…4so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.
Difficulty arises in addressing gender issues in our contemporary, feminist culture. One cannot escape one’s own gender perspective in dealing with this issue. The subject touches deeply on a central tension between men and women, as seen in the Edenic fall, which turned the distinctions between the sexes into conflict. We have struggled ever since.
Theologians argue whether Eve led Adam into sin by offering him the forbidden fruit which she ate first, or whether Adam was a willing participant, eating it with her at the same time. Yet God clearly chastises Adam: “you listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree” (Gen. 3:17). Further, Eve’s desire for Adam (3:16) is understood as her desire to control him, based on the use of the same phrase in Genesis 4:7, where God tells Cain, “sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” The conflict between the sexes from the fall on is seminal.
This does not negate the divinely designed differences between the sexes, though, because the inspired apostle Paul frequently relies on the created order of male first, then female, in talking about gender roles in the church (see 1 Tim. 2:12–14, 1 Cor. 11:8, etc.). Our text here assumes the differences, as Paul addresses men and women differently. Paul’s teaching is as relevant today as it was in his time. Young women need to be taught things specific to their being young women. And these things have to do with domestic life.
Yet Scripture itself demonstrates supremely godly wisdom by recognizing the tension of having a man (like Paul or Timothy) teaching younger women how to behave in a way unique to their being female, and instead instructing older women to do that job! This important subject must be addressed with apostolic authority, so God used Paul, a male, to instruct the older women to teach the younger. In practice, we think this suggests that younger women will more readily accept this kind of teaching from older women than from men. Then as women mature in their faith and wisdom, they can more readily take the direct commands from the apostle and teach these things confidently and authoritatively to younger women. To this, we say “Amen” and praise the Lord for His great wisdom in understanding the gender dynamics.
Lord, raise up godly older women who understand these things, embrace them and enthusiastically teach them to younger women.
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