Order In God's House: Men and Women in Ministry
In a fellowship we attended the question of female apostles came up and sparked a short, but lively discussion.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
There is much cultural “transgendering”, feminism, and male-neutering de-masculization mirrored in the confused and tangled corporate church world, and our secular world also (by design). The satanic blurring of gender distinction is stark evidence, and you are likely aware of men in women’s sports, locker room showers, and bathrooms.
Sadly the church system led the way for this, the same system we were once a part of as we blissfully ignored the plumbline of God’s Word. I would like to point out some things not taught or were intentionally overlooked in most churches regarding Ministry and who does what.
The major roles of church oversight were stated in Ephesian 4:11 by our beloved brother Paul the apostle.
And He gave some to be apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
-their purpose is:
12 for the perfecting (maturing) of the saints for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying of the body of Christ.
and also here:
1 Corinthians 12:28 And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
For the purpose and focus of this study, I will use their definitive Greek terms:
1. apostle. ἀπόστολος apostolos Part of Speech: masculine noun
2. prophet: προφήτης prophētēs Part of Speech masculine noun
3. evangelist: εὐαγγελιστής euangelistēs Part of Speech masculine noun
4. pastors: ποιμήν poimēn Part of Speech masculine noun
These are the headship gifts of overseership to serve (not dominate over) Christ’s body when Christ is the head and responsible for teaching the apostles’ “doctrine”, which the apostles received from Christ before and after He ascended to God.
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝’𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥e. -much to the chagrin of the harlot church system many of us came out of.
Note that there are no feminine nouns in Ephesian 4:11 in the above even though women are “prophetesses” in both Testaments.
The word “prophetess” is used eight times of for a number of women in the entire Bible.
But "prophet" occurs 244 times in 227 verses in the KJV, and prophets delivered virtually all of the scripture. The scriptures are the “word of God” and the “word” is likened to “seed”, i.e. sperma, as in the parable “a sower sowed the seed” that Jesus taught.
Most, if not all of scripture was the seed of the Word that came through prophets.
"Neither male nor female"?
Some argue from Galatians 3:28 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.
However I would point out that when it came to the calling to overseership, Paul gave definitive qualifications in 1 Timothy 3, and Titus 1.
-Those qualifications in both passages included "being the husband of one wife".
What happened to "neither male nor female?" one might ask.
He also gave designated instructions to husbands, wives, children, employers, and employees who are also Christians, yet they do not lose their gender or role distinctions with "husbands love your wives".
Women may speak!
He gives all in the assembly, including women to prophesy, speak in tongues, interpret, testify, pray, sing, all of which are vocally expressed. 1 Corinthians 14.
It is amazing to me how easily these instructions are ignored or explained away by people that teach others.
I have an article on qualifications but simply reading carefully what Paul instructed and commanded those pastors will tell you what we should believe and follow..
Let's take a look at:
1. apostle. ἀπόστολος apostolos Part of Speech: masculine noun
2. prophet: προφήτης prophētēs Part of Speech masculine noun
3. evangelist: εὐαγγελιστής euangelistēs Part of Speech masculine noun
4. pastors: ποιμήν poimēn Part of Speech masculine noun
other masculine nouns of note:
5. RABBI
6. Levites
7. Sanhedrin
8. Patriarchs
9. Pharisees
10. Christ
11. Priest
12. Ruler of the synagogue: a phrase, masculine noun.
In the above ministries, both Greek and Hebrew have clear and distinct gendered noun forms.
Let’s compare them to some other words.
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐬:
Hebrew Transliteration nᵊḇî'â Part of Speech 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧
Greek: prophētis Part of Speech feminine noun
“prophetess” points: It is not listed among the ministries in Ephesian 4:11,
nor is it a qualification for overseership in 1Tim. 3 and Titus 1.
In Acts 8, Philip’s four virgin daughters did “prophesy”, which is a verb, and a verb is not a position of oversight-eldership.
To “prophesy” is a gift that is shared among Godly women and men in the church body, with mention in 1 Corinthians 14.
Moses' sister Miriam is the first mentioned prophetess and apparently she over-stepped her place when she gave voice to her dislike and criticism of Moses wife. Then she and Aaron attempted to usurp and take some authority over Moses, the prophet.
As a result, God put a leprosy on her for 7 days, but not Aaron, and she repented.
When folks point to Debra as an "authority" under the law, they should also note the incident with Miriam and Moses in Numbers 12.
The last <not as a literal person> prophetess mentioned in scripture is Jezebel in Revelation chapter 2, she also was a usurper and teacher of men in the church. God gave space for “her” to repent.
“And I gave her space to repent of her fornication, and she repented not.. “
Her spiritual fornication was receiving the words and teachings of many men and using their words to teach men, i.e. prophets.
Places demonstrating the absence of feminine authority over men in teaching or leading:
No prophetess is mentioned in Acts 15 where the hotly debated Law and the gentiles was resolved.
No prophetess is mentioned among the Ephesian elders in Acts 20 that Paul gave instructions to.
No prophetess is mentioned as a “ruler of the synagogues” that are mentioned.
No prophetess is specifically mentioned as such, or as an overseer in Paul’s epistles.
This not a chauvinistic put-down, 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐬 given 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐆𝐨𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐧 to exercise as they guide the saints.
𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚, 𝙣𝙤 𝙈𝘼𝙉 𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 “𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙨”,
-𝙝𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙝 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙, 𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙨 “𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙚𝙩𝙨”, 𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙣.
Can we see that subtle “tranny-ism” perversion of the male’s gift and calling? Some of us do.
Masculine nouns.
In our English translations, some Bible words lose there genderized forms which are obvious in Greek and Hebrew. The important ones are “apostle”, “prophet”, “teacher” “pastor”. All masculine nouns.
Here are some masculine nouns that are obvious:
Uncle. Part of Speech masculine noun
Nephew. Part of Speech masculine noun
Brethren. Part of Speech masculine noun
The rest of those English words are immediately clear as gendered nouns.
𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 “𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫”, “𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫” “𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞” 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐛𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐰.
I happen to have a Greek friend named “Apostolos”.
Yes, it is the exact same word used in scripture and he is very much a male.
One day I asked him about his name, if girls were ever named “Apostolos” and he assured me with a crystal clear “NO!”.
But in the church system, that distinction is ignored. Are we missing something?
1. apostle. ἀπόστολος apostolos Pronunciation ap-os'-tol-os
Part of Speech: masculine noun
𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐞 𝐫𝐞-𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 “𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫”?
-𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞-𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬..
4. pastors: ποιμήν Transliteration poimēn (Key) Pronunciation poy-mane'
Part of Speech masculine noun
There is not a single female “co-pastor” in scripture.
A woman "co-pastor" (we knew many of them personally) is like saying a pastor’s wife is “co-husband”.
5.Christ. We KNOW Christ is a man because we know who Christ was in scripture.
But if someone heard the word "Christ" without any Bible knowledge, or a small child,
one could mistakenly attach the word "Christ" to a woman, the same as they do with "pastor".
But the Greek proves the same truth, "Christ" is a masculine noun and attached to Jesus our Lord.
Friends, God made woman to be man’s help mate, not usurp his authority that was created in God’s image.
Does that give a husband an authoritarian-blank-check to lord over her, intimidate, or abuse her?
𝙂𝙤𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙗𝙞𝙙!
He will answer to God and may answer to the courts and legal system if he abuses her, injures her, and God help the man that abrogates his responsibility.
We have counseled women to get out and away from abusive men to protect them.
He is called to provide for, love her, honor her, cherish her, protect her, defend her, guide her, lead her to the Lord and guide her in His Words.
Men and women may be one in Christ, but both sexes are given diverse responsibilities in scripture, and our obvious separate physical characteristics do not become non-existent when in Christ.
Gal. 3:28 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.
𝗜𝗳 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗶𝘀 “𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱” 𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗚𝗼𝗱’𝘀 “𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲” (“naos": noun-masc) 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁, who is “𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻”, 1 Corinthians 11:2-5
-𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗣𝗮𝘂𝗹 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲 “𝗜 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗻𝗼𝗿 𝘂𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗽 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝗻”.
A woman in Spiritual authority will feminize the men in an assembly, and we are witnesses to that.
Bobbi is not Robert. Tommi is not Thomas.
There are no feminized forms of nouns for “apostle”, “pastor”, ‘brethren”,
but there is a feminized “prophetess” for a woman to prophesy.
She is never a “prophet”. The prophetess’s in the New Testament are not given overseership in violation of the instructions delivered to the churches, but they are a gifted to hear from and speak for God in their gifting.
𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲’𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐞, let me opine that the 𝐌𝐄𝐍 seeking to be 𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧, 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫-𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 that have been invented are partaking of the anti-christ church system, called the "Great Whore of Babylon", and the clergy-laity church system.
What about JUNIA?
Junia, one of seven women mentioned in Paul's greeting in Romans 16:7 is put forth as an apostle by some.
We cannot make her into a masculine-noun "apostolos" however, just as we cannot make her a husband, brother, son, or uncle.
Nor is there any other reference to her as an apostle to confirm her as such, therefore I reject labeling her with the masculine apostolos which would conflict with the Greek scripture.
Note that 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞s,
𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐉𝐮𝐝𝐚𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧,
𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 Godly 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐛, and Mary the mother of Jesus.
Later, when there was a need for deacons, they chose from among "seven men of good report" and selected Stephen.
“And He gave some to be apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers”
