HAPPY REFORMATION DAY!! :)

Beginning at the Beginning: The Lord's Beautiful Plan, Design, and Purpose for Womanhood Part 4

*If you have not yet read the previous portions of the stay-at-home daughterhood article series, please do so now, by clicking here, before you continue on. Thank you! :)

The following is the final portion of this article! Next Friday we will, Lord willing, move into addressing and studying the Biblical case for stay-at-home daughterhood.

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The subject I will be addressing today is so very, very important. I know I've proclaimed that same sentence in the three parts prior to this one, but it is so true! Each and every one of these four roles of Biblical womanhood are direly important and lead to the health and vitality of families, as well as the furthering of Christian dominion. In a way, however, I believe the case could be made that the specific role we'll be studying today is the foundation upon which the other three are built and given strength. If this foundation is not upheld, embraced, and delighted in Biblically, all else will crumble. The hope of pursuing the other three responsibilities will be darkened and depleted if this one-which was also instituted in the Genesis, the book of beginnings!-is not obeyed and lived out in a God-honoring fashion. Because of its depth of importance as well as the lies, hatred, and misrepresentations hurled against it today, this is a topic which could easily take up the space of a completely separate article series (which may show up here on this blog sometime in the future!). Due to this fact, I will not even attempt to delve into the depths and widths of this beautiful role at this particular time. I will be addressing it further in the next article we'll be undertaking by God's grace, which will be "The Biblical Case for Stay-at-home Daughterhood". However, I do want to attempt to present to you at least a portion of the riches of this design of womanhood, as created by our Lord. May it serve to ignite in you a love for God's vision of womanhood, and may the Lord use it to develop in you a thirst to delve into a Scriptural study of this topic for yourself.

A Woman is to be...

...under the provision, protection and leadership of a man.

As I stated above, this is-quite sadly- a very hated concept in our current culture. When someone brings up the topic of a man's responsibility to lead, provide for, and protect his wife and daughters, our culture-and sadly, the Church!- has been instructed and fashioned to respond with hatred, misunderstanding and vast misrepresentation.

On the one hand, you have those who say that there is no such thing as "male headship". By proclaiming this, they basically say that there is no need for men. This may seem like a radical proclamation, but that is nonetheless the thought which under-girds the "no headship" worldview. They are proclaiming-whether they mean to or not-that there is no need for men. After all, men and women are exactly alike, so why have both?

On the other hand, there are those who utter the dark and unBiblical words that women are to be doormats, nothing but slaves, held under lock and key in the dark basement of the home, and not to be given honor and respect. They-perhaps unwittingly-are embracing the enslaving dangers and heresies of Islam and are abusing women in a terrible manner.

However (glory be to our great God!), the Scriptures provide us with a picture of what the true relationship between the sexes ought to be. Our Lord and Maker reveals to us His loving heart and perfect ways as they pertain to Biblical manhood and Biblical womanhood. We see in Genesis and elsewhere in Scripture that God had ordained male headship and female submission-and did so prior to the Fall! The Fall did not bring about male leadership and female following. The only change in these roles that the Fall brought about was that now, due to our sinful natures, women desire to rule over men and men at times rule in a domineering, unloving fashion.

Indeed, it was not the Fall which brought about male headship and female "dependence". It was our all-wise, all-loving God Who ordained these wonderful, complementary roles. And I'm so glad and thankful that He did!

The Dangers of "Equality"

Feminism would have us believe that prior to the advent of the Women's Rights Movement, women were enslaved victims of domineering, disrespectful, power-hungry men. However, this simply is not the case. Were there men prior to this movement who dishonored and mistreated women? Of course-there have been since the Fall! However, it was much less common. The Declaration of Feminism even remarked in November 1971, that "all of history must be re-written in terms of oppression of women"! Rather than alleviating abuse towards women, feminism has instead brought about mistreatment of women on a massive, tragic scale! I was made aware of this terribly sad truth yet again through the reading of an article that was featured in our local newspaper just three days ago.

The article spoke of the horrible rape of a 15 year old girl in the San Fransisco area. Following a high school event one night not long ago (I believe it was reported to be a school dance), the young woman exited the school building and was attacked by a group of young men ranging in age from mid-teens to early twenties. They preceded to abuse and rape her-for two hours. As horrific as this alone is, the article went on to say that this was not the most gruesome portion of the story. What makes this event a hundred times worse is the fact that a large group of people gathered around the site. Not to help her, though! Rather, they simply stood there and watched as this poor girl was terribly abused. For two hours! Undoubtedly there were strong young men in this group of on-lookers. They no doubt could have banded together- they even numbered more than the attackers!-to defend and protect this young woman. Did they do that, though? Did they step in as men in the Titanic era would have, to defend, honor and protect her? Of course not-because men are not trained to do that today! Why? Because feminism has so maligned males into thinking they're good for nothing that now they believe it. Now they don't see any reason to defend helpless women. After all, feminism has, in the same manner, proclaimed to females that they ought to be "just one of the guys". Feminism has taught countless women and young girls that they should act like men, dress like men, think like men, do the work of men, heap upon themselves all the responsibilities of men, be "tough" like men, etc., for that's "true equality"! Do you see, however, where this sort of unBiblical indoctrination has gotten us? We were once a nation which bravely and dutifully proclaimed the teaching of "Women and Children First!", a nation which took great pride in defending, providing for, cherishing, and honoring women. We are now a nation that views women as men.....and treats them as such, slapping them on the shoulder, slamming doors in their faces, leaving them to fend for themselves, and the list goes on. Women have for decades now cried that they want "equality" (meaning that they want to be like men!). However, now that they've acquired it, they're not happy! Who could be when stories like that of the girl mentioned above take place day after day, thanks to "equality between the sexes"?

In great contrast to worldly pictures of equality, there is indeed an aspect of equality between man and woman which the Lord lovingly developed- that of equality in His sight. We are equal in worth, in dignity, and in the fact of our both being made in the image of Almighty God, the Maker of heaven and earth. What better equality could there be? The Lord created men with special roles and responsibilities fashioned solely for them, and because of this, they enjoy a special uniqueness among the Creation. Women are blessed in this same capacity, for they were issued roles and responsibilities which only they can enjoy and delight in. The uniqueness of man and the uniqueness of woman are kept safe in God's economy. However, man and woman lose their uniqueness and purpose when they are morphed together into one entity as they so often are today. Let us forsake the unfulfilling, fake, deceiving "equality" of today, so that we might enjoy and benefit from the glorious equality which God offers to us!

Man as Provider, Protector, and Leader

As alluded to in the previous installments to this article, man is ordained by God to protect, provide and lead his wife and unmarried daughters. We see in Genesis that while man is to provide for his family, his wife is to be a homemaker (and we daughters, homemakers-in-training!). Numerous passages of the Bible (some of which we will cover in next week's article) proclaim the duty of men to protect and defend their families-a role which represents the love of Christ for His Bride, the Church (Eph. 5:25, 28-33). Women are created as the "weaker vessels" (1 Peter 3:7) and are to be guarded and kept safe by men. And lastly, man is commanded by God to lovingly and wisely lead and exert authority over family, church, and state (Eph. 5:22-24; Numbers 30; 1 Cor. 14:34; 1 Tim. 2:11-14; Tit. 2:5; Is. 3:12; Ex. 18:21; Deut. 1:13). We will delve into this truth further, particularly as it relates to a man's protection and provision of and authority, over his unmarried daughters. We will be looking at and studying many of these passages beginning next week, with an article entitled "The Biblical Case for Stay-at-home Daughterhood".

In Conclusion

I pray that this article, "Beginning at the Beginning: The Lord's Beautiful Plan, Design, and Purpose for Womanhood", has served to endear you to the joyous, productive, fulfilling, highly important roles God has given to women. When we, as daughters of the Almighty, embrace and delight in obeying our gracious Lord and accomplishing what He has instructed us to do, we not only begin to greatly enjoy the fruits of such a life, but we also become an example to young women everywhere and a light in the midst of a dark and dying world. May we delight in and study the truths of God's unchanging Word, immersing ourselves in what He has to teach us. And may we live our lives in such a way that would cause those who see us to glorify our Father which is in Heaven!

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*Return next Friday for the next article in the stay-at-home daughterhood article series! Until then, please delve into God's holy Word and the truths which we have discovered through the course of this current article, in preparation for next week's study. God bless you!

Beginning at the Beginning: The Lord's Beautiful Plan, Design and Purpose for Womanhood Part 3

*If you have not yet read the first 3 articles in the stay-at-home daughterhood series, please do so now by clicking here before continuing on! Thank you!

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We have now come to the third part of this article, where we will be able to study yet another most important role graciously bestowed solely to woman by her Creator, Almighty God. This is a sorely misunderstood and belittled role, yet one which is crucial to the health of families, churches and societies. Without a woman fulfilling this critical role, the home, church and state are each weakened, deprived and drained of life. In this fact lies the truth which must spur us on to recapture the beauties of Biblical womanhood, putting into practice a role and responsibility which is designed not only for our comfort and protection, but for the furthering of God's Kingdom and the glorifying of His name. Without further ado, let us now delve into a study of this role.

A Woman is to be...

...a homemaker.

This is by no means a popular notion in many western cultures today. Homemaking is now seen as a waste of time, something which does not require special knowledge or preparation in order to complete successfully. Being a homemaker is viewed as a sad, enslaving, drudge-filled, unimportant excuse for a vocation. However, while many harbor these beliefs in their minds, our Creator God holds to a far different view regarding homemaking, and it is to His way of thinking which we must submit. We must embrace the high calling of homemaker which our all-wise God has so lovingly given to us (Titus 2:5). Just as our God views homemaking as a work of art which is of lasting importance, so should we. The Designer of homemaking has fashioned homemakers into women who exert a mighty, unparalleled influence on the world around them and upon the generations yet to be born. Let us, too, strive to view homemakers and the art of homemaking in the same glorious light!

It is oftentimes so easy for us to succumb to the world's expectations for females and to believe its terrible lies about and deceptive caricature of God's plan for the lives of women. However, we must refrain from doing so, dear sisters in Christ! We must stand strong on the sure foundation of God's Word, realizing that as homemakers and homemakers-in-training, we are among the most powerful and influential women in the world! We may be relatively few in number today, but because the Sovereign God of the universe is our Lord and Master, we have great power on our side and are given special dominion duty. We will influence the course of history through our faithful, dutiful, visionary work in our homes. The atmospheres of our homes, the training of the children, and encouragement and help of the husband residing there will have a tremendous impact on the future. We must never underestimate the power of influence God gave to us women when He commanded us to be homemakers! The Lord created the home to be a place of dominion work, love, joy, hospitality, creativity, education and training, evangelism, praise and worship of God, commerce, and industry. Our gracious Heavenly Father has chosen to bestow upon woman the high and glorious responsibility of working in and guarding this important sphere. This is a special opportunity, and one which all women should delight in and thank and praise God for, rather than placing the responsibility on others and spending time in an independent career which affords not the same fulfillment, impact or accomplishment.

If we were to succumb to the independent, autonomous careerism of today, we would be guilty of handing over dominion of the world to the enemies of the cross of Christ. Therefore, dear daughters of God, I urge you to relish your high and blessed calling and to not fall prey to the lies of the one who will do whatever it takes to keep you out of your homes. Mrs. Elizabeth George writes on this topic in her book, A Woman's High Calling, "Precious sister-in Christ, God in Titus 2:4-5 is sounding forth His high calling to you and me as His women "to be homemakers". True, we live in the world...but, dear one, we are not of the world (John 17:15-16). We are not to live as worldly women live. We are not to be conformed to this world (Romans 12:2). We are not to focus on what worldly women focus on. We are not to seek what worldly women seek. No, as God's women and as women who desire to live godly lives, we are to focus on being homemakers, home lovers, and workers at home." 1. (emphases in original)

A homemaker? What is that?

We have discovered clearly that it is God's will for His women to be homemakers, but what exactly does it mean to be a homemaker? Surprisingly, there are varying definitions in circulation today of a word which ought to be defined rather easily and quickly-it should be a "no brainer"! Despite these various supposed definitions, only one counts and should truly matter to the woman of God-the one which the Holy Scriptures proclaim clearly and unequivocally. Despite the confusion generated by the worldly definitions which abound, we have the opportunity to know exactly what the heart of God is on the topic of homemaking and what is His perfect and beautiful definition of "homemaker".

The Greek word translated "keepers at home" in the KJV is the word (in some manuscripts) "oikouros" (a compilation of "oikos" which means "a house, dwelling" and "ouros", meaning "a keeper or watcher") 2., thus indicating that the Christian woman is called on to be in her home, watching over it (Prov. 31:27a) guarding over it, and keeping it from all ungodly influences and ideas. Other manuscripts of Titus 2 contain the Greek word "oikourgos" (which is translated "homemakers" in the NKJV). The word "oikourgos" is constructed from two words-"oikos" (which we noted above means "a home or dwelling") and "urgos", which is from the root word "ergon" which carries the meaning of "to work or be employed". 3. Thus, put together to form the word oikourgos, we discover that, through the inspiration of God, Paul is commanding women to be, literally, employed at home, working at home, and guarding and watching over the home-a very lofty task! Thus, God's definition of homemaker and the phrase keeper at home is the same traditionally held by the masses-a homemaker is one who remains at home, diligently working there, as opposed to out in the workforce at an independent career.The phrase in the KJV makes this clear-women are not simply commanded to be keepers of the home, but rather keepers at home. They are to be employed at home, that the Word of God be not blasphemed (Tit. 2:5).

A notion prevalent today, especially in evangelical feminist circles, is that Paul is not commanding women to work at home full-time, but rather he is saying that he wants them to make sure they don't neglect the home. "Paul is simply commanding women to pay careful attention to the home and to make it one of their top priorities," they say. However, while it is true that women are to pay careful attention to their homes, the remainder of their belief is by no means faithful to the evident and literal meaning of the Biblical text. Paul did not, when writing Titus 2:5, choose a Greek word which carried the meaning, "to focus much attention on the home". This would have been an easy thing for Paul to do, if this was his (or, ultimately, God's) meaning or what he was wanting to teach. After all, Greek is a very detailed language! Instead, however, he chose, under the inspiration and guidance of God, a word which means "to be employed at home" (as opposed to being employed outside the home).

There is a second common notion which abounds today regarding Paul's meaning, which states that Paul is simply making it clear that it is a woman's duty to dedicate a little time each day to work inside the home. If this had been Paul's intention (which, according to the Greek text itself certainly was not!), there would not have been need for such a command. All women-even the most radically feministic, dedicated career women perform some manner of work in their homes, whether it be making a sandwich, rinsing out a kitchen sink, or rearranging furniture. Not only would such a command have been rendered useless, but there especially would not be needed the sobering phrase "that the Word of God be not blasphemed". This notion, as well, simply cannot hold up under the true teachings of God's holy and unchanging Word.

Despite the above false notions, Paul is clearly revealing to us in Titus 2:5-as he did in 1 Timothy 5:14, where he speaks of the roles God has given to abandoned women (4.)-that God's special place for women (the place He chose and prepared perfectly as her own highly important sphere to keep, care for, guard, and work in) is the home! He is boldly and unequivocally setting forth a picture representing the fact that God created a difference of roles in the family and division of labor in the Kingdom of God.

Beginning at the Beginning...Again!

As we did in part 1 of this article, we need to turn again to Genesis, the Book of Beginnings, this time in order to further study the division of labor God has created within family and society. The existence of a difference of roles between men and women, particularly pertaining to who is to provide for the family and who is to work at and care for the home, was a fact once commonly believed and embraced among Christians and non-Christians alike. A century ago, the vast majority of mankind knew what God's Word proclaimed in this area. They may or may not have all agreed with it and embraced it, but they were aware of it nonetheless. This is illustrated in the account of the 1873 U.S. Supreme Court case Bradwell vs. Illinois, where Justice Bradley proclaimed, "The paramount destiny and mission of woman are to fulfill the noble and benign offices of wife and mother. This is the law of the Creator. The civil law, as well as nature herself, has always recognized a wide difference in the respective spheres and destinies of man and woman. Man is, or should be, woman’s protector and defender." The Justices in this case further stated unequivocally, directly drawing and quoting from Genesis 3, that women were called on to be keepers at home and that men were called on to be the heads of their homes. This is what the U.S. Supreme Court once believed! How far our country and its leaders have fallen from God's Word!

So, what did the judges involved in the above mentioned Court decision see proclaimed in Genesis 3? Why did they believe that according to this chapter women were commanded and fashioned, by their Creator, to be keepers at home? Let us turn to this passage to find out!

Genesis 3 begins with the sad account of man's rebellion against God and the Fall which has affected all mankind through the passing down of sin and destruction. Following the act of explicit disobedience to God in the Garden, man and woman each received a curse as a punishment for their disobedience and insubordination. These curses were different, however, and reflected the differences which were infused into man and woman at the time of creation.

The man's curse was as follows: "And unto Adam He [God] said, 'Because thou has hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I command thee saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herbs of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.'" (Gen. 3:17-19) The curse on man pertained to his responsibility to provide for the needs of his family. The curse was not that he would now, as a result of sin, have the responsibility of caring for and protecting his family-that was God's design for men from the beginning (1 Tim. 5:18). Rather, the curse was that now, instead of his work and duty of providing for his family coming easily to him and always being enjoyable, he would now work with great difficulty-he would now have to suffer through back-breaking work full of hardships and challenges.

Let us, now that we've grasped the curse released on man, focus on the curse issued to woman. Her curse is given and proclaimed by God in Gen. 3:16, "Unto the woman He [God] said, 'I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.'" The meaning of this curse is commonly misconstrued today. The feminists would have us believe that the curse means that woman would be cursed with children and that she would have to be in subjection to her husband as a result of the fall. Neither notion is Biblical or faithful to this text. 5. The curse is that child-bearing would now be an excruciatingly painful ordeal, and that woman would now, rather than joyfully submitting to her husband's leadership, would desire to rule over her husband and take over their God-given role of leadership, having a great disdain for the headship of man. In other words, the curse given to woman was tied to her family-her husband and children. While man's curse had to do with his role to provide for his family, woman's curse had to do with the people she was with day in and day out and her role to care for them in their home. Her curse is solely focused on her family. There is something very noteworthy here and that is the fact that woman is never commanded or issued the responsibility in the Scriptures to provide for herself. That role is given solely to the man, while the roles to women have to do with caring for and serving her home and family. However, countless women today are subjecting and enslaving themselves to the double curse. They are struggling with the curse given specifically to them as women, but they have also heaped upon themselves the curse given to man. Along with suffering under painful menstrual cycles, labor and childbirth, they are rejecting their lovingly God-given role in the home as well, for the purpose of entering the workforce and having an independent career. This is very sad, and yet it is embraced and praised in many Christian circles today. What makes this yet more tragic is that while women are willfully and blindly subjecting themselves to a life of the double curse, men can never do so! Men have only their own curse to deal with. Because they cannot bear children, they cannot encounter or deal with the woman's curse in addition to their own. Women only can struggle and suffer under the double curse, and many today are doing so-while we cheer them on. What a tragedy and an indictment upon us as Christians! God created one set of roles and responsibilities for men and another entirely different one for women, which, when fulfilled, harmoniously work together for the good of both. This is what Justice Bradley and his colleagues grasped in the 1873 case mentioned above. So may we grasp it and strive to save our sisters from the lack of fulfillment and destruction of the double curse so prevalent today!

The Home-Hardly a Cage!

Some reading this article may assert that the literal interpretation of Titus 2 puts woman into a cage, and binds her to a life of slave-like drudgery in the home. Nothing could be further from the truth! John 10:10 states that our gracious God came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. How does this precious truth relate to Titus 2 and the woman's role in the home? God has placed His daughters into a sphere which provides them with protection, shelter, security, a place to develop and put to use fully their talents and gifts to the glory of God, and a sphere which has been designed so as to exert a great impact upon the surrounding world. The godly, visionary, diligent homemaker and guardian of the home is an extremely dangerous entity to Satan and his minions, for she builds up her husband and trains her children. Truly, a home without a homemaker is like a man without a helpmeet. A husband benefits greatly from his wife's faithful work in the home and her obedience to her God-given role (Proverbs 31:23). Likewise, children desperately need their mother at home, caring for them, loving them, and training them. Many studies (which we will address in a future article) have shown the devastating effects which a life of daycare and after school care exerts upon children. These children need their mothers! Faithful homemakers are not only providing much-needed security and love to their children, but are shaping, forming, training, and teaching the future men and women of the world! Talk about abundant life! The worker at home has an abundant, productive, fulfilling life indeed! You see, commanding women to work at home is not a means of "caging and enslaving women". As sisters Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin have written, "Women were designed by God to be the happiest, most fulfilled, most productive, most appreciated and most honored as homemakers. No other career can come close to the importance of homemaking. Most other careers actually undermine God's order by cheating women out of their first and best calling and taking civilization in the wrong direction. This is because homemakers are so central to guiding and shaping civil society. When women leave that domain to pretend to be men, it's not just silly, it's detrimental to a woman's life and her culture." 6. These words carry such truth. God blessed women greatly when giving them the home to guide, work in, and care for.

Rather than desiring to give us abundant life as Christ did, however, Satan comes to kill, to steal and to destroy (John 10:10). This truth is evident in the mission of Satan to drive women from their homes into lives of wage slavery in the workplace. Rather than leaving her to work in a safe and secure place, serving family and visitors alike, he wishes to push her into an independent career, serving people who hardly know her, don't love her, and care little for her best interests. Let us not buy into Satan's lies any longer, but rather return to-or prepare for, as the case may be-the life of great productivity, ministry, joy, excitement and adventure which can be found through working at home.

Don't Fail to Plan!

There is a saying which goes, "Failing to plan is planning to fail". Too many young ladies are wasting their unmarried years, which should be some of the most fruitful years of their lives (1 Cor. 7:34), in trivial pursuits, rather than putting them to great use preparing for the life of the godly woman. Homemaking is not a vocation composed of simply folding laundry, vacuuming the floor, and working through a pile of dirty dishes! True homemaking Proverbs 31 style requires much work, a servant's heart that is dedicated to ministry, expertise in many areas, intelligence, Scriptural knowledge, and purposeful, Biblical, dominion-minded vision. Biblical homemaking is by no means something we are born knowing how to do! We are naturally sinful, selfish creatures and the last thing we tend to desire is to pour our lives into the lives of others. I will elaborate further on this topic in a future article, but suffice it to say that we as young ladies have a special role to fill in our current homes and must diligently prepare for the important roles we will be responsible to fill in our future homes!

In Conclusion

I pray that this article served to give you a glimpse (though it be imperfect and incomplete) of the mercy and greatness of God in commanding women to work at home. It's my heart's desire that we would strive to save our fellow sisters from the life of the double curse by revealing to them as well the height, width, and depth of the great work known as homemaking. I also hope and pray that the young ladies reading this would feel encouraged, and that they'd be spurred on to fine tune their homemaking skills, and to learn what it truly means to be a keeper at home. Lastly, I pray that this article would serve to impress upon you the great impact and influence the godly keeper at home exerts upon the watching world!

In closing, I want to leave you with the beautiful, eloquent words of Baptist pastor William H. Felix (1838-1912), as written in his work, "The Work and Sphere of True Womanhood":

"Woman's work is foundation work for society, for the state, for the kingdom of Heaven. In the homes of America are born the children of America; and from them goes forth American life. Who has the hand upon these springs of life? Woman. These children of American homes go out with the stamp of these homes upon them, and only as these homes are what they ought to be will these children be what they ought to be. ...Woman may think her sphere and work are limited and contracted, but in this she never found in a graver mistake. In the home she is imprinting herself upon the man; in him she builds up society, in him she builds up the state, in him she legislates, in him she executes, in him she rules. She makes man what he is, so far as human power can operate. Yes, if she never does anything else but "nurse babes,' she can do no grander work. May God impress upon our women the high, heavenly, holy duty of rearing the children of our country, and making our homes places of joy and comfort. Alas! for the state! if our women are to leave the work of our homes and run hither and thither in search of larger rights and larger powers." 7. (emphasis my own)

Lastly, dwell with me upon the articulate words of former President Theodore Roosevelt, as proclaimed in a speech given on March 13th, 1905:

"No piled up wealth, no splendor of material growth, no brilliance of artistic development, will permanently avail any people unless home life is healthy...unless the average woman is a good wife, a good mother, able and willing to perform the first and greatest duty of womanhood, able and willing to bear, and to bring up as they should be brought up, healthy children, sound in body, mind, and character, and numerous enough so that the race shall increase and not decrease. There are certain old truths which will be true as long as this world endures, and which no amount of progress can alter. One of these is the truth that the primary duty of the husband is the home-maker, the breadwinner for his wife and children, and that the primary duty of woman is to be the helpmate, the housewife, and mother...Into the womans' keeping is committed the destiny of the generations to come after us...The woman's task is not easy-no task worth doing is easy-but in doing it, and when she has done it, there shall come to her the highest and holiest joy known to mankind; and having done it, she shall have the reward prophesied in Scripture; for her husband and her children, yes, and all people who realize that her work lies at the foundation of all natural happiness and greatness, shall rise up and call her blessed." (emphasis my own) 8.

Please return next Friday for our 4th and final part of this article!

Footnotes:

　

1. Elizabeth George, A Woman's High Calling, pg. 237 (Harvest House Publishers, 2001)

2. W.E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, and William White, Jr., Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of the Old and New Testaments pg. 309 (Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1996)

3. See, for example, http://www.raptureready.com/faq/faq259.html and Martha Peace, The Excellent Wife, pg. 72 (Focus Publishing, Inc., 2005)

4. I'm aware that the word used in our English Bibles in 1 Tim. 5:3-16 is "widows". However, as John MacArthur points out, "The English word widow describes a woman whose husband is dead. The Greek word chera ("widow") includes that meaning, but is not limited to it. It is an adjective used as a noun, and means "bereft", "robbed", "having suffered loss", of "left alone". The word does not speak of how a woman was left alone, it merely describes the situation. It is broad enough to encompass those who lost their husbands through death, desertion, divorce, or imprisonment. It could even encompass those cases where a polygamist came to Christ and sent away his extra wives". (courtesy of The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: 1 Timothy, pg. 196 published by the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, 1995)

5. Children are not to be viewed as curses, but rather as the great blessings they truly are (Ps. 127:3-5). The phrase in Gen. 3:16 referring to the cursed woman's desire for her husband has to do with a desire to rule over him and to take his leadership role; it is not a sexual desire as some like to claim. Nor does it somehow prove the false notion that male headship is a result of the curse. Notes John MacArthur, "Just as the woman and her seed will engage in a war with the serpent, i.e. Satan, and his seed (vs. 15), because of sin and the curse, the man and woman will face struggles in their own relationship. Sin has turned the harmonious system of God-ordained roles into distasteful struggles of self-will. Lifelong companions, husbands and wives, will need God's help in getting along as a result. The woman's desire will be to lord it over her husband, but the husband will rule by divine design (Eph. 5:22-25). This interpretation of the curse is based upon the identical Heb. words and grammar being used in 4:7 to show the conflict man will have with sin as it seeks to rule him." (The MacArthur Study Bible (NKJV) pg. 21 (published by Word Publishing, 1997)

6. Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin, So Much More: The Remarkable Influence of Visionary Daughters on the Kingdom of God, pgs. 108 and 109 (The Vision Forum, Inc., 2005)

7. Ibid.

8. Ibid.

More Giveaways! :)

I discovered today on Mrs. Brookshire's blog that there are currently two new giveaways going on for Emily and Breezy's Daughters of His Story paper dolls!

Click here and here to find out more and to enter!

I received my paper dolls in the mail yesterday, and was so amazed by how sturdy they are and by the intricate detailing thereof. Mama and I were commenting on how neat it was to have been able to see, while visiting the Brookshires last month, the original drawings and how they had grown and changed over time. While they were beautiful from the beginning (Breezy is very talented!), the finished product is just breathtaking!

Don't miss out on these great giveaways!

Beginning at the Beginning: The Lord's Beautiful Plan, Design and Purpose for Womanhood Part 2

*If you have not yet read the first 2 articles in the stay-at-home daughterhood series, please click here and here to do so now before continuing on with this one. Thank you! :)



~~~~~~



Two weeks ago, we discovered what the first calling was that God gave to women, that of being a helper to man. It is now time for us to discover another one of the high and glorious callings God has given uniquely and solely to women.

A Woman is to be...

... a mother.


Before we proceed with our study of this high and glorious calling, I want to make it clear that I do not believe all women are called to be mothers. Nor are some women sinning by not having children. God has sovereignly chosen to call some women to a life of remaining unmarried, while others are married but are barren. However, this is the exception to the rule, and unless you are given the gift of singleness or are barren, it is highly likely that you are called to be a mother.


The very first command the man and woman were jointly given in the Garden of Eden after the creation of Eve was to "be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth" (Gen. 1:28a). I believe the fact that this is the first command they were given jointly-and the first command Eve ever received-proves rather clearly its weightiness and the importance of this subject to the heart of God! The Lord later issued forth many other commands, but this was the very first one ever heard by the ears of man and woman together. Isn't that amazing? The Lord, now that the first couple was finally together, could have given them any number of commands. He chose, however, that the very first one would be that they were to have children and thus multiply greatly.

Not only is this command the first one issued to the couple in the Garden, it is also important to note what commands follow this one. After being commanded to have many descendants, God tells Adam and Eve that they are to: "subdue it [the earth]: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." We noted in part 1 of this article that the Dominion Mandate is linked closely with the Great Commission. Both commands make it clear that men and women are God's ambassadors on this earth and as such, are to take dominion of it for Jesus Christ. However, would this have been possible if Adam and Eve had never procreated? Or, let's say they did have numerous descendants, but that the members of the early church did not. Would dominion in the name of Christ have continued? It's highly unlikely. God could have saved other Jews at the time of Christ, and thus carried on His Christian dominion for a short time, but if these Christians didn't multiply, either, the ambassadors of Christ on the earth would quickly die out again. God has so ordered His creation that the way mankind is to succeed in taking dominion over the earth and spreading the light of Christ's gospel over the face of it, is by having children. This may seem surprising to some, but it is nonetheless the way God has ordained matters. We see this beautifully laid out in Psalm 127:5 which says, "Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them [children]: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate." The phrase "speak with the enemies in the gate" literally means, "subdue or destroy the enemies". Christians are called to be fruitful so that their dominion in the name of Christ can continue on mightily, and so that they might destroy the dominion work of Christ's enemies. One Christian couple can only accomplish so much dominion work themselves and can only crush and thwart so much enemy dominion. But if they have many children and grandchildren-which the Bible refers to as blessings from God-just think of the dominion work a godly family can accomplish by God's strength and grace!

I know I'm likely going to open up a can of worms with what I'm about to say next, but I believe it to be Biblical truth and therefore feel that I must share it with you. The man and woman were not just told to have children. Rather, they were told to be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth! In other words, they were commanded to have many children, a command which is reissued time and time again throughout the Scriptures. But why? Why is it so important to the Lord that husbands and wives have large families? Because this is how a couple's Christian impact in the world is continued and built upon down through the centuries. As noted above, we alone would not be able to have nearly the impact of dominion and evangelism. But when we have progeny, then we, by training them up in the ways of God, are able to continue and further the work of Christ down through the generations, as children and grandchildren accomplish far more for Christ's kingdom than their ancestors did. Nancy Campbell articulated this fact clearly when she wrote, "One of the biggest threats to the devil is husbands and wives who understand God's revelation for marriage and who will bring forth godly offspring for His glory. The devil is frightened of the godly seed, for it is they who will destroy his works in this world. The enemy knew that God would need an army in this hour to fulfill His great purposes. He knew that if he could diminish God's army, he could thwart God's plans. It is the strategy of Satan to minimize the holy seed. The sad thing is that the Christian church has unconsciously fallen into this trap. As Christians in the last few decades have decided to have fewer children, they have limited the power of God on earth. God's plan is to fill the earth with His glory. God calls the increase of children our 'glory' (Hos. 9:11)."1.

Satan understands well the importance of Christians being fruitful, and I believe this is the reason so many today-even many Christians-have bought into the lie that a family should have no more than 2 or 3 children-if that. Satan has successfully whispered the lies, not only to the world but to Christians as well, that children are too expensive, the earth is overpopulated, we were never supposed to have large families, it's unhealthy to have many children, etc. These are vicious, child-hating lies which the enemies of God have spoon-fed to us for far too long! Christians, rather than seeing through these falsehoods and obeying the Word of God, have fallen prey to the wiles of the Adversary. Consider with me where this kind of thinking has gotten us. Church attendance is dropping dramatically and families are falling apart. I won't go into all the destruction we are now seeing, as I have referred to that already in part 1. However, suffice it to say that this once Christian nation is falling ever faster into the abyss of sin and damnation. I believe this can be directly linked to the lack of on-going Christian dominion, which can in turn be linked back to the lack of large Christian families dedicated to the work of Christ. I understand that some couples are barren, while some have health conditions that may have followed the birth of previous children which keep them from being able to have more. The Lord, for some reason or other, has simply chosen to only bless some couples with 2 or 3 children. However, what we see in many Christian circles today-the lack of large families-is not due largely to health conditions or infertility. Rather, it is linked directly to people cutting off their seed. While many wouldn't admit this, it shows a disdain for children when one cuts off the ability to reproduce. Some may ask what right we have to tell fellow Christians that they are commanded by God to have large families. I understand this notion, but Christians are commanded to proclaim God's Word to the lost as well as to their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. If Christians do not step up to the plate and lovingly show fellow Christians the heart of God when it comes to the subject of having children, then we will be guilty of lessening the dominion work of Christ on this earth. Thanks to a disdain for children and the lack of surrendering every aspect of our lives to God-including the number of children we have-Christianity is not having the impact it is called on to have. Instead, Islam is taking its place. Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. According to one website, "Islam is growing about 2.9% per year. This is faster than the total world population which increases about 2.3% annually. It is thus attracting a progressively larger percentage of the world's population."2. (emphasis my own)

Mr. Voddie Baucham, a nationally known pastor, conference speaker and author (and the father of my dear friend Jasmine!) has conducted extensive research on this very topic. He writes, "With a birth rate hovering around two children per family, a biblical worldview rate below 10 percent, and about 75 percent of our teens leaving the church by the end of their freshman year in college (using the more optimistic estimates from Chapter 1), it currently takes two Christian families in one generation to get a single Christian into the next generation"3. This should astound us! Compare this information with the fact that, "The birth rate a society needs to break even and not start to disappear is 2.1 babies per woman. Anything less than that, the culture disappears in a matter of three generations or more. The math can’t be argued. No culture has ever survived once it reached the breaking point 1.3 babies per woman. Now let’s take a look at this globally. United States birth rate is 2.1, New Zealand 1.9, Canada 1.5, Germany and Austria 1.3, Russia and Italy 1.2, Spain 1.1. Now let’s take a look at some Muslims countries. Afghanistan 47.02 per 1000 people, Albania 15.08 per 1000 people, Niger 7.46, Mali 7.42, Somalia 6.76, Afghanistan 6.69,Yemen 6.58. I think you can start to get the idea here. Muslim populations are filling up the birth shortfalls all throughout Europe and have already started taking over the European culture. They are imposing Sharia Law on old Europe already and very soon, the Europe we know will be gone. The thing about this is the Muslim culture does not assimilate themselves to whatever country they live in. They change the culture of the host country. We’ve already seen this."4. This should wake us up indeed, and prove just how far we've fallen from God's standard of Christian dominion. This is due (in large part) to our disdain for large families and our rejection of the command to "be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth." It is time we fall on our knees before God, asking His forgiveness for our rejection of what He refers to as a reward and "a heritage" (Ps. 127:3).

Before continuing, I want to make it clear that if you have been guilty of the sin of rejecting children or having a disdain for them, there is great forgiveness in Christ! This article is not meant to judge you, but rather to proclaim the glorious, joy-filled truths of God's Word to you. As an example of His forgiveness, I would like to share with you the testimony of my own family. I was born 3 years after my parents were married. My mother had been on the birth control pill until they felt the time was right to have a baby. Shortly after I was born, my father underwent a procedure so as to cut off the chances of my parents having any more children. Around the time I was 5, my parents began to desire another baby. My father went in to have his surgery reversed, and they were soon blessed with my precious brother, Andrew. After his birth, my father returned to the doctor to have the procedure done again, so as to prevent any more children from coming. My parents went on like this for years, thinking nothing of it. They were content with their son and daughter. However, during the end of 2006/beginning of 2007, the Lord began convicting my parents of their sin of rejecting God's blessings. In May of 2007, my father went to have his surgery reversed yet again. In the past two years, my parents have not been blessed with more "arrows" (Ps. 127:4). They may never be. But they now have a peace in their hearts. They know that they have repented and are now living in obedience to God and His Word. I am very proud of my parents and their willingness to make things right in the midst of a culture which disdains such actions. So, take heart! God will forgive you just as He graciously and lovingly forgave my own dear parents!

Being a Mother, Helping a Husband

As I touched on briefly in part 1 of this article, by being a mother, a woman is helping her husband and fulfilling her role as his helpmeet. I believe there are numerous ways by which having children can be seen as being a help to one's husband. First, mankind was commanded to be fruitful and multiply-a task which man alone clearly could not accomplish. He needed a helper in this responsibility. Second, by having children, a family's wealth is actually increased-not decreased-if the children are industrious and dedicated to furthering the wealth of the family. This family can then in turn be a greater blessing to others, and will have more resources to use in furthering dominion. Third, as stated above, man's dominion work is hindered when the command to be fruitful and multiply goes unheeded; this God-given work flourishes and advances, however, when many children are born to a Christian family that is dedicated to training and preparing them for spiritual warfare.

What a Blessing!

Ladies, God has granted to us a great gift in providing the ability to mother children-arrows for His kingdom! The magnitude and greatness of this privilege cannot be overestimated. This, however, is not a task to be taken lightly! The way we train and raise our children will dictate the future of the world. Someone once said that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. How true this is! We musn't view child-rearing as a menial task for which we need no special preparation. Satan would like us to believe this lie, for it can lessen our ability to successfully take dominion, but we musn't heed his deception! The Kingdom of God depends upon us being faithful to the high and glorious calling of nurturing, nourishing, training, loving, educating and preparing many arrows for Christ! Young ladies, we must see the importance and beauty of this life work, and must use our unmarried years fully and joyfully prepare for this calling (this will be addressed in more detail in a future article)! Motherhood is by no means a stifling work as militant feminists would have us believe! Rather, it should be viewed as a way in which we can greatly impact the world for Jesus Christ. What service to those in need we will be able to accomplish alongside our future children (should the Lord so bless)! Over and over in the Bible children are referred to as great blessings, and God's people are commanded to bring forth mightily. What a privilege we have as women! How wonderful that the Lord has given us the ability to greatly impact the course of history, and to train up the future men and women of the next generation. What a glorious vocation, and an important and exciting lifework which must be taken very seriously!

Conclusion

In closing, I would like to share with you the following beautiful words of wisdom:

"Every normal woman is equipped to be a mother. Certainly not every woman in the world is destined to make use of the physical equipment but surely motherhood, in a deeper sense, is the essence of womanhood. The body of every normal woman prepares itself repeatedly to receive and to bear. Motherhood requires self-giving, sacrifice, suffering. It is a going down into death in order to give life, a great human analogy of a great spiritual principle." (emphasis my own)

~Elisabeth Elliot, Let Me be a Woman 4.

Please return next Friday, when part 3 of this article will be posted, and we will delve deeper into the roles God has graciously given to women!

Footnotes:

1. Nancy Campbell, Be Fruitful and Multiply: What the Bible Says About Having Children, pgs. 37-38 (Vision Forum Ministries, 2003)

2. http://www.religioustolerance.org/isl_numb.htm (Use Christian discretion when viewing this site!)


3. Voddie Baucham, Family Driven Faith, pg. 174 (Crossway Books, 2007)


4. http://americaspeaksink.com/2009/01/muslim-birth-rate-taking-over-the-world/ ( I am not familiar with this gentleman, so please use Christian discretion when reading his other material. He is dedicated to conservative values it appears, but be careful nonetheless!)

5. Elisabeth Elliot, Let Me be a Woman, pg. 53 (Tyndale House Publishers, 1976)




*For further reading on this topic, I highly recommend two wonderful and in-depth books by Mrs. Nancy Campbell: Be Fruitful and Multiply: What the Bible Says About Having Children and The Power of Motherhood: What the Bible Says About Mothers

Exciting Updates on the Stay-at-home Daughterhood Article Series!

Hello, ladies! I hope this day has been a great one for all of you so far.

As I promised yesterday, today I'll be sharing with you some exciting updates about my current article series. So, without further ado, here goes! :)

I mentioned in the introduction to the series that I'll be posting, near the end of this project, several interviews with young women dedicated to stay-at-home daughterhood. Well, my dear friend Jasmine Baucham has already excitedly agreed to provide us with an interview and a glimpse into her life! Also, Blair and Claudia Brown and their sister Kelly Bradrick are excited about this project and may very well allow me to interview them, as well, if time allows, which I really appreciate! We may also be able to enjoy an interview with my friend Miss Jocelyn Dixon of A Pondering Heart and Feelin' Feminine. I'm currently working on lining up further interviews, as well. This is a really exciting time, so please pray that the Lord would direct this whole interview process.

There is something else I've been wanting to announce to you, and I thought today would be a good time. At the very end of this series, I will be hosting numerous giveaways of God-honoring books, CDs, and DVDs which will encourage and edify you young ladies as you embark on your journey to Biblical womanhood. So, be sure to tell others about those, as well!

Before I close, I want to give all glory and praise to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the work He has conducted in my heart and life and for the grace, strength and encouragement He has provided me with through the first weeks of this series. I grew up disliking writing very much. During the past 2 years, however, the Lord has changed my heart and given me an exciting passion for ministry to girls and young ladies through the venue of the printed word. I'm so thankful, in awe of my Lord, and excited to see what He has planned for the future of this ministry.

Also, I want to publicly thank my dear, wonderful mother and father. Mama has served as editor during this project, and I'm thankful that she will continue on in this work throughout the remainder of this series. She is a very talented editor, and is always quick to pick up on any spelling and grammar errors there may be in my articles. She also helps so much with providing me with ideas to help various parts of the articles flow better. She's amazing, and I'm so thankful for her help. This series would be impossible were it not for her. I'm also so thankful for Daddy's help, input, great points and oversight. He also has edited the articles so far here and there, and I'm excited about working with Mama and Daddy further throughout the course of this project.

I hope you ladies (and any gents that may be here) have a wonderful weekend and blessed Lord's Day!

No stay-at-home daughterhood post tomorrow! :(

As most of you know, I have a home business making and selling tea cozies. Mama and I will be at a local holiday craft fair this Saturday, with my cozies available for purchase. Because of this, I've been incredibly busy this week sewing cozies. The vast majority of my time besides this sewing has been dedicated to school work. This has, quite unfortunately, left me no time to really sit down and produce the part 2 article this week. I was going to try to still work on it as best I could so that it could be published tomorrow, and thus be on schedule, but Mama suggested that I simply wait until next Friday to post it, thereby giving me more time to dedicate to writing it. It pained me to delay the writing/posting of part 2, but I did see the wisdom in her decision. Therefore, the next stay-at-home daughterhood article will be published not tomorrow, but rather next Friday, October 16th.

Between now and then, I will be answering comments I've received on my last two posts that I have not gotten around to answering yet, so be sure to check those out!

Despite the lack of an article tomorrow, that day will not be without a post pertaining to stay-at-home daughterhood! :) I will be offering some exciting updates tomorrow about the series that you won't want to miss, so please be sure to come back for those!

Also, during this week break, please do continue to pray for the series, and assist me in this work by spreading the word about it!

Thank you all so much for your help and support! I'm sorry for the delay, but thank you so much for your patient understanding!

*Also, please pray that the sale would go well Saturday! :)

Please welcome the Daughters of His Story Paper Dolls!!

As I mentioned here, my dear friends Breezy and Emily Rose Brookshire have just completed, by God's amazing grace, a wonderful project: the Daughters of His Story Paper Dolls Collection. I'm so excited about this great ministry and the impact it will have on girls and young ladies-the future wives, mothers and homemakers of the next generation! The dolls are now available for purchase on Noble Rose Press, the beautiful site talented Emily designed as a store for their projects. Through Saturday, October 10th, Breezy and Emily are offering their paper dolls at a special introductory sale price, so hop on over to Noble Rose Press and take a look! I've already place my order, and am so looking forward to adding these dolls to my collection of hopechest items! :)

Also, the Brookshire's friend Sarah Mae is offering a giveaway of these dolls, so be sure to go to her blog and enter!!

Thank you for supporting my dear friends in their dominion endeavors! Please continue to spread the word about their home business, and may these dolls serve as a great encouragement to you and your family!

Beginning at the Beginning: The Lord's Beautiful Plan, Design and Purpose for Womanhood Part 1

*If you have not yet read the first part of this article series, please click here and do so now, before reading on.





Before we approach the subject of stay-at-home daughterhood head-on and form a defense thereof, I believe it imperative that we first begin at the beginning. What exactly do I mean by that? Well, I believe we should step back and discover from God's Word what exactly womankind's job description is-why woman was created, what she is to do, what high callings Almighty God has given to her, etc. This valuable study will provide us with a beautiful portrait of womanhood which will reveal just why stay-at-home daughterhood is so important to the heart of God and to His plan for women, and how it fits into His design for womanhood.

The Book of Beginnings

If we're going to "begin at the beginning" with our study, what better place to start than in Genesis, the Book of Beginnings, where woman first made her debut in this world?

To begin our overview of the purpose for woman, we must turn to Genesis 1 and 2. Genesis 1:1-31 gives us an awe-inspiring description of God's work of creation. For six consecutive days, the Lord added, stroke by stroke, beautiful new designs to His portrait of creation. On day 6, man, the crown of God's creation, was formed and fashioned into a being in the image of Almighty God Himself. Genesis 1:27,28 tells us that mankind, consisting of man and woman, was created in God's image, and as such, were to be His ambassadors on this earth by multiplying greatly and subduing and taking dominion over that created earth and all contained therein. Chapter 2 of Genesis, which, for our purposes we will be focusing on now, tells of the creation of Eve with much more detail than chapter 1 gave us. Chapter 2 provides us with a description of the home God fashioned for the man and woman (the Garden of Eden); tells us that God commanded Adam to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; and then presents to us the very reason why woman was created. God had given Adam the duties and responsibilities of tilling the ground (Gen. 2:5b,7), tending and keeping the garden (Gen. 2:15), naming the animals (Gen. 2:20), and, as noted previously, taking dominion of and subduing the earth and multiplying greatly, thus filling it (Gen. 1:28). Adam was given many jobs to do, but was without a helper to aid in these or a companion with whom to share stories of his accomplishments. Genesis 2:18 says this: "And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.'" Prior to the end of each day of creation, God had looked over what He had made and declared it to be good. On day 6 however, after creating Adam and commanding him to not eat of the tree of knowledge, He declared it not good. There was nothing wrong with this creature, Adam, but there was something missing. Adam was alone, and this was not at all a good thing. Here, in verse 18 we read of the main reason God created woman.

Woman is to be.....

A helpmeet to man.

Eve was created to be a helper to Adam. Prior to her creation, Adam was surrounded by a beautiful, perfect world full of rushing waterfalls; the pleasing aroma of fresh flowers; animals of every kind, size and shape; mouth-watering foods-everything he could ever want, right? Wrong. Despite the beauty that surrounded Adam on every side, he was neither happy nor fulfilled. Each animal had its mate, but Adam was left without such a companion-alone in a breathtakingly beautiful garden with no one to share it with, no one to refresh or comfort him after a day of tending the garden, no one to praise God with him or to rejoice with over the magnificence of the garden. God saw Adam's incompleteness and loneliness and knew exactly what he so desperately needed. Adam needed a helper, a completer, a companion. He needed a creature equal to himself and made in God's image as he was, to share his life and burdens with. Our gracious God knew this, and so caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep. While he slept, God took from him a rib and used it to fashion a woman, a glorious helper for Adam (Gen. 2:21, 22). Now, why didn't God simply form Eve of the dust of the ground as He did Adam, instead of going to the trouble of putting Adam to sleep, taking a rib from him, and using it to create a woman? I think He chose this method of creating woman for several reasons. First, I believe He did so to portray the fact that while Eve was equal to Adam, she was not the same as him in all ways, nor should she be. Second, I think our God chose this method of creation so that Adam could wake up to a beautiful, satisfying surprise. Imagine the rush of joy, relief and excitement Adam must have felt as he awoke and saw woman for the very first time! He expresses his bliss at the sight of his helpmeet in verse 23 of chapter 2, forming the first poem ever written. Third, I love Matthew Henry's explanation of the creation of woman: "That the woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved."1.

Genesis 2:21 and 22 is not simply a beautiful account of the creation of woman that is to be read and then forgotten. Rather, this is a passage which holds such rich truths about the duty and purpose of woman. Woman was not made to be on her own, autonomously doing her own thing, as she so often does today. Sadly, many women have rejected one of the most important reasons for their very existence and have en masse neglected their duty to be helpers to their husbands. We would likely be shocked if we knew just how many men there are out there today who, thanks to feminism, find themselves in the same plight as Adam prior to the creation of Eve. They are burdened with difficult, overwhelming duties and plans and they have visions seemingly too big to come to pass. Think of all the great things these men could accomplish if they simply had capable, strong, godly, visionary, supportive helpmeets at their side, cheering them on in their endeavors and helping them every step of the way! Instead, many men today find themselves crippled, for they are without the strength or encouragement needed to accomplish big, great things. Someone once said that behind every great man, there is a great woman. This person had realized something vital to the health of a society and had tapped into knowledge that sadly, very few people-even Christians-possess today. As you've probably noticed, America is suffering terribly from a widespread epidemic. Of what does this epidemic consist? It comes to us in the form of a massive shortage of strong, godly men in the homes, churches, and gates of America. We are bombarded on every side with a sad scene full of an abundance of weak, wimpy, lazy, visionless men who seem to be good for very little. What do you think is the reason for this? I would submit to you that America's lack of strong, manly leaders directly correlates to the lack they have of competent, productive helpmeets to cheer them on towards ever greater plans, accomplishments and victories. Men with big visions usually have wonderful helpers and companions with big visions waiting in the wings ready to encourage and strengthen them. How much more transformed could the above described men of America be if they simply had helpmeets who believed in and prayed for them consistently? God created man to need woman. He had been given his duties; he now needed someone to spur him on with encouragement and respect in order for him to have the gusto needed to heartily accomplish his God-given tasks. In her book Free to Stay at Home: A Woman's Alternative, after addressing the creation of woman, Marilee Horton writes, "From the first, man had the potential to run as fast, jump as high, and sing as well as he ever could. But God made him with an ego that needed a cheerleader, and so with the advent of the female factor, he wanted to jump higher and run faster."2.

There is no magic pill that can be taken for the malady plaguing America and robbing her of godly, masculine leadership. Rather, God must do the work. He must once again raise up godly women who take their high calling as helpmeet to a man seriously and seek to fulfill it with great joy, dignity, pleasure and devotion, for such a time as this. Wives must strive to be the visionary helpmeets our God desires for them to be, and mothers must strive to train their daughters to be virtuous helpers to their one husbands one day. Young ladies (that's you and me!)must begin now to prepare for the high calling of helpmeet by studying God's Word to discover what a helper is to do for her husband and how she is to treat him. We accomplish this task by watching and learning from women older than ourselves (Titus 2:3-5), who are seasoned helpmeets, and by being a help and comfort to our fathers, the most important men in our lives (this we will address further in a future article!).

We have now established the fact that woman is to be a helper to man and that man needs his helper. Now we need to answer the questions, "What is she to help him with? Is there something specific she is to help him do? If so, what?" For the answers to these important questions, we must again refer back to the Book of Beginnings. We already discovered in Genesis 1:28 that man was given the following commands and duties by God Himself: "....be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth". A similar duty is issued forth in Matthew 28:19-20: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.". As the Lord's ambassadors, man is to take dominion of the Lord's creation for the benefit of mankind and seek to evangelize the lost throughout the world. Being fruitful and multiplying (which we will touch on further in the next article) is one of the ways in which man is to fulfill his duty to subdue and take dominion over the earth in Christ's name, for by producing many children and bringing them up in the Word, they are able to have further impact on the world and ensure that this dominion and evangelism will continue, Lord willing, on down through the ages. This responsibility given to man to take dominion over the earth is so vastly important, and obedience to it is crucial. Equally crucial to this, is that each Christian man have a visionary helpmeet by his side, encouraging and assisting him in this vitally important work. Oh, the power of a godly helpmeet! It cannot be overestimated and must not be underestimated! A man cannot fully, in victory, take dominion over God's creation by himself-he must have his helper. Is it any wonder then, with the exodus of women from their husband's side to a life of autonomous living, that America, once a strong Christian nation, is now in the shambles she finds herself? Young adults are leaving the church in alarming rates; teen pregnancies are skyrocketing; well over 50 million babies have been murdered in the name of selfishness since 1973; more than half of all marriages end in divorce; homosexual "marriage" is being legalized; families are falling apart; sexually transmitted diseases are at an all time high; churches are operating according to unBiblical standards; women are largely surrendering the needs of their families to others so that they can selfishly pursue their own careers and lives apart from God's commands; our government is saturated with ungodly rulers; America's children and youth are squandering what could be their most fruitful years in trivial pursuits instead of accomplishing, with the strength of Christ, great things for His Kingdom; and the list could go on and on.

Real Life Examples

How do we know things would likely have been different at this time in our history if wives had been godly and encouraging helpmeets to their husbands and spurred them on to accomplish great works for the Kingdom of God? Because history proves this to be so, and provides us with examples of just such a scenario! One of my favorite examples of a godly, visionary helpmeet encouraging and supporting her husband and his mission is the lovely account of Jonathan Edwards and his wonderful wife Sarah, as recorded in Elizabeth Dodd's great book, Marriage to a Difficult Man: The Uncommon Union of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards. This awe-inspiring read shows us just how much a man can accomplish and what a mark he can leave on society, when he has a faithful, praying helper! Something we must remember about the Edwardses, was that they lived during a time of moral decay. Church attendance was low, the amount of drinking and profanity was high. This is precisely the time for which our Lord fashioned Mr. Edwards, and he went on to be one of the leading pastors of The Great Awakening. The wonderful woman by his side unceasingly supported, served and strengthened her husband, which enabled him to evangelize many souls, edify fellow Christians, and research for and write a long list of books that have touched and changed many lives, having a great impact on countless pastors and laymen both then and now. Through Sarah's help and influence, Jonathan Edwards was able to rise to prominence, and remains to this day a household name in many Christian families. As you can see, being a helper to one's husband is far from an enslaving position of second rate importance-it is an adventure crucial to the heath of one's country and the church. On the vary topic of being a helpmeet, Mrs. Dodds relates the following heart-warming account of Sarah Edwards, "Sarah had most of the responsibility for [their] property. She saw that the garden was planted, that the hired man had his instructions for each day. They used to tell in Northampton how once Edwards asked, 'Isn't it about time the hay was cut?' To which Sarah mildly replied, 'It's been in the barn for two weeks'."3. Sounds like the Proverbs 31 woman! Because Sarah was a competent, godly, productive helpmeet, Jonathan Edwards was able to fully trust in her. This cleared up much of his time, for he knew that his estate and children would be cared for by Sarah's able hands. This allowed him to worry about other things, namely the work of the ministry. It is highly doubtful whether Jonathan would have been able to have the impact on the world that he did, and continues to have, had it not been for Sarah!

Before closing this article on the fact that woman is to be a helpmeet to man, I want to bring to your attention another example of a truly godly helpmeet. Susannah Spurgeon, the wife and helper of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers, took great delight in being her husband's helpmeet. She once wrote, "My whole time and strength were given to advance my dear husband’s welfare and happiness. I deemed it my joy and privilege to be ever at his side, accompanying him on many of his preaching journeys, nursing him in his occasional illnesses, his delighted companion during his holiday trips, always watching over and tending him with the enthusiasm and sympathy which my great love for him inspired. I mention this… simply that I may record my heartfelt gratitude to God that, for a period of ten blessed years, I was permitted to encircle him with all the comforting care and tender affection which it was in a wife’s power to bestow.”4. Wow! Here was a woman who took her role as helper to her husband very seriously, and who knew the great impact such help could have! She didn't complain because she wasn't in the lime light. Rather, she delighted in her husband receiving all the praise. Charles Spurgeon remains one of the most famous English-speaking preachers, and like Edwards, continues to have a major impact on countless people even to this day. He rose to prominence, but not in a day of revival and reform. Rather, he rose to the pastorate in a day of moral and spiritual decay, and was used by God to lead a reformation in England. It was not uncommon for him to preach up to 10 times a week, and over 10,000,000 people heard him preach. He also founded a pastor's college and an orphanage, and wrote a long list of books. Would all this have been possible if he were constantly weighed down with worries of what was going on at home? I think not! Behind every great man is a great woman, and behind this great man was a wonderful woman named Susannah who delighted in and took great joy from her role as helpmeet.

In Conclusion

Young ladies, take heart! America may be decaying all around us, but so were Northamton during the time of Edwards and England during the time of Spurgeon. Sarah and Susannah did not despair when they looked at the sinful culture around them. Rather, they took full advantage of an opportunity to change it for Christ's sake by helping their husbands and advancing their godly ministries. May we prepare now to go and do likewise!

Please return next Friday, when we will take a look at the other important roles God designed specifically and solely for women!
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Footnotes:

1. Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible, pg. 10 (Hendrickson Publishers, 1991)

2. Marilee Horton, Free to Stay at Home: A Woman's Alternative, pgs. 49-50 (Word, Inc., 1982)

3. Elisabeth Dodds, Marriage to a Difficult Man: The Uncommon Union of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards, pg. 36 (Audubon Press, 2004)

4. Charles Ray, The Life of Susannah Spurgeon, pg. 173 (The Banner of Truth Trust, 2006)