Every serious-minded, loyal and dedicated disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ is thrilled when he is able to imitate with success, the ways of the Master. Nothing gives so much joy to any dedicated disciple of Jesus Christ, than being able to gain the same results by doing things in the same way the Master would, if he were still physically present with us on earth.

That is what true discipleship is all about; and indeed, this is what the genuine Christian Faith is all about. The true Christian Faith and lifestyle, is a call by God to humans to live like Him, imitating Him and His Christ in every way. This call to imitate Christ is one of the reasons why I write this article.

In my daily studies of the life and works of the Master, one of the most captivating things I find about him is the way he uses parables to uncover and teach spiritual truths to his audience. Throughout the four years Jesus Christ taught the world, when he was physically present on earth to do so, he did so in many instances using parables. Two particular parables of the Master I indeed find captivating are: The Parable of the Good Samaritan, and The Parable of Wheat and Tares.

My dear reader, if you are not familiar with these two parables of Jesus Christ, it might do you some good, to read them from the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible, before continuing with your reading of this article. Read from Luke 10: 25-37 about the Parable of the Good Samaritan, and Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43 about that on the Wheat and Tares.

The substance of my ensuing treatise–The Parable of the Samaritan Tares–is yet another imitation of the ways of Jesus Christ, by one of his loyal and dedicated disciples (a copy-cat one, if you will), to lay bare spiritual truths, using a parable to do so.

Also, since the Master himself has said of his loyal and dedicated disciples as being able to do greater works than he did, because he would be backing them from his position beside the Throne of the Father, I am led to marry two of his popular parables into one, if by any means that would result in some kind of greater works being done.

My parable about Samaritan Tares seeks to have the effect of killing two Goliaths with one shot of a sling-stone. First, it seeks to reveal some hidden truths about who today’s Samaritans are, where they are found, and what they must do to be accepted into the true Christian Faith–the only true faith and lifestyle that must be accepted by all spiritual Israelites, the God-chosen children of Abraham.

Secondly, my parable of the Samaritan Tares seeks to reveal the true identities of tares (the look-alike of wheat), which we find everywhere in our world today.

Let us start our search for and investigation of Samaritan Tares in the world today, by going backward into history, to the most glamorous time of Israel–the first two terms of The David Dynasty. The David Dynasty of Israel under David and Solomon brought peace, prosperity and unity to all Israelites, from the year 1055 BC when it was established under king David, till 975 BC, the date king Solomon passed away.

The Dynasty, after David and Solomon, however, continued to exist under many inglorious regimes, and a few blessed ones, till the year 587 BC, when its last king, Zedekiah, was taken into captivity by Babylon. Since then, and to date, there has not been any king in Israel.

The wailings and cries to God by ancient-day Israelites for a restoration of the Dynasty, and its glorious beginnings, led to the promises by God to Israel of a Messiah-king of the lineage of David.

It is sad that, since the year 4 BC to 30 AD, when the Messiah-king (Jesus Christ the Lord of Glory) was indeed born, and lived in Israel to establish his everlasting rule in the room of David, many Israelites have missed the great importance of that period, and still live in the expectation of a physical restoration of the David Dynasty, with all its glorious past.

The present state of Israel, in which his promised Messiah-King is still awaited, is a manifestation of the folly of man in living without understanding and trusting God’s Word, but leaning to his (man’s) own understandings.

While king David yet lived, because he was a man whose heart was after God, his kingdom was so blessed by God that all non-Israeli kings came to know about him and the power of his kingdom. He was very much revered by all his peers–friends and foes alike. His fame went so far as to reach the four corners of the world.

In fact, because of his commitment to obey and serve the God of his forefathers, king David was able to attract the blessings of God upon his nation, so much as to make all the people and kings of the world to be either proud or envious of Israel.

After his demise, his son Solomon continued, for a while, to lead Israel into glorious achievements. These achievements caused many kings and queens of the earth to desire his friendship; if in so doing, they might learn the secret behind his rare wisdom, great wealth, kingdom-wide peace, invincibility, and the general prosperity of all the people in his kingdom.

Sadly, in the later years of Solomon’s rule, he was misled into idol worship by many of his numerous heathen-wives. He in turn misled the whole nation of Israel into forsaking the God of their ancestors, into the worship of idols. This brought about a slump to the glory of his kingdom. This slump in glory continued to slide downward for many years, before king Solomon’s death in 975 BC, and even afterwards.

Because of Israel’s folly in forsaking the God of their ancestors, for the filthy idols of heathen-nations, he suffered an irreparable mishap–a breakup into two kingdoms–immediately after the death of king Solomon in 975 BC. After the demise of king Solomon, the nation of Israel split into the Northern Kingdom (also known as the Kingdom of Israel) and the Southern Kingdom (known as the Kingdom of Judah).

The first king of the Northern Kingdom was Jeroboam, the son of one Nebat, an Eprathite of Zereda who until his death was servant to Solomon. Jeroboam after the death of Nebat his father, also became servant to king Solomon, but later had to run away to Egypt for his life. As God would have it, he came out of Egypt to be the first king of the Northern Kingdom (cf. First Kings 11: 26-40). His kingdom was home to ten of the eleven non-priestly tribes of the nation of Israel. The City of Samaria was its capital.

On the other hand, the first king of the Southern Kingdom was Rehoboam, a son of king Solomon. His kingdom was home to only one tribe, Judah, of the eleven non-priestly tribes of Israel. The Southern Kingdom had as its capital, Jerusalem (or Jebus).

At times, the City of David (Bethlehem) also functioned as capital. It seemed Jerusalem was always the politico-spiritual capital, whilst Bethlehem at certain times served as the royal capital of the Kingdom of Judah. [—this article is continued in Part Two: soon to be published].

Chris Bapuohyele is an evangelist to the Body of Christ, and is the author of the book entitled: “BEWARE OF THIS FALSE DOCTRINE of reciting the Sinners’ Prayer for salvation”. His e-mail address is: [email protected].

God is always happy with any of His children who correct themselves when the reality of their errors hit them. Coming to mind readily are the incidents between Judah and Tarmar (Genesis 38: 1-30); David and Urriah’s wife (Second Kings 11: 2 – 12: 25); and Peter and his denial of his Master on the night of the Lord’s arrest (Luke 22: 54-62). The repentance of Judah, David and Peter from their errors in these incidents, are worthy of emulation.

Even before these great men of God could ever come to sin and repent of their short-comings, Abraham had long ago repented of his slip to obey his wife. When later-on after his slip he heard clearly, the voice of God to offer his son Isaac to Him, he did not confer with Sarah on the issue, for obvious reasons. He at the time had become wiser, having learnt his lesson well.

I am sure Sarah would have kicked against Abraham’s plan to obey God in the sacrificing of Isaac. Sarah would have prevailed upon Abraham to re-consider whether he truly and clearly heard God speak to him to sacrifice Isaac, their only son and one of promise.

Your guess of what commotion would have come to the home of Abraham is as good as mine, if he went conferring with his wife on the issue. Thank God the world was saved from another disaster, in men giving their leadership positions to their wives or women-folk in this instance.

My dear reader, I do sincerely hope you are one of many who know that Jesus Christ will soon re-visit our planet. Because the return of Jesus is imminent, many are running helter-skelter in search of a safe place to be. Of course, though many do not know it, the safest place to be is inside of Jesus’ own Body – the Church.

I am not talking about how to run into some masonry building of Victorian Age architecture, which many people take to be the Church. I am talking about how one is able to be part of Jesus’ Body: becoming bone of his bones, flesh of his flesh (Ephesians 5: 30, KJV); a branch in him, the True Vine (John 15: 5, KJV); and how to wear him like a cassock or space-suit (Galatians 3: 27, KJV). I am talking about how to enter into Jesus’ Body or get to be attached to him in the manner of John 3: 3-5, Acts 2: 38-39, Romans 6: 3-6, First Peter 3: 20-21, First John 5: 11-13, etc.

Sadly, many people do not know how to gain this great blessing of being attached to or gaining entry into the body, soul, and spirit of Jesus Christ. I like to advice you how you could gain this unique blessing.

Look for any grouping of people which calls itself – Church: which do not have women in leadership positions. The genuine Body of Christ, which is the Church, does not have any women-leaders.

If you get to know of any group of believers, who do not have women as its leaders, next check on its doctrine, for the Born Again experience. The genuine members which constitute the Lord’s Church are those who express faith in Matthew 28: 18-20; Mark 16: 15-16; Luke 24: 46-48; John 3: 3, 5; Acts 2: 38-39; Romans 6: 3-6; Galatians 3: 27; First Peter 3: 20-21; etc. for their entry into God’s salvation. Get united to that body and you will be safe in Christ.

Do not join any group that believes in the praying of a so-called “Sinners’ Prayer” or “Prayer for Salvation” as their way to enter Christ’s Body. No prayer can ever make anybody become Born Again.

Never join yourself to any grouping of people calling itself church, where there is a woman as pastor; a so-called deaconess; a prophetess in today’s context of being a revealer of secrets; a female language translator to a man-preacher; etc. That grouping is not the Church or Body of the Lord Jesus Christ.

No matter how solid or rocky a woman leader of such a group might look, her congregation is not a part of the Body of Christ. Come out of it and move-on in your search for the safe ground which is in Christ only. And do please be very serious in this.

I like to conclude this article by leading readers to three verses of scripture: one in the Book of Jeremiah, and the others in the Book of Isaiah. All these scriptures are clear in meaning as they stand and will by all means support the main thrust of my article.

“I have not sent these prophets, yet they run; I have not spoken to them yet they prophesied”, says God the Almighty in Jeremiah 23: 21, KJV. Surely, women who persist in playing lead-roles in the Church of Jesus Christ are seen in this light by God, and it will not be long when all men begin to see such women in this same light.

“As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths”, says the Lord God Almighty in Isaiah 3: 12, KJV. I hope this verse is easily understood by all women who love to be given lead-roles in the Church of Jesus Christ. The obvious fact of this verse is that, when women lead in spiritual issues, people err and their clear paths become obliterated. Only God can help mankind in this.

Finally, in the Book of Isaiah, chapter four, verse one, this is what we read from the King James Version of the Bible. “And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, we shall eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, take away our reproach”. (Isaiah 4: 1, KJV).

Well, I do not know whether this prophecy is yet to be fulfilled or it has come to pass. How I wish that it had already been fulfilled, to spare the women of my generation an impending calamity, confusion and shame. If this prophecy is yet to be fulfilled someday, then that day will be one in which all of women’s campaigns for man-woman equality, would seem foolish, under the microscope of the Almighty God – God who rules in the affairs of men.

Shalom.
Chris Bapuohyele is an evangelist to the Body of Christ, and is the author of the book entitled: BEWARE OF THIS FALSE DOCTRINE of reciting the Sinners’ Prayer for salvation. His email address is: [email protected].

The Book of Titus, chapter one, verse five to nine, also reveals the qualities of an elder in the Church of Jesus Christ. Here too, the elder is a man, who must be the husband of one wife, among other credentials. So whenever we met any bishop, deacon or elder in the Christianity of the First Century, he was always a man married to one woman.

During the days when the disciples of Jesus Christ – who talked, walked and ate with him – were in-charge of running the Church, all his bishops, deacons and elders, were men married to one wife, who had children begotten out of their loins, and who lived in homes where the presence and influence of God permeated all their endeavours.

Who or what has taken the Church of Jesus Christ from his First Century character and principles, with regards his leadership purity, can only be told by the pagan Roman-Christianity of the Second Century. Today’s ubiquitous celibate-bishop is the creation of pagan Rome’s brand of Christianity.

For a long time, many people have been deceived to accept her brand of celibate-leadership, as being better than the God-ordained one, in which married men, who were able to manage their families and homes well, were sought after and ordained to manage the House of God. Today, it is impossible for a married man, with children, and a home of his own, to be considered eligible to be a bishop, in many so-called churches, which in fact are the dying relics of pagan Roman-Christianity of the Second Century.

We shall soon go back to our studies of Genesis, but let us go a little further in our study of the New Testament position on the leadership status of man over woman. We go to First Corinthians ELEVEN VERSE THREE, SEVEN TO NINE, which I quote here to make reference to these verses easy.

“But I would have you know that, the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, for as much as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man [ FIRST COR, ELEVEN THREE, SEVEN TO NINE.].

From these verses, we see a God-ordained ladder of leadership to be accepted by all. This hierarchy has God at the top; then Christ; then man; and finally, woman. Who can arrange this hierarchy in some wiser order?

And who can doubt the fact that woman was created by God for the man; or who can ever change or re-do what God has established? May, mankind accept forever that, man is forever the spiritual leader of the woman.

My final quotation from the New Testament in this article is from Ephesians 5: 23-24. Let us capture it here: “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything” (Ephesians 5: 23-24, KJV).

Again, these verses are so clear in the manner they stand that they do not need any explanation. These verses uphold the leadership status of the man, over the woman forever, in much the same way that Christ is the head over the Church. And this is God’s eternal plan for man to accept and live by.

It is now time for us to go back to the Book of Genesis, as earlier-on promised, to look at some events that occurred there, the effects of which, are still taking a punitive toll on mankind today. It is important we know of these occurrences in Genesis, avoidable errors as they were, which men committed as a result of their women misleading [leading?] them. It is important we know of these events, if by any way they are able to aid us, to re-focus our lives on the God-ordained role of man over the woman, in spiritual matters.

The first of these is that of Adam being led (or misled) by Eve into eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, after the serpent had succeeded in beguiling her to eat it. The consequence of this weakness of Adam, in being led by Eve, is the cause of all the woes of mankind which have plagued him since The Fall in the Garden.

Sin and its horrible and deadly consequences would never have come into man’s life, if Adam had not slipped from his position as leader of the woman to become her servant. Many millennia after this slip of Adam from headship to servitude, mankind is plagued by disease, misery, poverty and suffering, as a result.

Even after the intervention of God, in Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, aimed at dealing with the sin problem and the suffering it brought to mankind, many people who are ignorant of the blessings of being in Christ, are still plagued with the consequences of that error by Adam, in exchanging his leadership role for the woman’s God-ordained submission to him.

Did you know that the perennial turmoil between Arabs and Israelis in the Middle East has its roots in Genesis? This unending conflict between Israel and Palestinian-Arabs is due to the error of Abraham, in taking instructions from his wife, Sarah.

You see, while Abraham awaited the fulfillment of the promise of God to have a male-child, Sarah, in impatience, was scheming something else. When she could no longer wait, she led Abraham to sleep with her maid, Hagar the Egyptian. Hagar got pregnant by Abraham, because he, like Adam, yielded to obey the wife.

The anger, jealousy, bitterness and hatred, between Sarah and her maid Hagar, even before the latter brought forth Ishmael, led God to pronounce judgment in the matter. God declared that Ishmael was going to be a great and populous nation of wealthy people. But that same wealthy nation would live in hostility with all his brothers (Genesis 16: 10-12, KJV).

Do you see the wealth of the Arab world? And do you see the hostility of two sons of one man (Abraham), Ishmael and Isaac, living in conflict with one another for centuries? And all this, has come about because one man chose to obey his woman, instead of leading her to obey him. [—the concluding part of this article is in Part Nine: soon to be published.

Chris Bapuohyele is an evangelist to the Body of Christ, and is the author of the book entitled: BEWARE OF THIS FALSE DOCTRINE of reciting the Sinners’ Prayer for salvation. His e-mail address is: [email protected].

We are now living in the era of Grace. So let us look at the New Testament to find out what the Word of God teaches, concerning the leadership roles of men in the Church. The New Testament is very clear concerning the God-ordained role of men over women in the running of the Church. And so, all professing Christians must subscribe to this fact; of a men-only leadership in the Church of Jesus Christ.

First, let us look at First Corinthians, chapter fourteen, verse thirty-four to thirty-eight. These verses are very clear in what they mean. They are also so strong that nobody can bend them. They clearly establish the leadership role of man over the woman in the running of the Church. For easy reference, let us quote these verses right here:

“Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. What? came the word of God from you? or came it unto you only? If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant” (First Corinthians 14: 34-38, KJV, emphasis mine).

I do not know what Paul would do to the many men of our day, who willfully disobey this instruction of the Lord, if he were here present on earth with us. So-called men of God find nothing wrong with electing, schooling, ordaining, and anointing women, in their own ways and manner, claiming to have made them suitable and empowered for leadership roles in the Church.

Many of such so-called men of God, have the audacity to anoint their own wives, sisters, daughters, nieces and female friends, claiming to have thus made them become eligible to lead in the affairs of the church. These men claim God called them, but cannot wait for the same God to call these female relations of theirs – if He ever will. Because they suffer from impatience and possibly arrogance, they claim to have been authorized by God, whose so-called authorization makes them worthy to call females of their choice into His service.

I wonder of what spiritual use, groupings (churches?) with such leaders who claim to have the mandate of God to call women into leadership roles, are to the Kingdom of God. Such groupings are not part of the Body of Christ – the Church. These are man-made businesses, established as dynasties, whose sole intent is to make money out of their ignorant followers.

My prayer to God for you, my dear reader, is that you will begin to see so-called men of God, who clad themselves with powers they claim to have been given by God to elect, train and ordain their wives as leaders of their churches they founded, as not true disciples of Jesus Christ.

Let us also look at the substance of First Timothy chapter two, verse eleven to fourteen. These verses stand out so clear in meaning that, they hardly need any exposition. Again, let us quote them here for ease of reference:

“Let the women learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression” (First Timothy 2: 11-14, KJV).

From these verses, we have the reason from God’s own mouth, why He does not choose women for His work. One reason is as stated earlier-on in this article: Adam begat Eve out of his bones and flesh, and therefore she must be subject to him forever.

The second reason is traced back to the events that led to the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden. Because of the role the woman (Eve) played in the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden, God does not permit her to play any leadership roles in His business.

God has given His reasons why woman cannot be entrusted with any leadership roles in His business. I wonder which mortal beings can have the courage and audacity to think otherwise. For God, the issue of woman’s ineligibility to play any leadership roles in His business is forever settled. No person can fight God over this, or be able to reverse His rule.

In First Timothy 3: 2, 12 and Titus 1: 6, the Word of God further establishes His choice of man over woman, in leading His business. Again it will be easy to follow the discourse, if we quote these verses here.

“A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well” (cf. First Timothy 3: 2, 12, KJV).

These verses are clear in what they mean. It is only men with single wives, children and homes, who qualify to be bishops and deacons. No law exists, that states that, women who have single husbands, children and their own houses, can be eligible for the functions of a bishop or deacon.

That would be a ridiculous law. But many so-called men of God have managed to select, teach and ordain women for the functions of bishops and deacons. In their confusion, they call such women, deaconesses – a man-made word (alien to the entire bible-revelation), which is coined to try to fit it into their skewed understanding of the Word of God. How sad that men could behave in such foolhardiness and ignorance.

Let me say that, any person, casually familiar with the prose or the letter of the Holy Bible, will realize in it, the use of certain words in the masculine gender sense only. They are never used in any way close to the feminine gender sense. In fact, they defy any feminine gender connotations. These words are: apostle, bishop, elder, evangelist, deacon, pastor, priest and teacher.

Of course, the masculine-gendered word ‘priest’ might seem to have a feminine counterpart: ‘priestess’. But that is only so outside the context of both the Old and New Testaments and of Israel, (the true jurisdiction of these testaments). That is why this word ‘priestess’ is never used in description of any woman in Judaism and of Israel.

Another male-gendered word, ‘deacon’, rooted in the Bible, has also been wrongly given a feminine gender counterpart in the word ‘deaconess’. Even though the word ‘deaconess’ has never been used by God and the holy men He inspired to write the Bible, it has been forced into Bible interpretation, in reference to today’s women-leaders in church settings, as being counterparts to deacons.

Whoever courageously came up with the word ‘deaconess’, to fit into his views in Bible-interpretation, should have in the same vain, done more work in giving mankind, feminine forms to such typically masculine-gendered words as: apostle, bishop, elder, pastor, and teacher. Maybe, he should have taught us that, ‘apostleess’, “bishopess”, “elderess”, “evangelistess”, “pastoress” and “teacheress”, are the respective feminine-gendered forms of these words. And I wonder how many people would have been thrilled and appreciative of his ingenuity in such a feat. [—this article is continued in Part Eight: soon to be published].

Chris Bapuohyele is an evangelist to the Body of Christ, and the author of the book entitled: BEWARE OF THIS FALSE DOCTRINE of reciting the Sinners’ Prayer for salvation. His email address is: [email protected].

The Master took to himself, only men to be trained for the work of evangelizing the world. These were to work in his stead after his ascension to heaven. During the time the Master was training these men for their role in taking the salvation-message to the world, he sent them out on two occasions as part of their training programme.

On both occasions, he sent out only these chosen men in pairs but never blended them with any women. Bible scholars have come to refer to these errands as the Mission of the Twelve (cf. Matthew 10: 1-42, Mark 6: 7-13, Luke 9: 1-6) and the Mission of the Seventy (cf. Luke 10: 1-24).

The fact that the Master chose only men to be his twelve apostles (one man representing each of the twelve tribes of Israel?), and these men-only missions of the Twelve and of the Seventy, must be the starting point where every true disciple of the Master must begin to understand and appreciate the God-ordained leadership role of men, in the business of the Kingdom of God.

But alas, many of today’s so-called disciples of Jesus Christ are hardly impressed by the manner of the Master, and the spiritual significance of choosing only men for his assignments.

Apostle Peter is my most-admired disciple of Jesus Christ. I see him throughout his apostolic work, act as a copy-cat disciple of Jesus Christ, the Master. Just watch him lead the search for a replacement for Judas Iscariot, when the latter’s bishoprick became due for grabs, after his horrible demise.

Apostle Peter in Acts 1: 15-22, spelt out the required credentials of the person who was qualified to take-up the bishoprick of Judas Iscariot. Looking critically at his requirements in verses twenty-one and twenty-two, Mary Magdalene, Joana the wife of Chuza (Herod’s steward), Susanna, Mary the mother of James, and many other women (Luke 8: 2-3 and 24: 10), did not qualify simply because they were women.

These women were ever present in all the travels of the Master, to minister to his needs out of their substance. The Master knew of their presence in the crowds that followed him in all his travels because they were always present to supply his needs. And yet the Master never gave these loyal women to his cause, any roles or assignments in his ministry.

So, who was Peter, an ordinary disciple of the Master to do otherwise? Apostle Peter could therefore never elect and anoint a woman to replace Judas Iscariot; no matter how much qualified she might seem in all other areas, aside from not being a man.

Not long after Peter led the Church in getting a replacement for Judas Iscariot, the Church again had need to look for leaders for a particular assignment. We can read of this assignment and the election of the men for its execution, in Acts 6: 1-7.

From my understanding of many accounts about the apostolic Church, this account in Acts 6: 1-7 is the best situation, that could ever have led to the establishment of a so-called Women’s Ministry and the election of women (as deaconesses?) to prosecute the objectives of that ministry. And yet the wisdom of the apostles of Jesus Christ did not permit the election of women for the assignment.

The apostles had on hand, a problem of dealing with a women’s issue. It concerned the provision of food by the Church to widows. The distribution of food to Grecian widows did not seem fair as Jewish widows in the Church seemed better-favoured over the Grecian ones.

This led to murmurings in the Church. Of course, these murmurings had the potential to kill the love and fellowship of the congregation. The apostles had to deal with this canker which in Israel’s history had always led to the judgments of God upon the people.

One would have thought that since the issues in contention were about the cooking of food in the kitchen and the serving of it at tables to vulnerable women, women-folk, should have been at the forefront to deal with them. After all, these issues obviously were in an area where women’s God-given talents and natural gifts, could deal with them adequately, possibly without any Holy Spirit endowment.

And yet the apostles did not find it prudent to elect, ordain and anoint women for the task. They had to look for as many as seven men for the solution of the problem. These were no ordinary men. For this service to the Body of Christ, these men were to be of good report, full of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, and faith.

At the end of the election and ordination of these seven men, there was peace, love flourished, and the work of God prospered. Jesus Christ and God the Father in Heaven were satisfied with their servants on earth for their actions and gave them their backing and blessing.

You see, the apostles worked with the mind and wisdom of the Master. Also, the Master worked with them in all their endeavours (Mark 16: 20). Working in and through his disciples, the Master would never elect and ordain women for any assignments in his Church. These truths the apostles knew very well from two sources.

The first source was the Holy Spirit of God dwelling in them. The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in them constantly taught them the deep things of God and of His Wisdom. They could never do what was not in the mind of God or what He would not approve of.

Secondly, they learnt of the Master in four years of serious discipleship training, whatever they could do or never be allowed to do. And this training gave them the wisdom of being copy-cat imitators of all the ways of the Master.

When these men were with the Master, while he was on earth with them, did he not set the example for them, that, the greatest in his work must be the one who serves? And so these disciples learnt to serve thousands of men, women, and children, without being assisted in their tasks by women and or children (cf. Matthew 14: 15-21, Matthew 15: 32-38, Mark 6: 35-44, Mark 8: 1-9, Luke 9: 12-17, John 6: 5-13).

Whenever the disciples of Jesus Christ executed their God-ordained work of serving in the Kingdom, they received no assistance from women. Whether the task was to serve five or seven thousand men, in addition to the large numbers of women and children who were ever present, they received no assistance from any women in this service.

And whether the task was the collection of left-over food, to fill seven or twelve baskets, the disciples of Jesus Christ did not get assistance from their women-folk present.

The Master did not endorse women participation in the ministry he established for his genuine and loyal disciples. And therefore, he, never superintended over any assignments of his followers, which had women play roles (no matter how menial) in the ministry he ordained for them (his followers).

My dear Man of God, who are you then, to bring women into the Church of Jesus Christ, as leaders in place of and on behalf of men? Do you have the mandate of God to do so? No you do not. May God, be merciful to us in this error. [—this article is continued in Part Seven].

Chris Bapuohyele is an evangelist to the Body of Christ, and the author of the book entitled: BEWARE OF THIS FALSE DOCTRINE of reciting the Sinners’ Prayer for salvation. His email address is: [email protected].

Prophetess Deborah came onto the political scene of Israel unannounced. Unlike her predecessors, Othniel and Ehud, God did not introduce her. Immediately after her, came another deliverer raised by God to deliver His people. He was called Gideon. Gideon was elaborately introduced by God as His messenger (cf. Judges 6: 12 – 8: 32).

Odd enough, Deborah did not enjoy the testimony of God that He raised her as a deliverer to His people. There is no statement in the Bible that clearly reveals Deborah was raised-up and sent by God in the same way that Othniel, Ehud and Gideon were given glorious testimonies about their God-ordained assignments.

Maybe, she just filled a void at her own will: she called herself into action. It is most likely that, this was what she did. Just like Miriam the prophetess, the joy of having the power of the Holy Spirit upon her for singing might have led her to make bold and courageous acts like leading men to war, at a time when men were afraid to. But even then, do we not see how dependant she was on Barak, a man of valour, for her military campaigns? (cf. Judges 4: 6).

Nothing that I know about prophetess Deborah leads me to the conclusion that she was a messenger sent from God to lead His people. Her success in the war-campaigns against Gentile-king Jabin, and his captain Sisera, not withstanding, there is no reference in the Bible that God sent her.

That is not say God was not with her: since the Holy Spirit was with her and inspired her to sing, albeit of herself, and friends. Deborah too, like Miriam could not be a messenger sent by God to lead men.

We could go on to examine Huldah the wife of a man called Shallum (Second Kings 22: 14-20 & Second Chronicles 34: 20-28) and the un-named wife of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 8: 3), who were both mentioned in the Old Testament as being prophetesses. Clearly, none of them was sent by God to deliver His Word to any people. Huldah was neither under the command of God to send a message to king Josiah of Judah, nor was Josiah told by God to send the high priest Hilkiah and scribe Shaphan to her for one.

King Josiah of his own volition sent his messengers to confer with her. Prophetess Huldah therefore, also stands as one of the prophetesses who were never sent by God with His Word to men. As for Isaiah’s wife we do not know for what reason she was mentioned as a prophetess: or was it in relation to her pregnancy, the only issue related to the mention of her name?

From all the foregoing, we can safely say that a prophetess is one who sings under the unction of the Holy Spirit. This understanding of the function of the prophetess should deliver many people from holding the wrong view that, a prophetess is the female counterpart to the male-prophet, and is also inspired like the male-prophet to carry God’s Word to people.

This wrong but popular stance held by many that a prophetess is a God-chosen woman to be His messenger-spokesperson, conveying His instructions in place or alongside of God-ordained men-prophets must, today, be disabused from the minds of Bible-believers.

With the issue of who is a prophetess now settled, let us look at some practices of Judaism to further establish the fact that God purposefully set-up the leadership role of man over the woman. It is common knowledge to Bible students that, Judaism, as set-up and defined by the Law of Moses, showed a men-only leadership.

Many times we read in the Old Testament that Israel appeared before God in fulfillment of the Law. For many, their understanding of these verses of the Bible is that, the entire population of men, women and children appeared in the presence of the Lord. But it is wrong to suppose so, since the whole population of Israel could never assemble in one place. It was simply not possible for such a gathering to be made.

These were men-only congregations and or convocations, which the Law of Moses commanded for the observance by the males of Israel. It was compulsory for all men to stand before God in a holy convocation three times every year. This was a commandment given for the compliance of only men. We find this in Exodus 23: 17, Deuteronomy 16: 16-17, 23: 1-2, Leviticus 4: 13-15, and 23: 2.

The ages of males qualified to stand before God in these gatherings were twenty and above. These males comprised those of the eligible military- and nuptial-age of twenty (Numbers 1: 2-3, 26: 2, 32: 11 and Joshua 5: 4-7), and those who were family-heads, military leaders, spiritual leaders, and royal heads. Just look at the composition in the select group of men who appeared before Joshua and God, before his demise, which we find in Joshua 23: 2 and 24: 1.

Every serious-minded student of the Bible knows of the obvious disposition of the Law toward males, over their females. Even the post-natal purification rites for a woman, under the Law, were different when she brought forth a male-child from when the child was a female.

When a woman brought forth a male-child, she was unclean for only seven days. She could therefore come out to be present at the circumcision, naming and presentation to God rites for her son, which were by the Law to be performed on the eighth day after the birth of every male-child. Thereafter, her purification process lasted for thirty-three days.

On the other hand, a woman who delivered a female-child was by Law considered unclean, for as many as fourteen days. Thereafter, she continued while in seclusion, the process of her purification for a further sixty-six days. In Leviticus 12: 1-6, we find God’s instructions devoted to these issues, for the strict compliance of the children of Israel. Please, read these verses for your edification.

We must keep in remembrance that the Law of Moses continued to be legal tender for the transaction of any business between man and God, onto the advent of the Messiah. In the days of the Law of Moses, God dealt with mankind on the basis of man’s submission and obedience to it. And it was only Israel who was privileged to have the Law. His right-standing before God depended on his obedience to this Law.

This explains the misery of being alienated from God, which Gentiles suffered before being reconciled unto Him by the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ. Before that reconciliation of the Gentile-world to God, the Messiah of God said that, not one jot or tittle of the Law of Moses would ever pass away or fail; not until heaven and earth have passed away (cf. Matthew 5:17-18 and Luke 16:17).

Well, heaven and earth have not passed away yet and so the leadership status of the man established by God the Almighty in the Law of Moses, still stands today under the Grace Dispensation of God. We cannot doubt this if we truly are the loyal disciples of Jesus Christ.

But do we see this law of God, in which He established man as the perpetual leader of the woman, being adhered to today? Even among people who claim to be the followers of the Master, Jesus Christ, do they obey the Will of God in this? Personally, I do not see obedience to this Law. And why is this so, one may ask?

The reason is simple – many people who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ, are indeed not his disciples. True disciples of Jesus Christ are hard to come by in our world today. This is because a true disciple is one who imitates every way of his Master. And no imitator of Jesus Christ will permit or accept women leaders in the Church. [—this article is continued in Part Six].

Chris Bapuohyele is an evangelist to the Body of Christ, and author of the book entitled: BEWARE OF THIS FALSE DOCTRINE of reciting the Sinners’ Prayer for salvation. His email address is: [email protected].

Why would Miriam claim to be a spokesperson of God when she did not seem credible enough to lay claim to it? Of course, we all know that at one point in time, Miriam led the women’s group in Israel’s journey out of Egypt to Canaan, to sing a powerful song of praise to God. This was when the children of Israel crossed the Red sea safely, while the horse-men of Pharaoh drowned by the mighty hand of God (Exodus 15: 20-21).

This was the only occasion that Miriam came into contact with the Spirit of God. The euphoric feeling that she gained in this one-off contact with the Holy Spirit, might have carried her aloft and above all Israelite women for a long time. This spiritually uplifting experience, must have led her to think and believe that she was a messenger of God, who was spiritually at par with her two siblings (Aaron and Moses), and that she was chosen to run errands for Him by speaking forth His word to Israel.

After we heard Miriam sing a song of praise to God when the children of Israel crossed the Red sea, we next hear her criticise Moses for taking an Ethiopian woman to wife. How sad. This prophetess used her tongue to criticise the true man of God, instead of praising Him for mightily using him (her own brother) in the manner He was doing! Of course, her punishment for this sin, in being hit with leprosy, was deserved (Numbers12:1-16).

I am sure that her experiences of later years would have led her to reconsider her stand and, in sober-mind, rid herself of the delusion she had that God spoke through her. She, no-doubt, must have come to repent of her sin of envy and jealousy of her younger sibling (Moses), which must have caused her to speak presumptuously.

The third and last mention of Miriam in the Bible was one which announced her death and burial (cf. Numbers 20: 1). Miriam therefore, went the way of all flesh with only one good service to God to her credit! And yet she was considered a prophetess! This means that it was in her singing of praises to God, under the power of the Holy Spirit, in only one known occasion, that she was labeled: prophetess.

To sing under the power of the Holy Spirit therefore, means to prophesy. And it was not only Miriam who sung to earn the appellation, prophet, or in her case, prophetess.

The first king of Israel, Saul the son of Kish, was also a prophet by appellation because he sung praises to God when the Spirit of God first came upon him. In his case too, it is in this one known occasion that he was called a prophet.

Saul joined a company of prophets who, in function, were singers and instrumentalists under the unction of the Holy Spirit (cf. First Samuel 10: 5-13). Saul became known as a prophet because, on the day that he had the Holy Spirit of God come upon him, he joined this musical band of prophets and became as one with them in what they were doing – singing praises to God.

Note that, after Saul’s prophesying in singing, God never used him in even one instance, to carry His message to Israel his nation. And yet his name has entered the history of God’s dealings with mankind as a prophet, at one time in his life.

From the foregoing, it is obvious that singing under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, can also be termed: prophesying. From the Old Testament days unto the early days of the New Testament church, inspired singing of praises to God, either in clear understandable words or babbling tongues, remained the commonest manifestations of a person’s contact with the Spirit of God.

It was obviously so, for as many as seventy leaders of the house of Israel during the Old Testament days (cf. Numbers 11: 25-27). What could these seventy elders of Israel be doing with their vocal cords on end, prophesying without ceasing? What these elders did was the same thing Saul the son of Kish and a company of known prophets also did with their vocal cords – prophesying without ceasing.

It is not possible that on both occasions, these groups of men were delivering some message from God, without ceasing; could it? What-with all these many people using their vocal cords (and as such, all said in the Bible to be prophesying) at the same time?

What message could they be delivering and never ending or ceasing from that task? If at all they were delivering a special message from God, to who was it directed? The only thing they were doing was singing and making music in praise and worship of God.

May it therefore, be firmly established from the foregoing that, to prophesy also means, to sing under the unction of the Holy Spirit: thereby, not limiting prophesying to the delivering of messages from God.

In Acts 21: 9, we read of Philip the evangelist having in his home, four virgin-daughters who did (or could) prophesy. That is not to tell us that these virgins ever had a mission from God, to send His Word to any people of the world, either in times past or present then.

Of course, the work of sending the gospel message to the world was what their father was doing in all diligence, at the time we were told of their virginity and prophesying prowess (a feat usually exhibited together as a quartet?).

I am sure these virgins, pure and holy as they were, could never think of entering into any competition with their father in evangelizing the world. These virgins were singers who were always under the power of the Holy Spirit whenever they sang.

They, like Miriam, who is revealed to us in God’s Word as a prophetess; the seventy elders of the house of Israel in the Book of Numbers; king-elect Saul and his company of prophets; and the family and friends of Cornelius (Acts 10: 46), all ministered in songs of praises to God under the unction of the Holy Spirit immediately they had their first contact with the Holy Spirit. Women singers, singing under the unction of the Holy Spirit are considered to prophesy, and hence the reason why they are called prophetesses.

What about the mention in the Book of Judges in the Bible about a woman by the name Deborah, who is also referred to as a prophetess, someone might ask? Of course, many Bible readers know about this woman, who is also said to have been a judge of Israel. But many people do not know about her in much detail.

Prophetess Deborah was like prophetess Miriam: a songstress. The whole chapter five of the Book of Judges is devoted to her song of praise to God, of herself, and of people she considered to be of valour. She is the only prophetess I have heard of who praised herself when she sung under the power of the Holy Spirit (cf. Judges 5: 7, 12, KJV).

Prophetess Deborah emerged on the national scene of Israel during a time of political and spiritual turmoil. There was at the time, no clear-cut political or spiritual leadership in Israel. At her time, Joshua, the successor of Moses had died and all the elders of Israel who saw the power of God during their wilderness journey had also passed away (Judges 2: 7-10).

At the time of Deborah, Israel was living in one of his habitual periods of disobedience. These bouts of disobedience normally caused him to suffer punishment at the hands of his enemies. But because of the promise of God to bless Abraham and his seed forever, anytime he cried out to God for help, He always sent them men-leaders to deliver them from their enemies.

During the post-Joshua era, the first of these deliverer-leaders was Othniel; a man who was evidently called, anointed and sent by God (Judges 3:9-11, KJV). The next deliverer-leader was also a man raised and sent by God who was named Ehud (Judges 3: 15-30). Next after Ehud, God raised another male-deliverer by the name Shamgar (cf. Judges 3: 31). [—this article is continued in Part Five].

Chris Bapuohyele is an evangelist to the Body of Christ, and the author of the book entitled: BEWARE OF THIS FALSE DOCTRINE of reciting the Sinners’ Prayer for salvation. His email address is: [email protected].

Every spiritual work of God, in Israel, was done by only the male-line of Levi. The work of cleaning, arranging items of and for worship, offering of sacrifices on the altar, and any work relating to worship of God, were all done by a men-only Levitical priesthood.

If you are blessed to have the spirit of the Bible carry you along, as you meditatively read it, you will see that the house of Levi, and indeed the house of every man in Israel, did not have women being regarded as descending from those houses. Female children were never recorded at birth to have descended from their fathers.

Females were never counted in any population census. They were never eligible for inheriting their fathers. They did not have any portion in the land distribution of Israel.

Every part of the Law of Moses is clear in forbidding women-leadership in spiritual issues. When a woman brought forth a male-child as the first-fruit of her womb, that child was by the Law, to be given up for the service of God, in the company of the Levites.

By that birth, the male-child was ordained to be the priest of God, according to the Levitical order, forever. Therefore, when such children were weaned, they were handed over to the priests, to be taught, trained and groomed, for their God-ordained roles in the Aaronite priesthood, when they came of age for this service, at thirty.

This was how-come a first-born son of Elkanah by his wife Hannah, who was named Samuel, came to be enlisted into the priesthood of Israel, even though Elkanah was an Ephraimite and not a Levite (First Samuel 1: 1 – 2: 11).

When a female-child was similarly begotten, as the first to open the matrix of her mother, she was also by Law to be dedicated to the service of God. The father (and the mother?) did not own such a child, in the eyes of the Law of Moses, the Law of God. God owned such a child.

But unlike the first-born male-child, she could never join or be part of the Levitical priesthood, which God established for His worship. Therefore, any female-child who opened the matrix of every woman in Israel was to be redeemed. The fathers of such children were under obligation to buy-back or redeem them from God, as it were.

Such female-children were taken to the house of God, after being weaned of their mothers, to be given or handed-over to Him through the Levites. At these presentations, a price was placed on them at the discretion of the priests. This price was immediately paid by the fathers to the Levites and the female-child taken back home by the father, to live in submission and service to him forever.

I am sure, from all the foregoing, the choice of man by God to lead women is obvious. In my study of the Bible, the only service that I have come across to have been rendered by women in the company of men, in the worship of God, is singing of psalms and hymns.

It seems to me that, it was only the sons of Asaph who had in their ministration of worship before the Lord, women as singers. It was a rare concession given to the daughters of the house of Levi. It is only Ezra 2: 65 and Nehemiah 7: 67 which show evidence of women participation in singing, in the worship of God.

God has since the establishment of the state of Israel, used men only as prophets to communicate His Will to them. There is abundant evidence that there were never any female counterparts to men-prophets. Throughout Jewish history, God never called and sent a woman with His message to the nation of Israel or his king or any man for that matter.

How about the mention of the word prophetess in God’s Word, one may ask? The word ‘prophet’ is one of the problematic words in Greek-English Bible translation and therefore does not easily or readily reveal itself to our understanding. This is because the word ‘prophet’ is a transliteration of the Greek word ‘prophetes’, since it seems to defy a proper translation.

This transliteration does not help the non-Greek readers of the Bible much. Many forms and variants of the Greek word ‘prophetes’ exist. They are also transliterated variously as ‘prophet’, ‘prophetess’, ‘prophecy’, ‘prophesy’, etc.

Many of today’s users of the English Bible do not understand these words simply because they do not have their roots in English. They were borrowed whole-scale from Greek into English. This transliteration does the English-speaker very little or no good, at all. What is the good in being told for example that the meaning of the Greek word ‘prophetes’ in English is: prophet?

For me this is not helpful. And I wonder how many people are helped to understand this word by such transliteration. To understand the word ‘prophet’ is for one to either learn some Greek grammar and literature or gain its understanding from the spirit of the Bible.

For many people familiar with the Bible, a prophet to them is one who foretells future events. Even though that is true, it is not always the only function of the prophet. The prophet also at times carries the word of God to His people to deal immediately with current crises or any bad situation. Prophets who function in these two ways either hear with their spiritual ears, the Word of God from Him directly or through His angels, or they receive it through their spiritual eyes in dreams and visions.

Another kind of prophet is one who utters information, not foretelling of future events or bringing immediate solutions to current crises or bad situations. This prophet testifies to an event happening or just happened. An example of this kind of prophet was Simeon (Luke 2: 25-32), who was led into the Temple in Jerusalem to testify of the Baby Jesus as being the Messiah of God. Also, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, the prophetess of Luke 2: 36-38 fame was such a person who spoke not foretelling the future but testifying of a current event and thanking God for it.

There is yet another kind of a prophet that is hardly known by most bible students: the singing prophet. This is a man (and very rarely a woman), who sings under inspiration of the Holy Spirit when He (Holy Spirit) comes upon that person.

A person might function in this manner only once in his (or her) lifetime, and yet gain recognition as being considered a prophet, forever. It is in only this manner of functioning that women have been known to have participated in the work of God, and therefore called: prophetesses.

The most notable of such women was Miriam, the elder sister of both Moses and Aaron. She was the one, when yet in her girlish-years, who stood on the bank of the Nile, and watched the daughter of Pharaoh take the infant-Moses into her custody (Exodus 2: 4).

Later on, in her very advanced years, Miriam was called a prophetess; and yet was never known to have carried a message from God to His people. Of course, Miriam is recorded to have claimed that God spoke by and or through her. But was she right in her claim? There is no evidence to the veracity of her claim.

What need was there for God to have another prophet in a woman such as Miriam, when His super-prophet Moses was in-charge of His business? Maybe, because Miriam was older than both Moses and Aaron, she had come to assume a mother-figure (or was it rather a father-personality?) over these octogenarians, which gave her the courage to lay claim to any capacity to prophesy. [—this article is continued in Part Four].

Chris Bapuohyele is an evangelist to the Body of Christ, and the author of the book entitled: BEWARE OF THIS FALSE DOCTRINE of reciting the Sinners’ Prayer for salvation. His email address is: [email protected].

In the search for the position of the Bible, on the leadership status of men, vis-à-vis their female counterparts, it is very revealing when we look critically at the Ten Commandments of God found in Exodus 20: 1-17. All of them are directed at man: for his personal obedience and also aimed at him ensuring compliance by his family members.

However, let us look at only two of these commandments in some detail. These are the fourth and the tenth. What do they say? Let us quote these commandments in their entirety, from the King James Version of the Bible.

“Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shat thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed I”. (Exodus 20: 8-11, KJV, emphasis mine).

It is very clear to whom this commandment is addressed. It is only to the man and for him to ensure compliance by all in his house. No mention is made of any married woman.

Let us look at the tenth commandment. It is also clearly addressed to the man – the God-ordained head of the home. Let us quote it here:

“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s” (Exodus 20: 17, KJV).

Looking closely at this verse, we can see the wisdom and mind of God in crafting it. By His design, this verse can be obeyed by men only. It is only men, within the context of this verse, who possess houses, wives, manservants, maidservants, oxen or asses. The commandments of this verse do not speak to women.

This verse is silent on women. In the way the commandments stand, they seem to give the impression that, all of man’s neighbours are his fellow-men. Women do not seem to even exist in the mind God, so far as the commandments in this verse are concerned.

It seems to me that anytime God wanted a woman, He went looking for her inside of the personality (body and will) of man. The ideal woman is one who abides in the will of her father or husband, at all times. It therefore does not seem that any woman can obey or disobey this tenth of the Ten Commandments of God.

Any person who seeks to compel women to obey this verse, or to be faulted by it, and therefore amends it to read “… thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife (or husband) …” will be seeking an amendment to God’s commandments without His mandate. I have known some teachers (of the Bible?), who find nothing wrong with adding and stressing the words in parenthesis above, during their catechism or Sunday school classes, for the information of their young pupils.

I am scared about this, since God has warned of dire consequences for any people who will add to or subtract from His Word (without His mandate). This warning we find in Revelation 22: 18-19. We must therefore be very careful in this.

On a lighter note, let me draw your attention, my dear reader, to one of God’s favourite words – thou. You may try counting the number of times this word has been used in the King James Version of the Bible, to agree with me that it is one of God’s favourite words; and more so, when He speaks English at His Conservative best.

This word, from even the very few times that God has used it in the Ten Commandments, is strongly suggestive of it being a male-gendered word. It does not seem to have any feminine-gender connotation or trait.

By simply confining ourselves to the use of this word (thou) in the Ten Commandments, we see that, any time God uses this word, He is seen to be addressing a man or men. And so we can safely go beyond the Ten Commandments to understand that both Judaism and Christianity, as instituted by God for His worship, are male-led.

In the Book of Numbers, the chapter thirty, we find a very inspiring revelation about the God-ordained leadership status of man over the woman. My dear reader, please, read this interesting and very revealing chapter, from the King James Version of the Bible, before continuing with the reading of this article.

In this chapter of the Book of Numbers, God has established a statute rendering the man as the perpetual leader of the woman. In whatever relationship that exists between a man and a woman, the man is always the leader. That is how God has ordained things to be, and so they must remain in that manner, forever.

In this chapter, we receive the revelation of God that the father is the leader of the daughter. The husband is also the leader of his woman (wife). The divorced wife is still under obligation to any vow(s) she uttered with the consent of her man (husband) when she was yet married to him! And so is the widowed woman under obligation to make good any vow(s) she made with the knowledge of her man (husband) before his demise.

If you were a woman in Israel, you were to accept and obey this statute to your great gain or ignore it to your doom. And this is what God has taught His people to accept and obey – forever. Whether the man (father or husband) of the woman is alive or dead, the leadership of the man over her remains the Will of God. This reveals God-ordained leadership to be eternal, undying, and therefore spiritual.

If any woman violates this statute of God, she brings upon herself, iniquities, according to the fifteenth verse of the chapter. The man is established by God as the domestic priest of the woman, forever. May, I humbly advice women to read this chapter of Numbers carefully, so they may be blessed by it.

Talking about priests, we see God ordained a men-only priesthood for the spiritual leadership and well-being of the woman. Everywhere in the Bible, this is what God has ordained. In both the Old and New Testaments, God always called men only to be His priests. He uses them to give instruction of His Will and direction in His worship, to people who were considered His own.

The word ‘priestess’ has never been used by God to describe any woman with any role in His service. Priestesses have always been seen in heathen countries in description of their women’s roles as leaders in idol worship.

The Old Testament Aaronite priesthood involved only the sons of Levi. No daughters of the house of Levi ever entered the priesthood of the Old Testament. No woman from the houses of Aaron, Gershom, Kohath and Merari (families that comprised the house of Levi), ever entered the service of God as Levites even though females were, of course, born to men from these houses. [—this article is continued in Part Three].

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Chris Bapuohyele is an evangelist to the Body of Christ, and the author of the book entitled: BEWARE OF THIS FALSE DOCTRINE of reciting the Sinners’ Prayer for salvation. His email address is: [email protected].