From the Mailbag — Please Show Me Where Male Headship is Biblical

Adam realizes in exercising his authority over the animals that there was no animal that corresponded to him (Gen. 2:16-18). So, God creates a woman as a helper for Adam. NOTE that Eve is created from Adam thus communicating that women will forever be dependent upon men.  Paul communicates this idea when he writes In I Corinthians 11,

⁸ For the man is not of the woman: but the woman of the man ⁹ Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.

When we consider Genesis again we see that the first thing that Adam does upon meeting she whom God hath created is that he names his wife “woman” who he holds to be precious and valued above all things. Just as Adam had named the animals showing his authority, so Adam names his helpmate “woman,” thus also communicating his authority. In the naming of her as “woman” and then the later individualizing of her name “Eve” after the Fall what is communicated is that Man has authority over women (remember to name in Scripture is to have authority over) and is to have leadership over women.

Male headship and female submission are present at creation.  Male headship is a creation ordinance and it was the overturning of that Creation Ordinance that explains the fall. Adam failed in his headship by not guarding the garden and Eve failed in submitting to Adam’s headship by not consulting Adam when visited by the serpent.

That Creation Ordinance is then re-established in God’s judgment upon Eve.

Genesis 3:16 “Your desire will be for your husband [for his position] but He will rule over you.”

Scholars have offered various interpretations of this subtle Hebrew phrasing. Most scholars interpret this to mean that the woman would desire to be in control of her husband, but he would be the master.

So we see that not only in the Creation ordinance but also in God’s judgment after the fall that male headship and so patriarchy is the norm of not only marriages but also social orders.

But if want to continue to augment this argument for Male headship we would turn to passages like Isaiah 3:12. In the book of Isaiah God is lamenting the condition of His people and says,

And destroy the way of your paths.”

God says this as a judgment against His people. Things are so bad among Judah and Jerusalem that they have fallen to such a sad estate where children are their oppressors and even women are now ruling over them. Clearly, this was not to be the norm.

That male headship is to be true in the Church is said repeatedly in the New Testament. Here is one example;

I Timothy 2:11 Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. 12 And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression. 15 Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.

In the Bible, in the book of Titus, the Holy Spirit says that the role of women are as follows,

3 the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— 4 that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.

Clearly, the inspired Apostle did not see that the role of women would be to rule over men. When we begin to look at this in total we begin to understand why I could never vote for a woman (even a God-fearing Biblical woman) as a political candidate. Such a position is not normative for women and is counter-intuitive to the purposes God has made women. To place a woman in a political office or as a Corporate President is like using rose petals as kindling wood to make a fire. I mean you can do it, but who would ever think that such a thing was not very odd?

We see here in the Titus passage that the Holy Spirit envisions the role of women to be connected with the home and with the family. Even that fabulous woman in Proverbs 31 is doing all she does so her husband can be ruling (31:23 — “Known in the gates” has reference to leadership in that culture).

So, when I combine all this together I conclude that God has built women to be keepers of hearth and home.

Yes, I do understand that there are exceptions (Huldah, Deborah) but we must realize that with each of these exceptions Israel was at a low point in obedience to God. We should not be surprised to find these exceptions during low points in Israel’s history. Such low points also gave Israel Jezebel and Athaliah.

Below is a link from a woman who thought much the same way until the world turned upside down with the woman’s suffrage movement. A movement that wrought all kinds of destruction on the family and was the beginning of the end of Western Civilization.

It is a longish piece but you can dip into it at various points and get the general tenor. This woman is a woman I really really respect.

https://jfcoopersociety.org/SUSAN/SUFFRAGE.HTML  

In closing, there are many implications to this conviction. For example, I do not think it wise, on the whole, for women to be in the workforce. A woman keeping hearth and home (Titus) has more than enough to keep her busy. Plus, why would any husband want to see his wife under a different male covenant head during the work hours while she is away from the home? Now, in our culture, I understand that there are all kinds of exceptions but it should be our goal to allow our womenfolk the joy of being wives and mothers keeping hearth and home.

Thank you for your question Michelle.