1 Timothy 2:12-15

The Part To Be Played By God’s Special Reserve. Christian Women Are Not To Strive To Be Teachers Or Leaders, But To Ensure That They Are Good Mothers And Evangelists Of Their Children, Bringing Them Up In A Godly Environment As Their Part In The Outworking Of Salvation (1 Timothy 2:12-15 ).

As we enter what is today dangerous territory (we might almost say No Man’s Land) we can see why Paul has been emphasising godliness, peace and tranquillity, and avoidance of disputation. It is as though he had seen ahead to what was to happen in the future. All we can hope to do is present as honestly as we can what it seems to us that Paul is teaching, and trust that God will guide each heart into his truth, whatever that might be, remembering that it is so easy to dismiss or misinterpret the word of God because it does not please us.

Certainly it is right that we recognise that Paul is speaking to a church lacking the New Testament, and the great advances in education in the modern day. On the other hand we must also recognise that the church would have had a solid basis of Apostolic tradition, delivered to it both orally and in writing, and that though times may change, the psychological make up of the sexes does not necessarily do so, and we will do well to consider what the Scriptures say about that.

The thought of women at prayer leads Paul on to consider the Scriptural view of the prime function of women. He would have experienced the excitability of Ephesian women when he had seen their behaviour in the Ephesian Riot (Acts 19:29-41), and he had no doubt often come across situations where powerful women used their influence to the detriment of God’s people (e.g. Acts 13:50). Furthermore he was an observant man and well versed in the Scriptures, and he believed that ultimately both men and women were equal in importance and standing before God (Galatians 3:28). He therefore wished to ensure that women played an active role in the church while at the same time behaving with modesty and decency, and accomplishing the purpose that God had for them. He did not want bodies of wealthy women (Acts 13:50) gaining overriding influence in the church, or vociferous women swaying the church’s decisions or marring their assemblies. Nor did he want the intuitiveness of a woman’s brain, as revealed at its worst in the Garden of Eden, to override the more rationally minded slant of men’s brains when it came to doctrine, for in the Garden it was the woman who had proved how easily she could be deceived and go astray in her views about God. He considered, as he thought about these matters before God, that it would be dangerous therefore for women to have authority over the teaching of the church. They would rather do better by concentrating their efforts on what the Scriptures had appointed for them, being a good mother to their children, thereby maintaining the very core of the church.

Analysis.

a Let a woman learn in quietness with all subjection (1 Timothy 2:11).

b But I do not permit a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness (1 Timothy 2:12).

c For Adam was first formed, then Eve (1 Timothy 2:13).

b And Adam was not beguiled, but the woman being beguiled has fallen into transgression (1 Timothy 2:14).

a But she will be saved through her child-bearing, if they continue in faith and love and sanctification with sobriety (1 Timothy 2:15).

Note that in ‘a’ the woman’s manner of life is laid out, and the same applies in the parallel. In ‘b’ she is not to teach or have dominion over a man, and in the parallel the reason for this is explained. Centrally in ‘c’ Adam’s priority is stressed.