Over a week ago, we began looking at the ten proofs that Women are MORE "excellent" than Men.
Recall, we are using the IS definition of "excellence":
The IS definition of "excellence" is HAVE. It is completely focused on the Physical. The shortest IS definition of "excellence" is: Physical ability, ability to Boss others around, and wealthy. (Notice, the Bible warned us against valuing APPEARANCE, POWER, and WORLDLY RICHES.)
Recall, we are using the OUGHT definitions of "man" and "woman" by looking at what the Bible says.
So far, we covered nine “proofs”:
1. “Help meet” doesn’t mean support from an inferior. It means support from a superior. (Genesis 2:18)
2. “Cleaving” means the woman is the stable being (superior) and the man is the variable (in need). (Genesis 2:24)
3. Women were made from a more complex and excellent raw material. (Genesis 2:21-23)
4. God made woman second and better than man because God is about MORE. (Genesis 2:21-23)
5. Women’s brains have more connections than men’s brains and the result is behavior that is more profitable.
6. Men are focused on the physical while women are focused on the spiritual.
7. Women bear the proof of virginity
8. Women have been given the responsibility to determine who procreates.
9. Proverbs 31 proves women are more "excellent" because they are about OUGHT. (Proverbs 31)
This week we will cover the last of the ten "proofs". It will require five installments because it brings together a lot of doctrine that has been covered on this blog. Today, we will begin by looking at this tenth proof by first focusing on an important event in the Bible...
WOMEN ARE MORE "EXCELLENT": PROOF 10
In "Modeling God's Wills", we saw that we are in the sixth dispensation and that it is God’s Will for this dispensation to end. We also saw how this dispensation will end when people have enough value. This month on this blog, we’ve seen that understanding leadership and the roles of the sexes would result in more profitability. We saw that we have the opposite and unprofitable belief in both areas which is what makes "Leadership" and "The Roles of The Sexes" The Two Universal Strongholds.
In a past Series on this blog, we saw that prophecy is of two types: "Simple Prophecy" and "Complex Prophecy".
"Simple Prophecy" says that God knows what causes have occurred, so He simply states the inevitable effects...which is prophecy to us.
"Complex Prophecy" is when God knows what causes have occurred AND at least one of these causes will result in God being able to initiate His Power in response to Justice. God then tells us ahead of time what His decision is on how He will respond.
The example of "Simple Prophecy" in the above link is Jesus prophesying Peter's denial of Jesus. Jesus is able to predict the future because He knows the causes AND the causes are doctrine (beliefs)...that is, they are spiritual. Earlier, Peter showed he was in pride by telling Jesus that He was wrong...Peter told Jesus this to Jesus' face!
The example of "Complex Prophecy" in the above link is THE GREATEST PROPHECY IN THE BIBLE: Daniel 9:24-27...the prophecy that explains the "trigger" for the end of the previous dispensation.
It would make sense that if we wanted to understand the "triggers" for the end of our dispensation; we ought to look at how the last dispensation came to an end.
During the fifth dispensation, Daniel received the following message:
"21 yea, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.
22 And he instructed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee wisdom and understanding.
23 At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment went forth, and I am come to tell thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision." (Daniel 9:21-23)
An angel (Gabriel) comes to give Daniel understanding about the end of the fifth dispensation.
"24 Seventy weeks are decreed upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy." (Daniel 9:24)
We saw that this is the overarching plan of 490 years. This entire plan won’t be completed until after the end of the Tribulation…the seventieth week.
"25 Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the anointed one, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troublous times.
26 And after the threescore and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and even unto the end shall be war; desolations are determined." (Daniel 9:25-26)
This covers sixty-nine of the seventy weeks. We have seen the fifth dispensation ends, but is not completed. Our dispensation begins at Pentecost and ends with the Rapture of the church…which begins the Tribulation. The Tribulation is the seventieth week…so, the fifth dispensation comes back for seven years in order to complete everything mentioned in verse 24. This is the explanation of the seventieth week:
"27 And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one that maketh desolate; and even unto the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out upon the desolate." (Daniel 9:27)
The point of revisiting this passage is to see two things. First, that God warned Israel when their dispensation would end and when it would be completed. Second, God gave a "trigger" for the countdown to the Messiah and the end of their dispensation.
This prophecy has a time constraint, but the "trigger" was not up to God. However, God knew once the commandment was given to restore and build Jerusalem ("trigger"), He would have enough value through people that He would be able to set the timing until Messiah…and since God is Right and Just, He shared His decision ahead of time.
It looks like we ought to understand the "trigger" event…
Next Post
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Women are MORE Excellent: Proof 9
Last Friday, we began looking at the ten proofs that Women are MORE "excellent" than Men.
Recall, we are using the IS definition of "excellence":
The IS definition of "excellence" is HAVE. It is completely focused on the Physical. The shortest IS definition of "excellence" is: Physical ability, ability to Boss others around, and wealthy. (Notice, the Bible warned us against valuing APPEARANCE, POWER, and WORLDLY RICHES.)
Recall, we are using the OUGHT definitions of "man" and "woman" by looking at what the Bible says. In Friday's post, we saw two direct proofs in Genesis 2:
PROOF #1. “Help meet” doesn’t mean support from an inferior. It means support from a superior. (Genesis 2:18)
PROOF #2. “Cleaving” means the woman is the stable being (superior) and the man is the variable (in need). (Genesis 2:24)
In Monday's post, we saw two indirect proofs from Genesis 2:
PROOF #3. Women were made from a more complex and excellent raw material. (Genesis 2:21-23)
PROOF #4. God made woman second and better than man because God is about MORE. (Genesis 2:21-23)
In Tuesday's post, we saw biological proof from current studies:
PROOF #5. Women’s brains have more connections than men’s brains and the result is behavior that is more profitable.
In Wednesday's post, we saw how men being more focused on the physical actually results in them being more Unprofitable than women.
PROOF #6. Men are focused on the physical while women are focused on the spiritual.
Yesterday, we saw two ways God looks to women to be more excellent...
PROOF #7. Women bear the proof of virginity
PROOF #8. Women have been given the responsibility to determine who procreates.
Women are ultimately responsible for the people who exist in our society...
Today is a "Friday post", so it is longer and there is more than enough material to review over the weekend. However, yesterday's post had a lot of links and is also worth reviewing this weekend.
Today, we will look at the strongest proof in "our Bible" that God sees women as more "excellent" than men. It is a chapter in the Bible that gives the "job description" of an excellent woman...Proverbs 31.
WOMEN ARE MORE "EXCELLENT": PROOF 9
According to the Bible, the job description of a woman is presented in Chapter 31 of the Book of Proverbs. Let’s go through this chapter and see what we can learn about the role of women according to God.
“1 The words of king Lemuel; the oracle which his mother taught him.
2 What, my son? and what, O son of my womb? And what, O son of my vows?”
(Most of Proverbs is written by Solomon. However, notice that this chapter in Proverbs is not written by Solomon. Would Solomon have been able to tell us about the right way to interact with women? This chapter is actually written by a woman…the mother of Lemuel. The first verse identifies the source and the second verse begins the narrative from her mouth. Finally, in keeping with the doctrines dealt with in the links of yesterday's post (that you ought to read), notice Lemuel is the son of her vows…of her marriage covenant.)
"3 Give not thy strength unto women, Nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.”
(She is stating that Lemuel shouldn’t invest his time in women (plural) and the reason is given with the rest of the verse…and the other ways that destroy kings. Again, not only couldn’t have Solomon written this, but this chapter is condemning Solomon. Remember, Solomon did the FOUR CAUSES of God's Judgment.)
"4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; Nor for princes to say, Where is strong drink?
5 Lest they drink, and forget the law, And pervert the justice due to any that is afflicted.
6 Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, And wine unto the bitter in soul:
7 Let him drink, and forget his poverty, And remember his misery no more.
8 Open thy mouth for the dumb, In the cause of all such as are left desolate.
9 Open thy mouth, judge righteously, And minister justice to the poor and needy.”
(She is stating that the job of a king is to remember the law, enforce judgment, and plead the cause of the poor and the needy. Getting involved with women and strong drink will distract the king from his duty. She then states the value of strong drink is to help ease the pain of those with a heavy heart. We saw that Solomon did not follow this advice.)
"10 A worthy woman who can find? For her price is far above rubies.”
(She has now stated that a worthy woman is extremely valuable. Notice, the introduction of what follows focuses on a worthy woman…not a worthy wife. A wife is only one aspect of what is being discussed here. What is being discussed is the value of a worthy woman. This is the job description of a woman…the role of wife is one possible part of this job description.)
"11 The heart of her husband trusteth in her, And he shall have no lack of gain.
12 She doeth him good and not evil All the days of her life.”
(These two verses deal specifically with being a wife. Notice, the first verse is from the perspective of the husband…if the woman has no husband then the verse doesn’t apply. The first verse makes the wife the source...THE PROVIDER! The second verse talks about profitability. She will create (good) and not destroy (evil). Again, profitability is God’s metric for community (marriage) However, the wife is the provider according to God. In our culture, the husband is the provider. Who is MORE "excellent" according to God?)
"13 She seeketh wool and flax, And worketh willingly with her hands.
14 She is like the merchant-ships; She bringeth her bread from afar.
15 She riseth also while it is yet night, And giveth food to her household, And their task to her maidens.
16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it; With the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.”
(These verses make her out to be a businessperson. She works, handles the house including the help, she invests and plants. There is no involvement by the husband in any of these verses. She doesn’t check with her husband to do any of this. He completely trusts her because she is excellent. Again, the woman is THE PROVIDER.)
"17 She girdeth her loins with strength, And maketh strong her arms.”
(There is even a physical aspect to her that applies to men as well.)
"18 She perceiveth that her merchandise is profitable: Her lamp goeth not out by night.
19 She layeth her hands to the distaff, And her hands hold the spindle.
20 She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; Yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.”
(These verses go back to her ability to create but now it is so that she can give to the poor and needy. This woman is abundant, not only does she have enough for her family; she has enough for the poor and the needy. Again, the woman is THE PROVIDER.)
"21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household; For all her household are clothed with scarlet.
22 She maketh for herself carpets of tapestry; Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates, When he sitteth among the elders of the land.”
(This set of verses show that she is profitable enough to not only PROVIDE for the family but bring honor to the family. Her husband being known in the gates means that he can do his role with excellence because he doesn’t have to get involved in her role! The husband is SITTING with the elders. The wife is PROVIDING. Who is more "excellent"?)
"24 She maketh linen garments and selleth them, And delivereth girdles unto the merchant.”
(Now we are seeing “super abundance”. Not only does she take care of her family well and help those in need, but she is able to make money from her work. She is a successful businessperson.)
"25 Strength and dignity are her clothing; And she laugheth at the time to come.
26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; And the law of kindness is on her tongue.
27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, And eateth not the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up, and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praiseth her, saying:
29 Many daughters have done worthily, But thou excellest them all.”
(The intangible qualities are covered. In fact, we have covered the FOUR CAUSES that God uses to bring judgment: pride, fullness of bread, idleness of time, not strengthening the arm of the poor. A worthy woman does the OPPOSITE of the FOUR CAUSES of God's Judgment. Now that the effects have been covered, the causes can be stated in the summary.)
"30 Grace is deceitful, and beauty is vain; But a woman that feareth Jehovah, she shall be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands; And let her works praise her in the gates.”
(Verse 30 essentially says that appearance (grace and beauty) are not profitable (vain). Remember, "grace" in the Old Testament is "favor". We have repeatedly covered the difference between beauty and attraction. This verse warns men NOT to focus on beauty. The cause is a woman who fears the Lord and the proof is profitability (fruit and works), not appearance.)
Take a big step back and summarize this job description…
What doesn’t it cover? It doesn’t cover working by the sweat of one’s brow, fighting, going to war, risking her life, handling confrontation and crisis…
The job description of a woman involves planning. It involves the Long Term aspects of life. For instance, the “business” aspects of Proverbs 31 are done at her discretion, not according to a rigid daily schedule of “office hours”. Proverbs 31 involves the most profitable aspects of life. Women are actually the providers!
Men were made to handle crisis, conflict, physical exertion…short-term aspects. Men were made to put out fires at a moment’s notice.
Women were made for OUGHT. Men were made for IS.
PROOF #9. Proverbs 31 proves women are more "excellent" because they are about OUGHT.
Proverbs 31 is saying that a woman can have it all: wife, mother, career, etc.!
Wait, there is one area that isn’t covered: hobbies. This description says nothing about a woman having hobbies. Actually, the Bible doesn’t say anything about men having hobbies.
Again, the perspective on women is the ultimate effect of a society’s values. For instance, today we have contradictions about the role of women because our tradition wants to make them servants to the men’s career and account for hobbies and distractions.
All of these contradictions are removed if we look to the Bible.
SUMMARY
Proverbs 31 shows women aren’t inferior or equal to men…they are "superior". They are the most "excellent" sex. They were made to handle all the things that result in Long Term profitability. Women were made by God to create profitable effects. Men were made by God to focus solely on the causes regardless of the effects.
Men were made to be Leaders…which according to the Bible means they facilitate the purpose and progress of others. Ephesians 5 even stated that a husband OUGHT to even give his life for his wife, like Christ did for His Bride (The Church).
Putting men in charge of this world only reinforces IS…men don’t naturally understand how to achieve OUGHT. Women do because women are more "excellent" than men. However, holding down the most "excellent" and profitable half of the inhabitants of this world by valuing the physical hurts everyone...which is the definition of a Universal Stronghold.
This Biblical description of a woman far exceeds what our society expects from women. It far exceeds what society expects from a man. Would the Bible have an expectation that couldn’t be fulfilled?
NINE “PROOFS”
So far, we covered nine “proofs”:
1. “Help meet” doesn’t mean support from an inferior. It means support from a superior. (Genesis 2:18)
2. “Cleaving” means the woman is the stable being (superior) and the man is the variable (in need). (Genesis 2:24)
3. Women were made from a more complex and excellent raw material. (Genesis 2:21-23)
4. God made woman second and better than man because God is about MORE. (Genesis 2:21-23)
5. Women’s brains have more connections than men’s brains and the result is behavior that is more profitable.
6. Men are focused on the physical while women are focused on the spiritual.
7. Women bear the proof of virginity
8. Women have been given the responsibility to determine who procreates.
9. Proverbs 31 proves women are more "excellent" because they are about OUGHT. (Proverbs 31)
We will cover one more “proof”. However, it will require several installments because it brings together a lot of doctrine that has been covered on this blog...
Next Post
Recall, we are using the IS definition of "excellence":
The IS definition of "excellence" is HAVE. It is completely focused on the Physical. The shortest IS definition of "excellence" is: Physical ability, ability to Boss others around, and wealthy. (Notice, the Bible warned us against valuing APPEARANCE, POWER, and WORLDLY RICHES.)
Recall, we are using the OUGHT definitions of "man" and "woman" by looking at what the Bible says. In Friday's post, we saw two direct proofs in Genesis 2:
PROOF #1. “Help meet” doesn’t mean support from an inferior. It means support from a superior. (Genesis 2:18)
PROOF #2. “Cleaving” means the woman is the stable being (superior) and the man is the variable (in need). (Genesis 2:24)
In Monday's post, we saw two indirect proofs from Genesis 2:
PROOF #3. Women were made from a more complex and excellent raw material. (Genesis 2:21-23)
PROOF #4. God made woman second and better than man because God is about MORE. (Genesis 2:21-23)
In Tuesday's post, we saw biological proof from current studies:
PROOF #5. Women’s brains have more connections than men’s brains and the result is behavior that is more profitable.
In Wednesday's post, we saw how men being more focused on the physical actually results in them being more Unprofitable than women.
PROOF #6. Men are focused on the physical while women are focused on the spiritual.
Yesterday, we saw two ways God looks to women to be more excellent...
PROOF #7. Women bear the proof of virginity
PROOF #8. Women have been given the responsibility to determine who procreates.
Women are ultimately responsible for the people who exist in our society...
Today is a "Friday post", so it is longer and there is more than enough material to review over the weekend. However, yesterday's post had a lot of links and is also worth reviewing this weekend.
Today, we will look at the strongest proof in "our Bible" that God sees women as more "excellent" than men. It is a chapter in the Bible that gives the "job description" of an excellent woman...Proverbs 31.
WOMEN ARE MORE "EXCELLENT": PROOF 9
According to the Bible, the job description of a woman is presented in Chapter 31 of the Book of Proverbs. Let’s go through this chapter and see what we can learn about the role of women according to God.
“1 The words of king Lemuel; the oracle which his mother taught him.
2 What, my son? and what, O son of my womb? And what, O son of my vows?”
(Most of Proverbs is written by Solomon. However, notice that this chapter in Proverbs is not written by Solomon. Would Solomon have been able to tell us about the right way to interact with women? This chapter is actually written by a woman…the mother of Lemuel. The first verse identifies the source and the second verse begins the narrative from her mouth. Finally, in keeping with the doctrines dealt with in the links of yesterday's post (that you ought to read), notice Lemuel is the son of her vows…of her marriage covenant.)
"3 Give not thy strength unto women, Nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.”
(She is stating that Lemuel shouldn’t invest his time in women (plural) and the reason is given with the rest of the verse…and the other ways that destroy kings. Again, not only couldn’t have Solomon written this, but this chapter is condemning Solomon. Remember, Solomon did the FOUR CAUSES of God's Judgment.)
"4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; Nor for princes to say, Where is strong drink?
5 Lest they drink, and forget the law, And pervert the justice due to any that is afflicted.
6 Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, And wine unto the bitter in soul:
7 Let him drink, and forget his poverty, And remember his misery no more.
8 Open thy mouth for the dumb, In the cause of all such as are left desolate.
9 Open thy mouth, judge righteously, And minister justice to the poor and needy.”
(She is stating that the job of a king is to remember the law, enforce judgment, and plead the cause of the poor and the needy. Getting involved with women and strong drink will distract the king from his duty. She then states the value of strong drink is to help ease the pain of those with a heavy heart. We saw that Solomon did not follow this advice.)
"10 A worthy woman who can find? For her price is far above rubies.”
(She has now stated that a worthy woman is extremely valuable. Notice, the introduction of what follows focuses on a worthy woman…not a worthy wife. A wife is only one aspect of what is being discussed here. What is being discussed is the value of a worthy woman. This is the job description of a woman…the role of wife is one possible part of this job description.)
"11 The heart of her husband trusteth in her, And he shall have no lack of gain.
12 She doeth him good and not evil All the days of her life.”
(These two verses deal specifically with being a wife. Notice, the first verse is from the perspective of the husband…if the woman has no husband then the verse doesn’t apply. The first verse makes the wife the source...THE PROVIDER! The second verse talks about profitability. She will create (good) and not destroy (evil). Again, profitability is God’s metric for community (marriage) However, the wife is the provider according to God. In our culture, the husband is the provider. Who is MORE "excellent" according to God?)
"13 She seeketh wool and flax, And worketh willingly with her hands.
14 She is like the merchant-ships; She bringeth her bread from afar.
15 She riseth also while it is yet night, And giveth food to her household, And their task to her maidens.
16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it; With the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.”
(These verses make her out to be a businessperson. She works, handles the house including the help, she invests and plants. There is no involvement by the husband in any of these verses. She doesn’t check with her husband to do any of this. He completely trusts her because she is excellent. Again, the woman is THE PROVIDER.)
"17 She girdeth her loins with strength, And maketh strong her arms.”
(There is even a physical aspect to her that applies to men as well.)
"18 She perceiveth that her merchandise is profitable: Her lamp goeth not out by night.
19 She layeth her hands to the distaff, And her hands hold the spindle.
20 She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; Yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.”
(These verses go back to her ability to create but now it is so that she can give to the poor and needy. This woman is abundant, not only does she have enough for her family; she has enough for the poor and the needy. Again, the woman is THE PROVIDER.)
"21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household; For all her household are clothed with scarlet.
22 She maketh for herself carpets of tapestry; Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates, When he sitteth among the elders of the land.”
(This set of verses show that she is profitable enough to not only PROVIDE for the family but bring honor to the family. Her husband being known in the gates means that he can do his role with excellence because he doesn’t have to get involved in her role! The husband is SITTING with the elders. The wife is PROVIDING. Who is more "excellent"?)
"24 She maketh linen garments and selleth them, And delivereth girdles unto the merchant.”
(Now we are seeing “super abundance”. Not only does she take care of her family well and help those in need, but she is able to make money from her work. She is a successful businessperson.)
"25 Strength and dignity are her clothing; And she laugheth at the time to come.
26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; And the law of kindness is on her tongue.
27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, And eateth not the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up, and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praiseth her, saying:
29 Many daughters have done worthily, But thou excellest them all.”
(The intangible qualities are covered. In fact, we have covered the FOUR CAUSES that God uses to bring judgment: pride, fullness of bread, idleness of time, not strengthening the arm of the poor. A worthy woman does the OPPOSITE of the FOUR CAUSES of God's Judgment. Now that the effects have been covered, the causes can be stated in the summary.)
"30 Grace is deceitful, and beauty is vain; But a woman that feareth Jehovah, she shall be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands; And let her works praise her in the gates.”
(Verse 30 essentially says that appearance (grace and beauty) are not profitable (vain). Remember, "grace" in the Old Testament is "favor". We have repeatedly covered the difference between beauty and attraction. This verse warns men NOT to focus on beauty. The cause is a woman who fears the Lord and the proof is profitability (fruit and works), not appearance.)
Take a big step back and summarize this job description…
What doesn’t it cover? It doesn’t cover working by the sweat of one’s brow, fighting, going to war, risking her life, handling confrontation and crisis…
The job description of a woman involves planning. It involves the Long Term aspects of life. For instance, the “business” aspects of Proverbs 31 are done at her discretion, not according to a rigid daily schedule of “office hours”. Proverbs 31 involves the most profitable aspects of life. Women are actually the providers!
Men were made to handle crisis, conflict, physical exertion…short-term aspects. Men were made to put out fires at a moment’s notice.
Women were made for OUGHT. Men were made for IS.
PROOF #9. Proverbs 31 proves women are more "excellent" because they are about OUGHT.
Proverbs 31 is saying that a woman can have it all: wife, mother, career, etc.!
Wait, there is one area that isn’t covered: hobbies. This description says nothing about a woman having hobbies. Actually, the Bible doesn’t say anything about men having hobbies.
Again, the perspective on women is the ultimate effect of a society’s values. For instance, today we have contradictions about the role of women because our tradition wants to make them servants to the men’s career and account for hobbies and distractions.
All of these contradictions are removed if we look to the Bible.
SUMMARY
Proverbs 31 shows women aren’t inferior or equal to men…they are "superior". They are the most "excellent" sex. They were made to handle all the things that result in Long Term profitability. Women were made by God to create profitable effects. Men were made by God to focus solely on the causes regardless of the effects.
Men were made to be Leaders…which according to the Bible means they facilitate the purpose and progress of others. Ephesians 5 even stated that a husband OUGHT to even give his life for his wife, like Christ did for His Bride (The Church).
Putting men in charge of this world only reinforces IS…men don’t naturally understand how to achieve OUGHT. Women do because women are more "excellent" than men. However, holding down the most "excellent" and profitable half of the inhabitants of this world by valuing the physical hurts everyone...which is the definition of a Universal Stronghold.
This Biblical description of a woman far exceeds what our society expects from women. It far exceeds what society expects from a man. Would the Bible have an expectation that couldn’t be fulfilled?
NINE “PROOFS”
So far, we covered nine “proofs”:
1. “Help meet” doesn’t mean support from an inferior. It means support from a superior. (Genesis 2:18)
2. “Cleaving” means the woman is the stable being (superior) and the man is the variable (in need). (Genesis 2:24)
3. Women were made from a more complex and excellent raw material. (Genesis 2:21-23)
4. God made woman second and better than man because God is about MORE. (Genesis 2:21-23)
5. Women’s brains have more connections than men’s brains and the result is behavior that is more profitable.
6. Men are focused on the physical while women are focused on the spiritual.
7. Women bear the proof of virginity
8. Women have been given the responsibility to determine who procreates.
9. Proverbs 31 proves women are more "excellent" because they are about OUGHT. (Proverbs 31)
We will cover one more “proof”. However, it will require several installments because it brings together a lot of doctrine that has been covered on this blog...
Next Post
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Women are MORE Excellent: Proofs 7 & 8
On Friday, we began looking at the ten proofs that Women are MORE "excellent" than Men.
Recall, we are using the IS definition of "excellence":
The IS definition of "excellence" is HAVE. It is completely focused on the Physical. The shortest IS definition of "excellence" is: Physical ability, ability to Boss others around, and wealthy. (Notice, the Bible warned us against valuing APPEARANCE, POWER, and WORLDLY RICHES.)
Recall, we are using the OUGHT definitions of "man" and "woman" by looking at what the Bible says. In Friday's post, we saw two direct proofs in Genesis 2:
PROOF #1. “Help meet” doesn’t mean support from an inferior. It means support from a superior. (Genesis 2:18)
PROOF #2. “Cleaving” means the woman is the stable being (superior) and the man is the variable (in need). (Genesis 2:24)
In Monday's post, we saw two indirect proofs from Genesis 2:
PROOF #3. Women were made from a more complex and excellent raw material. (Genesis 2:21-23)
PROOF #4. God made woman second and better than man because God is about MORE. (Genesis 2:21-23)
In Tuesday's post, we saw biological proof from current studies:
PROOF #5. Women’s brains have more connections than men’s brains and the result is behavior that is more profitable.
In yesterday's post, we saw how men being more focused on the physical actually results in them being more Unprofitable than women.
PROOF #6. Men are focused on the physical while women are focused on the spiritual.
Today, we will look at how God looks to women to be more excellent...
WOMEN ARE MORE "EXCELLENT": PROOFS 7 & 8
Two of the “proofs” are that God set everything up in a fashion that actually depends on women being more excellent than men.
PROOF #7. Women bear the proof of virginity
In Modeling God's Wills, we look at the doctrine of Marriage. According to the Bible, covenantal sexual intercourse is marriage. Marriage begins in any of these three ways:
1. Exchange of vows
2. Exchange of tokens
3. Covenantal sexual intercourse
However, the marriage covenant is "cut" or "completed" when covenantal sexual intercourse occurs. (This explains verses like Matthew 1:19 where Mary is Joseph's wife, but they haven't completed the marriage covenant. Please read the links to Modeling God's Wills in order to understand what the Bible says about covenants and the doctrine of Marriage. In the Bible, there are NO wedding ceremonies, marriages recognized by the government, or weddings recognized by the church. And before you say that is "ancient marriage", not only was this true less than 300 years ago, but it will be true shortly after Jesus comes back at the end of the Tribulation. Do you believe God's Word and doctrine...or do you believe in man-made tradition?)
We also saw in Modeling God's Wills that the wedding was a feast where the bride and groom completed their marriage covenant. The marriage wasn't completed until the bride produced a blood stained sheet as proof of her virginity...as proof she wasn't married to anyone else.
While we may think this is repulsive and "unfair". ACTUALLY, the woman was CELEBRATED as excellent...with a feast! It was BECAUSE the woman was excellent that society could continue! The woman bearing the responsibility of virginity was something God couldn't look to men for, not only because there isn't objective physical proof, but because men aren't excellent enough to bear this responsibility!
God put the responsibility of proof of virginity on women. This caused women to not only ensure they were virgins when they got married and community can continue, but it also put the burden on the women to help men remain virgins!
Notice also, that when a woman did get DIVORCED, she got a bill of divorcement. This bill of divorcement allowed her to marry another man within the community. What is the bill of divorcement? It is a blood stained sheet!
Since the woman could not physically produce a blood stained sheet to prove she isn't married to another, she produced a bill of divorcement to prove she isn't married to another.
Finally, one more point: PUTTING AWAY is completely different than DIVORCE.
DIVORCE is when a couple ends their marriage covenant AND both remain in the greater community. (In the Old Testament, the greater community is Israel. In the New Testament, the greater community is church.)
PUTTING AWAY is when the couple ends their marriage covenant and one of the spouses is removed from the greater community because they are an unbeliever...a fornicator. The woman who was PUT AWAY was NOT given a bill of divorcement. Also, women could PUT AWAY men...women could NOT DIVORCE men. This makes some current Bibles, especially post-1960 Bibles, actually state that Jesus is NOT the Son of God. I believe Jesus is the Son of God and that is WHY I quote from the ASV (and KJV) on this blog. Look at Mark 10:11-12.
Please read Modeling God's Wills for ALL the information before coming to a conclusion.
While PROOF #7 is obvious when one goes by the Bible instead of man-made tradition, there is a more subtle responsibility God gave to women and it affects all of us...
More and more, science is finding out the role of genetics as it relates to mental, emotional, and physical deficiencies. We are learning that mental and emotional deficiencies are effects of physical genetics. Basically, the people we have today are the result of people with specific genetic make-ups procreating.
We’ve seen that men have deficient brains when compared with women. Men tend to thrive in competitive environments and focus on the physical…settings that result in Unprofitability. Is it any wonder our prisons are filled with many more men than women?
If criminals are a source of Unprofitability and disunity…and men by and large are the cause of this disunity…and the men that are the cause of this disunity are an effect of fathers procreating that had these defects, the question is: Who is choosing to let these deficient men procreate?
PROOF #8. Women have been given the responsibility to determine who procreates.
Women are ultimately responsible for the people who exist in our society...
The overwhelming majority of people who are alive today are an effect of women choosing to allow specific men to procreate. Specifically, if a man has major deficiencies, than a specific woman is responsible for allowing into this world people who create disunity.
This is why rape throughout history has been seen as a crime of violence and not purely a sexual crime. It affects all of us (and our descendents) when a person who couldn’t control themselves physically is allowed to procreate.
Tomorrow, we will look at the strongest proof in "our Bible" that God sees women as more "excellent" than men. It is a chapter in the Bible that gives the "job description" of an excellent woman...
(Today's post is a good post to review this weekend...especially with the links that are provided.)
Next Post
Recall, we are using the IS definition of "excellence":
The IS definition of "excellence" is HAVE. It is completely focused on the Physical. The shortest IS definition of "excellence" is: Physical ability, ability to Boss others around, and wealthy. (Notice, the Bible warned us against valuing APPEARANCE, POWER, and WORLDLY RICHES.)
Recall, we are using the OUGHT definitions of "man" and "woman" by looking at what the Bible says. In Friday's post, we saw two direct proofs in Genesis 2:
PROOF #1. “Help meet” doesn’t mean support from an inferior. It means support from a superior. (Genesis 2:18)
PROOF #2. “Cleaving” means the woman is the stable being (superior) and the man is the variable (in need). (Genesis 2:24)
In Monday's post, we saw two indirect proofs from Genesis 2:
PROOF #3. Women were made from a more complex and excellent raw material. (Genesis 2:21-23)
PROOF #4. God made woman second and better than man because God is about MORE. (Genesis 2:21-23)
In Tuesday's post, we saw biological proof from current studies:
PROOF #5. Women’s brains have more connections than men’s brains and the result is behavior that is more profitable.
In yesterday's post, we saw how men being more focused on the physical actually results in them being more Unprofitable than women.
PROOF #6. Men are focused on the physical while women are focused on the spiritual.
Today, we will look at how God looks to women to be more excellent...
WOMEN ARE MORE "EXCELLENT": PROOFS 7 & 8
Two of the “proofs” are that God set everything up in a fashion that actually depends on women being more excellent than men.
PROOF #7. Women bear the proof of virginity
In Modeling God's Wills, we look at the doctrine of Marriage. According to the Bible, covenantal sexual intercourse is marriage. Marriage begins in any of these three ways:
1. Exchange of vows
2. Exchange of tokens
3. Covenantal sexual intercourse
However, the marriage covenant is "cut" or "completed" when covenantal sexual intercourse occurs. (This explains verses like Matthew 1:19 where Mary is Joseph's wife, but they haven't completed the marriage covenant. Please read the links to Modeling God's Wills in order to understand what the Bible says about covenants and the doctrine of Marriage. In the Bible, there are NO wedding ceremonies, marriages recognized by the government, or weddings recognized by the church. And before you say that is "ancient marriage", not only was this true less than 300 years ago, but it will be true shortly after Jesus comes back at the end of the Tribulation. Do you believe God's Word and doctrine...or do you believe in man-made tradition?)
We also saw in Modeling God's Wills that the wedding was a feast where the bride and groom completed their marriage covenant. The marriage wasn't completed until the bride produced a blood stained sheet as proof of her virginity...as proof she wasn't married to anyone else.
While we may think this is repulsive and "unfair". ACTUALLY, the woman was CELEBRATED as excellent...with a feast! It was BECAUSE the woman was excellent that society could continue! The woman bearing the responsibility of virginity was something God couldn't look to men for, not only because there isn't objective physical proof, but because men aren't excellent enough to bear this responsibility!
God put the responsibility of proof of virginity on women. This caused women to not only ensure they were virgins when they got married and community can continue, but it also put the burden on the women to help men remain virgins!
Notice also, that when a woman did get DIVORCED, she got a bill of divorcement. This bill of divorcement allowed her to marry another man within the community. What is the bill of divorcement? It is a blood stained sheet!
Since the woman could not physically produce a blood stained sheet to prove she isn't married to another, she produced a bill of divorcement to prove she isn't married to another.
Finally, one more point: PUTTING AWAY is completely different than DIVORCE.
DIVORCE is when a couple ends their marriage covenant AND both remain in the greater community. (In the Old Testament, the greater community is Israel. In the New Testament, the greater community is church.)
PUTTING AWAY is when the couple ends their marriage covenant and one of the spouses is removed from the greater community because they are an unbeliever...a fornicator. The woman who was PUT AWAY was NOT given a bill of divorcement. Also, women could PUT AWAY men...women could NOT DIVORCE men. This makes some current Bibles, especially post-1960 Bibles, actually state that Jesus is NOT the Son of God. I believe Jesus is the Son of God and that is WHY I quote from the ASV (and KJV) on this blog. Look at Mark 10:11-12.
Please read Modeling God's Wills for ALL the information before coming to a conclusion.
While PROOF #7 is obvious when one goes by the Bible instead of man-made tradition, there is a more subtle responsibility God gave to women and it affects all of us...
More and more, science is finding out the role of genetics as it relates to mental, emotional, and physical deficiencies. We are learning that mental and emotional deficiencies are effects of physical genetics. Basically, the people we have today are the result of people with specific genetic make-ups procreating.
We’ve seen that men have deficient brains when compared with women. Men tend to thrive in competitive environments and focus on the physical…settings that result in Unprofitability. Is it any wonder our prisons are filled with many more men than women?
If criminals are a source of Unprofitability and disunity…and men by and large are the cause of this disunity…and the men that are the cause of this disunity are an effect of fathers procreating that had these defects, the question is: Who is choosing to let these deficient men procreate?
PROOF #8. Women have been given the responsibility to determine who procreates.
Women are ultimately responsible for the people who exist in our society...
The overwhelming majority of people who are alive today are an effect of women choosing to allow specific men to procreate. Specifically, if a man has major deficiencies, than a specific woman is responsible for allowing into this world people who create disunity.
This is why rape throughout history has been seen as a crime of violence and not purely a sexual crime. It affects all of us (and our descendents) when a person who couldn’t control themselves physically is allowed to procreate.
Tomorrow, we will look at the strongest proof in "our Bible" that God sees women as more "excellent" than men. It is a chapter in the Bible that gives the "job description" of an excellent woman...
(Today's post is a good post to review this weekend...especially with the links that are provided.)
Next Post
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Women are MORE Excellent: Proof 6
On Friday, we began looking at the ten proofs that Women are MORE "excellent" than Men.
Recall, we are using the IS definition of "excellence":
The IS definition of "excellence" is HAVE. It is completely focused on the Physical. The shortest IS definition of "excellence" is: Physical ability, ability to Boss others around, and wealthy. (Notice, the Bible warned us against valuing APPEARANCE, POWER, and WORLDLY RICHES.)
Recall, we are using the OUGHT definitions of "man" and "woman" by looking at what the Bible says. In Friday's post, we saw two direct proofs in Genesis 2:
PROOF #1. “Help meet” doesn’t mean support from an inferior. It means support from a superior. (Genesis 2:18)
PROOF #2. “Cleaving” means the woman is the stable being (superior) and the man is the variable (in need). (Genesis 2:24)
In Monday's post, we saw two indirect proofs from Genesis 2:
PROOF #3. Women were made from a more complex and excellent raw material. (Genesis 2:21-23)
PROOF #4. God made woman second and better than man because God is about MORE. (Genesis 2:21-23)
In yesterday's post, we saw biological proof from current studies:
PROOF #5. Women’s brains have more connections than men’s brains and the result is behavior that is more profitable.
Also, yesterday I stated: "Actually, the difference goes beyond the brain…"
Today, we will look at Proof #6...
WOMEN ARE MORE "EXCELLENT": PROOF 6
On the whole, men are physically stronger than women. Men basically are superior to women in physical strength. Notice, this is not to say women aren’t physically strong…men are stronger. This is quantitative.
There is nothing a man can do that a woman can’t qualitatively do. The difference is quantitative. For instance, a man can hit a baseball or a golf ball. A woman can hit a baseball or a golf ball. However, the difference is that, on the whole, a man can hit a baseball or a golf ball quantitatively farther than a woman.
Look at what this world values…in general, it values the physical. It pays people more money for physical attributes. In “Modeling God” we saw that the physical is the opposite of the spiritual. That we OUGHT to move from a physical perspective to a spiritual perspective through thinking.
One of the measures of the Unprofitability of a society is how much it values the physical over the mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects. The downfall of a civilization is measured by the increased focus on the physical. Notice, this world values the quantitative physical abilities of men as MORE positive than negative even though the negative aspects of men being more physically focused make all of us Unprofitable.
Men being physically focused does result in athletes that make millions of dollars. However, men being physically focused results in our prisons being full of men, marriages being damaged due to pornography, and society thinking the physical is the cause...instead of valuing the mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects as causes.
Women can qualitatively do things men can’t do. First and foremost, they give life. In fact, the simplest way to explain the difference according to the Bible between men and women is women give life and men protect life.
Why are angels always masculine?
What would be the purpose of a feminine angel? To produce more angels. That is not why God created the angels. Angels were created to protect us…they are masculine. In fact, we saw in "Modeling God's Wills" the fact that all angels are masculine led to the Unprofitability of the second Dispensation…when angels married earthly women.
PROOF #6. Men are focused on the physical while women are focused on the spiritual
When male "leaders" pervert God’s plan of masculinity (to put others interest above their own), the focus of society becomes the physical…and, on the whole, the society becomes less…it becomes more Unprofitable over time.
Men see the physical as a cause. It is in their nature. The result is even though men are able to do some things in the physical that create in the short-term, men are ultimately Unprofitable when it comes to the physical. However, women create and nurture life...and are much less likely to be destructive physically. One of the measures of "excellence" (according to the world) is physical ability. Clearly, women are MORE Profitable when it comes to the physical...they are more "excellent".
Men make the physical a cause and this is Unprofitable. Women make the spiritual a cause and this is Profitable.
Look at how a society treats its women and you can tell what the society really values. For example, some cultures make the women cover themselves from head to toe. Why? Because the men will lust.
Think about that. The society admits men are focused on the physical and are “weaker”…to the point that the women have to bear the burden…the women have to be more excellent because the society is beyond expecting the men to act in an excellent, non-physical manner.
That leads to the next two “proofs”…
Next Post
Recall, we are using the IS definition of "excellence":
The IS definition of "excellence" is HAVE. It is completely focused on the Physical. The shortest IS definition of "excellence" is: Physical ability, ability to Boss others around, and wealthy. (Notice, the Bible warned us against valuing APPEARANCE, POWER, and WORLDLY RICHES.)
Recall, we are using the OUGHT definitions of "man" and "woman" by looking at what the Bible says. In Friday's post, we saw two direct proofs in Genesis 2:
PROOF #1. “Help meet” doesn’t mean support from an inferior. It means support from a superior. (Genesis 2:18)
PROOF #2. “Cleaving” means the woman is the stable being (superior) and the man is the variable (in need). (Genesis 2:24)
In Monday's post, we saw two indirect proofs from Genesis 2:
PROOF #3. Women were made from a more complex and excellent raw material. (Genesis 2:21-23)
PROOF #4. God made woman second and better than man because God is about MORE. (Genesis 2:21-23)
In yesterday's post, we saw biological proof from current studies:
PROOF #5. Women’s brains have more connections than men’s brains and the result is behavior that is more profitable.
Also, yesterday I stated: "Actually, the difference goes beyond the brain…"
Today, we will look at Proof #6...
WOMEN ARE MORE "EXCELLENT": PROOF 6
On the whole, men are physically stronger than women. Men basically are superior to women in physical strength. Notice, this is not to say women aren’t physically strong…men are stronger. This is quantitative.
There is nothing a man can do that a woman can’t qualitatively do. The difference is quantitative. For instance, a man can hit a baseball or a golf ball. A woman can hit a baseball or a golf ball. However, the difference is that, on the whole, a man can hit a baseball or a golf ball quantitatively farther than a woman.
Look at what this world values…in general, it values the physical. It pays people more money for physical attributes. In “Modeling God” we saw that the physical is the opposite of the spiritual. That we OUGHT to move from a physical perspective to a spiritual perspective through thinking.
One of the measures of the Unprofitability of a society is how much it values the physical over the mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects. The downfall of a civilization is measured by the increased focus on the physical. Notice, this world values the quantitative physical abilities of men as MORE positive than negative even though the negative aspects of men being more physically focused make all of us Unprofitable.
Men being physically focused does result in athletes that make millions of dollars. However, men being physically focused results in our prisons being full of men, marriages being damaged due to pornography, and society thinking the physical is the cause...instead of valuing the mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects as causes.
Women can qualitatively do things men can’t do. First and foremost, they give life. In fact, the simplest way to explain the difference according to the Bible between men and women is women give life and men protect life.
Why are angels always masculine?
What would be the purpose of a feminine angel? To produce more angels. That is not why God created the angels. Angels were created to protect us…they are masculine. In fact, we saw in "Modeling God's Wills" the fact that all angels are masculine led to the Unprofitability of the second Dispensation…when angels married earthly women.
PROOF #6. Men are focused on the physical while women are focused on the spiritual
When male "leaders" pervert God’s plan of masculinity (to put others interest above their own), the focus of society becomes the physical…and, on the whole, the society becomes less…it becomes more Unprofitable over time.
Men see the physical as a cause. It is in their nature. The result is even though men are able to do some things in the physical that create in the short-term, men are ultimately Unprofitable when it comes to the physical. However, women create and nurture life...and are much less likely to be destructive physically. One of the measures of "excellence" (according to the world) is physical ability. Clearly, women are MORE Profitable when it comes to the physical...they are more "excellent".
Men make the physical a cause and this is Unprofitable. Women make the spiritual a cause and this is Profitable.
Look at how a society treats its women and you can tell what the society really values. For example, some cultures make the women cover themselves from head to toe. Why? Because the men will lust.
Think about that. The society admits men are focused on the physical and are “weaker”…to the point that the women have to bear the burden…the women have to be more excellent because the society is beyond expecting the men to act in an excellent, non-physical manner.
That leads to the next two “proofs”…
Next Post
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Women are MORE Excellent: Proof 5
On Friday, we began looking at the ten proofs that Women are MORE "excellent" than Men.
Recall, we are using the IS definition of "excellence":
The IS definition of "excellence" is HAVE. It is completely focused on the Physical. The shortest IS definition of "excellence" is: Physical ability, ability to Boss others around, and wealthy. (Notice, the Bible warned us against valuing APPEARANCE, POWER, and WORLDLY RICHES.)
Recall, we are using the OUGHT definitions of "man" and "woman" by looking at what the Bible says. In Friday's post, we saw two direct proofs in Genesis 2:
PROOF #1. “Help meet” doesn’t mean support from an inferior. It means support from a superior. (Genesis 2:18)
PROOF #2. “Cleaving” means the woman is the stable being (superior) and the man is the variable (in need). (Genesis 2:24)
In yesterday's post, we saw two indirect proofs from Genesis 2...
PROOF #3. Women were made from a more complex and excellent raw material. (Genesis 2:21-23)
PROOF #4. God made woman second and better than man because God is about MORE. (Genesis 2:21-23)
Today, we will look at Proof #5...
WOMEN ARE MORE "EXCELLENT": PROOF 5
More and more, science is finding the differences between the brains of men and women are that women have connections that men don’t have. Essentially, men’s brains are damaged and less effective versions of women’s brains. This post will highlight two studies that show these differences.
Viagra
In February of 2004, the makers of Viagra (Pfizer) gave up on creating Viagra for women, after announcing months earlier that they had been successful.
In men, arousal almost always leads to desire. Pfizer found that improving a man’s ability to achieve arousal led to increasing his desire for sex. Pfizer figured the same would be true for women. So they set about testing a drug that helps women achieve arousal.
Pfizer was able to show there was a drug that improved a woman’s ability to achieve arousal, however it had no effect on desire. Here is an excerpt from the article:
"There's a disconnect in many women between genital changes and mental changes," said Mitra Boolel, leader of Pfizer's sex research team. "This disconnect does not exist in men. Men consistently get erections in the presence of naked women and want to have sex. With women, things depend on a myriad of factors."
Women are much more complicated. Essentially, when women experience physical changes, the information goes to their brain where it stays until they make a conscious decision. This does not happen naturally for men. If one believed in evolution, you would have to believe that women evolved from men. It shows that men are made in their nature to make the physical a cause. Women are made in their nature to have the physical be an effect. (We will look at the implications of this next month.)
However, we know it is because God created women second…
Collaborative vs Competitive
In 2005, a study was done by economists in Pittsburgh. They paid men and women to add up five numbers in their heads. They were paid for each correct answer. At first the men and women worked individually. Then they competed in four person tournaments. On average, the women and men did equally well. This was a task that both were equally capable of doing and there wasn’t one sex that was better than the other.
Then, they offered everyone the choice to get paid for each sum or compete in a “winner take all” tournament. Most women declined to compete, even the ones who had done the best during the tournaments. Most men opted to compete, even the ones who had done poorly during the tournaments.
Basically, the men thrived on competition and over-rated their ability. They actively embraced the “pyramidal” structure where one person comes out on top. The women did not want to participate in this structure even when they knew they had a good chance of winning.
The women embraced an “organism” structure where everyone is valued and gets what they deserve. Collaboration is encouraged.
We saw that the Industrial Revolution introduced the pyramidal structure to our society and encouraged men to act like animals. This was the event that changed the definition of "masculinity" in our culture. Isn’t this what the world values? Isn’t this the mentality we need men to have in order to conduct wars?
What would serve us most? A system where one person wins at everyone’s expense? Or a system like a body where everyone is valued for what they do best and works together to a greater good?…something like The Meaning of Life.
Women naturally realize the value of working together and everyone being Profitable. Men naturally value one person winning at the expense of everyone else which eventually makes everyone Unprofitable.
PROOF #5. Women’s brains have more connections than men’s brains and the result is behavior that is more profitable.
Actually, the difference goes beyond the brain…
Next Post
Recall, we are using the IS definition of "excellence":
The IS definition of "excellence" is HAVE. It is completely focused on the Physical. The shortest IS definition of "excellence" is: Physical ability, ability to Boss others around, and wealthy. (Notice, the Bible warned us against valuing APPEARANCE, POWER, and WORLDLY RICHES.)
Recall, we are using the OUGHT definitions of "man" and "woman" by looking at what the Bible says. In Friday's post, we saw two direct proofs in Genesis 2:
PROOF #1. “Help meet” doesn’t mean support from an inferior. It means support from a superior. (Genesis 2:18)
PROOF #2. “Cleaving” means the woman is the stable being (superior) and the man is the variable (in need). (Genesis 2:24)
In yesterday's post, we saw two indirect proofs from Genesis 2...
PROOF #3. Women were made from a more complex and excellent raw material. (Genesis 2:21-23)
PROOF #4. God made woman second and better than man because God is about MORE. (Genesis 2:21-23)
Today, we will look at Proof #5...
WOMEN ARE MORE "EXCELLENT": PROOF 5
More and more, science is finding the differences between the brains of men and women are that women have connections that men don’t have. Essentially, men’s brains are damaged and less effective versions of women’s brains. This post will highlight two studies that show these differences.
Viagra
In February of 2004, the makers of Viagra (Pfizer) gave up on creating Viagra for women, after announcing months earlier that they had been successful.
In men, arousal almost always leads to desire. Pfizer found that improving a man’s ability to achieve arousal led to increasing his desire for sex. Pfizer figured the same would be true for women. So they set about testing a drug that helps women achieve arousal.
Pfizer was able to show there was a drug that improved a woman’s ability to achieve arousal, however it had no effect on desire. Here is an excerpt from the article:
"There's a disconnect in many women between genital changes and mental changes," said Mitra Boolel, leader of Pfizer's sex research team. "This disconnect does not exist in men. Men consistently get erections in the presence of naked women and want to have sex. With women, things depend on a myriad of factors."
Women are much more complicated. Essentially, when women experience physical changes, the information goes to their brain where it stays until they make a conscious decision. This does not happen naturally for men. If one believed in evolution, you would have to believe that women evolved from men. It shows that men are made in their nature to make the physical a cause. Women are made in their nature to have the physical be an effect. (We will look at the implications of this next month.)
However, we know it is because God created women second…
Collaborative vs Competitive
In 2005, a study was done by economists in Pittsburgh. They paid men and women to add up five numbers in their heads. They were paid for each correct answer. At first the men and women worked individually. Then they competed in four person tournaments. On average, the women and men did equally well. This was a task that both were equally capable of doing and there wasn’t one sex that was better than the other.
Then, they offered everyone the choice to get paid for each sum or compete in a “winner take all” tournament. Most women declined to compete, even the ones who had done the best during the tournaments. Most men opted to compete, even the ones who had done poorly during the tournaments.
Basically, the men thrived on competition and over-rated their ability. They actively embraced the “pyramidal” structure where one person comes out on top. The women did not want to participate in this structure even when they knew they had a good chance of winning.
The women embraced an “organism” structure where everyone is valued and gets what they deserve. Collaboration is encouraged.
We saw that the Industrial Revolution introduced the pyramidal structure to our society and encouraged men to act like animals. This was the event that changed the definition of "masculinity" in our culture. Isn’t this what the world values? Isn’t this the mentality we need men to have in order to conduct wars?
What would serve us most? A system where one person wins at everyone’s expense? Or a system like a body where everyone is valued for what they do best and works together to a greater good?…something like The Meaning of Life.
Women naturally realize the value of working together and everyone being Profitable. Men naturally value one person winning at the expense of everyone else which eventually makes everyone Unprofitable.
PROOF #5. Women’s brains have more connections than men’s brains and the result is behavior that is more profitable.
Actually, the difference goes beyond the brain…
Next Post
Monday, August 24, 2009
Women are MORE Excellent: Proofs 3 & 4
On Friday, we began looking at the ten proofs that Women are MORE "excellent" than Men.
Recall, we are using the IS definition of "excellence":
The IS definition of "excellence" is HAVE. It is completely focused on the Physical. The shortest IS definition of "excellence" is: Physical ability, ability to Boss others around, and wealthy. (Notice, the Bible warned us against valuing APPEARANCE, POWER, and WORLDLY RICHES.)
Recall, we are using the OUGHT definitions of "man" and "woman" by looking at what the Bible says. In the previous post, we found two direct proofs in Genesis 2:
PROOF #1. “Help meet” doesn’t mean support from an inferior. It means support from a superior. (Genesis 2:18)
PROOF #2. “Cleaving” means the woman is the stable being (superior) and the man is the variable (in need). (Genesis 2:24)
Today, we will look at two indirect proofs from Genesis 2...
WOMEN ARE MORE "EXCELLENT": PROOFS 3 & 4
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7)
God made Adam from the dust of the ground.
“And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” (Genesis 2:21-23)
Eve was made from a bone.
Dust is very simple and unstructured. Bones are very complex and structured.
PROOF #3. Women were made from a more complex and excellent raw material.
God was limited in what He could make from the dust relative to what He could make from a bone…
I realize this may rub people the wrong way who think God could never be limited by us, but we have dealt with that fact throughout this blog. (Besides, if God was never limited, then how can things that God makes be better or worse than other things?)
God made the PERFECT being from dust: man. You could NOT make ANYTHING better than "man" out of dust. God is PERFECT and thinking He could have made something MORE from dust would imply that God was LESS than perfect.
However, there is another proof that is implied in this that takes this point further…
God is always about MORE. God doesn’t maintain and He doesn’t go backwards. God is about improving. This is OUGHT.
Man’s ways are unprofitable. Man is happy to maintain. Man's Ultimate goal is "Not Unprofitable". The world and traditional church CELEBRATES "Not Unprofitable". This is IS.
There are several examples throughout the Bible where God is about MORE…we covered some of them on this blog. For example, The Meaning of Life, which is about MORE…John 15 states Jesus said the branch that bears fruit is cut back so it will produce MORE…John 14 (after the “Father’s House discussion) states Jesus said we will do greater works than Jesus because He goes to the Father. God is always about MORE (not less) over time. We did an entire series on how the examples of godly people in the Bible relied on God MORE over time...NOT less. However, let’s look at an example that ties together several topics covered in the Second Book: "Modeling God's Wills".
JOHN 2
“And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.” (John 2:1-3)
God's Word states that a wedding is a feast...not a ceremony. This wedding has a problem…they ran out of wine. This is central to the wedding because it is a feast…not a ceremony. Our man-made traditional wedding ceremony is less than three hundred years old!
“Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.” (John 2:4-5)
There is no mention of Joseph. Mary has presented the problem to Jesus and He asks her a question. Notice, Mary doesn’t answer Him…she knows He will “obey” her! So, Mary ignores JESUS(!?!?!) and speaks directly to the servants KNOWING Jesus will do what SHE SAYS!
“And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.” (John 2:6-8)
Jesus has NOT left his mom and "cleaved" to his wife (The Bride). Jesus does “obey” His mom and turns the water into wine. He also gets confirmation for the sake of the disciples…and us.
“When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.” (John 2:9-10)
Notice, men put the best first and then let it run down…become less. The governor BLATANTLY states this! We have seen on this blog that the enemy offers the benefit in the short-term; causing us to pay in the Long Term. The flesh constantly tries to get the MOST FIRST and worry about paying and sustainability later.
God makes us pay up front so we can have a Long Term benefit…so things can get better (MORE) over time. This goes against our flesh.
Jesus did His first miracle at a wedding and it taught us God is about MORE, while man is about getting the benefit up front.
Is it possible Jesus did this miracle to show us God wants marriages to be about MORE…to get better over time? We have seen that Christian authors have stated that marriage is supposed to be great at first and get worse over time and all we can hope for is to maintain…like the governor said every man handles the wine at a wedding.
God made man. God made woman. Why would God make a second being that was worse or only equal to His first being?
PROOF #4. God made woman second and better than man because God is about MORE.
Tomorrow, we will look at Proof #5...
Next Post
Recall, we are using the IS definition of "excellence":
The IS definition of "excellence" is HAVE. It is completely focused on the Physical. The shortest IS definition of "excellence" is: Physical ability, ability to Boss others around, and wealthy. (Notice, the Bible warned us against valuing APPEARANCE, POWER, and WORLDLY RICHES.)
Recall, we are using the OUGHT definitions of "man" and "woman" by looking at what the Bible says. In the previous post, we found two direct proofs in Genesis 2:
PROOF #1. “Help meet” doesn’t mean support from an inferior. It means support from a superior. (Genesis 2:18)
PROOF #2. “Cleaving” means the woman is the stable being (superior) and the man is the variable (in need). (Genesis 2:24)
Today, we will look at two indirect proofs from Genesis 2...
WOMEN ARE MORE "EXCELLENT": PROOFS 3 & 4
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7)
God made Adam from the dust of the ground.
“And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” (Genesis 2:21-23)
Eve was made from a bone.
Dust is very simple and unstructured. Bones are very complex and structured.
PROOF #3. Women were made from a more complex and excellent raw material.
God was limited in what He could make from the dust relative to what He could make from a bone…
I realize this may rub people the wrong way who think God could never be limited by us, but we have dealt with that fact throughout this blog. (Besides, if God was never limited, then how can things that God makes be better or worse than other things?)
God made the PERFECT being from dust: man. You could NOT make ANYTHING better than "man" out of dust. God is PERFECT and thinking He could have made something MORE from dust would imply that God was LESS than perfect.
However, there is another proof that is implied in this that takes this point further…
God is always about MORE. God doesn’t maintain and He doesn’t go backwards. God is about improving. This is OUGHT.
Man’s ways are unprofitable. Man is happy to maintain. Man's Ultimate goal is "Not Unprofitable". The world and traditional church CELEBRATES "Not Unprofitable". This is IS.
There are several examples throughout the Bible where God is about MORE…we covered some of them on this blog. For example, The Meaning of Life, which is about MORE…John 15 states Jesus said the branch that bears fruit is cut back so it will produce MORE…John 14 (after the “Father’s House discussion) states Jesus said we will do greater works than Jesus because He goes to the Father. God is always about MORE (not less) over time. We did an entire series on how the examples of godly people in the Bible relied on God MORE over time...NOT less. However, let’s look at an example that ties together several topics covered in the Second Book: "Modeling God's Wills".
JOHN 2
“And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.” (John 2:1-3)
God's Word states that a wedding is a feast...not a ceremony. This wedding has a problem…they ran out of wine. This is central to the wedding because it is a feast…not a ceremony. Our man-made traditional wedding ceremony is less than three hundred years old!
“Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.” (John 2:4-5)
There is no mention of Joseph. Mary has presented the problem to Jesus and He asks her a question. Notice, Mary doesn’t answer Him…she knows He will “obey” her! So, Mary ignores JESUS(!?!?!) and speaks directly to the servants KNOWING Jesus will do what SHE SAYS!
“And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.” (John 2:6-8)
Jesus has NOT left his mom and "cleaved" to his wife (The Bride). Jesus does “obey” His mom and turns the water into wine. He also gets confirmation for the sake of the disciples…and us.
“When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.” (John 2:9-10)
Notice, men put the best first and then let it run down…become less. The governor BLATANTLY states this! We have seen on this blog that the enemy offers the benefit in the short-term; causing us to pay in the Long Term. The flesh constantly tries to get the MOST FIRST and worry about paying and sustainability later.
God makes us pay up front so we can have a Long Term benefit…so things can get better (MORE) over time. This goes against our flesh.
Jesus did His first miracle at a wedding and it taught us God is about MORE, while man is about getting the benefit up front.
Is it possible Jesus did this miracle to show us God wants marriages to be about MORE…to get better over time? We have seen that Christian authors have stated that marriage is supposed to be great at first and get worse over time and all we can hope for is to maintain…like the governor said every man handles the wine at a wedding.
God made man. God made woman. Why would God make a second being that was worse or only equal to His first being?
PROOF #4. God made woman second and better than man because God is about MORE.
Tomorrow, we will look at Proof #5...
Next Post
Friday, August 21, 2009
Women are MORE Excellent: Proofs 1 & 2
We began this month covering the first Universal Stronghold: Leadership.
We found that we are eventually all Unprofitable discussing "Leadership" because too many people are actually describing BOSSES.
Yesterday, we finished the second Universal Stronghold: The Roles of The Sexes.
We summarized our learnings with IS and OUGHT definitions for "men" and "women":
IS definition of "man" - the sex of our species that is focused on the effects, and consequently, the Physical. He is meant to go on an adventure, save a beauty, and fight a battle.
OUGHT definition of "man" - the sex of our species that ought to be focused on the causes regardless of the effects.
IS definition of "woman" - the sex of our species that is used by the male for sexual intercourse, committing violence against, and blaming for the ills of the world. She is meant to share an adventure, unveil a beauty, and be fought for.
OUGHT definition of "woman" - the sex of our species that ought to create the profitable effects.
We also defined "excellence" according to God and the world:
The IS definition of "excellence" is HAVE. It is completely focused on the Physical. The shortest IS definition of "excellence" is: Physical ability, ability to Boss others around, and wealthy. (Notice, the Bible warned us against valuing APPEARANCE, POWER, and WORLDLY RICHES.)
We have seen the OUGHT definition of excellence is ARE. It is completely focused on the Spiritual. The shortest OUGHT definition of excellence is: choosing to intentionally think, pursuing growth, and moral. ALL of these attributes can be applied to BOTH sexes. BOTH sexes can be excellent according to God!
(Moral people know that Justice exists and they will have to pay for EVERYTHING they get that they didn't pay for. Notice, the Bible consistently stresses the importance of INTENTIONALLY THINKING, GROWTH, and JUSTICE.)
However, very few people have this OUGHT definition of excellence in their worldview. So, when we speak of "excellence" for the rest of this month, I want to appeal to the masses who see "excellence" as HAVING. I will put this IS version of excellence in quotes, like this: "excellence".
Our SUMMARY was as follows:
When looking at this IS definition of "excellence", the IS definitions of "man" and "woman" would result in the soundbite: Men are MORE excellent than Women...and feminism would be necessary to help Women become something MORE so they could be equal to Men.
When looking at the OUGHT definition of excellence, the OUGHT definitions of "man" and "woman" would result in the soundbite: Women and Men are equally excellent.
However, when looking at this IS definition of "excellence", the OUGHT definitions of "man" and "woman" would result in the soundbite: Women are MORE excellent than Men...and feminism would be making Women something LESS so they could be equal to Men.
What do you think?
Do you think men are MORE "excellent" than women?
Do you think the Bible states men are MORE "excellent" than women?
Actually, I believe the Bible states that women are MORE "excellent" than men!
For the rest of this month, we will look at ten proofs that women are MORE "excellent" than men...
Today, we will cover the first two proofs that women are MORE "excellent" than men...
WOMEN ARE MORE "EXCELLENT": PROOFS 1 & 2
The first place to start with understanding the Biblical view of women is at the beginning of the Bible…when God created woman.
“18 And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.
19 And out of the ground Jehovah God formed every beast of the field, and every bird of the heavens; and brought them unto the man to see what he would call them: and whatsoever the man called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
20 And the man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the heavens, and to every beast of the field; but for man there was not found a help meet for him.
21 And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof:
22 and the rib, which Jehovah God had taken from the man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.” (Genesis 2:18-22)
What does “help meet” mean?
First, some people quote this phrase as “help mate”…and immediately make the woman subservient to the male. Be careful with pastors and teachers who focus on man-made culture instead of the Word of God. The word is “meet”.
MEET is Strong's #5828 ezer - “aid”
Actually, the Strong’s reference for HELP in this passage is the same as Strong's #5828, so it looks like MEET adds nothing to this verse. Some people have stated that “meet” means “fitting” or “perfect”. This would make woman the "perfect help" for a man. While this would seem to apply to the context of this passage (because the animals were not being “meet” for Adam), I don’t have enough information to support that interpretation…that is not to say it is wrong.
Let’s look more closely at “ezer”…
There are two kinds of “help” a man can get. He can get help from someone “lower” than him, like an underling. The second kind of help is from someone “higher” than him…like from God. For instance, Psalm 60:11 states:
“11 Give us help against the adversary; For vain is the help of man.”
The first “help” is Strong's #5833 “ezrah” and is from the same root as “ezer”. This is help from a superior, especially since the beginning of the verse is asking for help from God. The second “help” in the verse is Strong's #8668 “tesuwquh”. This is help from an inferior. Likewise, the end of this verse says this inferior help is from man...NOT God.
Everywhere that Strong's #5828 (ezer) is used in the Bible it means help from a superior.
So, Genesis 2:18 states that woman is God's solution to giving the male help from a superior! People who teach that the woman is an inferior help to a male are teaching a man-made doctrine...NOT the Word of God.
PROOF #1. “Help meet” doesn’t mean support from an inferior. It means support from a superior.
Let’s continue with the passage from Genesis 2 to get our second “proof”.
“23 And the man said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:23-25)
The man shall CLEAVE to his wife. I have heard a lot of pastors and teachers try to make the meaning of this verse that the man is somehow superior...that the woman NEEDS the man's "cleaving" in order for her to be whole. (Notice, this verse also deals with the doctrine of Marriage. Misunderstanding the meaning of this passage would be proof that a person also misunderstands the doctrine of Marriage...)
“Cleave” is Strong's #1692 dabaq - “to impinge, i.e. cling or adhere”.
Everything about this word states the woman is the standard (the stable being) and the man is imposing himself on her. Even the context implies a man is the property of his parents until he marries…and then he is the property of his wife! How do people NOT see this DURING the wedding ceremony?
However, let’s look at another passage that uses “dabaq”.
"20 Thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God; him shalt thou serve; and to him shalt thou cleave, and by his name shalt thou swear.” (Deuteronomy 10:20)
When it comes to humans “cleaving” to God…which one do you believe is the “superior”: humans or God?
Take a moment and state your will by answering this question.
If a person believes the man cleaving to the woman makes the man superior or equal to the woman, than that same person believes humans are superior or equal to God! (Actually, during proof #10, we are going to see that people living during Israel's captivity under Darius KNEW that this passage meant the woman was superior to the man!)
PROOF #2. “Cleaving” means the woman is the stable being (superior) and the man is the variable (in need).
These are two “proofs” that are direct…they are taken from specifically what is stated.
Take a moment and think about how much a person would have to inject man-made tradition and current culture into the Bible in order to miss the TRUE meaning of these passages in the second chapter of the Bible! Clearly, this is PROOF that we ALL have a stronghold as it relates to The Role of The Sexes...and even when each of us individually gets this belief lined up with God's Word, we are still all eventually Unprofitable discussing this topic because there are too many people who feel justified (to the point of changing the meaning of the Word of God) in holding to this second Universal Stronghold.
There are two more proofs from this second chapter of the Bible that are indirect.
We will look at those on Monday...
Next Post
We found that we are eventually all Unprofitable discussing "Leadership" because too many people are actually describing BOSSES.
Yesterday, we finished the second Universal Stronghold: The Roles of The Sexes.
We summarized our learnings with IS and OUGHT definitions for "men" and "women":
IS definition of "man" - the sex of our species that is focused on the effects, and consequently, the Physical. He is meant to go on an adventure, save a beauty, and fight a battle.
OUGHT definition of "man" - the sex of our species that ought to be focused on the causes regardless of the effects.
IS definition of "woman" - the sex of our species that is used by the male for sexual intercourse, committing violence against, and blaming for the ills of the world. She is meant to share an adventure, unveil a beauty, and be fought for.
OUGHT definition of "woman" - the sex of our species that ought to create the profitable effects.
We also defined "excellence" according to God and the world:
The IS definition of "excellence" is HAVE. It is completely focused on the Physical. The shortest IS definition of "excellence" is: Physical ability, ability to Boss others around, and wealthy. (Notice, the Bible warned us against valuing APPEARANCE, POWER, and WORLDLY RICHES.)
We have seen the OUGHT definition of excellence is ARE. It is completely focused on the Spiritual. The shortest OUGHT definition of excellence is: choosing to intentionally think, pursuing growth, and moral. ALL of these attributes can be applied to BOTH sexes. BOTH sexes can be excellent according to God!
(Moral people know that Justice exists and they will have to pay for EVERYTHING they get that they didn't pay for. Notice, the Bible consistently stresses the importance of INTENTIONALLY THINKING, GROWTH, and JUSTICE.)
However, very few people have this OUGHT definition of excellence in their worldview. So, when we speak of "excellence" for the rest of this month, I want to appeal to the masses who see "excellence" as HAVING. I will put this IS version of excellence in quotes, like this: "excellence".
Our SUMMARY was as follows:
When looking at this IS definition of "excellence", the IS definitions of "man" and "woman" would result in the soundbite: Men are MORE excellent than Women...and feminism would be necessary to help Women become something MORE so they could be equal to Men.
When looking at the OUGHT definition of excellence, the OUGHT definitions of "man" and "woman" would result in the soundbite: Women and Men are equally excellent.
However, when looking at this IS definition of "excellence", the OUGHT definitions of "man" and "woman" would result in the soundbite: Women are MORE excellent than Men...and feminism would be making Women something LESS so they could be equal to Men.
What do you think?
Do you think men are MORE "excellent" than women?
Do you think the Bible states men are MORE "excellent" than women?
Actually, I believe the Bible states that women are MORE "excellent" than men!
For the rest of this month, we will look at ten proofs that women are MORE "excellent" than men...
Today, we will cover the first two proofs that women are MORE "excellent" than men...
WOMEN ARE MORE "EXCELLENT": PROOFS 1 & 2
The first place to start with understanding the Biblical view of women is at the beginning of the Bible…when God created woman.
“18 And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.
19 And out of the ground Jehovah God formed every beast of the field, and every bird of the heavens; and brought them unto the man to see what he would call them: and whatsoever the man called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
20 And the man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the heavens, and to every beast of the field; but for man there was not found a help meet for him.
21 And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof:
22 and the rib, which Jehovah God had taken from the man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.” (Genesis 2:18-22)
What does “help meet” mean?
First, some people quote this phrase as “help mate”…and immediately make the woman subservient to the male. Be careful with pastors and teachers who focus on man-made culture instead of the Word of God. The word is “meet”.
MEET is Strong's #5828 ezer - “aid”
Actually, the Strong’s reference for HELP in this passage is the same as Strong's #5828, so it looks like MEET adds nothing to this verse. Some people have stated that “meet” means “fitting” or “perfect”. This would make woman the "perfect help" for a man. While this would seem to apply to the context of this passage (because the animals were not being “meet” for Adam), I don’t have enough information to support that interpretation…that is not to say it is wrong.
Let’s look more closely at “ezer”…
There are two kinds of “help” a man can get. He can get help from someone “lower” than him, like an underling. The second kind of help is from someone “higher” than him…like from God. For instance, Psalm 60:11 states:
“11 Give us help against the adversary; For vain is the help of man.”
The first “help” is Strong's #5833 “ezrah” and is from the same root as “ezer”. This is help from a superior, especially since the beginning of the verse is asking for help from God. The second “help” in the verse is Strong's #8668 “tesuwquh”. This is help from an inferior. Likewise, the end of this verse says this inferior help is from man...NOT God.
Everywhere that Strong's #5828 (ezer) is used in the Bible it means help from a superior.
So, Genesis 2:18 states that woman is God's solution to giving the male help from a superior! People who teach that the woman is an inferior help to a male are teaching a man-made doctrine...NOT the Word of God.
PROOF #1. “Help meet” doesn’t mean support from an inferior. It means support from a superior.
Let’s continue with the passage from Genesis 2 to get our second “proof”.
“23 And the man said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:23-25)
The man shall CLEAVE to his wife. I have heard a lot of pastors and teachers try to make the meaning of this verse that the man is somehow superior...that the woman NEEDS the man's "cleaving" in order for her to be whole. (Notice, this verse also deals with the doctrine of Marriage. Misunderstanding the meaning of this passage would be proof that a person also misunderstands the doctrine of Marriage...)
“Cleave” is Strong's #1692 dabaq - “to impinge, i.e. cling or adhere”.
Everything about this word states the woman is the standard (the stable being) and the man is imposing himself on her. Even the context implies a man is the property of his parents until he marries…and then he is the property of his wife! How do people NOT see this DURING the wedding ceremony?
However, let’s look at another passage that uses “dabaq”.
"20 Thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God; him shalt thou serve; and to him shalt thou cleave, and by his name shalt thou swear.” (Deuteronomy 10:20)
When it comes to humans “cleaving” to God…which one do you believe is the “superior”: humans or God?
Take a moment and state your will by answering this question.
If a person believes the man cleaving to the woman makes the man superior or equal to the woman, than that same person believes humans are superior or equal to God! (Actually, during proof #10, we are going to see that people living during Israel's captivity under Darius KNEW that this passage meant the woman was superior to the man!)
PROOF #2. “Cleaving” means the woman is the stable being (superior) and the man is the variable (in need).
These are two “proofs” that are direct…they are taken from specifically what is stated.
Take a moment and think about how much a person would have to inject man-made tradition and current culture into the Bible in order to miss the TRUE meaning of these passages in the second chapter of the Bible! Clearly, this is PROOF that we ALL have a stronghold as it relates to The Role of The Sexes...and even when each of us individually gets this belief lined up with God's Word, we are still all eventually Unprofitable discussing this topic because there are too many people who feel justified (to the point of changing the meaning of the Word of God) in holding to this second Universal Stronghold.
There are two more proofs from this second chapter of the Bible that are indirect.
We will look at those on Monday...
Next Post
Thursday, August 20, 2009
The Definition of a Real Woman
This post has become very popular with people "googling" for answers to The Roles of The Sexes. Thank you for choosing this site to answer your question. I realize you are probably in a rush to answer some burning question and I believe this post will answer it. However, I would like to make you aware this post is part of a Series that covers the roles of both men and women according to the world, the definitions used in the Bible, and God's non-contradictory explanation. Please mark this post and take time to come back and look at the following links to get a bigger understanding:
Definitions of the words for "Man" that are used in the Bible
Definition of "Man" according to the World
Definition of "Man" according to God's Word
Definitions of the words for "Woman" that are used in the Bible
Definition of "Woman" according to the World
Definition of "Woman" according to God's Word (This post)
Also, if you are looking for an explanation of a Godly Woman BLATANTLY from the Bible, please read this post: Proverbs 31.
Finally, if you are looking for an explanation of how to become a woman, I have found the issue is most women don't know what a man OUGHT to be. Here is a link to the beginning of a Series from February 2011 that, believe it or not, has helped women: HOW to become a man.
We began this month covering the first Universal Stronghold: Leadership.
We found that we are eventually all Unprofitable discussing "Leadership" because too many people are actually describing BOSSES.
Last week we covered half of the second Universal Stronghold: The Roles of The Sexes.
We found that we are all Unprofitable discussing "men" because we are actually encouraging males to act in their NATURE and be PERFECT BOSSES.
The world and the church of today are ENCOURAGING males to act in their NATURE and be Unprofitable.
I believe the Bible PROVES God wants us to choose to act apart from our NATURE by allowing Him to flow through us so that we are ALL Leaders and so that the males of our species focus completely on the causes, regardless of the effects.
EVERYTIME A MALE DOES DAMAGE IT IS BECAUSE HE IS FOCUSED ON THE EFFECTS.
This week, we began looking at the definition of "woman"...
In a previous post, I asked for your definitions of "man" and "boy". The guidelines were that the definition ought to be stated in terms of a cause AND Jesus ought to be the Ultimate example of the definition.
Please reread this previous post for more background on the guidelines for determining your definition.
Likewise, the definition of "woman" ALSO ought to be stated in terms of a cause AND the Ultimate Woman ought to be the Ultimate example of the definition. In the previous post, we saw the Ultimate Woman is The Bride...Jesus' Wife.
In the previous post, we found that the world's definition for "woman" is the same definition that is prevalent in the traditional church:
Women are the physically weaker sex that are used for sexual intercourse, committing violence against, and blaming for the ills of the world.
She is COMPLETELY DEPENDENT on the man. The woman is LESS than the man...
Does the Bible say that the Woman is "LESS" than the Man?
Today, we will determine the non-contradictory definition of "woman" based on our non-contradictory definition of "man"...
THE DEFINITION OF A REAL WOMAN
We saw that the definition of "man" is "the sex that ought to be completely focused on the causes regardless of the effects." We also saw that once you define "man" you are also beginning to determine the definition of "woman". If the definition of "woman" has anything in common with the definition of "man", then it is really the definition of "human".
The definition of "woman" is "the sex that ought to create the profitable effects according to their uniqueness".
However, females in their nature are about causes. In fact, let's restate the definitions of "man" and "woman" according to IS and OUGHT. Before we do this, let's review IS vs. OUGHT.
IS - The things that exist in the flesh...the way things are that takes no effort on our part...it is in our nature.
OUGHT - The things that exist in the spirit...the way God wants things to be...it requires us to act apart from our nature and allow God to act through us.
We covered IS vs. OUGHT in more depth in the post titled, "Man According to The World". Basically, Profitability can ONLY be achieved over the Long Term according to OUGHT. The best you can hope for acting according to IS would be "Not Unprofitable". Now, let's look at the application with respect to the second Universal Stronghold: The Role of The Sexes.
IS definition of "man" - the sex of our species that is focused on the effects, and consequently, the Physical. He is meant to go on an adventure, save a beauty, and fight a battle.
OUGHT definition of "man" - the sex of our species that ought to be focused on the causes regardless of the effects.
IS definition of "woman" - the sex of our species that is used by the male for sexual intercourse, committing violence against, and blaming for the ills of the world. She is meant to share an adventure, unveil a beauty, and be fought for.
OUGHT definition of "woman" - the sex of our species that ought to create the profitable effects.
Notice, when the IS definitions are taken together, they result in the following conclusion: Women are COMPLETELY DEPENDENT on men.
However, when the OUGHT definitions are taken together, they result in the following conclusion: The Profitability of a society depends on the Women. In fact, a woman can focus on causes AND create the profitable effects. She doesn't need the male at all. Having a male focused on causes allows the woman to be MORE Profitable by only having to focus on the effects. We will look at how examples of how females and males ought to interact in more detail next month.
SUMMARY #1
IS definitions result in females depending on males...and the Ultimate best we can hope for is "Not Unprofitable".
OUGHT definitions result in males depending on females...and this is the ONLY way to achieve Long Term Profitability.
This brings up an emotional discussion, so take your time digesting these next points and try not to let your amygdala get the best of you...
The definition of "feminism" is "the movement focused on bringing equality to women".
There are two ways to look at this definition...IS vs. OUGHT.
If feminism is focused on IS, then feminism's goal is to bring females "up" to males as it relates to how society values males and females. The objective is to have females be valued for the things society values.
If feminism is focused on OUGHT, then feminism's goal is to bring women "down" to men and limit the Long Term Profitability of our society. Before going on, we have to deal with one more concept: "excellence".
What is "excellence"?
The IS definition of "excellence" is HAVE. It is completely focused on the Physical. The shortest IS definition of "excellence" is: Physical ability, ability to Boss others around, and wealthy. (Notice, the Bible warned us against valuing APPEARANCE, POWER, and WORLDLY RICHES.)
We have seen the OUGHT definition of excellence is ARE. It is completely focused on the Spiritual. The shortest OUGHT definition of excellence is: choosing to intentionally think, pursuing growth, and moral. ALL of these attributes can be applied to BOTH sexes. BOTH sexes can be excellent according to God!
(Moral people know that Justice exists and they will have to pay for EVERYTHING they get that they didn't pay for. Notice, the Bible consistently stresses the importance of INTENTIONALLY THINKING, GROWTH, and JUSTICE.)
However, very few people have this OUGHT definition of excellence in their worldview. So, when we speak of "excellence" for the rest of this month, I want to appeal to the masses who see "excellence" as HAVING. I will put this IS version of excellence in quotes, like this: "excellence".
SUMMARY #2
When looking at this IS definition of "excellence", the IS definitions of "man" and "woman" would result in the soundbite: Men are MORE excellent than Women...and feminism would be necessary to help Women become something MORE so they could be equal to Men.
When looking at the OUGHT definition of excellence, the OUGHT definitions of "man" and "woman" would result in the soundbite: Women and Men are equally excellent.
However, when looking at this IS definition of "excellence", the OUGHT definitions of "man" and "woman" would result in the soundbite: Women are MORE excellent than Men...and feminism would be making Women something LESS so they could be equal to Men.
What do you think?
Do you think men are MORE "excellent" than women?
Do you think the Bible states men are MORE "excellent" than women?
Actually, I believe the Bible states that women are MORE "excellent" than men!
For the rest of this month, we will look at ten proofs that women are MORE "excellent" than men...
Next Post
Definitions of the words for "Man" that are used in the Bible
Definition of "Man" according to the World
Definition of "Man" according to God's Word
Definitions of the words for "Woman" that are used in the Bible
Definition of "Woman" according to the World
Definition of "Woman" according to God's Word (This post)
Also, if you are looking for an explanation of a Godly Woman BLATANTLY from the Bible, please read this post: Proverbs 31.
Finally, if you are looking for an explanation of how to become a woman, I have found the issue is most women don't know what a man OUGHT to be. Here is a link to the beginning of a Series from February 2011 that, believe it or not, has helped women: HOW to become a man.
We began this month covering the first Universal Stronghold: Leadership.
We found that we are eventually all Unprofitable discussing "Leadership" because too many people are actually describing BOSSES.
Last week we covered half of the second Universal Stronghold: The Roles of The Sexes.
We found that we are all Unprofitable discussing "men" because we are actually encouraging males to act in their NATURE and be PERFECT BOSSES.
The world and the church of today are ENCOURAGING males to act in their NATURE and be Unprofitable.
I believe the Bible PROVES God wants us to choose to act apart from our NATURE by allowing Him to flow through us so that we are ALL Leaders and so that the males of our species focus completely on the causes, regardless of the effects.
EVERYTIME A MALE DOES DAMAGE IT IS BECAUSE HE IS FOCUSED ON THE EFFECTS.
This week, we began looking at the definition of "woman"...
In a previous post, I asked for your definitions of "man" and "boy". The guidelines were that the definition ought to be stated in terms of a cause AND Jesus ought to be the Ultimate example of the definition.
Please reread this previous post for more background on the guidelines for determining your definition.
Likewise, the definition of "woman" ALSO ought to be stated in terms of a cause AND the Ultimate Woman ought to be the Ultimate example of the definition. In the previous post, we saw the Ultimate Woman is The Bride...Jesus' Wife.
In the previous post, we found that the world's definition for "woman" is the same definition that is prevalent in the traditional church:
Women are the physically weaker sex that are used for sexual intercourse, committing violence against, and blaming for the ills of the world.
She is COMPLETELY DEPENDENT on the man. The woman is LESS than the man...
Does the Bible say that the Woman is "LESS" than the Man?
Today, we will determine the non-contradictory definition of "woman" based on our non-contradictory definition of "man"...
THE DEFINITION OF A REAL WOMAN
We saw that the definition of "man" is "the sex that ought to be completely focused on the causes regardless of the effects." We also saw that once you define "man" you are also beginning to determine the definition of "woman". If the definition of "woman" has anything in common with the definition of "man", then it is really the definition of "human".
The definition of "woman" is "the sex that ought to create the profitable effects according to their uniqueness".
However, females in their nature are about causes. In fact, let's restate the definitions of "man" and "woman" according to IS and OUGHT. Before we do this, let's review IS vs. OUGHT.
IS - The things that exist in the flesh...the way things are that takes no effort on our part...it is in our nature.
OUGHT - The things that exist in the spirit...the way God wants things to be...it requires us to act apart from our nature and allow God to act through us.
We covered IS vs. OUGHT in more depth in the post titled, "Man According to The World". Basically, Profitability can ONLY be achieved over the Long Term according to OUGHT. The best you can hope for acting according to IS would be "Not Unprofitable". Now, let's look at the application with respect to the second Universal Stronghold: The Role of The Sexes.
IS definition of "man" - the sex of our species that is focused on the effects, and consequently, the Physical. He is meant to go on an adventure, save a beauty, and fight a battle.
OUGHT definition of "man" - the sex of our species that ought to be focused on the causes regardless of the effects.
IS definition of "woman" - the sex of our species that is used by the male for sexual intercourse, committing violence against, and blaming for the ills of the world. She is meant to share an adventure, unveil a beauty, and be fought for.
OUGHT definition of "woman" - the sex of our species that ought to create the profitable effects.
Notice, when the IS definitions are taken together, they result in the following conclusion: Women are COMPLETELY DEPENDENT on men.
However, when the OUGHT definitions are taken together, they result in the following conclusion: The Profitability of a society depends on the Women. In fact, a woman can focus on causes AND create the profitable effects. She doesn't need the male at all. Having a male focused on causes allows the woman to be MORE Profitable by only having to focus on the effects. We will look at how examples of how females and males ought to interact in more detail next month.
SUMMARY #1
IS definitions result in females depending on males...and the Ultimate best we can hope for is "Not Unprofitable".
OUGHT definitions result in males depending on females...and this is the ONLY way to achieve Long Term Profitability.
This brings up an emotional discussion, so take your time digesting these next points and try not to let your amygdala get the best of you...
The definition of "feminism" is "the movement focused on bringing equality to women".
There are two ways to look at this definition...IS vs. OUGHT.
If feminism is focused on IS, then feminism's goal is to bring females "up" to males as it relates to how society values males and females. The objective is to have females be valued for the things society values.
If feminism is focused on OUGHT, then feminism's goal is to bring women "down" to men and limit the Long Term Profitability of our society. Before going on, we have to deal with one more concept: "excellence".
What is "excellence"?
The IS definition of "excellence" is HAVE. It is completely focused on the Physical. The shortest IS definition of "excellence" is: Physical ability, ability to Boss others around, and wealthy. (Notice, the Bible warned us against valuing APPEARANCE, POWER, and WORLDLY RICHES.)
We have seen the OUGHT definition of excellence is ARE. It is completely focused on the Spiritual. The shortest OUGHT definition of excellence is: choosing to intentionally think, pursuing growth, and moral. ALL of these attributes can be applied to BOTH sexes. BOTH sexes can be excellent according to God!
(Moral people know that Justice exists and they will have to pay for EVERYTHING they get that they didn't pay for. Notice, the Bible consistently stresses the importance of INTENTIONALLY THINKING, GROWTH, and JUSTICE.)
However, very few people have this OUGHT definition of excellence in their worldview. So, when we speak of "excellence" for the rest of this month, I want to appeal to the masses who see "excellence" as HAVING. I will put this IS version of excellence in quotes, like this: "excellence".
SUMMARY #2
When looking at this IS definition of "excellence", the IS definitions of "man" and "woman" would result in the soundbite: Men are MORE excellent than Women...and feminism would be necessary to help Women become something MORE so they could be equal to Men.
When looking at the OUGHT definition of excellence, the OUGHT definitions of "man" and "woman" would result in the soundbite: Women and Men are equally excellent.
However, when looking at this IS definition of "excellence", the OUGHT definitions of "man" and "woman" would result in the soundbite: Women are MORE excellent than Men...and feminism would be making Women something LESS so they could be equal to Men.
What do you think?
Do you think men are MORE "excellent" than women?
Do you think the Bible states men are MORE "excellent" than women?
Actually, I believe the Bible states that women are MORE "excellent" than men!
For the rest of this month, we will look at ten proofs that women are MORE "excellent" than men...
Next Post
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Woman According to The World
This post has become very popular with people "googling" for answers to The Roles of The Sexes. Thank you for choosing this site to answer your question. I realize you are probably in a rush to answer some burning question and I believe this post will answer it. However, I would like to make you aware this post is part of a Series that covers the roles of both men and women according to the world, the definitions used in the Bible, and God's non-contradictory explanation. Please mark this post and take time to come back and look at the following links to get a bigger understanding:
Definitions of the words for "Man" that are used in the Bible
Definition of "Man" according to the World
Definition of "Man" according to God's Word
Definitions of the words for "Woman" that are used in the Bible
Definition of "Woman" according to the World (This post)
Definition of "Woman" according to God's Word
Also, if you are looking for an explanation of how to become a woman, I have found the issue is most women don't know what a man OUGHT to be. Here is a link to the beginning of a Series from February 2011 that, believe it or not, has helped women: HOW to become a man.
We began this month covering the first Universal Stronghold: Leadership.
We found that we are eventually all Unprofitable discussing "Leadership" because too many people are actually describing BOSSES.
Last week we covered half of the second Universal Stronghold: The Roles of The Sexes.
We found that we are all Unprofitable discussing "men" because we are actually encouraging males to act in their NATURE and be PERFECT BOSSES.
The world and the church of today are ENCOURAGING males to act in their NATURE and be Unprofitable.
I believe the Bible PROVES God wants us to choose to act apart from our NATURE by allowing Him to flow through us so that we are ALL Leaders and so that the males of our species focus completely on the causes, regardless of the effects.
EVERYTIME A MALE DOES DAMAGE IT IS BECAUSE HE IS FOCUSED ON THE EFFECTS.
This week, we began looking at the definition of "woman"...
In a previous post, I asked for your definitions of "man" and "boy". The guidelines were that the definition ought to be stated in terms of a cause AND Jesus ought to be the Ultimate example of the definition.
Please reread this previous post for more background on the guidelines for determining your definition.
Likewise, the definition of "woman" ALSO ought to be stated in terms of a cause AND the Ultimate Woman ought to be the Ultimate example of the definition. In the previous post, we saw the Ultimate Woman is The Bride...Jesus' Wife.
In the previous post, we looked at the man-made definitions for the Hebrew words for "woman" and "female" and within this excerpt we asked the following questions...
"Now look at the definition for "female" again and tell me if this is God's definition (a cause) or man's definition (an effect):"
"Strong's #5344 naqab - "to puncture, lit. (to perforate, with more or less violence) or fig. (to specify, designate, libel): - appoint, blashpheme, bore, curse, express, with holes, name, pierce, strike through.""
"Jesus very definitely marries a "female". I can't imagine Jesus calling His Wife by this definition. Clearly the definition is an effect. Clearly it is man-made."
"However, why don't you decide this issue for yourself..."
"Feel free to call a linguist, if necessary. Do you think that this Hebrew definition of "female" is from God or do you think this definition was made by a human? Take time to state your will about this definition..."
"Notice, IF this definition was made by a human, THEN twenty-seven verses into the Bible we see the beginnings of the second Universal Stronghold..."
"One more question: Is this Hebrew definition of "female" different than how the world defines "female"?"
Today, we will look at the definition of woman according to the world...
WOMAN ACCORDING TO THE WORLD
When it comes to the world, the definition of "woman" is close to the Hebrew definition for "female".
Women are the physically weaker sex that is used for sexual intercourse, committing violence against, and blaming for the ills of the world.
This is an example of "IS vs. OUGHT". We covered this in the post titled, "Man According to The World":
"The world's definition of "man" is Right-Wrong. It has a Right WHAT with a Wrong WHY/HOW. I have also referred to this difference as OUGHT vs. IS."
"The world's definition correctly states WHAT a "man" NATURALLY IS..."
"Men are visual. Men are single-tracked...deal with one issue at a time. Men are Physically focused. Men are not verbal. Men are logical. However, when Men are stressed, they are quick to respond to a situation with emotions and force. In short, men are naturally focused on effects. In fact, men naturally make PERFECT BOSSES."
"The issue becomes: OUGHT men to act this way."
Back to today's post...
The same could be said for "woman". We have seen a definition for "man" that is Right-Wrong...it does describe the way it IS. However, the issue becomes whether God intended men to continue in their fleshly nature or choose to act apart from their fleshly nature, let God flow through them, so that they can be what God intended. Again, the same could be said for "woman".
In that post titled, "Man According to The World", John Eldredge was referenced in an excerpt from "Modeling God's Wills". John Eldredge is a Christian author who states that men were created to:
1. Go on an adventure
2. Fight a battle
3. Save a beauty
We saw these things are true for a man's fleshly nature, but are NOT true for a man in eternity. This ought to have shown us that God does NOT desire men to act this way. We will see next month how husbands who believe this man-made doctrine that Eldredge presents actually make their marriages Unprofitable. For now, let's look at what John Eldridge and his wife (Stasi) say about "woman"...
They say that "the core desires every woman shares-to be romanced, to play an irreplaceable role in a grand adventure, and to unveil beauty" should be encouraged. (The Synopsis to Stasi Eldredge's "Captivating Heart To Heart Leaders's Guide")
More specifically, John Eldredge states in "Wild at Heart":
-"Every woman yearns to be fought for. She wants to be more than noticed – she wants to be wanted. She wants to be pursued." (p. 16)
-"Every woman also wants an adventure to share. A woman doesn't want to be the adventure; she wants to be caught up into something greater than herself." (p. 16)
-"And finally, every woman wants to have a beauty to unveil. Do you see me? asks the heart of every girl. And are you captivated by what you see? What if those deep desires in our hearts are telling us the truth, revealing to us the life we were meant to live? A woman must know she is beautiful, she must know she is worth fighting for." (p. 17)
-"Every woman needs to know that she is exquisite and exotic and chosen. This is core to her identity, the way she bears the image of God. Will you pursue me? Do you delight in me? Will you fight for me? And like every little boy, she has taken a wound as well. The wound strikes right at the core of her heart of beauty and leaves a devastating message with it: No. You're not beautiful and no one will really fight for you. Like your wound, hers almost always comes at the hand of her father." (p. 182)
Stasi Eldredge specifically states in "Captivating" (p. 33):
"She has an irreplaceable role to play. And so you'll see that women are endowed with fierce devotion, an ability to suffer great hardships, a vision to make the world a better place."
Now look at this definition of "woman" again...
It is an effect and COMPLETELY DEPENDENT on the man! According to this definition of "woman", she is unable to be a woman WITHOUT a man! Being fought for, sharing an adventure, and revealing a beauty that is valued by another (specificially, a "man") are three things the woman CANNOT do by herself. Yet, the man can go on an adventure, fight a battle, and save a beauty ALL BY HIMSELF!
(Realize, the "beauty" that the Eldredges talk about can also be seen as "attraction". This is an important point. Over two years ago, I have wrote John Eldredge twice and never got a response. We have seen there is a HUGE difference between beauty and attraction. However, rather than project MY definition of "beauty" onto the Eldredges use of the word "beauty" and declare them wrong, even after giving them an opportunity to explain themselves, I try to see how they could be right. While I still believe the Eldredges belief that the definition of a woman requires someone else, I can see how their use of the word "beauty" can sometimes also mean "attraction". However, the following paragraph is not focused on "beauty". It is focused on the worldly belief that a female can't truly be a woman without another person, especially a man.)
For over thirty years, I have noticed this worldly belief that a female is COMPLETELY DEPENDENT on others for her ability to be a woman. Well before I got married, I told people that females are raised to be dependent and NOT IN CONTROL. My example thirty years ago was to ask people what they compliment a little boy on when he walks into the room. "He's strong!" and "He's smart!" Two things that are in that boy's control to get better at. Now look at what we compliment little girls on: "She's so pretty!" This is something she has NO CONTROL over. In fact, the reason that beauty products are a multi-billion dollar industry the world over is because we brainwash half the population of the world into being valued for something that REQUIRES them to use these products AND end up disappointed when it doesn't make them BEAUTIFUL...BECAUSE it it ultimately out of their control.
However, when you define 'men", you are really determining the definition of "women" because these two definitions can't have ANYTHING be the same...otherwise you are defining people, NOT men or women. This is a huge point, so I will state it again: When you state the definition of "men", you are also beginning the process of determining the definition for "women" BECAUSE you can't use ANY of the definition of "men" in order to define "women", otherwise, you are really defining "humans".
The Eldredges realized this and their response was to define "woman" as the sex completely dependent on the man by making the definition of "woman" be the response to the definition of "man". Even though it is wrong, it seems better than other alternatives...
For example, remember this definition of a "Real Man" from the post titled, "Man According to The World":
"At the beginning of this year, a person from Chicago gave me a card that states:"
"The Definition of a... R-E-A-L MAN
Rejects Passivity
Expects a Greater Reward, God's Reward
Accepts Responsibility
Leads Courageously"
Back to this post...
What is the definition of a "Real Woman"?
Accepts passivity OR rejects aggression...
Doesn't expect a greater reward...doesn't expect God's Reward(?!?!)
Neglects responsibility OR delegates responsibility...
Follows courageously OR leads cowardly...
SUMMARY
The world's definition for "woman" is the same definition that is prevalent in the traditional church:
Women are the physically weaker sex that are used for sexual intercourse, committing violence against, and blaming for the ills of the world.
She is COMPLETELY DEPENDENT on the man. The woman is LESS than the man...
Does the Bible say that the Woman is "LESS" than the Man?
Tomorrow, we will determine the non-contradictory definition of "woman" based on our non-contradictory definition of "man"...
Next Post
Definitions of the words for "Man" that are used in the Bible
Definition of "Man" according to the World
Definition of "Man" according to God's Word
Definitions of the words for "Woman" that are used in the Bible
Definition of "Woman" according to the World (This post)
Definition of "Woman" according to God's Word
Also, if you are looking for an explanation of how to become a woman, I have found the issue is most women don't know what a man OUGHT to be. Here is a link to the beginning of a Series from February 2011 that, believe it or not, has helped women: HOW to become a man.
We began this month covering the first Universal Stronghold: Leadership.
We found that we are eventually all Unprofitable discussing "Leadership" because too many people are actually describing BOSSES.
Last week we covered half of the second Universal Stronghold: The Roles of The Sexes.
We found that we are all Unprofitable discussing "men" because we are actually encouraging males to act in their NATURE and be PERFECT BOSSES.
The world and the church of today are ENCOURAGING males to act in their NATURE and be Unprofitable.
I believe the Bible PROVES God wants us to choose to act apart from our NATURE by allowing Him to flow through us so that we are ALL Leaders and so that the males of our species focus completely on the causes, regardless of the effects.
EVERYTIME A MALE DOES DAMAGE IT IS BECAUSE HE IS FOCUSED ON THE EFFECTS.
This week, we began looking at the definition of "woman"...
In a previous post, I asked for your definitions of "man" and "boy". The guidelines were that the definition ought to be stated in terms of a cause AND Jesus ought to be the Ultimate example of the definition.
Please reread this previous post for more background on the guidelines for determining your definition.
Likewise, the definition of "woman" ALSO ought to be stated in terms of a cause AND the Ultimate Woman ought to be the Ultimate example of the definition. In the previous post, we saw the Ultimate Woman is The Bride...Jesus' Wife.
In the previous post, we looked at the man-made definitions for the Hebrew words for "woman" and "female" and within this excerpt we asked the following questions...
"Now look at the definition for "female" again and tell me if this is God's definition (a cause) or man's definition (an effect):"
"Strong's #5344 naqab - "to puncture, lit. (to perforate, with more or less violence) or fig. (to specify, designate, libel): - appoint, blashpheme, bore, curse, express, with holes, name, pierce, strike through.""
"Jesus very definitely marries a "female". I can't imagine Jesus calling His Wife by this definition. Clearly the definition is an effect. Clearly it is man-made."
"However, why don't you decide this issue for yourself..."
"Feel free to call a linguist, if necessary. Do you think that this Hebrew definition of "female" is from God or do you think this definition was made by a human? Take time to state your will about this definition..."
"Notice, IF this definition was made by a human, THEN twenty-seven verses into the Bible we see the beginnings of the second Universal Stronghold..."
"One more question: Is this Hebrew definition of "female" different than how the world defines "female"?"
Today, we will look at the definition of woman according to the world...
WOMAN ACCORDING TO THE WORLD
When it comes to the world, the definition of "woman" is close to the Hebrew definition for "female".
Women are the physically weaker sex that is used for sexual intercourse, committing violence against, and blaming for the ills of the world.
This is an example of "IS vs. OUGHT". We covered this in the post titled, "Man According to The World":
"The world's definition of "man" is Right-Wrong. It has a Right WHAT with a Wrong WHY/HOW. I have also referred to this difference as OUGHT vs. IS."
"The world's definition correctly states WHAT a "man" NATURALLY IS..."
"Men are visual. Men are single-tracked...deal with one issue at a time. Men are Physically focused. Men are not verbal. Men are logical. However, when Men are stressed, they are quick to respond to a situation with emotions and force. In short, men are naturally focused on effects. In fact, men naturally make PERFECT BOSSES."
"The issue becomes: OUGHT men to act this way."
Back to today's post...
The same could be said for "woman". We have seen a definition for "man" that is Right-Wrong...it does describe the way it IS. However, the issue becomes whether God intended men to continue in their fleshly nature or choose to act apart from their fleshly nature, let God flow through them, so that they can be what God intended. Again, the same could be said for "woman".
In that post titled, "Man According to The World", John Eldredge was referenced in an excerpt from "Modeling God's Wills". John Eldredge is a Christian author who states that men were created to:
1. Go on an adventure
2. Fight a battle
3. Save a beauty
We saw these things are true for a man's fleshly nature, but are NOT true for a man in eternity. This ought to have shown us that God does NOT desire men to act this way. We will see next month how husbands who believe this man-made doctrine that Eldredge presents actually make their marriages Unprofitable. For now, let's look at what John Eldridge and his wife (Stasi) say about "woman"...
They say that "the core desires every woman shares-to be romanced, to play an irreplaceable role in a grand adventure, and to unveil beauty" should be encouraged. (The Synopsis to Stasi Eldredge's "Captivating Heart To Heart Leaders's Guide")
More specifically, John Eldredge states in "Wild at Heart":
-"Every woman yearns to be fought for. She wants to be more than noticed – she wants to be wanted. She wants to be pursued." (p. 16)
-"Every woman also wants an adventure to share. A woman doesn't want to be the adventure; she wants to be caught up into something greater than herself." (p. 16)
-"And finally, every woman wants to have a beauty to unveil. Do you see me? asks the heart of every girl. And are you captivated by what you see? What if those deep desires in our hearts are telling us the truth, revealing to us the life we were meant to live? A woman must know she is beautiful, she must know she is worth fighting for." (p. 17)
-"Every woman needs to know that she is exquisite and exotic and chosen. This is core to her identity, the way she bears the image of God. Will you pursue me? Do you delight in me? Will you fight for me? And like every little boy, she has taken a wound as well. The wound strikes right at the core of her heart of beauty and leaves a devastating message with it: No. You're not beautiful and no one will really fight for you. Like your wound, hers almost always comes at the hand of her father." (p. 182)
Stasi Eldredge specifically states in "Captivating" (p. 33):
"She has an irreplaceable role to play. And so you'll see that women are endowed with fierce devotion, an ability to suffer great hardships, a vision to make the world a better place."
Now look at this definition of "woman" again...
It is an effect and COMPLETELY DEPENDENT on the man! According to this definition of "woman", she is unable to be a woman WITHOUT a man! Being fought for, sharing an adventure, and revealing a beauty that is valued by another (specificially, a "man") are three things the woman CANNOT do by herself. Yet, the man can go on an adventure, fight a battle, and save a beauty ALL BY HIMSELF!
(Realize, the "beauty" that the Eldredges talk about can also be seen as "attraction". This is an important point. Over two years ago, I have wrote John Eldredge twice and never got a response. We have seen there is a HUGE difference between beauty and attraction. However, rather than project MY definition of "beauty" onto the Eldredges use of the word "beauty" and declare them wrong, even after giving them an opportunity to explain themselves, I try to see how they could be right. While I still believe the Eldredges belief that the definition of a woman requires someone else, I can see how their use of the word "beauty" can sometimes also mean "attraction". However, the following paragraph is not focused on "beauty". It is focused on the worldly belief that a female can't truly be a woman without another person, especially a man.)
For over thirty years, I have noticed this worldly belief that a female is COMPLETELY DEPENDENT on others for her ability to be a woman. Well before I got married, I told people that females are raised to be dependent and NOT IN CONTROL. My example thirty years ago was to ask people what they compliment a little boy on when he walks into the room. "He's strong!" and "He's smart!" Two things that are in that boy's control to get better at. Now look at what we compliment little girls on: "She's so pretty!" This is something she has NO CONTROL over. In fact, the reason that beauty products are a multi-billion dollar industry the world over is because we brainwash half the population of the world into being valued for something that REQUIRES them to use these products AND end up disappointed when it doesn't make them BEAUTIFUL...BECAUSE it it ultimately out of their control.
However, when you define 'men", you are really determining the definition of "women" because these two definitions can't have ANYTHING be the same...otherwise you are defining people, NOT men or women. This is a huge point, so I will state it again: When you state the definition of "men", you are also beginning the process of determining the definition for "women" BECAUSE you can't use ANY of the definition of "men" in order to define "women", otherwise, you are really defining "humans".
The Eldredges realized this and their response was to define "woman" as the sex completely dependent on the man by making the definition of "woman" be the response to the definition of "man". Even though it is wrong, it seems better than other alternatives...
For example, remember this definition of a "Real Man" from the post titled, "Man According to The World":
"At the beginning of this year, a person from Chicago gave me a card that states:"
"The Definition of a... R-E-A-L MAN
Rejects Passivity
Expects a Greater Reward, God's Reward
Accepts Responsibility
Leads Courageously"
Back to this post...
What is the definition of a "Real Woman"?
Accepts passivity OR rejects aggression...
Doesn't expect a greater reward...doesn't expect God's Reward(?!?!)
Neglects responsibility OR delegates responsibility...
Follows courageously OR leads cowardly...
SUMMARY
The world's definition for "woman" is the same definition that is prevalent in the traditional church:
Women are the physically weaker sex that are used for sexual intercourse, committing violence against, and blaming for the ills of the world.
She is COMPLETELY DEPENDENT on the man. The woman is LESS than the man...
Does the Bible say that the Woman is "LESS" than the Man?
Tomorrow, we will determine the non-contradictory definition of "woman" based on our non-contradictory definition of "man"...
Next Post
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Woman According to The Bible
This post gives the Biblical definitions of the words used for woman. These definitions agree with the way women are currently treated. However, this is NOT God's definition for a woman. Humans created the definitions, NOT God. In order to understand God's definition for a woman, please read the post, ""The Definition of a Real Woman". Also, the definition of a woman according to God is COMPLETELY dependent on the definition of a male according to God. You can find this out this post: "Definition of a Real Man"
This post has become very popular with people "googling" for answers to The Roles of The Sexes. Thank you for choosing this site to answer your question. I realize you are probably in a rush to answer some burning question and I believe this post will answer it. However, I would like to make you aware this post is part of a Series that covers the roles of both men and women according to the world, the definitions used in the Bible, and God's non-contradictory explanation. Please mark this post and take time to come back and look at the following links to get a bigger understanding:
Definitions of the words for "Man" that are used in the Bible
Definition of "Man" according to the World
Definition of "Man" according to God's Word
Definitions of the words for "Woman" that are used in the Bible (This post)
Definition of "Woman" according to the World
Definition of "Woman" according to God's Word
Also, if you are looking for an explanation of a Godly Woman BLATANTLY from the Bible, please read this post: Proverbs 31.
Finally, if you are looking for an explanation of how to become a woman, I have found the issue is most women don't know what a man OUGHT to be. Here is a link to the beginning of a Series from February 2011 that, believe it or not, has helped women: HOW to become a man.
We began this month covering the first Universal Stronghold: Leadership.
We found that we are eventually all Unprofitable discussing "Leadership" because too many people are actually describing BOSSES.
Last week we covered half of the second Universal Stronghold: The Roles of The Sexes.
We found that we are all Unprofitable discussing "men" because we are actually encouraging males to act in their NATURE and be PERFECT BOSSES.
The world and the church of today are ENCOURAGING males to act in their NATURE and be Unprofitable.
I believe the Bible PROVES God wants us to choose to act apart from our NATURE by allowing Him to flow through us so that we are ALL Leaders and so that the males of our species focus completely on the causes, regardless of the effects.
EVERYTIME A MALE DOES DAMAGE IT IS BECAUSE HE IS FOCUSED ON THE EFFECTS.
This week, we began looking at the definition of "woman"...
In a previous post, I asked for your definitions of "man" and "boy". The guidelines were that the definition ought to be stated in terms of a cause AND Jesus ought to be the Ultimate example of the definition.
Please reread this previous post for more background on the guidelines for determining your definition.
Likewise, the definition of "woman" ALSO ought to be stated in terms of a cause AND the Ultimate Woman ought to be the Ultimate example of the definition.
So, it looks like one of the questions you ought to answer in addition to the definition of "woman" is: Who is the Ultimate Woman?
Today, we will look at the man-made definition of the Hebrew words for "woman" and "female".
WOMAN ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE
In a previous post, "Man According to The Bible", we looked at passages in Genesis for the Hebrew words for "man" and "male". Here are the passages for "woman" and "female":
Genesis 2
"23 And the man said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."
Woman is Strong's #802 ishshah - "feminine of 376 and 582, a woman"
Strong's #376 iysh was the word that we saw from the "Man According to The Bible" post. It meant "a man as an individual or a male person;".
Strong's #582 enowsh - "a mortal"
So the Hebrew word for "woman" just means a feminine version of "man". What about "female"?
Genesis 1
"27 And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."
female is Strong's #5347 neqebah - "from 5344; female"
Strong's #5344 naqab - "to puncture, lit. (to perforate, with more or less violence) or fig. (to specify, designate, libel): - appoint, blashpheme, bore, curse, express, with holes, name, pierce, strike through."
I want to revisit something I wrote in the "Man According to The Bible" post when we looked at the Hebrew definition for "male", because the same thoughts apply when we look at "female":
"This is a subtle point..."
"Genesis 5 states that GOD called them "Adam". That was the word God used. However, when the passage says God created "male and female", these are NOT the words God used to describe the male and female version of "man"."
(I would also add that according to Genesis 2, Adam called Eve "woman"...NOT God.)
"So, the definitions for the words representing "male" and "female" come from humans. These definitions are effects of people...the result of people defining words. God did NOT write the Hebrew dictionary. People came up with the definitions of Hebrew words. (One of the definitions for Strong's #120 is "hypocrite". Did this portion of the definition come from God or a person?)"
"God's SPECIFIC meaning for each word is sometimes given in God's Word. For example, the definition for "sin" is given in God's Word as "whatsoever is apart from faith". When God does NOT give the specific definition in His Word, we need to use God's Word to determine the definition of a word God used."
"We are trying to define "man" as it relates to the mature male version of our species. We are trying to define "boy" as it relates to the immature male version of our species."
"What we learned from the Hebrew definition for "male" is that people defined the Hebrew word for "male" in terms of an effect: it is the sex that is remembered and mentioned!"
"WHY are males the sex that the Bible makes sure to record and mention when it presents genealogies? I can't say for sure. However, I can say that males are the sex that the Bible does NOT fail to remember and mention...and as an effect of this cause, people have determined the definition for the Hebrew word for "male"...it is defined in terms of this effect of being mentioned and remembered."
Back to today's post...
Remember, the question from yesterday asking about the "Ultimate Woman"? What was your answer?
The Bible says The Bride is the Ultimate Woman. We have seen that we make up The Bride. Jesus is the Ultimate MAN and His WIFE would be the Ultimate Woman.
Now look at the definition for "female" again and tell me if this is God's definition (a cause) or man's definition (an effect):
Strong's #5344 naqab - "to puncture, lit. (to perforate, with more or less violence) or fig. (to specify, designate, libel): - appoint, blashpheme, bore, curse, express, with holes, name, pierce, strike through."
Jesus very definitely marries a "female". I can't imagine Jesus calling His Wife by this definition. Clearly the definition is an effect. Clearly it is man-made. Clearly this definition of "female" is an effect of HOW society ACTUALLY views females.
However, why don't you decide this issue for yourself...
Feel free to call a linguist, if necessary. Do you think that this Hebrew definition of "female" is from God or do you think this definition was made by a human? Take time to state your will about this definition...
Notice, IF this definition was made by a human, THEN twenty-seven verses into the Bible we see the beginnings of the second Universal Stronghold...
One more question: Is this Hebrew definition of "female" different than how the world defines "female"?
Tomorrow, we will look at the definition of woman according to the world...
Next Post
This post has become very popular with people "googling" for answers to The Roles of The Sexes. Thank you for choosing this site to answer your question. I realize you are probably in a rush to answer some burning question and I believe this post will answer it. However, I would like to make you aware this post is part of a Series that covers the roles of both men and women according to the world, the definitions used in the Bible, and God's non-contradictory explanation. Please mark this post and take time to come back and look at the following links to get a bigger understanding:
Definitions of the words for "Man" that are used in the Bible
Definition of "Man" according to the World
Definition of "Man" according to God's Word
Definitions of the words for "Woman" that are used in the Bible (This post)
Definition of "Woman" according to the World
Definition of "Woman" according to God's Word
Also, if you are looking for an explanation of a Godly Woman BLATANTLY from the Bible, please read this post: Proverbs 31.
Finally, if you are looking for an explanation of how to become a woman, I have found the issue is most women don't know what a man OUGHT to be. Here is a link to the beginning of a Series from February 2011 that, believe it or not, has helped women: HOW to become a man.
We began this month covering the first Universal Stronghold: Leadership.
We found that we are eventually all Unprofitable discussing "Leadership" because too many people are actually describing BOSSES.
Last week we covered half of the second Universal Stronghold: The Roles of The Sexes.
We found that we are all Unprofitable discussing "men" because we are actually encouraging males to act in their NATURE and be PERFECT BOSSES.
The world and the church of today are ENCOURAGING males to act in their NATURE and be Unprofitable.
I believe the Bible PROVES God wants us to choose to act apart from our NATURE by allowing Him to flow through us so that we are ALL Leaders and so that the males of our species focus completely on the causes, regardless of the effects.
EVERYTIME A MALE DOES DAMAGE IT IS BECAUSE HE IS FOCUSED ON THE EFFECTS.
This week, we began looking at the definition of "woman"...
In a previous post, I asked for your definitions of "man" and "boy". The guidelines were that the definition ought to be stated in terms of a cause AND Jesus ought to be the Ultimate example of the definition.
Please reread this previous post for more background on the guidelines for determining your definition.
Likewise, the definition of "woman" ALSO ought to be stated in terms of a cause AND the Ultimate Woman ought to be the Ultimate example of the definition.
So, it looks like one of the questions you ought to answer in addition to the definition of "woman" is: Who is the Ultimate Woman?
Today, we will look at the man-made definition of the Hebrew words for "woman" and "female".
WOMAN ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE
In a previous post, "Man According to The Bible", we looked at passages in Genesis for the Hebrew words for "man" and "male". Here are the passages for "woman" and "female":
Genesis 2
"23 And the man said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."
Woman is Strong's #802 ishshah - "feminine of 376 and 582, a woman"
Strong's #376 iysh was the word that we saw from the "Man According to The Bible" post. It meant "a man as an individual or a male person;".
Strong's #582 enowsh - "a mortal"
So the Hebrew word for "woman" just means a feminine version of "man". What about "female"?
Genesis 1
"27 And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."
female is Strong's #5347 neqebah - "from 5344; female"
Strong's #5344 naqab - "to puncture, lit. (to perforate, with more or less violence) or fig. (to specify, designate, libel): - appoint, blashpheme, bore, curse, express, with holes, name, pierce, strike through."
I want to revisit something I wrote in the "Man According to The Bible" post when we looked at the Hebrew definition for "male", because the same thoughts apply when we look at "female":
"This is a subtle point..."
"Genesis 5 states that GOD called them "Adam". That was the word God used. However, when the passage says God created "male and female", these are NOT the words God used to describe the male and female version of "man"."
(I would also add that according to Genesis 2, Adam called Eve "woman"...NOT God.)
"So, the definitions for the words representing "male" and "female" come from humans. These definitions are effects of people...the result of people defining words. God did NOT write the Hebrew dictionary. People came up with the definitions of Hebrew words. (One of the definitions for Strong's #120 is "hypocrite". Did this portion of the definition come from God or a person?)"
"God's SPECIFIC meaning for each word is sometimes given in God's Word. For example, the definition for "sin" is given in God's Word as "whatsoever is apart from faith". When God does NOT give the specific definition in His Word, we need to use God's Word to determine the definition of a word God used."
"We are trying to define "man" as it relates to the mature male version of our species. We are trying to define "boy" as it relates to the immature male version of our species."
"What we learned from the Hebrew definition for "male" is that people defined the Hebrew word for "male" in terms of an effect: it is the sex that is remembered and mentioned!"
"WHY are males the sex that the Bible makes sure to record and mention when it presents genealogies? I can't say for sure. However, I can say that males are the sex that the Bible does NOT fail to remember and mention...and as an effect of this cause, people have determined the definition for the Hebrew word for "male"...it is defined in terms of this effect of being mentioned and remembered."
Back to today's post...
Remember, the question from yesterday asking about the "Ultimate Woman"? What was your answer?
The Bible says The Bride is the Ultimate Woman. We have seen that we make up The Bride. Jesus is the Ultimate MAN and His WIFE would be the Ultimate Woman.
Now look at the definition for "female" again and tell me if this is God's definition (a cause) or man's definition (an effect):
Strong's #5344 naqab - "to puncture, lit. (to perforate, with more or less violence) or fig. (to specify, designate, libel): - appoint, blashpheme, bore, curse, express, with holes, name, pierce, strike through."
Jesus very definitely marries a "female". I can't imagine Jesus calling His Wife by this definition. Clearly the definition is an effect. Clearly it is man-made. Clearly this definition of "female" is an effect of HOW society ACTUALLY views females.
However, why don't you decide this issue for yourself...
Feel free to call a linguist, if necessary. Do you think that this Hebrew definition of "female" is from God or do you think this definition was made by a human? Take time to state your will about this definition...
Notice, IF this definition was made by a human, THEN twenty-seven verses into the Bible we see the beginnings of the second Universal Stronghold...
One more question: Is this Hebrew definition of "female" different than how the world defines "female"?
Tomorrow, we will look at the definition of woman according to the world...
Next Post
Monday, August 17, 2009
Introduction to The Definition of "Woman"
We began this month covering the first Universal Stronghold: Leadership.
We found that we are eventually all Unprofitable discussing "Leadership" because too many people are actually describing BOSSES.
(Please read the post attached to the link given if you have any problems with the phrasing of the previous sentence. The short version is that we found that even when someone thinks they understand "leadership", they will eventually also define "boss behavior" as leadership behavior. Besides, even if the person is able to define "leadership" in a non-contradictory Biblical fashion, the discussions this person will have with others will be Unprofitable because there are TOO MANY people in this world with a WRONG understanding of Leadership. It is like the collective masses have AS A COLLECTIVE DEFINITION such a backwards explanation of leadership that it not only makes us Unprofitable, it must be ingrained somewhere in our universal thought process. It must meet the definition of a Universal Stronghold! So, the one sentence I stated in the previous paragraph is really a summary for WHY our understanding of "leadership" is the first Universal Stronghold and even if a small number of people get the concept correct, we will still ALL be Unprofitable because we as a collective group have a Universal misunderstanding of leadership...we actually define bosses as leaders. But, please find out for yourself. I have had this definition for over a decade and in that time MORE books have been written rationalizing "boss" behavior as leadership behavior. In fact, I have shared this definition with others, only to have them complain to me when they come up against boss behavior EVEN THOUGH THEY KNOW THE CORRECT DEFINITION OF LEADER! So, even the people who know the definition of leader are unable to be Profitable in the face of the masses. Again, if you read the previous paragraph and had a problem with the "extreme" statement, please read the post through the link that is given.)
Last week we covered half of the second Universal Stronghold: The Roles of The Sexes.
We found that we are all Unprofitable discussing "men" because we are actually encouraging males to act in their NATURE and be PERFECT BOSSES.
(Again, if you have a problem with the above phrasing, you should really read the previous post. Otherwise, take the above parenthetical paragraph and substitute "men" in for "leaders" and you will understand why having a correct definition for "man" still results in Unprofitability because of the masses.)
The world and the church of today are ENCOURAGING males to act in their NATURE and be Unprofitable.
I believe the Bible PROVES God wants us to choose to act apart from our NATURE by allowing Him to flow through us so that we are ALL Leaders and so that the males of our species focus completely on the causes, regardless of the effects.
EVERYTIME A MALE DOES DAMAGE IT IS BECAUSE HE IS FOCUSED ON THE EFFECTS.
This week, we will begin looking at the definition of "woman"...
INTRODUCTION TO THE DEFINITION OF "WOMAN"
In a previous post, I asked for your definitions of "man" and "boy". The guidelines were that the definition ought to be stated in terms of a cause AND Jesus ought to be the Ultimate example of the definition.
Please reread this previous post for more background on the guidelines for determining your definition.
Likewise, the definition ALSO ought to be stated in terms of a cause AND the Ultimate Woman ought to be the Ultimate example of the definition.
So, it looks like one of the questions you ought to answer in addition to the definition of "woman" is: Who is the Ultimate Woman?
Tomorrow, we will look at the man-made definition of the Hebrew words for "woman" and "female".
Next Post
We found that we are eventually all Unprofitable discussing "Leadership" because too many people are actually describing BOSSES.
(Please read the post attached to the link given if you have any problems with the phrasing of the previous sentence. The short version is that we found that even when someone thinks they understand "leadership", they will eventually also define "boss behavior" as leadership behavior. Besides, even if the person is able to define "leadership" in a non-contradictory Biblical fashion, the discussions this person will have with others will be Unprofitable because there are TOO MANY people in this world with a WRONG understanding of Leadership. It is like the collective masses have AS A COLLECTIVE DEFINITION such a backwards explanation of leadership that it not only makes us Unprofitable, it must be ingrained somewhere in our universal thought process. It must meet the definition of a Universal Stronghold! So, the one sentence I stated in the previous paragraph is really a summary for WHY our understanding of "leadership" is the first Universal Stronghold and even if a small number of people get the concept correct, we will still ALL be Unprofitable because we as a collective group have a Universal misunderstanding of leadership...we actually define bosses as leaders. But, please find out for yourself. I have had this definition for over a decade and in that time MORE books have been written rationalizing "boss" behavior as leadership behavior. In fact, I have shared this definition with others, only to have them complain to me when they come up against boss behavior EVEN THOUGH THEY KNOW THE CORRECT DEFINITION OF LEADER! So, even the people who know the definition of leader are unable to be Profitable in the face of the masses. Again, if you read the previous paragraph and had a problem with the "extreme" statement, please read the post through the link that is given.)
Last week we covered half of the second Universal Stronghold: The Roles of The Sexes.
We found that we are all Unprofitable discussing "men" because we are actually encouraging males to act in their NATURE and be PERFECT BOSSES.
(Again, if you have a problem with the above phrasing, you should really read the previous post. Otherwise, take the above parenthetical paragraph and substitute "men" in for "leaders" and you will understand why having a correct definition for "man" still results in Unprofitability because of the masses.)
The world and the church of today are ENCOURAGING males to act in their NATURE and be Unprofitable.
I believe the Bible PROVES God wants us to choose to act apart from our NATURE by allowing Him to flow through us so that we are ALL Leaders and so that the males of our species focus completely on the causes, regardless of the effects.
EVERYTIME A MALE DOES DAMAGE IT IS BECAUSE HE IS FOCUSED ON THE EFFECTS.
This week, we will begin looking at the definition of "woman"...
INTRODUCTION TO THE DEFINITION OF "WOMAN"
In a previous post, I asked for your definitions of "man" and "boy". The guidelines were that the definition ought to be stated in terms of a cause AND Jesus ought to be the Ultimate example of the definition.
Please reread this previous post for more background on the guidelines for determining your definition.
Likewise, the definition ALSO ought to be stated in terms of a cause AND the Ultimate Woman ought to be the Ultimate example of the definition.
So, it looks like one of the questions you ought to answer in addition to the definition of "woman" is: Who is the Ultimate Woman?
Tomorrow, we will look at the man-made definition of the Hebrew words for "woman" and "female".
Next Post
Friday, August 14, 2009
The Definition of a Real Man
This post has become very popular with people "googling" for answers to The Roles of The Sexes. Thank you for choosing this site to answer your question. I realize you are probably in a rush to answer some burning question and I believe this post will answer it. However, I would like to make you aware this post is part of a Series that covers the roles of both men and women according to the world, the definitions used in the Bible, and God's non-contradictory explanation. This post also shows how all of this is reinforced by our cultural definition of "Leader", instead of the Biblical definition of "Leader". Please mark this post and take time to come back and look at the following links to get a bigger understanding:
Definitions of the words for "Man" that are used in the Bible
Definition of "Man" according to the World
Definition of "Man" according to God's Word (This post)
Definitions of the words for "Woman" that are used in the Bible
Definition of "Woman" according to the World
Definition of "Woman" according to God's Word
Also, if you are looking for an explanation of how to become a man, here is a link to the beginning of a Series from February 2011: HOW to become a man.
IF YOU ARE ONLY INTERESTED IN THE DEFINITION OF A REAL MAN ACCORDING TO GOD, AND NOT THE BIG PICTURE PERSPECTIVE WITH RESPECT TO LEADERSHIP, SCROLL DOWN UNTIL YOU SEE: *******************
LEADERSHIP AND THE ROLES OF THE SEXES
This month we are looking at the two Universal Strongholds that are hindering our ability to fix the church.
Last week we looked at the first Universal Stronghold: Leadership.
Remember, a stronghold is a source of ammunition and resources for the enemy within our brains that ultimately leads to us being Unprofitable. When I speak of Universal Strongholds, I'm stating that EVERYTHING about this topic is Unprofitably filed away in our brains. For instance, when people speak of "Leadership" it is Unprofitable in the Long Term because they ACTUALLY describe attributes that are the OPPOSITE of what would make ALL of us Profitable.
This week, we began looking at the second Universal Stronghold: the roles of the sexes.
This week we are covering the males. Next week (and for the rest of the month), we will cover the females. By the end of this month, we will see that both of these Universal Strongholds (Leadership and The Roles of The Sexes) are forming a contradictory loop in the thought processes of our culture's "brain".
In a previous post, I asked for your definitions of "man" and "boy". The guidelines were that the definition ought to be stated in terms of a cause and Jesus ought to be the Ultimate example of the definition.
Please reread this previous post for more background on the guidelines for determining your definition.
In the previous post, we saw that God made males to NATURALLY act as BOSSES. We saw that BOSSES:
-want to be treated as if they are LESS excellent than their followers
-are exclusive
-are focused on APPEARANCE
-can't publicly admit they are wrong
-use the Physical to berate others because they make the Physical a cause
-expect support BECAUSE they are wrong
-don't know the causes because they are focused on effects
-don't realize respect is an effect of being humble
-and cannot explain God's doctrine in a non-contradictory and specific manner
This description PERFECTLY describes a male's NATURE...they don't have to make ANY effort to act differently than this.
However, God's definition of a "Leader" is someone who facilitates the Purpose and Progress of others. This is the OPPOSITE of being a BOSS. The ONLY way for a male to be a Leader is to humble himself (his NATURE) and allow God's Nature to flow through him. The ONLY way to accomplish this objective is to focus on causes.
I believe God's definition of Leader results in people becoming MORE able to do God's Will over time. In fact, I believe the man-made contradictory traditional definition of "Leader" (BOSS) actually results in us getting increasingly further away from accomplishing God's Will!
Think about the traditional definition of "Leader" (BOSS)...It is NOT possible for all of us to facilitate our own Purpose and Progress at the expense of others.
Leaders operate according to causality...they provide the cause in order to get the desired effect.
Bosses operate opposite of causality...they attempt to get the effect without providing a reason or a cause.
"Man" according to the world and traditional churches is a being focused on the Physical...focused on effects.
Males are NATURALLY focused on effects. Males are NATURALLY BOSSES.
Should we REINFORCE a male's NATURE?
My son went to another "manly man conference" at a nationally known minister's church. I asked him if he got any handouts from the all day conference. He said, "No, BECAUSE they said men don't want handouts...men don't like to read." Most of what was stated had NOTHING to do with the Bible and EVERYTHING to do with our culture.
It is a subtle point: Are we supposed to keep people comfortable in their fleshly nature and rationalize WHY we do this by blaming it on God? ("God made us men this way and there is nothing we can or should do about it.")
The question you need to answer is: Do you think God DESIRES males to be focused on effects?
Clearly, this BELIEF results in males being BOSSES.
Today, we will look at the definition of "man" with Biblical examples...
*******************
THE DEFINITION OF A REAL MAN
If you have been following the blog posts this week, then you probably have already determined the non-contradictory definition of "man" - the sex that OUGHT to be focused on the causes, regardless of the effects.
Therefore "boy" would be - the male that is focused on effects.
I will state this as plainly as possible:
EVERYTIME A MALE DOES DAMAGE IT IS BECAUSE HE IS FOCUSED ON THE EFFECTS.
Notice, if the male is focused solely on the causes then he cannot control the effects. So the first effect of being a "man" is that he is HUMBLE. He can ONLY stay focused on the causes if he humbles himself and allows God's NATURE to flow through him.
We have stated this several times before: the best a group of men can achieve is "NOT Unprofitable". There are NO EXAMPLES in the Bible of a group composed SOLELY of males being Profitable in the Long Term.
In a previous Series, we saw that even The Trinity is "NOT Unprofitable". How could The Trinity interact with each other in a manner that results in gain? Everything The Trinity created has returned LESS value than what it took to create it. To think that we have returned MORE value to The Trinity than what They gave to us is to make us superior to The Trinity. Be careful.
(I realize that this may upset some people, and that is understandable. Not only have we covered this topic in the past, but we will be exploring deeper the implications of this the rest of this month when we cover "woman".)
The Meaning of Life is Church and Marriage. The Bible ends with the Church inhabiting the new Jerusalem, as the Bride, Married to Jesus.
Notice, Males and Females ought to both do the Causes (Grace, Faith, etc.). However, Females NATURALLY do the Causes...Males do NOT.
When Males do the Effects, they are Unprofitable. When Males do the Effects, Females do the Causes...which is Not Unprofitable. The OVERALL result is: Unprofitable.
THIS IS HOW AND WHY THIS WORLD IS RUNNING DOWN.
However, if Males would act apart from their nature and do the Causes (regardless of the Effects), it would allow Females to do the Effects.
When Males do the Causes, they are Not Unprofitable. When Females do the Effects, they are Profitable. The OVERALL result is: Profitable.
THIS IS GOD'S PLAN FOR ETERNITY! THIS CAN GO ON FOREVER!
Jesus is the Ultimate Man...He ALWAYS and COMPLETELY does the Causes. We as the Bride will learn to do the Effects. Even when we don't do the Effects, the OVERALL result is Not Unprofitable.
THIS PLAN CAN NEVER BECOME LESS.
If Jesus had been a woman...and the church came together to be the Groom, it would be POSSIBLE for eternity to become something LESS. Please check out the links at the beginning of this post to understand the role of women.
EVERY OTHER explanation for the role of Males and Females either contradicts the Bible by focusing on the Physical or can't explain the DIFFERENCE between Males and Females because virtues are presented that BOTH sexes ought to have. The ONLY way to explain the difference of the roles is by Cause and Effect!!!!
Do we want to follow the Bible or our own man-made culture and traditions that Jesus said make the Word (and Will) of God of NONE EFFECT?
Man's definition of Leadership encourages males to be about Effects...which is WHY you really ought to understand your own definition of "Leadership" if you want to become a real man of God according to His Word. (Now may be a good time to read the beginning of this post before looking at the examples from God's Word.)
BIBLICAL SUPPORT FOR GOD'S DEFINITION OF A REAL MAN
Every godly male example from the Bible involves the male being completely about the causes and NOT about the effects!
Every destructive example from the Bible involves a male focused on the effects.
David is a great example of BOTH!
2 Samuel 11
"1 And it came to pass, at the return of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at Jerusalem.
2 And it came to pass at eventide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.
3 And David send and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
4 And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her (for she was purified from her uncleanness); and she returned unto her house.
5 And the woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, I am with child.
6 And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David."
David is focused on an effect (having sexual intercourse with Bath-sheba). Then his response to her being pregnant focuses on another effect (getting Uriah to think he impregnated Bath-sheba). When that doesn't work, David focuses on the next effect (killing Uriah)...and on...and on.
Look at David at the end of his life:
2 Samuel 24
"22 And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, the oxen for the burnt-offering, and the threshing instruments and the yokes of the oxen for the wood:
23 all this, O king, doth Araunah give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, Jehovah thy God accept thee.
24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will verily buy it of thee at a price. Neither will I offer burnt-offerings unto Jehovah my God which cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
25 And David built there an altar unto Jehovah, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. So Jehovah was entreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel."
David was NOT focused on the effect (sacrifice). He was focused on the cause (attitude...that it ought to cost him). There are numerous times David was about the cause (e.g., dancing in front of the ark) and NOT concerned about the effects.
Throughout this blog, we have covered NUMEROUS examples of "men" and "boys". In order to keep this post manageable, here is a brief look at some Biblical examples. Let's begin with my favorite book of the Bible...
Daniel 3
"16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer thee in this matter.
17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king.
18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up."
Notice, these three men that God ended up doing a miracle for stated that regardless of the effects (God deliver them), they would still do the cause (serving God).
Daniel 5
"17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; nevertheless I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation."
The king tells Daniel the effect of interpreting the writing. Daniel BLATANTLY states that he will do the cause (interpretation) and does NOT want the effects (rewards).
II Samuel 10:12
"12 Be of good courage, and let us play the man for our people, and for the cities of our God: and Jehovah do that which seemeth him good."
Joab put the men in line for battle and then stated they should "play the man for our people"...which means "be about the causes". What about the effects? Joab said, "Jehovah do that which seemeth Him good." Joab left the effects to God. He didn't focus on them AT ALL.
John 21
"20 Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; who also leaned back on his breast at the supper, and said, Lord, who is he that betrayeth thee?
21 Peter therefore seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?
22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me."
Peter is looking at the effects for someone else instead of focusing on the cause Jesus stated to him. Notice what Jesus said to Peter just before these verses:
"18 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not."
Peter was a man because he took more and more direction from God over time...
We saw that Solomon began focused on causes. However, he ended up focusing on effects to the point that he stated everything was pointless (unprofitable...not getting desired effects) at the end of his life. We saw The Four Causes of Solomon's destruction.
In fact, there are several posts from that series on Leadership that can be understood MORE fully now that we have a definition for "man":
Leadership: Relying on God More
Peter Relies on God More
Paul Relies on God More
Solomon Relies on God Less
Like we stated earlier this week, the Ultimate MAN is Jesus.
Notice, our society needs people who do the causes EVEN WHEN they know the effects are Unprofitable. The reason WHY? Because if they don't do it, it will become CATASTROPHICALLY Unprofitable.
Think about war, a burning building, or a child that has fallen down a well. When each of these situations is handled as well as possible, is the result Profitable? Are the soldiers BETTER off after the war than they were before the war? Is the house that caught fire better than when it caught fire? Is the kid healthier than before they fell down the well? No. No. No.
However, if someone doesn't handle the situation, there will be more deaths in the war, the house will be completely destroyed, and the child will die. All of these situations are CATASTROPHICALLY Unprofitable.
Our society REQUIRES people who will do the causes EVEN WHEN the effect is going to be Unprofitable!...otherwise things will be MUCH worse. We need people who will do the causes knowing they will NOT personally benefit from the EFFECTS...whether the effects are profitable or not.
These people are known as MEN.
Jesus was the Ultimate MAN. Jesus stepped into a situation that needed someone to be COMPLETELY about the causes knowing that the result was going to be Unprofitable. However, Jesus also knew that without Him, the result would be CATASTROPHICALLY Unprofitable.
Take a moment and realize what it would be like to know AHEAD OF TIME that ALL the effort you will give for three years will still end up in your death and your followers eventually being murdered...and that is the BEST POSSIBLE RESULT!
Next time you read a gospel account of Jesus, notice how He doesn't get excited about EFFECTS...both good and bad. Notice how He CONSTANTLY reinforces the CAUSES.
Jesus intentionally avoided His fleshly nature by ALWAYS and COMPLETELY allowing God to flow through Him. The ONLY way Jesus could ALWAYS and COMPLETELY do this was because He was ALSO divine in His Nature.
Here are a couple quick examples:
John 8
"28 Jesus therefore said, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself, but as the Father taught me, I speak these things."
John 14
"10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I say unto you I speak not from myself: but the Father abiding in me doeth his works."
Luke 10
"17 And the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject unto us in thy name.
18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven.
19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you.
20 Nevertheless in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
21 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes: yea, Father; for so it was well-pleasing in thy sight."
The OPPOSITE of Jesus are the people that we are warned about in Jude...
Jude
"10 But these rail at whatsoever things they know not: and what they understand naturally, like the creatures without reason, in these things are they destroyed.
11 Woe unto them! For they went in the way of Cain, and ran riotously in the error of Balaam for hire, and perished in the gainsaying of Korah.
12 These are they who are hidden rocks in your love-feasts when they feast with you, shepherds that without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn leaves without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
13 Wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness hath been reserved forever."
Look again at the three examples that represent the deceivers that attempt to take the church off course...
Genesis 4
"6 And Jehovah said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7 If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up? and if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door: and unto thee shall be its desire, but do thou rule over it."
Cain was focused on the EFFECTS of his brother (Respect/getting from God) instead of his own CAUSES (giving to God).
Numbers 22
"4 And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now will this multitude lick up all that is round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time.
5 And he sent messengers unto Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the River, to the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me.
6 Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land; for I know that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.
7 And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.
8 And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as Jehovah shall speak unto me: and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam.
9 And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee?
10 And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent unto me, saying,
11 Behold, the people that is come out of Egypt, it covereth the face of the earth: now, come curse me them; peradventure I shall be able to fight against them, and shall drive them out.
12 And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people; for they are blessed."
Balaam ends up going with them. Balaam was focused on the EFFECTS (money) instead of the CAUSES (listening to God).
Numbers 16
"1 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:
2 and they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the congregation, called to the assembly, men of renown;
3 and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and Jehovah is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the assembly of Jehovah?
4 And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face:
5 and he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, In the morning Jehovah will show who are his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he shall choose will he cause to come near unto him."
God opened up the earth so that Korah and his 250 followers and all their households were removed. Korah was focused on the EFFECTS (Power/BOSS) instead of the CAUSES being obedient to God.
The church needs to be careful when its "Leaders" become BOSSES...when the Leaders focus on EFFECTS: respect, money, and power.
Remember, people get focused on the EFFECTS of The Acts Church.
Acts 2
"43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
45 and they sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all, according as any man had need.
46 And day by day, continuing stedfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart,
47 praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to them day by day those that were saved."
What were the CAUSES?
"42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers."
The reason pastors were men in the Bible is that they OUGHT to be about the CAUSES regardless of the EFFECTS.
Teaching the apostles' doctrine, fellowship, breaking bread, and praying are all CAUSES...things that can be intentionally done REGARDLESS of the EFFECTS.
However, when males attempt to manage the EFFECTS...when they teach, have fellowship, break bread, or pray focused on the EFFECTS, the result will be Unprofitable.
We have seen The Cause is Doctrine. The problem is the church doesn't teach God's doctrine according to God's Word...the church is teaching man-made doctrine according to tradition.
The REVEAL book showed that there are four levels of Christians:
1. Don't know
2. Know the WHAT
3. Know the WHY
4. Know the HOW
Today's churches are able to progress people from a "1" to a "2". They can teach people a WHAT. For example, "Jesus died for your sins". Getting to a "4" is teaching people HOW to teach others.
Today's churches are having trouble progressing people from a "2" to a "3". This is BECAUSE the church doesn't know the WHY behind its beliefs. In fact, some churches demonize people who can explain the WHY because these churches believe we can't know or aren't supposed to know the WHY.
So, we have "Leaders" in the church who went from a "2" to a "4"...and all they can teach is the WHAT that helps people move from a "1" to a "2"...and they get offended if someone can help THEM get from a "2" to a "3"!
THE WHY IS THE CAUSE.
Today, we have BOSSES in charge of the church who are unable to focus on the CAUSES. We have "boys" in charge of the church. We have males Preaching Effects.
SUMMARY
Last week we covered the first Universal Stronghold: Leadership.
We found that we are eventually all Unprofitable discussing "Leadership" because too many people are actually describing BOSSES.
This week we covered half of the second Universal Stronghold: The Roles of The Sexes.
We found that we are all Unprofitable discussing "men" because we are actually encouraging males to act in their NATURE and be PERFECT BOSSES.
The world and the church of today are ENCOURAGING males to act in their NATURE and be Unprofitable.
I believe the Bible PROVES God wants us to choose to act apart from our NATURE by allowing Him to flow through us so that we are ALL Leaders and so that the males of our species focus completely on the causes.
EVERYTIME A MALE DOES DAMAGE IT IS BECAUSE HE IS FOCUSED ON THE EFFECTS.
This information is a result of using four God-given principles to interpret God's Word. These four God-given principles were alluded to in CS Lewis' last book, "The Discarded Image". Here are a couple of resources for further study:
-Overview of the Purpose of this Blog
-How this blog is a continuation of CS Lewis' legacy
-List of other topics covered on this blog
Finally, if you are interested in the process of becoming a MAN, please feel free to write me privately: jglenhart@gmail.com
We have helped dozens of males become real MEN of God.
Next week, we will begin looking at the definition of "woman"...
Next Post
Definitions of the words for "Man" that are used in the Bible
Definition of "Man" according to the World
Definition of "Man" according to God's Word (This post)
Definitions of the words for "Woman" that are used in the Bible
Definition of "Woman" according to the World
Definition of "Woman" according to God's Word
Also, if you are looking for an explanation of how to become a man, here is a link to the beginning of a Series from February 2011: HOW to become a man.
IF YOU ARE ONLY INTERESTED IN THE DEFINITION OF A REAL MAN ACCORDING TO GOD, AND NOT THE BIG PICTURE PERSPECTIVE WITH RESPECT TO LEADERSHIP, SCROLL DOWN UNTIL YOU SEE: *******************
LEADERSHIP AND THE ROLES OF THE SEXES
This month we are looking at the two Universal Strongholds that are hindering our ability to fix the church.
Last week we looked at the first Universal Stronghold: Leadership.
Remember, a stronghold is a source of ammunition and resources for the enemy within our brains that ultimately leads to us being Unprofitable. When I speak of Universal Strongholds, I'm stating that EVERYTHING about this topic is Unprofitably filed away in our brains. For instance, when people speak of "Leadership" it is Unprofitable in the Long Term because they ACTUALLY describe attributes that are the OPPOSITE of what would make ALL of us Profitable.
This week, we began looking at the second Universal Stronghold: the roles of the sexes.
This week we are covering the males. Next week (and for the rest of the month), we will cover the females. By the end of this month, we will see that both of these Universal Strongholds (Leadership and The Roles of The Sexes) are forming a contradictory loop in the thought processes of our culture's "brain".
In a previous post, I asked for your definitions of "man" and "boy". The guidelines were that the definition ought to be stated in terms of a cause and Jesus ought to be the Ultimate example of the definition.
Please reread this previous post for more background on the guidelines for determining your definition.
In the previous post, we saw that God made males to NATURALLY act as BOSSES. We saw that BOSSES:
-want to be treated as if they are LESS excellent than their followers
-are exclusive
-are focused on APPEARANCE
-can't publicly admit they are wrong
-use the Physical to berate others because they make the Physical a cause
-expect support BECAUSE they are wrong
-don't know the causes because they are focused on effects
-don't realize respect is an effect of being humble
-and cannot explain God's doctrine in a non-contradictory and specific manner
This description PERFECTLY describes a male's NATURE...they don't have to make ANY effort to act differently than this.
However, God's definition of a "Leader" is someone who facilitates the Purpose and Progress of others. This is the OPPOSITE of being a BOSS. The ONLY way for a male to be a Leader is to humble himself (his NATURE) and allow God's Nature to flow through him. The ONLY way to accomplish this objective is to focus on causes.
I believe God's definition of Leader results in people becoming MORE able to do God's Will over time. In fact, I believe the man-made contradictory traditional definition of "Leader" (BOSS) actually results in us getting increasingly further away from accomplishing God's Will!
Think about the traditional definition of "Leader" (BOSS)...It is NOT possible for all of us to facilitate our own Purpose and Progress at the expense of others.
Leaders operate according to causality...they provide the cause in order to get the desired effect.
Bosses operate opposite of causality...they attempt to get the effect without providing a reason or a cause.
"Man" according to the world and traditional churches is a being focused on the Physical...focused on effects.
Males are NATURALLY focused on effects. Males are NATURALLY BOSSES.
Should we REINFORCE a male's NATURE?
My son went to another "manly man conference" at a nationally known minister's church. I asked him if he got any handouts from the all day conference. He said, "No, BECAUSE they said men don't want handouts...men don't like to read." Most of what was stated had NOTHING to do with the Bible and EVERYTHING to do with our culture.
It is a subtle point: Are we supposed to keep people comfortable in their fleshly nature and rationalize WHY we do this by blaming it on God? ("God made us men this way and there is nothing we can or should do about it.")
The question you need to answer is: Do you think God DESIRES males to be focused on effects?
Clearly, this BELIEF results in males being BOSSES.
Today, we will look at the definition of "man" with Biblical examples...
*******************
THE DEFINITION OF A REAL MAN
If you have been following the blog posts this week, then you probably have already determined the non-contradictory definition of "man" - the sex that OUGHT to be focused on the causes, regardless of the effects.
Therefore "boy" would be - the male that is focused on effects.
I will state this as plainly as possible:
EVERYTIME A MALE DOES DAMAGE IT IS BECAUSE HE IS FOCUSED ON THE EFFECTS.
Notice, if the male is focused solely on the causes then he cannot control the effects. So the first effect of being a "man" is that he is HUMBLE. He can ONLY stay focused on the causes if he humbles himself and allows God's NATURE to flow through him.
We have stated this several times before: the best a group of men can achieve is "NOT Unprofitable". There are NO EXAMPLES in the Bible of a group composed SOLELY of males being Profitable in the Long Term.
In a previous Series, we saw that even The Trinity is "NOT Unprofitable". How could The Trinity interact with each other in a manner that results in gain? Everything The Trinity created has returned LESS value than what it took to create it. To think that we have returned MORE value to The Trinity than what They gave to us is to make us superior to The Trinity. Be careful.
(I realize that this may upset some people, and that is understandable. Not only have we covered this topic in the past, but we will be exploring deeper the implications of this the rest of this month when we cover "woman".)
The Meaning of Life is Church and Marriage. The Bible ends with the Church inhabiting the new Jerusalem, as the Bride, Married to Jesus.
Notice, Males and Females ought to both do the Causes (Grace, Faith, etc.). However, Females NATURALLY do the Causes...Males do NOT.
When Males do the Effects, they are Unprofitable. When Males do the Effects, Females do the Causes...which is Not Unprofitable. The OVERALL result is: Unprofitable.
THIS IS HOW AND WHY THIS WORLD IS RUNNING DOWN.
However, if Males would act apart from their nature and do the Causes (regardless of the Effects), it would allow Females to do the Effects.
When Males do the Causes, they are Not Unprofitable. When Females do the Effects, they are Profitable. The OVERALL result is: Profitable.
THIS IS GOD'S PLAN FOR ETERNITY! THIS CAN GO ON FOREVER!
Jesus is the Ultimate Man...He ALWAYS and COMPLETELY does the Causes. We as the Bride will learn to do the Effects. Even when we don't do the Effects, the OVERALL result is Not Unprofitable.
THIS PLAN CAN NEVER BECOME LESS.
If Jesus had been a woman...and the church came together to be the Groom, it would be POSSIBLE for eternity to become something LESS. Please check out the links at the beginning of this post to understand the role of women.
EVERY OTHER explanation for the role of Males and Females either contradicts the Bible by focusing on the Physical or can't explain the DIFFERENCE between Males and Females because virtues are presented that BOTH sexes ought to have. The ONLY way to explain the difference of the roles is by Cause and Effect!!!!
Do we want to follow the Bible or our own man-made culture and traditions that Jesus said make the Word (and Will) of God of NONE EFFECT?
Man's definition of Leadership encourages males to be about Effects...which is WHY you really ought to understand your own definition of "Leadership" if you want to become a real man of God according to His Word. (Now may be a good time to read the beginning of this post before looking at the examples from God's Word.)
BIBLICAL SUPPORT FOR GOD'S DEFINITION OF A REAL MAN
Every godly male example from the Bible involves the male being completely about the causes and NOT about the effects!
Every destructive example from the Bible involves a male focused on the effects.
David is a great example of BOTH!
2 Samuel 11
"1 And it came to pass, at the return of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at Jerusalem.
2 And it came to pass at eventide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.
3 And David send and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
4 And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her (for she was purified from her uncleanness); and she returned unto her house.
5 And the woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, I am with child.
6 And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David."
David is focused on an effect (having sexual intercourse with Bath-sheba). Then his response to her being pregnant focuses on another effect (getting Uriah to think he impregnated Bath-sheba). When that doesn't work, David focuses on the next effect (killing Uriah)...and on...and on.
Look at David at the end of his life:
2 Samuel 24
"22 And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, the oxen for the burnt-offering, and the threshing instruments and the yokes of the oxen for the wood:
23 all this, O king, doth Araunah give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, Jehovah thy God accept thee.
24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will verily buy it of thee at a price. Neither will I offer burnt-offerings unto Jehovah my God which cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
25 And David built there an altar unto Jehovah, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. So Jehovah was entreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel."
David was NOT focused on the effect (sacrifice). He was focused on the cause (attitude...that it ought to cost him). There are numerous times David was about the cause (e.g., dancing in front of the ark) and NOT concerned about the effects.
Throughout this blog, we have covered NUMEROUS examples of "men" and "boys". In order to keep this post manageable, here is a brief look at some Biblical examples. Let's begin with my favorite book of the Bible...
Daniel 3
"16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer thee in this matter.
17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king.
18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up."
Notice, these three men that God ended up doing a miracle for stated that regardless of the effects (God deliver them), they would still do the cause (serving God).
Daniel 5
"17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; nevertheless I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation."
The king tells Daniel the effect of interpreting the writing. Daniel BLATANTLY states that he will do the cause (interpretation) and does NOT want the effects (rewards).
II Samuel 10:12
"12 Be of good courage, and let us play the man for our people, and for the cities of our God: and Jehovah do that which seemeth him good."
Joab put the men in line for battle and then stated they should "play the man for our people"...which means "be about the causes". What about the effects? Joab said, "Jehovah do that which seemeth Him good." Joab left the effects to God. He didn't focus on them AT ALL.
John 21
"20 Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; who also leaned back on his breast at the supper, and said, Lord, who is he that betrayeth thee?
21 Peter therefore seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?
22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me."
Peter is looking at the effects for someone else instead of focusing on the cause Jesus stated to him. Notice what Jesus said to Peter just before these verses:
"18 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not."
Peter was a man because he took more and more direction from God over time...
We saw that Solomon began focused on causes. However, he ended up focusing on effects to the point that he stated everything was pointless (unprofitable...not getting desired effects) at the end of his life. We saw The Four Causes of Solomon's destruction.
In fact, there are several posts from that series on Leadership that can be understood MORE fully now that we have a definition for "man":
Leadership: Relying on God More
Peter Relies on God More
Paul Relies on God More
Solomon Relies on God Less
Like we stated earlier this week, the Ultimate MAN is Jesus.
Notice, our society needs people who do the causes EVEN WHEN they know the effects are Unprofitable. The reason WHY? Because if they don't do it, it will become CATASTROPHICALLY Unprofitable.
Think about war, a burning building, or a child that has fallen down a well. When each of these situations is handled as well as possible, is the result Profitable? Are the soldiers BETTER off after the war than they were before the war? Is the house that caught fire better than when it caught fire? Is the kid healthier than before they fell down the well? No. No. No.
However, if someone doesn't handle the situation, there will be more deaths in the war, the house will be completely destroyed, and the child will die. All of these situations are CATASTROPHICALLY Unprofitable.
Our society REQUIRES people who will do the causes EVEN WHEN the effect is going to be Unprofitable!...otherwise things will be MUCH worse. We need people who will do the causes knowing they will NOT personally benefit from the EFFECTS...whether the effects are profitable or not.
These people are known as MEN.
Jesus was the Ultimate MAN. Jesus stepped into a situation that needed someone to be COMPLETELY about the causes knowing that the result was going to be Unprofitable. However, Jesus also knew that without Him, the result would be CATASTROPHICALLY Unprofitable.
Take a moment and realize what it would be like to know AHEAD OF TIME that ALL the effort you will give for three years will still end up in your death and your followers eventually being murdered...and that is the BEST POSSIBLE RESULT!
Next time you read a gospel account of Jesus, notice how He doesn't get excited about EFFECTS...both good and bad. Notice how He CONSTANTLY reinforces the CAUSES.
Jesus intentionally avoided His fleshly nature by ALWAYS and COMPLETELY allowing God to flow through Him. The ONLY way Jesus could ALWAYS and COMPLETELY do this was because He was ALSO divine in His Nature.
Here are a couple quick examples:
John 8
"28 Jesus therefore said, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself, but as the Father taught me, I speak these things."
John 14
"10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I say unto you I speak not from myself: but the Father abiding in me doeth his works."
Luke 10
"17 And the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject unto us in thy name.
18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven.
19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you.
20 Nevertheless in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
21 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes: yea, Father; for so it was well-pleasing in thy sight."
The OPPOSITE of Jesus are the people that we are warned about in Jude...
Jude
"10 But these rail at whatsoever things they know not: and what they understand naturally, like the creatures without reason, in these things are they destroyed.
11 Woe unto them! For they went in the way of Cain, and ran riotously in the error of Balaam for hire, and perished in the gainsaying of Korah.
12 These are they who are hidden rocks in your love-feasts when they feast with you, shepherds that without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn leaves without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
13 Wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness hath been reserved forever."
Look again at the three examples that represent the deceivers that attempt to take the church off course...
Genesis 4
"6 And Jehovah said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7 If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up? and if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door: and unto thee shall be its desire, but do thou rule over it."
Cain was focused on the EFFECTS of his brother (Respect/getting from God) instead of his own CAUSES (giving to God).
Numbers 22
"4 And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now will this multitude lick up all that is round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time.
5 And he sent messengers unto Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the River, to the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me.
6 Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land; for I know that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.
7 And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.
8 And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as Jehovah shall speak unto me: and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam.
9 And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee?
10 And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent unto me, saying,
11 Behold, the people that is come out of Egypt, it covereth the face of the earth: now, come curse me them; peradventure I shall be able to fight against them, and shall drive them out.
12 And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people; for they are blessed."
Balaam ends up going with them. Balaam was focused on the EFFECTS (money) instead of the CAUSES (listening to God).
Numbers 16
"1 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:
2 and they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the congregation, called to the assembly, men of renown;
3 and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and Jehovah is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the assembly of Jehovah?
4 And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face:
5 and he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, In the morning Jehovah will show who are his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he shall choose will he cause to come near unto him."
God opened up the earth so that Korah and his 250 followers and all their households were removed. Korah was focused on the EFFECTS (Power/BOSS) instead of the CAUSES being obedient to God.
The church needs to be careful when its "Leaders" become BOSSES...when the Leaders focus on EFFECTS: respect, money, and power.
Remember, people get focused on the EFFECTS of The Acts Church.
Acts 2
"43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
45 and they sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all, according as any man had need.
46 And day by day, continuing stedfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart,
47 praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to them day by day those that were saved."
What were the CAUSES?
"42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers."
The reason pastors were men in the Bible is that they OUGHT to be about the CAUSES regardless of the EFFECTS.
Teaching the apostles' doctrine, fellowship, breaking bread, and praying are all CAUSES...things that can be intentionally done REGARDLESS of the EFFECTS.
However, when males attempt to manage the EFFECTS...when they teach, have fellowship, break bread, or pray focused on the EFFECTS, the result will be Unprofitable.
We have seen The Cause is Doctrine. The problem is the church doesn't teach God's doctrine according to God's Word...the church is teaching man-made doctrine according to tradition.
The REVEAL book showed that there are four levels of Christians:
1. Don't know
2. Know the WHAT
3. Know the WHY
4. Know the HOW
Today's churches are able to progress people from a "1" to a "2". They can teach people a WHAT. For example, "Jesus died for your sins". Getting to a "4" is teaching people HOW to teach others.
Today's churches are having trouble progressing people from a "2" to a "3". This is BECAUSE the church doesn't know the WHY behind its beliefs. In fact, some churches demonize people who can explain the WHY because these churches believe we can't know or aren't supposed to know the WHY.
So, we have "Leaders" in the church who went from a "2" to a "4"...and all they can teach is the WHAT that helps people move from a "1" to a "2"...and they get offended if someone can help THEM get from a "2" to a "3"!
THE WHY IS THE CAUSE.
Today, we have BOSSES in charge of the church who are unable to focus on the CAUSES. We have "boys" in charge of the church. We have males Preaching Effects.
SUMMARY
Last week we covered the first Universal Stronghold: Leadership.
We found that we are eventually all Unprofitable discussing "Leadership" because too many people are actually describing BOSSES.
This week we covered half of the second Universal Stronghold: The Roles of The Sexes.
We found that we are all Unprofitable discussing "men" because we are actually encouraging males to act in their NATURE and be PERFECT BOSSES.
The world and the church of today are ENCOURAGING males to act in their NATURE and be Unprofitable.
I believe the Bible PROVES God wants us to choose to act apart from our NATURE by allowing Him to flow through us so that we are ALL Leaders and so that the males of our species focus completely on the causes.
EVERYTIME A MALE DOES DAMAGE IT IS BECAUSE HE IS FOCUSED ON THE EFFECTS.
This information is a result of using four God-given principles to interpret God's Word. These four God-given principles were alluded to in CS Lewis' last book, "The Discarded Image". Here are a couple of resources for further study:
-Overview of the Purpose of this Blog
-How this blog is a continuation of CS Lewis' legacy
-List of other topics covered on this blog
Finally, if you are interested in the process of becoming a MAN, please feel free to write me privately: jglenhart@gmail.com
We have helped dozens of males become real MEN of God.
Next week, we will begin looking at the definition of "woman"...
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