Women and the Bible Essay Example

The Bible is a revolutionary book. Women are rarely mentioned by name in the Bible suggesting that they are not commonly the forefront of public life. Those women whose names are mentioned did beyond the ordinary and performed even better than men. The Bible rightly lifts up women against cultures which degrade, debase and distort them. The New Testament shows a number of women in the inner circle of Jesus and how he treats them with respect. It also mentions a lot of women who were in leadership positions in the early church. In the current society, women are being disrespected and abused more than the previous times in history. Immoral practices such as pornography depict women as dirty and just sex objects. The Bible, on the other hand, depicts women positively and goes to the extent of acknowledging their roles in the family and in the church, their virtues, and the power of their influence. Women in the Bible are portrayed to be equal to men, courageous and faithful, religious and political leaders, and vulnerable heroes.

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Women are portrayed to be equal to men. From the first chapter of the Bible, women are described to bear God's own image. Men and women were created equal (Genesis 1:27; 5:1-2). The Bible teaches that creating a woman from man signified equality and unity among human beings (Genesis 2:21-23). Wives in the Bible are cherished by their husbands and respected and not viewed as household furniture and slaves as in the current society (Proverbs 19:14; Genesis 2:20-24; Ecclesiastes 9:9). During the fall in the Garden of Eden, Adam was not less guilty than Eve. They were both co-participants (Genesis 3:6). However, this can be interpreted in different ways. Some can interpret it that Eve is the one who is guilty since she was the first to taste the fruit and convinced Adam to have a taste too. During the Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came to men and women without any gender distinction and distributed the gifts equally (Acts 2: 1-21, 1st Corinthians 12:7). Also, the Bible assigns both man and woman the role of taking care, teach and discipline their children (Exodus 20:12). In addition, according to John 1:12-13, Jesus came to redeem both woman and man without any reference to gender distinctiveness.

In the current society, women have become better, but they are still viewed to be inferior to men. With the advancement in technology, women have been employed to do jobs that were done by men only. However, in most of these jobs, women are paid less than the men. The numbers of women at the top of the government are also decreasing rapidly. Also in the private sector, there are women on many boards of directors of most famous companies, but still the men outnumber them. The number of girls who are uneducated is larger than boys, a clear indication that the society values men than women to some extent.

Women are depicted to be courageous and faithful. Women in the Bible like Hannah, Esther, Ruth, Abagail, Zipporah, Manoah's wife, the wise woman of Tekoa, the wise woman of Abel-Bethmaach, and Deborah took courageous actions and intervened for the good of other people without minding about the risks that were involved. They knew and recognized the greatness of their God and a matching speech for this. Hannah opened Priest Eli's eyes to see God's work by gently correcting him when he was unable to interpret the difference between a drunkard and a woman who was truly seeking God (1st Samuel 1:12-18).

Mordechai urged Esther to influence the King to change his decision, but Esther instead asked the Jews to first gather and fast for three days because she believed that it is God who had the power to save them (Esther 4: 15-16). Ruth called Boaz to believe and recognize that he was the chosen by God to provide protection for Ruth when he tried to pray that God may protect her (Ruth 3:9). Abagail saved David when he was angry and wanted to commit suicide by telling him that vengeance was the Lord's and asking him to do the right thing (1st Samuel 25:30-33). God wanted to put death to Moses, but Zipporah courageously intervened through circumcising his sons so that he could lead people out of Egypt (Exodus 4: 24-26). Manoah's wife calmly encouraged his husband with words of faith when he tried to overreact fearfully after God had visited him (Judges 13: 22-33). David was not willing to forgive his son, but the wise woman of Tekoa helped him see why reconciliation was better than banishment (2nd Samuel 14: 12-13).

Joab was ready to destroy the whole city because of one guilty man but the wise woman of Abel-Bethmaach pleaded him to find a peaceful solution which as a result saved many lives (2nd Samuel 20:16-21a) Deborah boldly reminded Barak the importance of obedience when he was uncertain to obey God (Judges 4:6-7). The current society has degraded and distorted women. Pornography depicts women to be just sexual objects, and they are being traded for sexual slavery. In the world today most women are abused by men and abandoned after getting pregnancies. Women are then left with the responsibility of parenting single-handedly.

Women are described to be religious and political leaders. Prophet Miriam leads a praise song "sing to the Lord who is gloriously triumphant; horse and chariot God has cast into the sea" when crossing the Sea of Reeds (Exodus 15:21). She continues with the role of leadership in the wilderness community. Prophet Miriam was a secondary leader who was accountable to a man (Moses). This passage can be interpreted differently, however, because despite Prophet Miriam being a leader, she was punished by God when she tried challenging Moses.

During the time of judges, Deborah emerges as a judge and prophet (Judges 4:4). During this period judges were both religious and political leaders. The main task of these leaders was to free the people usually by means of a military attack. During Deborah's time, people were under the oppression of Jabin who was the king of Hazor. Deborah managed to save the people by not only organizing the attack but also participating in the war (Wold, 339). Deborah was a primary leader with a man (Barak) accountable to her. Also, the apostles Peter and Paul respected women and believed that they were worthy of prominent positions in church (1st Peter 2: 13-3:7). The passage of Deborah is interpreted in ways. Deborah can be interpreted as a leader who was wise and available for the Israelites because she was able to rescue them from the arms of Jabin who has a significant chariot. She can also be seen to be the messenger of the Lord because there was a prophetic ministry operating within her position as a judge.

In the current culture, many leadership roles in organized churches are forbidden to women. A good example is in the Roman Catholic churches where the senior positions such as priest and deacons can only be occupied by men. According to history, powerful positions were given to men. However, with the increase in gender equality, women are now being elected politically to be heads of states (Kantola et al., 210). However, their social status is relatively poor compared to men. This has generated an atmosphere of inferiority among women. The culture attitude about gender roles is also another challenge facing women in the current society.

Women are portrayed as vulnerable heroes. Women in the Bible have shown the role of the hero-savior. From the book of Judges, there are two women who kill the oppressor and save their people. These women are Jael, wife of Heber and a nameless woman who kills the enemy leader. Also, Esther risks her life by approaching the king without being summoned to save her people. She even had to keep her religious background a secret during all this time. Prophet Miriam was also a hero-savior who saved her brother, Moses's infant life that had been lost already. Abigail is depicted as a heroine too in the Bible. Her husband puts the lives of his entire household in danger by refusing to be hospital to David and his men. Abigail then courageously took charge and sent food and a message of peace which finally saved the lives of the whole household (Samuel 25). Additionally, Tabitha is depicted as a female hero in the Bible who inspired others through her charity work to the poor and the widows around her (Acts 9:36-43).

Even though Ruth wasn't an Israelite, she followed her mother-in-law Naomi and married her son Boaz. She was still loyal and faithful to her Naomi who was an Israelite even after her son, husband to Ruth, had died. Ruth was willing to share the pain of loss with Naomi (Ruth 1-4). Also, Mary the mother of Jesus was a young girl when an angel appeared to her and informed her that she was going to conceive and give birth to Jesus. Though young, she was up for the task of raising the Messiah and even flee to Egypt to protect him (Luke 1:26-56). The current society does not view women as heroes yet (Allison et al. 102). They are subject to men and have to follow the orders they are given without airing their opinions or taking part in decision-making. The men view the unmarried women as either innocent and ready to get married, or dirty and always available to be used for sex like prostitutes.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Bible exalts women and acknowledges their roles in the family and their influence power. Jesus treats women with respect. The women were also given leadership positions in the early church. The society, on the other hand, has degraded and distorted women. Some practices such as pornography depict women as just sex objects. Women in the Bible are portrayed to be equal to men. Both man and woman were created in God's own image. Also, forming woman from the man was a sign of unity and equality that should exist in human beings. In addition, the fall in the garden of Eden involved both Adam and Eve. The Bible teaches that Jesus came to save both man and woman without discriminating any gender. The Bible also portrays women to be faithful and courageous. Women like Zipporah, Manoah's wife, the wise woman of Tekoa, the wise woman of Abel-Bethmaach, Deborah, Hannah, Ruth, Esther, and Abigail take courageous steps to save other people even though it means putting their own lives at risk. The Bible depicts women as religious and political leaders. Good examples for such leaders are Prophet Miriam and Deborah. Miriam leads a praise song as the Israelites are crossing the Sea of Reeds and continue leading the wilderness community. Deborah was both a prophet and a judge. She rescues her people from the arms of their enemy, King Jaban by not only organizing the attack but also participating in the war herself. In the current society, there are a few women in leadership positions. Even those who are leaders still face challenges such as the cultural attitude on gender roles. Churches such as the Roman Catholic have prohibited women from the highest positions such as priest and deacons. Also, the Bible describes women to be vulnerable heroes. Women such as Miriam, Esther, Mary (mother of Jesus) and Tabitha have saved people around them. the current society, however, has not recognized women as heroes yet. Women are under men, and they just follow orders without taking part in decision making.

Works Cited

Allison, Scott T., and George R. Goethals. "Are Men More Likely Than Women To Become Heroes And Villains?." (2014): 1.

Kantola, Johanna, and Mieke Verloo. "Revisiting gender equality at times of recession: A discussion of the strategies of gender and politics scholarship for dealing with equality." European Journal of Politics and Gender 1.1-2 (2018): 205-222.

Wold, Benjamin. "Genesis 2-3 in Early Christian Tradition and 4QInstruction." Dead Sea Discoveries 23.3 (2016): 329-346.