There's not time to write much right now.
I still keep thinking on how we're being given over. Especially as recognizing we are presented with reflections of ourselves, inherent present judgments: we make ourselves a caricature of what God created us to be, and He turns us over to that, all the more...to defile ourselves, from the outset, then increasingly to rejection of all reality.
One of the matters especially prominent in meditations has to do with evidences of judgment which the Lord cited as fundamental, in the 3rd chapter of Isaiah:
4“I will make mere lads their leaders,
and children will rule over them.”
5The people will oppress one another,
man against man, neighbor against neighbor;
the young will rise up against the old,
and the base against the honorable.
12Youths oppress My people,
and women rule over them.
O My people, your guides mislead you;
they turn you from your paths.
...
Granted, I know these statements are made in the context of significant cultural events. I realize He is speaking directly to Judah (whether there are specific implications thereby for the church, only He knows). While I also know all of Scripture is God-breathed and suitable for instruction, conviction, correction, and training in righteousness--iow, suitable for all things needful, for us.
He presents us with snapshots of His being and will and He reserves the right to allow the consequences of sin to break forth. And as the above-cited matters were provided as signs (being divine ordinances) of judgment upon the nation of Judah, it seems entirely feasible to consider that He would ordain such as signs of judgment, at any time.
I twice encountered--broadly and enthusiastically proffered, as it happens--children castigating an assembly of...perhaps school board members...last week. In two different states in the U.S.
Adults have done so, as well, but that was not received with such fervor.
Also, consider the Thunberg situation, for another precise example: this is a child being exalted as a (the?) world leader, for one of the focal points of the religion of our day.
I encounter the same thing in academia, as well--the students judge the teachers, and the teachers are to look to students to gain the most information on how they are to "better" their work.
What's perceived as being socially responsible--requesting the insight of youth--moreso indicates that the wisdom of the aged is now despised. That whole matter has been many months contemplated, though the point made at the 12th verse has been contemplated since 2014:
As tough a pill as that was for me to swallow, for women to be placed in positions of prominent leadership in government (and in the church) is presented as a sign of God's judgment.
For more context on the struggle with that specific:
When I first came to know Christ, there was a dual-edged desire for belief that this matter is other than it is.
First off, in my zeal to know God and to explore the breadths and depths and heights and width of understanding His ways, I wanted such pursuits to explicitly characterize all of my purpose in life: occupationally, professionally, as a matter of gainful employment. It seemed right to me, that if I should have such a desire to know Him, and relish the pursuit with such poignancy beyond measure, then it should be absolutely undeniable that I could occupy a position as pastor. Yes, I encountered those "troublesome" verses in the New Testament, but thought surely there had to be some explanation other than to disqualify me out-of-hand. So, I spent about a year and a half searching, reading, discussing, praying for some way for those verses to mean something other than what they say. It was too close to home--too emotional and personal a matter, to divulge this struggle with others, apart from in exceedingly trusted company.
The second aspect which made this matter too close to my heart to allow open discussion: my mother pastored churches...for the last (seven or so) years of her life. She was an ordained lay-speaker for the Methodist church, assigned full pastorate of three churches in WV where no one else was available (willing?) to accept leadership. It was bad enough to consider her suicide in the new light come through Christ, but to further consider that she was disobeying God's direct command by taking on the position of pastor?--that was beyond the pale.
I couldn't stomach either of those notions, at first. But continual study, continual prayer, and over the course of being healed by God's gracious kindness and love toward me--learning to trust Him more wholeheartedly, increasingly thoughtful of the decision to do so...were such that, eventually, He gave me grace and peace to lay down my armor and accept that His will is far superior to my desires and fears.
On the one hand, it's not about restricting me from doing something I'm "suited for," but about having created me for other roles--in Christ, humility being the foremost calling (coming to Him contrite, denying oneself as to pursue His righteousness), I'm called to submit to His will rather than my own desires: recognizing again and again that He knows what is good, and though my heart may try to argue otherwise in selfishness, whatever "seems" to me to be right is of no merit or second thought whatsoever, to any degree that it contradicts what His express will truly is. And where there are matters which are by any means unclear?--the better way is, for loving God, to err on the side of restraint: It is far better to deny myself rather than displease the One most dear: far better to forego something uncertain than to rationalize indulging myself and end up grieving His Spirit. (Oh, if only I had that clarity always!)
Secondarily, He has led me to know a different sort of love--different from the purported love I practiced while a worldling: godly love isn't expressly contingent on never disagreeing with others but rather, recognizing that God is supreme and His love is purest, true love upholds are pursues what He has revealed as right, recognizing such is truly so and ultimately effects good for all. Where there exists any disagreement with God's express, ordained will, the most loving thing to do is to plead for a conformity to or reconciliation with His will: this expressly entails making apparent any divide which exists between His will and whatever else is at-hand. So, love requires distinguishing between what is true and what is not. Love requires presenting such matters for discussion.
So, I can love and still honor my mother without having to either a) pretend there weren't major points of disagreement or b) refrain from recognizing and accepting some of her actions were at odds with God's will. This latter is still a huge struggle in the midst of a society which increasingly demands that everyone not only "tolerate" but also approve of everything done by everyone, especially when undertakings and ideologies exist in defiance of God.
The social norm which indicates that people must be considered either beyond reproach or absolutely reprobate may be a convolution of the reality of what it is to either be in God's kingdom or in the kingdom of darkness, however it absolutely forsakes reality: we're all sinners in the hands of a righteous God.
None is without sin, even as all are commanded to repent and believe on the Gospel. Having ever thus repented, such will never cease so long as there's life and breath on this earth.
All to say, though, the notion that women being placed as leaders hits home for me in a lot of ways. And the Lord has humbled me, to acknowledge that His truth is correct. I still am conflicted about matters, in terms of what's appropriate: even to share here, as I do--I don't know who comes, I don't know who reads. But I'm not undertaking to lead, I'm not set out to teach. I'm sharing what the Lord has opened my eyes to, moreover, as a testament to His work, a testament to His faithfulness, and out of a desire to glorify Him through this, trusting that He will use this as He sees fit. Period.
I think of Deborah, sometimes. She was the major outlier in the Old Testament--being a woman raised up by the Lord, to judge the nation of Israel. And even to lead, and as a prophetess in some capacity, as His judge. And yet, His choice of her as such was within the paradigm of what was spoken through Isaiah--it wasn't a matter of changing the status quo, but of indicating judgment, as there were no men righteous.
Psalm 68:11 had been the last-ditch effort, attempting to recast all the rest of the whole of Scripture: I clung to that, for a time, trying to make it mean that women were preachers of the Gospel in the same sense that pastors lead churches. Problem is, that's not what the verse says. And we do see evidence of Moses' sister leading the women in song, praising God, prophesying. And even of witnessing of the truth of God, in Christ's earthly ministry. Yet, though each was given a position as witness of His identity, sharing the Gospel...they were not pastors. These women, such as the woman at the well, were given great honor to be made the purveyors of revelation from God, of God, without being made to be elders, priests, bishops. Even Phillip's daughters, who were prophetesses...gave prophesy. But they weren't called pastors.
It's not a matter of being ill-equipped, but of being called to submit to God's ordained order--which submission goes against everything in us which opposes Him. If we will not submit to so small a matter as His ordained roles, then what else have we already forsaken?
Everything He is, and which He has given as a archetype directing us to recognize His ways and nature: one of the foremost being Christ's relationship with the church, signified by marriage.
Reading Malachi last week was gut-wrenching, of that matter. Love covers a multitude of sins. Is there any one of us who is without sin, when it comes to idolatry, which is spiritual adultery? God is explicit in that last point, regarding all He has spoken through the prophets, and finally in His Son. At which point, when we falter, does He then cut us off with a writ of divorcement? Where is that paper, for us each? Did Christ not nail it to the cross, in His own flesh? And for those who make excuse according to two verses in Matthew's Gospel--to be entirely consistent, divorce must be granted over pornography "use," since Christ explicitly indicated that to be adultery since what's in the heart is what's effective before God, and ultimately for the wife as well whether physical encounter is involved.
The crux of the matter is moreso: who are we not to extend that same mercy, spouse to spouse--till death do part? If Christ put to death in His flesh what was written against us, for an eternal covenanting with us, and has made us one with Himself, all?...who is man to separate what God has united, even with a portion of His Spirit in the union?
Paul very clearly indicated that even as the law is unto death, so is marriage. And for those, of this latter, who experience desertion or require it as a matter of sparing life and haleness of one's dependents...how great a grief. And yet, the call was to remain alone or be reconciled to one's spouse.
Had we not forsaken and compromised on that matter, refusing to uphold vows, refusing to commit to vows, rationalizing the savagery of divorce, perhaps the rest would not be so severely manifest now.
As He wills, though. As He wills. And yet, one sin yields to the next. Formative union with Christ is forsaken, then the Headship is compromised, perforce such division: women become the head, in the world. So, what growth can there be, then? Only stunted, at best, as the body itself is unwholesome: immaturity is the extent of development, so youth are considered wise guides. And a confusion of all purposes proliferates, besides. Increasingly. Now, to the extent that people "marry" inanimate objects and physically incapacitate themselves, and to speak definitively on truth is considered violence.
May He give grace for the day, as all we have is either daily manna or famine: the choice is ours, though sovereignly ordained.
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