THE THREE MINUTE WORD

Sunday – January 5, 2025

THE SEED OF SATAN IS FLOURISHING IN THE CHURCH

Video link: https://youtu.be/MiZcQ152YbM

All words are seeds and all words have a spiritual origin.  The Words of God are life, light, and bring righteousness.  All other words are death, darkness, and bring unrighteousness.  Words are extremely important.  We must watch what we think then say and what we hear.  Over the last several months a few ideas or thoughts keep coming into my thinking.  I believe these to be from the Lord and it seems that now is the time to write and talk about them.  First is the idea of the feminization of the Church with most protestant or Christian Churches running in the neighborhood of 60% women.  In addition, the content of the services caters to women.  This is directly related to why Church attendance, protestant (all denominations) and catholic (more than protestant), is declining across the board.  When analyzing these issues, it is important to remember that all physical manifestations have a spiritual root or cause.  In other words, in this case what spiritual law is being broken? 

The answers may not be as complex and mysterious as one might assume.  The answer will not be found in the natural realm.  The solutions is not complex or mysterious and has to do with restoring God’s order.  Do people, male, female, young, and old, see a value and find purpose in attending and being part of a local Church?  Are our children being taught from infancy the value (to honor) of Church (the Word of God, God, and God’s House) and are they seeing the evidence of this value?  Specific to this teaching, what about the men?  More specific to this teaching are children, all people, taught God’s ordained order of the family?

Let me ask you something.  Which of the following best describes why you are in Church.  Is Church like going to the theatre?  Or perhaps Church is like going to your favorite store where you leave with something of value?  Or perhaps you see Church as an obligation, an opportunity to mix with your friends, or a place to be noticed and or validated.  Those who see Church like going to the theatre are into the emotive (emotional) aspects, and other demonstrations of the flesh.  Those who see Church like their favorite store believe that they go to come away with something of value.  Unfortunately, it seems this group is a minority of those attending Church.  Others see Church as an opportunity to socialize and are quite bored or uncomfortable with the other aspects of Church.  One of the ways one might locate themselves is to ask, when do I say we had a “good” service.

FEMINIZATION OF THE CHURCH

Let’s now give some thought to the feminization of the Church.  When I refer to “the Church” I am talking about the Christian Church, predominately protestant but including the Catholic Church.  As you might be thinking about the Church you now attend and then perhaps others before you know intuitively that women outnumber the men substantially Sunday to Sunday.  You will see this is a common topic of discussion with a quick Google search or a quick look at YouTube.  I looked at a couple of articles, one by a David Murrow dated June 22, 2021, and another titled “The Feminization of the Church” by Holly Pivec dated February 28, 2006.  It seems that this tilt to a female dominated Church started perhaps as much as 800 years ago.  It has gained momentum since the late 1800’s with industrialization and mining taking men away from home.  I don’t know that this explains the shift since if the men valued Church they would be in a Church when away from home.  So, it is back to the value thing.  Why are men not seeing the value of Church?

This feminization of the Church is interesting when you look at the Bible as a whole.  God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all referred to as He.  Jesus and all of the disciples later Apostles were male.  The vast majority of leaders in the Old Testament are male.  The vast majority of leaders in the New Testament are male.  There is no Bible record of female priests at any level.  It is clear from the weight of Scripture that men are to be family leaders, leaders in the religious or spiritual realm, and the nation.  Who does God hold responsible for teaching the children to honor God?

Genesis 18:17-19 (KJV)

17 And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;

18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

Let’s look at a couple more verses to help us understand.  

Ephesians 6:4 (KJV)
⁴ And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Finally, our prime example.

John 8:28 (KJV)

28 Then said Jesus unto them, 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 my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.

God the Father taught His Son, Jesus, and so that is the pattern for us all.  

I now want to take you to an interesting Scripture that we find immediately after the fall.  This is God speaking to the woman.  First in the King James Version.

Genesis 3:16 (KJV)

16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

At first glance it would seem like the woman’s desire would be for or supportive of her husband and that the husband would rule the family including the woman.  The little phrase “shall be to thy husband” is also translated as “against” your husband.  In other words, the woman will try to usurp the rule of the husband.  Now the New Living Translation makes the message clear.

Genesis 3:16 (NLT)

16 Then he said to the woman, “I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth.  And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.”

Now, do we see this in Scripture?  First, we see it right here with Adam and Eve.  Why is she engaged in conversation with the serpent and apparently the husband (Adam) who was right there not stepping in.  She assumed the rule and led them and mankind into sin, into the curse, into death.  Do you suppose this is what the Apostle Paul is talking about in his letter to Timothy.

1 Timothy 2:12-14 (KJV)

12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve.

14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

He is talking about Eve exercising authority that was not hers to exercise in place of Adam.  Let’s move ahead to the whole episode with Abram, Sarai, and Hager. 

Genesis 16:3 (KJV)

3 And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

Nothing good came of that episode as well.  There is nothing but downside outside the laws, the order established by God.  What about King Ahab who allowed Jezebel to rule in his stead. 

1 Kings 21:7-8 (KJV)

7 And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.

8 So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth.

If you read this whole account, it did not end well for anyone. 

Here is the point.  In the beginning God established the order of a family.  God is first in all things, the husband is the head of the family and help meet to the wife, the wife is subject to the husband and help meet to the husband.  A help meet is one ideally suited to come along side to help in all that is needful.  In the family hierarchy children fall below (not in value) the parents.  Unfortunately, that order has been severely compromised in recent times with children and grandchildren at times elevated above God say nothing of the parents.  The most important person in the home is not the children.  When this law, the order of the family is not honored, there are adverse consequences.  Consider the epidemic of absent fathers in the home and the adverse consequences for the children, the women, and society as a whole.

First, there is the temptation for the woman to usurp authority over the husband which is a violation of the spiritual law of the family.  We have just looked at Scriptural examples starting from the Garden of Eden.  Secondly, we saw the willingness of the man, husband, to abdicate his authority and allow the woman, wife, to operate in his place.  Another violation of the spiritual law of the family.  Thirdly, we saw that God gave primary responsibility to bring the children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord to the father, and He, Father God, is the prime example.  It seems clear when one examines Scripture from thirty-thousand feet or with the microscope that the male is the head of the family and responsible to lead the wife and children in things spiritual (1 Corinthians 11:3, Ephesians 5:21-25). This has gotten turned on its ear in recent years.  The men have apparently not been taught and have abdicated (stepped away from) their God given authority and responsibility of leading the family.  There are no vacuums in nature or in the spirit and so the woman has stepped in prompted by evil forces.  Fourth, the Bible evidence (I would have to quote the whole Bible) is overwhelming that men are to lead the family including things spiritual, they are to lead the Church, and men are to lead the nation.

In recent decades we have seen more and more women ordained into Ministry and placed as lead or head pastors in many mainline Christian denominational and non-denominational Churches.  This coupled with the congregation becoming more female has led to sermons and songs have become more emotive (emotional) engaging female traits.  Church has become more about dealing with our inner nature, and nurturing, singing love songs (where are those in Scripture), than the mission of the Kingdom of God and turning from all that hinders that mission. 

Congregations, especially men, are not challenged to build and occupy the Kingdom of God in righteousness but to love Jesus.  This love is the emotional love of the world not the love (agape/agapao) of the Bible.  Bible love exercised builds and occupies the Kingdom of God in righteousness.  Many Churches are more about stimulating the emotions and having physical displays of emotion (all flesh/soulish) then singing Scripture and teaching Scripture about furthering the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

WHAT IS OUR TAKE HOME?

1. The seed of Satan for the woman is the temptation to rebel against the husband and usurp his authority.  It started in the Garden.
2. The seed of God for the woman is to be a help meet for the husband which is one ideally suited to come along side to help, to aid (Genesis 2:18).
3. The seed of Satan for the man is the temptation to abdicate his God ordained position of leadership in the family including things spiritual, the Church, and the nation.
4. The seed or Word of God is for the man to be the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the man.
5. Men have not been taught the Word of God and their ordained of God role of leadership in the family, the Church, and the nation.  Subsequently men have stood back and allowed women to take dominion where they are not graced.
6. The Bible as a whole is predominately (far and away) about men leading the family including their spiritual life, the “Church”, and leading the nation.  Men (fathers) are ordained of God to teach the next generation to “keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment” (Genesis 18:19).
7. The church has morphed away from the challenges of Scripture which give purpose and identity to an emotional experience.  The love practiced in the Church is just a religious version of the world not the agape/agapao love of Scripture which has zero emotion and challenges us giving us purpose and a mission.

As the Lord wills I will resume the teachings on The Kingdom of God next Saturday.  Remember, we love you, the Lord loves you, and there is nothing you can do about either one.

By: Dr. David R. Wood, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice

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