Book of 1 Timothy - Ch. 2, vv. 13-14 | Part 1

1 Timothy 2:13–14 and the Creation Order

And we will jump right back into our study this morning and We're gonna we're getting into verses 13 and 14 if you want to turn with me to 1st Timothy chapter 2. 1st Timothy chapter 2 and as if you've been with us the past few weeks, you know, we've been moving slowly through verses.

Really verses 9 through 12, but specifically verses 11 and 12. We spent the last four Sundays Looking at verse 12 not because it requires that much time to understand what Paul is saying but rather because we were trying to get a grasp of What some common modern objections to Paul's teaching in verse 12 are so that we can have a ready answer for those.

It's alright, buddy. You're alright. And so like I mentioned last week we looked at those objections and we'd be moving into verse 13 and 14 today. I Will say this really quick and I'll keep the review somewhat short but last week The very last objection we looked at to verse 12 and in what is verse 12 say it says I suffer not a woman to teach Nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence and we look we again have looked at three or four different differing interpretations of what that could mean and Took that to the scriptures to see whether or not they held any water and the very last one that we looked at was that a lot of folks will translate or not translate but interpret verse 12 to mean that it was.

It was specifically for the context of a husband and a wife so they bring in the full Context of verses 11 and 12 and they say that is limited to a husband and wife. And of course, we talked at length last week about why that objection doesn't quite work number one.

If you were to make the argument that you know a wife shouldn't shouldn't have authority over her husband. But in every other context, it's okay. If a woman were to then step into something like the eldership or something of that sort Presumably her husband being a part of the same congregation.

She then violates the the prohibition there and so even within that argument itself, there are some things that that Don't make it don't make it work. But Just to piggyback on that before we move beyond verse 12 I wanted to say that one other part of that argument one other part of that objection.

The verse 12 does not mean that women generally shouldn't Teach and have authority over the man, but specifically in the home one reason why people will come away with that conclusion is because in Verses 13 and 14 the Apostle Paul brings Adam and Eve into the picture so they will say they'll kind of make an appeal to the fact that Paul uses Adam and Eve as an example and Therefore he's talking about a married couple.

So verse 12 is limited to the family, but the problem With that particular argument is that Paul's reference to Adam and Eve? It actually does the exact opposite of what they're saying it's doing we're gonna see why Here in just a minute because we're about to get into those verses.

But essentially just to summarize it is the Apostle Paul in verses 13 and 14 He does not make an appeal to Adam and Eve's one-flesh union. He doesn't make an appeal to their their Covenant their marriage covenant.

Together what he does is he makes appeal to their creation order, which is it which is a different thing. And so when when interpreters say well, you know He uses Adam and Eve as an example of a man and a woman wedded and therefore that Qualifies the context of verse 12.

It's not exactly what Paul is doing. Again, he is making an appeal to the creation order and the fact that Adam was created first and then Eve was the one that was deceived and he is using that to kind of set a normative standard as to again, help us understand what things are Consistent with the male and female nature and where will they flourish the most?

Where will a woman flourish the most? Well, where will a man flourish the most and. And so there you go. So that concludes our view it at least at some of the major objections to the traditional interpretation Of verse 12 specifically.

So with that being said let's take a look now at first Timothy chapter 2 verses 13 and 14 we'll read these together and Then go from there. It says Right after making the argument verse 12 for Adam and Eve Excuse me for Adam was first formed then Eve.

And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. So in these couple of verses, we're basically coming upon Paul's closing argument. For why what he is saying in verses 11 and 12 Is not an arbitrary opinion of Paul.

Paul’s Argument as Transcultural and Grounded in Creation

They have based as we discussed last week based upon that predominantly sexist culture quote-unquote in ancient Ephesus again. Some will make take the argument that the Apostle Paul was basically working with the culture that he was given.

That's why we have these particular particular prohibitions That were limited to his context at the time. When you get to this particular argument of verses 13 and 14 we see no this isn't that isn't what he was doing at all.

As if we needed more Proof that that wasn't what he was doing. This isn't arbitrary. It's not his opinion and it wasn't based upon the current culture as we discussed the current culture at least in a religious context.

At that time was actually egalitarian. It wasn't sexist. And so none of that really adds up quite right and then you get to these two verses that we just read and it's like Of course, that's not what he's talking about.

He is making an argument now again. It's kind of his closing argument. That is What you might call transcultural in other words. It goes above and beyond any particular culture at a specific point in time.

And it is applicable across all cultures throughout time. And how do we know that because he bases the argument on the creation order? It could it's it's like returning to first principles to the nth degree.

And so again, what he's doing here in Verses 13 and 14 as he's trying to point us to something. He's trying to point something out to us. That once more will contribute to our flourishing as the people of God and in the Church of God.

Now I'm going to quote myself for a second because I want to go all the way back to Something I said in a lesson one of our Sunday school lessons back in February. So six months ago, and I have to do this because no one's gonna remember anything Six months ago but I merely want to do it just to to remind everybody of where we were going all along and where Paul was going all along and Kind of how all of this it where all of this is culminating Into and so at the very beginning of this chapter it checked when we first started studying chapter 2.

I said this Back in February. I said the lengthy passage from verses 9 through 15. I was kind of given a summary of the full chapter. The lengthy passage from verses 9 through 15 have been the target of liberal and egalitarian quote-unquote theologians in recent decades reinterpreting Paul through a completely novel lens that was never considered by nearly 2 ,000 years of church history and Yet and this is the part that I wanted to bring back to everyone's attention.

Six months later and yet by the end of the chapter. We find that when Paul's words are applied in the practical sense in which it was delivered and intended by him. The result can be a return to Eden the dominion of pleasure in a very unique way so I mentioned that at the very introduction of chapter 2 before we we got into everything that this chapter is talked about and This is the portion verses 13 and 14 is the portion of Scripture that I was referencing in anticipation of Getting there.

Of course at the time. I did not realize it would be six months before we would get there. But here we are finally and if we can understand what Paul is doing here What it'll have what will happen is it will further illuminate how all of this is for our benefit For both men and women and can restore a sense of that great garden in our lives even in the current Day, we know that it's not until Jesus returns that we will have a restoration of what Adam and Eve experienced in the Garden of Eden in in the total sense.

Marriage, Christian Flourishing, and the Garden of Eden

But God in his grace gave us certain things in the church age that we can live out and when lived out it can bring little flickers of That back to the life of the Christian. This is why a marriage in the 21st century with a culture that has kind of Undermined that institution to such a degree.

That's why we look we can look at a marriage and we can see that it can either. If you're a Christian you can see that it can either be a little bit of heaven on earth or a little bit of hell On earth depending on who's at the center of it if Christ is at the center a marriage even in our fallen state even with this much Degradation that we see within the moral fabric of our current society.

We can still experience a little flicker of what it is like of what the Garden of Eden was like. And you know specifically in the home of a Christian family on an individual home front basis. We know that we don't have that much power influence.

And things of that sort over the the direction a culture could go not just for us, but for all believers in every country and throughout the history of the church now in God's grace. The more of those families that could come together they can they can bring broad Reformation over a full culture that can happen.

Sometimes he can even use just a few Individuals that have enough influence to make it happen and to get other other Christians behind them. We saw that in the literal Reformation that we experienced, but let's say hypothetically that you find yourself in a particular time in history.

Where it's not it's not going to go in the direction that a Christian family would want it to go. Thankfully we're seeing at least some possibility that it could go in that direction, but let's assume for a second.

It's the worst-case scenario. You're living in the Iron Curtain. Or behind the Iron Curtain in the Soviet Union, and you're a Christian family that That is being persecuted actively. You're not doing much about that out in the public square, but within the walls of your home.

You can still have Reformation you could still have growth you could still have sanctification. On a family basis and you can experience a little bit again. It may just be a flicker. But a little bit of the Garden of Eden even in a context like that which is an amazing thing and so this is this little portion of Scripture and As odd as it may seem certainly to the church at large today.

Even the preceding verses that led to where we're at now they can contribute to us experiencing that once again so. With that being said and with that as a reminder for everybody to have at the forefront as we press on I Have said many times the commandments we receive from the Lord are intended for our benefit.

They are not authoritarian. They are intended to allow us to flourish the most that we possibly can to thrive as much as we possibly can and We can start to see even with Paul's call back to the Garden of Eden itself here.

That that we can we can experience that so in short and simply put if you were to summarize Paul's closing argument here. It would be that the reason why God prohibits women from teaching men or exercising authority over them is.

Because that is not how God designed men and women at creation. If you were to summarize Paul's Paul's argument here in these two verses that that would be it. It simply does not it's not consistent with the very creation design itself.

Norms, Prohibitions, and Life in a Fallen World

Now I want to kind of as we move through this argument in more detail I want to start with just an idea that will probably be it. In everyone's mind anyway, so we can we can go ahead and address it because we have to remember this.

We do live in a fallen world. Even Though when the creation order took place it took place in a sinless environment. That order still has bearing over our lives now, but it has bearing over our lives in a sinful state not a sinless state.

So what that means is that there are times when the ideal may not even be an option. Let me explain what I mean by that in some instances. Well, let me let me back up just a little bit before I get to some of the The Possibilities that we'll talk about we know that it is possible for women to do many things.

That men can do in a sense. There are plenty of women as we speak that are standing behind pulpits right now this morning teaching authoritatively. Even though it certainly wouldn't be in a biblically consistent manner.

They are doing it. Now I could I could take a rabbit trail here and talk about how I believe they're not actually doing it. It's one thing to go through the motions of something. It's another thing to actually accomplish something, but I'll set that aside at the moment.

The point is we know that it is possible in a sense. For for women to step into places that that men have traditionally stood. But and this is the main principle I want to get at here because this will be very helpful.

We're about to take a look at some scriptures. To flesh this out because remember we live in a fallen state now where death is an enemy where decay is an enemy where? Things. We're the the devil tries to affect our families in ways that messes it up.

So that we can't flourish as much as we would have been able to from the human viewpoint. He's constantly attacking us. That's the state we live in right now. So because of that the ideal will not always be.

What we get to experience in this life. So here's the principle that I want to I want to give you and then we'll put this in The scriptures or we'll put it another way. We'll let the scriptures show us how this principle could be lived out the possibility of something.

So in other words the possibility of a woman stepping into a role that would traditionally have been filled by a man. The possibility of something does not necessitate that it is the ideal. And it doesn't even necessitate that it should be the norm.

So just because as we speak there are women standing behind pulpits right now. Indicating that the possibility for a woman pastor is there that does not necessitate that it is the ideal. Nor that it should be the norm.

Okay, so that's the first principle. But here's where it gets interesting and we have to think through these things with the scriptures guiding us. Because Life is not simplistic. The scriptures aren't simplistic.

They're consistent, but they're not simplistic in some instances. There is an outright prohibition for some things what I mean by that by an outright prohibition is that Even exceptions are never okay.

If you receive a an outright prohibition to something in the scriptures, it means there can't be an exception to that rule. This passage that we're in right now is one of them. So we have an outright prohibition in verse 12 I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

That that means that there cannot be an exception to it. It tells us what the norm should be and What the ideal is in? In history and in time and space. And because of the outright prohibition we know that there cannot be an exception to it regardless of what in whatever way you might rationalize it.

With that being said though, there are some instances other places Where we see a norm being violated and y 'all try to follow me as much as you can and I'm trying to be clear. But I don't know how clear this will be.

There are other places where there is not an outright prohibition. But we do know that there's a norm there and in those cases the norm may be violated and It's not necessarily Prohibited but it's still not ideal.

I don't know if that made any sense or not but we have. We have these laws that God embeds in the universe. You could call it natural law natural theology and In some cases he tells us this is how it is Period and if you mess with it, you will be cursed there.

Those are the outright prohibitions I'm talking about there cannot be an exception to it. And if the end if you try to rationalize an exception, you will you will be punished for it. So there's that category, but there's another category over here in which in natural law We are given a norm which means that for the large majority of cases This is how it should be but there can be exceptions.

And in fact, there are exceptions and those exceptions Aren't violating any prohibitions that God gave does that make sense? Kind of have two categories two norms in one case The norm can never be violated and in another case sometimes it is and sometimes sadly.

Because of just because of the nature of sin and evil in the world. Let me give you an example now in the scriptures turn with me to 1st Corinthians chapter 7 the reason why we're doing this little exercise is Because number one it protects us from ever drawing lines that the scripture doesn't draw.

So there are some well-meaning very conservative Evangelicals out there that may take a prohibition like we see in verse 12 and they start to draw additional safety lines In the sand so that you don't ever ever even get close to something like a woman exercising authority.

Or something or something like that, of course, we know Paul has a context but sometimes people forget that. So they take it a little bit too far for the sake of being careful well. The spirit behind that may very well be admirable, but that's also how you can get to fear a pharisaical system as well.

So you have to be careful about extra lines that are drawn. You don't want to draw extra lines that the scripture didn't draw. So that's one reason why we want to look at it. The other reason we want to do an exercise like this is because we want to be prepared for if people bring scriptures that are seemingly it.

Like on the surface level contradictory in some way. We want to at least be aware of them ahead of time. So we don't know there's there's zero contradiction here. In fact, what this is is it's God's provision.

Let me show you what I mean before I go any further first Corinthians chapter 7 verses 39 we'll start in verse 39 it says. The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband lives. But if her husband be dead.

She is at liberty to be married to whom she will only in the Lord. And then we have an interesting verse in verse 40. He says but if she be happier. Excuse me, but if she is happier if she so abide after my judgment, and I think also that I have the Spirit of God.

I'll explain that here just a second. But the main point that we're looking at this is for this purpose. If a woman was already married and then her husband were to die. She effectively becomes the head of that household.

Do you see now what I'm talking about with regard to a norm being violated. But there is no prohibition be a violated. Do you see what I'm talking about? What is the norm the norm is that normally a husband is the head of a household?

That's the norm. That's the ideal. But what happens if the husband dies? His wife effectively becomes the head of that household. The norm is violated. The ideal is no more, but she is not violating a prohibition.

Such as 1st Timothy 2 12, which she would be if she were to preach. Okay, so in both of those cases you have a norm be being violated but in only one of those case do you have a law being violated which is I Do not allow a woman to teach nor to usurp authority.

But nowhere do we say a woman cannot assume the authority of the household if her husband dies. And so right here what we see is the principle that if the woman's husband dies she effectively becomes the head of that Household, it's not the norm.

It's not the ideal, but it is okay. Because we live in a sinful world a sinful state a fallen state where sin and death reign. At least in so far as they are our great enemies. She can marry whomever she will it's another interesting aspect of this because the biblical principle.

That we see in both Testaments. Is that if you have like a young virgin a young a young maiden. She is under the authority of her father all the way up to marriage and that includes the father's input in who she marries.

All of that was built into the law of God for the sake for her protection for her safety. And it's an amazing exercise to go through all of those passages. It's really beautiful to see the way that God kind of ordained what we might call courtship in this particular Timeframe, I don't even care if you call it dating.

That's fine, too. But there are biblical principles you can apply to it that can contribute to the thriving and the flourishing of the young girl so that She doesn't marry a jerk or some or some guy that is going to to you know, run a ragged and so.

The norm is before a woman is married the father is very much a part of it. There are even instances in which the father's gone and the brothers help her out for her own protection. But here's where it's interesting.

What Paul is telling us here is after all of that has happened. She has already been married. She has already had a husband. Maybe they've started a family. They have an estate and he dies at that point.

She doesn't have to go back to the father. It's left up to her. She gets to decide if she wants to do that or if she wants to stick it out on her own find another husband or Going back to verse 40 for a second.

He says if she is happy or if she so abide after my judgment. That's great. The Apostle Paul is saying if she decides she's not gonna marry again, that's fine. And he says also I think that I have the Spirit of God.

In other words what he's saying here is consistent with the Holy Spirit's teaching so All of this is really really fascinating. She can marry whom she will there's no commandment to return to her father or her brothers at this point.

She can Remain the head of that household. And of course That there is a there's an assumption in Paul's argument here that this is Probably a middle-aged older woman the reason why we can gather that or plug that assumption in here is because Later on in in first Timothy go figure he says if a young woman finds herself in the situation It's good for her to go ahead and marry again.

He encourages her to go find another husband in this context. He's saying if she if she is happy in the state that she's at. That's great. And that's consistent with the Spirit's teaching. He just finished talking about how if a person can remain celibate that's that's ideal.

For the purpose of escaping persecution, we're not gonna go down that rabbit trail it eat up all of our time. But Anyway, so we assume here that Paul is talking about middle-aged older women. They're at a point in life.

They have an estate. They are now the head of perhaps they have children. They probably have servants and she is now the boss. She is now the head because of evil and sin removing her husband from the picture because he died.

Go ahead Mimi.

Uh-huh, so she has that authority even if the husband is still there.

But it says an extension of the husband and we we learn this from the Proverbs and So the Proverbs teaches clearly. In fact, it's actually The exhortation is toward the Sun not even the mother saying do not depart from the law of your mother and there's a number it words At a number of different ways throughout the Proverbs and it doesn't put a timestamp on it.

So I'm 32 years old. I'm not gonna Go away from the law of my mother and I don't intend to even after she's with the Lord. You know, so let's now use that as the example. Nana has been in heaven for a few years now.

But that doesn't mean that he now neglects in everything that he has learned from her. I know yeah, and it would include that so I there think about this for a second the when when kids are being brought up and The woman is in obedience to Paul's exhortation and Titus chapter 2 to be the keeper of the home.

There's a whole lot wrapped into that one phrase. The virtuous woman is wrapped into that phrase a lot of different that the home economy is wrapped into that that phrase. The husband is out in the fields.

He is or maybe he's a blacksmith or something. He's in the trades. He's out. He's out Providing for the family with his vocation. He's a carpenter like Joseph or something. The mother is the one instructing the kids while he is gone.

Not only that but her instruction is an extension of the father. So she's teaching them what the father would be teaching. Okay, so that's that's the norm there in the in the case that you are talking about the husband's gone I would say that simply continues and not only that but that son would still need to respect The being under the authority of that roof because.

She is still an extension of that husband, even though he's gone. She is still honoring him. She is still it's not like she's going rogue all of a sudden just because he's gone. She's gonna honor honor his convictions his beliefs.

And try to teach in a way that's consistent with him. And so yeah. Even if you had a 17 I would say Regardless of the age of the son if he comes into her home in the same way that he came into his parents home.

If the father was there or not. He is under the authority of of that roof if he's relying on them now if we're talking about just a visit. You know, he's coming in as his own man as his own household.

That's not the same thing. But let's say he needs to rely on the sustenance of that home again he should submit to the authority of that roof, even if the husband wasn't there and. And I think like I deduce that from the way the Proverbs talk about honoring your father and your mother kind of expounding upon that fifth commandment, but Yeah, I think all of that is fair game.

I believe it is now you could you could you say that a mother could perhaps cross a line with an adult kid if. Like let's say for example, and these are total hypotheticals. But let's say You know, you have a 32 year old son, and he is raising his family in a very certain way like he is he has methods on how he's bringing up his children how he's running his household and the mother comes in and kind of Inappropriately starts to correct him maybe in front of his wife and kids.

I would say that that's a violation in a number of ways and so, you know, you could come up with hypotheticals, but if we're talking just generally speaking he is going to have there will be a Remained honor toward his mother and if the husband is gone and he is still living under her roof then yeah, she's responsible for Investing in his spiritual well-being as well and that includes the scriptures.

Do it. Yeah, there lines can be crossed. Certainly and there.

You know, it's really interesting when you consider the ancient norm of Like a household would be created. But Isaac's tent was like right over there and so, you know You had Abraham and Isaac two households, but literally next-door neighbors and and that was the norm as well.

And so you did have to factor in the reality that they were working together on a single estate but distinct households. So, you know You can use a lot of the narratives throughout the Old Testament to kind of come away with some conclusions as to what's appropriate.

What's not which is kind of an interesting task itself. Okay. So in first Corinthians 7 we have we have kind of a instruction from Paul on How to handle a very sad situation such as a woman becoming a widow.

Lydia as an Example of a Permissible Exception

Now, let me give you guys a narrative example of what this looks like turn to Acts chapter 16 for a sec. So we now we now can say That there is an instance in Which while a norm and an ideal is violated that being a woman stepping into the role of being a head of a household.

It's not it's not violating a strict prohibition. It is simply the result of sin in death. Okay, so we know that principle from Paul. We actually see it in play with a very godly woman by the name of Lydia here in Acts chapter 16.

Look at verse 14. It says in a certain woman named Lydia a Seller of purple of the city of Thyatira which worshiped God heard us whose heart the Lord opened that she attended under the things which were spoken of Paul and when she was baptized and Her household you see that little phrase right there and her household.

She besought us saying if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord Come into my house and abide there and she constrained us. So she was hospitable. They came into her house at the very end of the chapter.

You actually have them going back to her house shows. She became like a hub of refreshment for the Apostles. It's a beautiful story in a number of ways. But the main reason we look at this is we discern a few things number one.

She was a seller of purple. So this was a lady who was already at the stage of life in which she was being Entrepreneurial in a sense. She was at the later phase of the Proverbs 31 woman. If you go through Proverbs 31 what you see is that it's it's one woman in in several stages.

And so she wasn't necessarily out selling real estate and doing all of the things she was doing while she had little kids. The context clearly tells us her kids are are calling her blessed and they're out doing stuff.

I Can't remember if that's the passage that says they're out at the gates. I know it says the husband is I can't remember but it implies adult children at that phase of life. And so The Proverbs 31 woman certainly wasn't violating Titus 2 5 where she's learning to love her husband and her kids and as a keeper of the Home, she was that and she still was that.

What's cool about it is as you go through these different phases of life. Here's a good way to think about it a woman's place. Isn't the home meaning that she is somehow constrained to the four walls of a single house.

But her priority is the home. If you think about it that way it's helpful because what that means is she can be out there selling purple. Fine things fine linen and things of that sort, but she is still a keeper of the home.

She hasn't she is still prioritized the home. And so Lydia was doing that. She was at the later phase of Of the Proverbs 31 woman where she was being industrious. She was entrepreneurial. She was providing for her household because it was her household.

Now we don't know the circumstances that led Lydia to being in this position. It is kind of surmised that she was a widow at this point and Not only was she a widow, but she was now in charge of a considerable estate.

She she had a house big enough to be hospitable for a number of people that being the Apostles in this case. She was out selling fine things that implies that she was a successful Seller a successful merchant.

She most likely had her own servants at this particular time and she was ahead of all of it after she came to know the Lord. She evangelized her home. They were all baptized together. An amazing thing.

And so the reason why I bring this story up in light of what we read in Paul's words in 1st Corinthians 7. As I point this out. Because as Christians we have to understand this reality. There will be exceptions to some of the norms.

In other words, or for example, a man is normally the head of a household. That is the norm. There will at times be an exception such as the case of Lydia where she was widowed she decided not to remarry and she is now the head of the estate and and That's perfectly righteous.

It is perfectly within the framework that the Apostle Paul was delivering in that and that we had in Scripture. But we have to also remember this at the same time. So this is very important. We have to understand the reality.

There will be exceptions to some of the norms. But there's two keys that we have to remember that will help us never cross lines or know when other people are crossing the lines. Number one. There should never be an exception where there is a prohibition.

So in this context we see an exception to the norm, but there was no prohibition being violated. So bringing all of this back to 1st Timothy 2 12 I would not a woman to teach him or nor usurp authority over the man.

That is an outright prohibition meaning there can never be an exception to that. When you see a woman preaching behind a pulpit. She is not doing the same thing that Lydia was doing when she took over the estate presumably after her husband died.

It's completely different categories apples and oranges one is condemned the other is blessed. In the case in which it has to happen sadly as sad as it may be when that happens so there should never be an exception where there is a prohibition, but to.

Even when there is a permissible exception such as the case with Lydia even when there is a permissible exception it's not ideal and. So the reason why we need to remember that is because some people may look at the story of Lydia and think you know some Woman may think well, I don't need a husband.