We would open the Bible study this morning with Genesis, the third chapter, the 20th verse. By the time you get there, I will have it read. Adam named his wife Eve because she would become the mother of all living. Eve in the Hebrew language is from the word hawa, meaning life giver, according to Strong's Hebrew dictionary. It's interesting that the mother of all living led the way that ultimately resulted in death. The mother of all living was obviously an honor that God intended for Eve because he created that into the very nature of her physical being that she would be, she was intended to be the mother of all living. Unfortunately, disobedient brought a terrible curse on this intended honor, the honor that God intended for her. The woman said to the serpent, we may eat from the fruit of the trees of the garden, but God did say, you must not eat of the fruit from the tree that's in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it or you will die. So she knew what God had warned, but she was persuaded somehow by this creature in the midst of the garden that what God said wasn't true or was questionable. As a result, death came upon all living. and Eve became both the giver of life and the one who ushered death into the world. Adam was the one that had been told, when you eat thereof, you will certainly die. The fact is, the moment they partook of that tree, They died. It says, the day ye eat thereof, you will surely die, in most translations. Not in the NIV, but I think most translators agree, the day ye eat thereof, you will surely die. And they did. They died spiritually on that very moment that they partook of that tree. And like a limb that is cut off from a tree, the moment they disengage from God, they were in the process of dying. A limb cut off from a tree, the leaves will remain green for some time. And there may still be edible fruit, but it's in the process of dying. It is dead. The life flow has been cut off. And it is just going through the elements of decay. God intended to graft whoever would allow him to, whoever would trust in him, to be grafted back into that life flow through Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. I think we're all familiar with that. In the meantime, the joys of childbearing would be racked with severe pain. And her desire or need would be for her husband and he would rule over her. That is a part of the curse. It wasn't what God intended in the beginning for his daughters, but it was the consequence of disobedience. First Corinthians 11.13 But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of every woman is man, and the head of Christ is God." So God subjected women, because of the disobedience of Eve, to be under the authority of men. But men are also under authority. And even Jesus was under the authority of God. 1 Timothy 2, 11 through 15, a woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or assume authority over a man. This is Paul speaking. She must be quiet in the church. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. Adam was not the one deceived. It was a woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with propriety. Now that sounds like a curse to me. And it is. but only to those who do not receive Jesus Christ and the mind of Christ through the Holy Spirit. You see, Jesus was willing to be the servant of us all, man, woman, and child. In fact, he rebuked his disciples one time for pushing the children aside. forbid not the little children to come unto me for as such are the kingdom of God. And he was willing to take time out to minister to and to bless them and to bless women and to bless men. He was willing to lay down his life to serve the needs of all humanity. He was the servant of all. And he commended the desire to serve far above the desire for dominance. Our world is full of the desire for dominance. That's one of the things Jesus said. He says in the world it's like that. They contend for who will be dominant, who will get to run things. We're about to go into an election that is centered on that very thing. Jesus said, among you, among us Christians, it's not going to be like that. It shouldn't be like that. Is it any wonder that the God of this world is still trying to persuade the daughters of Eve that Jesus is just trying to present them from reaching their full potential. That's what he convinced Eve of in the garden. The day God knows, the day you eat thereof, you will become as God, you will receive your full potential, and you will be able to be self-fulfilling, and you will be able to control, your own life in such a way that you will be able to discover good that suits you and evil that you don't want. That same con is still being worked by Satan. The same lie in the garden. You can reach your full potential If you just turn away from God, just turn away from his teachings, just do as you please, you will reach your full potential. And by the way, in this age, in our age, we're way past the longing for liberation and freedom and to have our own way and do our own thing. Women's liberation has been overcome by gender denial to the point in this generation people are denying that they even are women. Isn't that strange? The next time you hear a woman say, my body, my choice, Ask them, when did it become your body? Was it when you were conceived? But your mother claims the right to her own body. So obviously it wasn't when you were conceived or anywhere in the womb. Was it after you were born? Are you going to tell your mother right after birth, I don't need you anymore, I'll take it from here, I'll change my own diapers and get my own bottles warmed? Really? Was that when you took possession of yourself and it became your body, your choice? Or was it when you started kindergarten? I'm moving out now, Mom. I'll make my own way in the world. I don't need your help or interference anymore. When did it become your body? When did you become independent of the need of others? The truth is we are never completely independent of our need of others. unless you can generate your own electricity and survive under Stone Age conditions, which does not include, by the way, bumming off others or scavenging after them, most of us wouldn't last a month alone in the wilderness. especially without tools which are provided by other people. We would be dependent on them if we took an axe or if we took a shovel along with us. If you go barehanded into the wilderness, how long would you last? A month? A year? But I thank God that we don't have to do that. God has given us families to nurture and protect us until we are able to take our place in society at whatever stage society is. That's a responsibility of a family, to take care of those little ones who will die without that protection and without that nurturing. And that's why God commands, honor your father and mother so that you may live long in the land the Lord is giving you. That's Exodus 20, 12, isn't it? Honor your parents so that you may live long in the land. Your father will teach you the skills you need to defend and provide for yourself, whatever culture you're living in. and your mother will teach you to nurture and care for others." That's why Paul said, women will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with propriety. That's 1 Timothy. It doesn't mean that you become saved by becoming a mother. It means that's what God is using to sustain the world. And you are playing your role in the sustaining of humanity through your childbearing, right? Paul goes on to note, for Adam was formed before Eve, and Adam was not the one that was deceived. It was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. Well, Adam became a sinner very shortly afterwards. And if he wasn't deceived, so much more his shame. But it wasn't only because Eve sinned that they were assigned their roles. It was the way God designed parents from the beginning. And it was good. God intended mothers and fathers to nurture and care for their children. And how would they function without that? We're not animals that can drop their young and wander off. God designed us in a very special way with interdependence that we learn in our families. And he said it was good. After he created Adam, after he created Eve, he declared it all to be good. Sin or selfishness made men domineering and insufferable. That's what it did for us. And I don't think there's very many women who wouldn't agree with that at some point. Sin or self-centeredness made women manipulative. Man's sin tends to tear down civilization. Woman's sin tends to undermine it. Therefore, I want the men, Paul goes on to say in Timothy 2 and 8, I want men everywhere to pray. We need God's involvement in our families. We need God to lead us, to guide us. Therefore, I want men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger and disputing. That's 2nd Timothy again, 2. 8. Praying to God acknowledges that he is the supreme source of all our needs and desires. God provided everything, including our ability to assimilate the things that he has provided apart from us. Holding up holy hands indicates innocence before God. a desire to do his will, and without anger or disputing means without spiritual discord or actual strife. Paul says, I want men everywhere to lift up hands and pray to God without anger and disputing. I also want women to dress modestly. That's, are we, what's going on here? With decency and propriety adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold and pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds appropriate for women who profess to worship God. So he's saying that if you want to be beautiful in the body of Christ, in the church, You need to focus not so much, spend so much time in the beauty parlor or shopping for expensive things. What you need to do is to submit to God so that you will have good deeds. When we have, when we're focusing on our mother's on a day like this, I think we recognize them not for how pretty they were, but for how much they gave, how much they sacrificed, how much they cared for us. And that's the kind of beauty that Paul desires for the women of the church. By dressing modestly, Paul simply means that our apparel doesn't attempt to capture the limelight or focus attention on ourselves, and it means to dress appropriately for all occasions. That's as simple as it is. That becomes one of the most contentious things. I used to run youth camps, and one of the most contentious things there was is what kids ought to be allowed to wear during our camps. And parents would get upset with it. Preachers would get upset with it. All kinds of, Paul said, just dress appropriately. That's all. So that it doesn't detract from the purpose of our being here. The purpose of the church is to glorify God rather than self. If you attract attention away from God and toward yourself, then you're not dressed properly or you're not behaving properly. All of this has to do with staying true to our purpose. Our purpose is to lift up Jesus who can save the world and not detract from the important elements of the gospel. And I'm not denying that men can be just as vain as any woman, and women can be just as contentious as any man. It's generally not their MO for women to be contentious and men to be vain. It generally runs in different channels. Possible exception is found in the book of Judges, chapter four, and I'd like to look at that with you. Chapter four, the fourth verse says, now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lapidoth, and I don't know why they had to choose these kinds of names, Deborah was leading Israel at the time. She was a prophet who was leading Israel. Most other translations, again, calls her a prophetess. But the NIV, in order to avoid offending modern women, makes no gender distinctions concerning titles. Since we made it such a big deal to call actresses actors and not add any feminine suffix, To any of these things, NIV kind of goes along with that. Sometimes I'm thinking very seriously about changing to another translation. They get really into this gender neutral stuff. And it's, I think, personally disturbing. Prophetess, however, in that day were very rare. They always have been. But rarer still was the fact that she was a judge over Israel. There was only one woman who was ever a judge over Israel. She held court under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided. In Israel, the highest judge was more than just a arbiter of justice. He or she, in this case, was an anointed leader of the nation after the manner of Moses. It made her, among other things, commander-in-chief over Israel, commander of the armies of Israel. And so she is a very unique and incredible woman during her time. In verses one through three, Israel had been under opposition to the Canaanites, a king named Jabin. for 20 years because they had done evil in the eyes of the Lord. We know that is one of the themes of the Book of Judges. Again and again, God would rescue them. Again and again, they would do evil in the eyes of the Lord. And once again, they would need deliverance from their enemies. They were under duress, and as they usually did, They once again cried out to the Lord for help. In verse 6, Deborah sent for a man named Barak, who was to lead Israel into a battle of liberation against their oppressors and opponents. She told him, the Lord, the God of Israel commands you. She's a prophetess. She's speaking in the name of the Lord. She says to this mighty man of war, the Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, go take you 10,000 men of Nephatali, one of the tribes, and Zebulun, another of the tribes, and lead them up to Mount Tabor. I, the Lord is speaking, will lead Cessera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his troops to Kishrun River and give him into your hands. So that's the plan. She has told him, God has said, the Lord has commanded you to get 10,000 men from these two tribes, go out to meet this mighty oppressor. He had chariots, we're told, 900 chariots at his disposal, not Israel. It was Sesra who has this incredible army that is fortified with 900 chariots. Not only does he have chariots, but they are fitted with iron. Israel had no access to iron in those days, and they had to go to their enemy in order to contract with them to get the axe heads and the various steel tools made by them in order for them to work. Here is a man who has 900 chariots. The chariots of those days were like tanks are today. They were an incredibly effective weapon, and anyone who had access to chariots, if the opposing army didn't, was in a tremendous advantage. Israel was probably armed with their farm implements, pitchforks and hoes and hoes. and ox gold, things like that. But Israel had the ultimate weapon, he had the ultimate advantage, which was the presence of God on their side, and Israel still has that advantage. And they will have it as long as this world continues. But it takes a lot of faith to go up against a well-equipped army, a larger army than you have, with an untrained militia, regardless of the fact that you have been able to scratch together an army of 10,000 people, men. Verse 8, this is Barak's, Barak. response, Barak said to her, if you go with me, I will go. But if you don't go with me, I won't go. That is a pathetic response from a man chosen by God to be a leader in battle. I'll go if you go. Deborah's response was, certainly I will go with you. But because of the course you are taking, which means making obedience conditional, this is obedience to God that he is making conditional. Because of that, the honor will not be yours, for God will deliver Caesarea into the hands of a woman." It's obvious that this was meant to shame Barak for his attitude and his refusal to go without her. Perhaps he was afraid that she hadn't really heard from God, But if that were the case, I don't know what difference it would make whether she was with him or not. It just would mean that she would die with him. The proper way to get assurance would be to go directly to God and seek God himself. If he's not sure that she is giving him the correct instructions, If he's not sure that she is speaking on behalf of the Lord, when she says, I command you in the name of the Lord, then he needs to go to God himself. But he apparently wasn't very conversant with God. And so the best thing he could do is say, I'll go if you will, and if you don't, then I won't. I'm reminded of a little shepherd boy named David. When they were faced with a challenge at least this great, they couldn't keep David from not answering God's challenge. They did everything they could to dissuade him. But this little boy said, who is that? champion of the Philistines, to be blaspheming God of all creation. Perhaps it was because he was very conversant with God. He had spent many nights under the stars while watching over his father's sheep, praising God and giving glory to God and thinking and meditating on God. So that when this 10-foot giant stood up and challenged all Israel and made them all quake in their boots, this little boy jumps up, who has been with God, and he just isn't impressed with this mighty giant. And again, his brothers tried to discourage him, and the army tried to discourage him, and the king tried to discourage him, but he wouldn't be discouraged. What a contrast he is with Barak. I'll go if you go. But I ain't going by myself. You see, Barak didn't know the God of David. So Deborah doesn't sound happy about Barak's dependence on her. She may have preferred, as a matter of fact, that a man would have stood up and taken charge of Israel or would have answered God's call as a prophet over Israel. I'm not certain of that. But when men abdicate responsibility, women sometimes have to fill the gap. And that's the case in this particular story. And by the way, she wasn't the woman who would have this dubious honor of defeating Saria, the great commander of the armies that they are opposing. So it's another woman. Verse 16 through 24, Barak pursued the chariots and armies as far as Horserath, and all Saria's troops fell by the sword. Not a man was left, so he decided to go ahead and go to battle Deborah went along with him. He found that God was more than able to give him the victory over his enemies and he pursued them and he destroyed their entire army along with these incredible devices called chariots. Part of how that happened, according to historians, was as they are looking at the valley that they fought in, there's a river that ran through it. And when they came to battle, there was no doubt an outpouring of rain. The river overflowed and turned the whole valley into a marsh so that the chariots were completely bogged down. And so Barak was able to go in, defeat them, just like God said he should. It goes on to say, Saria, meanwhile, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, J-A-E-L, the wife of Hebner, the Kenite. because there was an alliance between Jabin the king of Hazor and the family of Heber the Kenite. In other words, he was a collaborator with our enemies. He was cooperating with those that were oppressing Israel, even though he was considered to be on Israel's side. He swore loyalty. to the enemy. Jael, this woman, who was a wife of this collaborator, went out to meet Saria, who was on foot, had been defeated, his army was being decimated, he is trying to escape. She goes out to meet him and says, come my lord, come right in, don't be afraid. So he entered the tent, and she covered him with a blanket. He said, I'm thirsty. Please give me some water. She opened a skin of milk and gave it to him to drink and covered him. He said to her, stand in the doorway of the tent. If anyone comes by and asks you, is anyone in there, you just say no. And then he fell fast asleep. But Jael, this woman, Haber's wife, the collaborator's wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep and exhausted, and she drove a peg through the temple, through his temple, into the ground, and he died. This wasn't a woman's job. A woman who was made to nurture life rather than to end it. And there is no honor in the way she was forced to go about it. Lacking the necessary strength to oppose him to his face, she had to resort to guile and deceit. Ladies' hands weren't intended to employ weapons and especially tools of this nature that were going to be used in such a brutal fashion. But when men are reluctant to do the hard stuff, in Barak's case it was to obey God unconditionally, women are sometimes left to assume the responsibility as best they can. I realize there are exceptions to every rule. There are a lot of women who wouldn't be that squeamish about that. But it seems to me in our time that we are trying to turn the exceptions into the rule. Women shouldn't have to be warriors. But in our age, all women, or many women, I'm sorry ladies, many women want to be warriors. They want to be in politics. They want to lead industry. And yes, they want to be in the highest ranks of military service. Many women are contending for leadership and control, not being forced into it, but are longing for it. And I'd like you to know, as American citizens, in the nature of human history, that's not normal. Verse 22, just then Barak came in pursuit of Sesera. He finally catches up and Jael went out to meet him. She sees him and she says, come, I will show you the man you're looking for. So he went in with her and there lays Sesera with a tent peg through his temple, dead. That grisly scene would have been a real rebuke to Beric, who was charged with God, or by God, to defeat Cicera as a man, instead of leaving it to a woman to do it however she could. As Deborah had said, there will be no honor for you in Cesar's defeat. But I don't see any sign of Jael, the woman relishing the honor of the role she played either. It was simply something that had to be done in the absence of male leadership. I can't imagine this grisly scene not haunting her from time to time if she had any sensitivity as a human being at all. Or is it? Shame will befall that generation who fails to fulfill the role God has assigned them. For Christian fathers and husbands, that means take spiritual leadership. Do you hear me? All of you who are male and are going to be the head of a family, your responsibility, your call from God, your command is to take spiritual leadership. For wives and mothers, it means trusting God and not trying to grab the steering wheel every time you get into what feels like a panic situation. 1 Peter 3, 5 through 6. says, for this is the way holy women of the past, who put their hope in God, used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her Lord. You are her daughters, all of the Christian ladies, You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. Trusting men, I realize, sometimes takes a lot of courage. In fact, more than sometimes in some of our cases. It took God to rescue Sarah from the house of Pharaoh because of Abraham's lack of courage. She went along with Abraham's deception, saying, don't let them know that you're my wife. Tell them you're my sister. And because of that, Pharaoh, his Some of his servants recommended to Pharaoh this beautiful woman, and he took her into his palace, and Abraham said nothing. He was afraid. But she trusted God, and God rescued her. You see, God knows that we are not great champions. God knows that sometimes we're going to fail you ladies. But when we do, you're not left hopeless. God will step in and rescue you according to his will. He said, you are the daughters, you are the daughters of Sarah, if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. Doing what is right means you don't violate your conscience before God. But equally important, not giving way to fear, since God is your ultimate protector, if what we believe is true. He goes on to say, Peter goes on to say, husbands in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives and treat them with respect as the weaker party, sorry ladies, and as heirs with you in the gracious gift of life. So that nothing will hinder your prayers. I know that you haven't gotten past weaker partners. Is that insulting? Are you insulted, ladies, that Peter would call you the weaker party? By weaker, he only means less equipped for the corporal challenges of this world God created us with separations of power, and you're less equipped to do things that men are intended to do. I know that you can do well, a strong woman can do better than a weak man, and I know You know, that exists across the board. We're learning about all of that with the intramural sports and the Olympics and all of that, that there are, there are strong women who can compete against weak men and there are, Weak men who can't stand up but across the board, strength to strength and weakness to weakness. Generally speaking, God created man so that he was stronger. If you don't believe that, we can have a arm wrestling contest after church, but you've got to stay within your age and your weight limit. But you will find that Men generally are stronger, and that's what Peter's talking about. Now then, I want to confess something to you that is personal. I just had my 80th birthday. The older I get, the weaker I am. Hello? Even in comparison, with some of the women that exist in this world. That's just a fact. But here's a great secret concerning weakness that I'm learning. The weaker I get, I'm learning, I'm watching, I'm trying to pay attention. 1 Corinthians 12 9 says this, he said to me, this is God speaking to Paul, my grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness. What? My power is made perfect in weakness, not just your weakness, but weakness. The power of wives and mothers is the ability to give, nurture, and sustain life. The power is made perfect, not through contention, but through submission. By recognizing that I am not the perfect mother, that I am not the perfect woman, Just like I have to recognize my own weaknesses that are growing. But God, I depend on you for whatever stage of life and whatever relationships I need to hold. I'm looking to you. And when I have that attitude, God is liberated. The God who can do anything is liberated to work in my life. My power is made perfect in weakness." Submission to the needs of her family and community, which greatly enhances the leadership of her husband, is what women are called to do. If you feel inadequate, so much the better. If you feel unable, then we turn to God and God can do the impossible, stop the sun in the sky if he has to, in order to come to your rescue and help you fulfill your calling, the calling that you were created for in the beginning. submission to the needs of her family, to her community, which greatly enhances the leadership of her husband and fathers and the leaders of the community, of their nation. Okay. Weakness, strength. Trust God. daughter of the wife of Abraham, Sarah. Jesus said in Matthew 23 10, the greatest among you will be your servant. We're not to reach out to be controllers, not men or women. We shouldn't be vying, competing, trying to be in control of every situation. Jesus said, the greatest among you will be your servant, the one who does everything he can to promote others and to help them to fulfill their potential. For those who exalt themselves will be humble, Jesus said. Those who exalt themselves will be humble, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. And that's why Peter found that the weaker he was, the stronger God became in his life. If you feel inadequate, if we feel inadequate of leadership, spiritual leadership in our family, so much the better. You're going to have to pray and seek God and lean on his guidance. And that will make you a stronger person than you would be if you felt self-fulfilled or self-enabled. So that's what I see the state of our world. the state of America. I see in America a lot of contention going on. I see women trying to exert themselves. I see men who are falling back and not taking responsibility. Things are upside down. And as a result, our nation is suffering. our country is not as strong as when we had a good sense of the role of a father and a good sense of the role of a mother, and there was no confusion about the difference between the two. What can we do? We can turn to God and do it his way. We can't change the world, perhaps, We can add to it, but you can certainly change your life and the lives of your family by being what God created you to be. That's it. By being, trying to be what did God have in mind when he created man, what did God intend when he created woman, Why did he put them together and say, now the two of you will become one? Two parts of oneness that are interdependent and they can be a really good thing if you'll play your roles and seek God for what you're unable or inadequate to accomplish in your family. So I know that in this church, I think every one of our women are striving to that. And so this message may not be to you. It may be the one going out over the airwaves. But I commend you. I commend you for being good mothers, good parents, good team, and creating good families for the sake of our small fellowship and whatever community you're a part of. Amen. God bless you. Now, again, we'll be honoring our mothers who are taking this incredible responsibility with a dinner shortly after. So we want to express our appreciation for each of you. And men, let's pray that we can be better enablers of the life givers and the life sustainers that God has given us to partner with. in our families. God bless you.