul never contradicts the word of God. Imagine this, if you will, sitting in a place where men, women and children worship and within that place, prophecies are going forth, and as these prophecies are being given, everyone is getting their own interpretation, revelations, doctrines, etc. (1 Corinthians 14:26).
Also, let’s picture this, in this very same place there are women teaching doctrinal principles they are not qualified to teach and causing confusion…chaotic, huh? These are just a couple of the problems the church of Corinth faced, and Paul had to address these issues. If we really want to get technical, Paul commanded the men to keep silence if the were not able to adhere to the rules that he had given them (1 Corinthians 14:27-28, 38-39), so are we going to teach that man cannot speak or hold a position within the church? Paul was called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, which will make him a servant of God (1 Corinthians 1:1), he understood the doctrine and how to teach it. He would have never said that a woman cannot work in the ministry because that is not a biblical principle. A doctrine that does not permit women to hold an office within the ministry is a doctrine that limits the work God can and will perform in your life. When the Bible said that God is no respecter of persons, that means he will use whom he deems most qualified to carry out a specific task, whether it be man, woman, or child. Moses said that we do not have the power to add or take away from the word of God, so why do you think that you have the authority to change his word for your personal gain?
https://www.equalrightsamendment.org/the-equal-rights-amendment https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/WIC/Historical-Essays/No-Lady/Womens-Rights/ https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/
