Man and Woman relationship

1st Tim. 2:5 “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” It matters much what we allow to be planted in the garden of our heart and mind. There is a teaching that has been around for quite some time which some Christian folk continue to allow growing within their heart. That teaching concerns the idea that a woman’s place and position is to be subservient to her husband, to the extent that the woman cannot properly hear from the Lord except through her husband. Straight up – that teaching and doctrine is false and only genders bondage and not the wonderful peace and freedom to be experienced in the body of Christ. Such a teaching finds its roots only in mans religion and never in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a clever teaching which was being practiced within one of the seven churches of Asia along the close of the first century of the Early Church. Let’s take a look. "But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate" (Rev. 2:6). "So thou hast also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate" (Rev. 2:15). When the Lord was showing John on Patmos what the seven churches would be like, He commended the church at Ephesus because they hated the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which the Lord also detested. In Pergamos, the third church, these deeds had become accepted doctrine, which the Lord also hated. When a name appears in the scriptures its meaning sheds light upon the spiritual reality behind the name. What are these Nicolaitanes? We understand when we know what the name means! Nicolaitane comes from two Greek words: nikao, which means "to rule over" or "to conquer," and laos, which means "the laity" or "the people." Put these definitions together and you get a domineering ruling class within the body of Christ whose main agenda is to get the upper hand, conquer, subordinate, and subdue those who they consider "less gifted," "less knowledgeable," or "less qualified" than themselves! In the religious world there are those called "clergy" and there are those who are called "laity." These are titles that have come to us from religious Babylon! What were the "deeds" of the Nicolaitanes? They were exalting the "clergy" over the "laity"! The clergy class were dominating the laity, the people. The clergy exalted themselves whereas the laity were abased. The clergy became the authority, the power, the lordship in the church. They became the fountain of all truth, they had the last word, they called all the shots. The rest of us poor folks are just "laity," the dumb sheep that just follow and do what we are told. This same domineering attitude is carried over in that of the man and woman in their marriage relationship. There are ministers within the ranks of Babylon’s religious system which advocate the teaching that the husband is THE Head, covering and priest over the wife – especially and specifically in matters concerning her hearing from the Lord. The one scripture which that attitude takes its strength is from what the apostle Paul is saying in reference to the headship of the church. Ephesians 5:22-33. There is a tremendous lesson to be learned here by both men and women. It was never intended for one to rule and domineer over the other, but that they both should function in unity and harmony with one another under their true Head Jesus Christ. It is important for us to see what is said here in this scripture. The wife is to be in submission and subordinate to her husband who is proper in the Lord, the husband should honor and cherish his wife as the Lord does the Church. The very reason Paul was addressing this submission issue was due to the lewdness of some women who rebelled against any kind of authority. But the scripture never teaches us that women must hear from the Lord through her husband. There should be a mutual reverence and respect for each other in their marriage relationship but never an attitude of lordship and dominance of the husband over the wife. The teaching of man’s dominance over the wife has grown in these days from the teaching of the Shepherdship/Discipleship Movement that began back in the 1970’s. That heretical doctrine finds its roots in the teachings of five men - Derek Prince, Bob Mumford, Don Basham, Ern Baxter and Charles Simpson. It is appropriate that the woman should reverence her own husband and be subject and dependent upon him as being his “help meet.” Literally; a helping equivalent! The woman is a complementing part of man; she is the other part which brings balance in mans being. Women are NOT to be looked upon with the attitude that developed under the laws of Judaism centuries ago. Dr. Israel Shahak says in his book Jewish Fundamentalism, page 7, “Israeli religious Jews are divided into two distinctly different groups. The members of the religiously more extreme group are called Haredim. (The singular word is Haredi or Hared.) . . .” Dr. Shahak goes on to explain that the Haredim are divided into two parties: Yahadut Ha'Torah (Judaism of the Law), which is primarily composed of Eastern European Jews, and the Shas Party, comprised mostly of Oriental Haradim. Then on page 37, 38 he writes, “By design, Haredi rabbis and politicians select secular women in politics as the primary targets of their attacks, even though they could pinpoint secular men as much, if not more, for transgressions of religious law. The Haredim repeatedly refer to Jewish women, engaged in politics, as witches, bitches, or demons. Although a bit crude at times in the use of descriptive language, the Haredim approach mirrors to a great extent traditional Judaism's broadly based position regarding women. This position not only restricts the rights of women but in many ways holds women in contempt. Rule 8 in Chapter 3 of the Kitzur Shulthan Aruch (Abridgement of Shulhan Aruch), an elementary textbook for Jews with little talmudic education, for example, dictates: ‘A male should not walk between two females or two dogs or two pigs. In the same manner the males should not allow a woman, dog or pig to walk between them.' All Haredi boys between the ages of ten and twelve study and are required to observe this rule. (Few dogs and no pigs can be found in Haredi neighborhoods.) Traditional Judaism also prohibits women from playing even insignificant roles in politics. . . ." America has recently been exposed to the rule in some Arab countries prohibiting women from driving automobiles. But not many realize that there is a similar rule among the Haredi Jews. Dr. Shahak writes on page 38, “Women are forbidden to drive buses or taxis; they can drive private cars only if no males apart from those in their own families or other women are passengers. These and many rules are followed in Haredi neighborhoods.” But the most insulting and degrading statement of all is again mentioned by Dr. Shahak on page 38 of his book, “The numerous misogynistic statements in the Talmud and in talmudic literature constitute a part of every Haredi male's sacred study. The statement in Tractate Shabat, page 152b, defining a woman is exemplary: ‘A woman is a sack full of excrement'.” Dr. Shahak, on page 40, quotes a well-known Israeli journalist, Kadid Leper, who wrote an article on April 18, 1997 entitled, “Woman is a sack full of excrement.” Leper's article stated: “Beatings, sexual brutality, cruelty, deprival of rights, use of a woman as merely a sexual object; you can find all of this there [in the Talmud] … For two thousand years women had a well-defined place in the Jewish religion [Orthodox Judaism]; this place is different from what the rabbinical establishment describes; according to the Halacha, the place of women is in the garbage heap together with cattle and slaves. According to the Jewish religion [Orthodox Judaism] a man buys for himself a slave woman for her entire life simply by providing food and dress and granting to his wife the sexual act.” Today there are many misinformed Christians who think that the Jewish religion somehow complements their Christian belief, i.e., if you walk hand in hand with the practice of a person who claims to be a Jew, then you are somehow just a little bit closer to God. My My! How, pray tell can such an attitude toward our fellow partner and “help meet” be of any benefit? None. There are many Christian couples today whose marriage relationship is totally out of harmony and out of balance with the clear teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In the beginning when Adam and Eve were placed into the Garden of Eden and confronted by the wiles of the Serpent, they both fell under his seductive lie. The lie was that Adam and Eve could become gods independently of God Almighty. The lie told them that God Almighty was withholding something from them namely, that if they really knew what the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil could give to them, then, they would realize that they were in fact gods wholly independent of God Almighty. That lie produced in their thinking the idea that God didn’t love them enough to be upfront truthful with them about their own god ship. Well, the lie which was sown into their heart caused them to believe that they were gods in their own right completely independent of God Almighty. That lie has prevailed within the carnal mind of Adamic logic ever since, and the Adamic mind has come to the place in thinking that because he is god and the woman is his servant, his possession to do with as he so chooses. And, sadly enough, the women themselves have succumbed to such lying logic and have submitted themselves to such a trammeling attitude Those lying ideas may have prevailed in natural man’s mind but will not, and cannot, enter into God’s Kingdom. Those lying ideas and principles may prove to be a part of man’s world, but they are not the principles of the Kingdom of God. The scripture tells us that in the natural marriage union, a man and woman shall become one FLESH. That union of being one flesh is of a lower order and belongs to the natural order of things. However, there is a higher order. The order of the spirit is this. “They who are joined unto the Lord Jesus Christ” in holy marriage union are one SPIRIT. (1st Cor. 6:17). If you are content to live after the order of the FLESH then you may very well be happy to live a life according to the dictates of your natural mind of carnal logic, which is based and founded upon the lie of the serpent. If you desire to become a part of God’s higher order in the realm of spirit, you must begin to learn spiritual principles which belong to the Kingdom of God. The religious Sadducees brought one of their brilliant ideas of carnal logic before the Lord Jesus and asked Him a question concerning the marriage of one woman with seven brothers. (Matthew 22:23-32). Jesus told them that they greatly erred not knowing the scripture nor the power of God. Jesus told them that in the resurrection there was no such thing as marrying and giving in marriage, for there we are like the angels of God in heaven. What in the world is Jesus saying to these Sadducees? He is telling them that there is a higher order for us to learn about, and that higher order pertains to those who are living in His resurrection life, His life IS OUR Life! Apparently, this is something that the church world has yet to understand. Brother and sister in the Lord are we living in the world of the natural carnal mind of logic, or are we living in the mind of the spirit of Christ? Gal 3:26 “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed (One Seed- CHRIST), and heirs according to the promise.” Are you “one in Christ Jesus” or, are you one in the body of fallen Adam? Are you one in Abraham’s SEED (Christ), then you and I are heirs of God’s promise of His kingdom. None of the old Adamic mind of carnal logic applies in the Kingdom of God. Man revels in his carnal religious mind of logic received from the serpents lie, but he needs to know that one day that lie must give way to the truth of God’s Gospel in Christ Jesus. Much more could and most likely will be written on this subject as the Lord directs. But for right now I pray that the Spirit of the Lord will open the eyes of your understanding to be able to comprehend this kingdom truth.

Dale Luttrell