Men and Women in the Church—Part 2a & 2b & 2c & 2d
(July 12&19 &26 & August 16, 2026)
In our first two messages, we established that God’s design for men and women is rooted in creation itself. From Genesis 1, we saw that men and women are equal in dignity and worth because both are created in the image of God. Then, in Genesis 2, we saw that while they are equal in value, they are unequal and distinct by divine design and responsibility. Adam bears covenantal responsibility, while Eve is created as a suitable helper corresponding to him. God did not create men and women to be interchangeable, but to complement one another.
This is why Scripture teaches not egalitarianism—which argues that men and women are the same in design and function—but complementarianism, which recognizes that men and women are equal in dignity while distinct in their God-given callings. Genesis 1 and 2 establish these foundational principles. Then Genesis 3 shows us what sin does to God’s good design. Rather than abolishing those distinctions, the Fall distorts them, introducing passivity, domination, conflict, and role reversal into the relationship between men and women. From the Fall onward, gender-competition has been the order of the age. We have been singing a version of the old song, ‘Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better’ in every generation. Sin has turned God’s design of complementarity into a spirit of competition.
But an important question remains. Are these truths merely principles found in the opening chapters of Genesis, or do they become a pattern that runs throughout the rest of Scripture?
There is an important difference between a principle and a pattern. A principle is a foundational truth that explains why something is true. In Genesis 1–3, we find the foundational principles of complementarianism: the equality of men and women as God’s image-bearers; their distinction as male and female; their complementarity in fulfilling God’s purposes; the man’s covenantal headship; the woman’s indispensable partnership; marriage as God’s created design; the Fall’s distortion of that order; and redemption’s restoration of God’s good design. These truths are rooted in creation itself. They are not products of culture and therefore do not change with culture.
A pattern, however, is the repeated expression of those principles throughout the history of redemption. One of the marks of biblical wisdom is learning to recognize the patterns God Himself has woven into His Word and then understanding the principles those patterns reinforce.
That is what we will do this morning. We are going to take a cannonball run through the Old Testament. As we do, we will discover that what God established in creation He repeatedly displays throughout redemption. The patriarchs, priests, judges, kings, prophets, and elders consistently reveal a pattern of male covenant leadership, while faithful women serve in indispensable and often heroic ways alongside them in advancing God’s kingdom purposes.
These recurring patterns are not accidental. They reinforce the design established at creation and prepare us for the New Testament’s teaching concerning men and women in the home and in the church. As the Apostle Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 10:11, “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction.” The patterns of Old Testament history were recorded to teach the people of God.
Thesis: What Genesis 1–3 establishes in principle, the rest of the Old Testament reinforces by pattern. The patterns established throughout the Old Testament confirm God’s creational design for men and women. Throughout the Old Testament, God consistently displays His creational design through recurring patterns of male covenant leadership and female covenant partnership.
My Five points are: 1, Men Exercise Covenant Leadership; 2, Women Displaying Heroic Faithfulness; 3, Women Helping Men Fulfill Their Calling; 4, Sin Distorting God’s Design; 5, Motherhood as a Sacred Calling.
Three Parts: 2a: Men exercise covenant leadership. 2b: Women display heroic faithfulness and help men fulfill their callings. 2c: Sin distorts God’s design, while motherhood is honored as a sacred covenantal calling.
2a: Men exercise covenant leadership.
I. Men Exercising Covenant Leadership
Throughout Israel’s history, covenant leadership is ordinarily entrusted to men—patriarchs were all men; priests were all men; kings all men; elders all men, and prophets all men. This pattern is not presented as arbitrary but as a continuation of the creation order and principle of male leadership.
Examples of offices and stations:
Numbers 1:2–3
Israel’s men are numbered for leadership and military service.
Deuteronomy 17:14–20
The office of king is established as a male-only office.
Exodus 28:1
Aaron and his sons are appointed to the priesthood.
Personal Examples:
- Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
- Moses, Aaron, and Joshua
Truth: Throughout the Old Testament, official covenant leadership is ordinarily entrusted to men only!
Exception to the Rule: One exception to this rule was Deborah who was a judge who did not exercise a military function. But she did come alongside under the Military Leadership of Barak when he failed to lead his men into battle in Judges 4:8. Israel’s enemies would be killed by a woman (4:9, 21-22; 9:53-54). However, this was to Barak’s shame for no manning-up. Others were Miriam, Deborah, and Huldah who were prophetesses. But none of these women exercised a public ministry like their male counterparts; and none of them has institutional authority. The heroic queen Esther is another example, but she was not a ruling monarch, nor a ruler over Israel. However, there was one (and only one) woman to sit on the throne over Israel: Queen Athalia. She became queen by assassinating all the male heirs—her own children and grandchildren to usurp the throne. Joash was the only one to escape death (in infancy) later to serve as King when Athalia is deposed and executed—look at 2 King 11. Her reign is not only the exception to the rule, but also underscores a principle taught in the Old Testament: One of the signs of national decline and covenantal deterioration is the reversal of God’s established order of male leadership among His people. This principle is expressed in Isaiah 3:12:
“As for My people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err, and destroy the way of your paths.”
Through the prophet Isaiah, God describes a nation under judgment where the normal structures of wise and faithful leadership have been overturned. The issue is not the value, dignity, or importance of women, but the disorder that occurs when God-given roles and responsibilities are reversed. Isaiah presents this reversal as evidence of covenant unfaithfulness and societal decline. Before I go to my second point, let me share what Calvin says about such exceptions to the rule:
If anyone bring forward, by way of objection, Deborah (Judges 4:4) and others of the same class, of whom we read that they were at one time appointed by the command of God to govern the people, the answer is easy. Extraordinary acts done by God do not overturn the ordinary rules of government, by which he intended that we should be bound. Accordingly, if women at one time held the office of prophets and teachers, and that too when they were supernaturally called to it by the Spirit of God, He who is above all law might do this; but, being a peculiar case, this is not opposed to the constant and ordinary system of government.[1]
Calvin explains that extraordinary acts of God do not overturn the ordinary pattern of government that God has established. God, as the sovereign Lord above all His own ordinances, may at times raise up individuals in unusual circumstances for particular purposes. Therefore, if God appointed women at certain times to serve as prophets or deliverers by the extraordinary calling of His Spirit, those unique instances do not cancel the general pattern God has established for the ordinary leadership of His people. The extraordinary work of God in exceptional moments does not replace or overturn the ordinary order God has revealed in Scripture. Do not glean a principle or a precept from exceptions from Scripture! Remember, Wisdom learns from God’s principles reinforced by patterns, not merely from God’s exceptions.
(Tune in Next Sunday for the conclusion of this message!)
Part 2b: Women display heroic faithfulness and help men fulfill their callings.
II. Women Displaying Heroic Faithfulness
A second pattern we see— based on the Creation Principle of male leadership—is heroic displays of faithfulness by female heroines of the faith. The Old Testament honors women such as Miriam, Deborah, Ruth, Hannah, Abigail, Esther, and Huldah. They are courageous, wise, faithful, and often instrumental in preserving God’s people. Yet we should neither think these heroic women within salvation history overturn the broader pattern of male covenant leadership, nor think that these heroic women were passive. Biblical history shows that women were not merely spectators in the drama of redemptive history.
Examples of heroic women displaying a range of godly virtues:
- Miriam
- Deborah
- Ruth
- Esther
- Huldah
Concrete Example:
We do not have time to elaborate on all of these heroic examples. Let me give you one concrete example: the daughters of Zelophehad. Land inheritance was normally patrilineal. The normal inheritance structure was organized around the male household line. But what happens when a man dies without a son? Zelophehad had five daughters and no sons. Would his name and inheritance disappear from Israel? What will happened to their Father’s inheritance? The daughters of Zelophehad bring the matter before Moses, and God Himself declares that their claim is just.
It’s in this context we see the daughters of Zelophehad standing up for their family land inheritance in Numbers 27 & 36. In Numbers 27:1–7, the daughters of Zelophehad—Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah—approach Moses, Eleazar, the leaders, and the congregation: “Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan because he had no son?”
Their appeal is heard, and the LORD Himself declares that their claim is just: “The daughters of Zelophehad are right.” God then establishes a legal principle concerning inheritance: “when a man dies without a son, his inheritance passes to his daughter.”
Then, in Numbers 36, the issue is revisited. The tribal leaders raise a concern that the land might pass from one tribe to another through marriage. The daughters again act within the established covenantal order, and the law is further applied to their particular situation.
The salient point I want us to get about these daughters of Zelophehad is that instead of trying to overthrow God’s established order (which is exactly the false teaching of egalitarianism attempts to do), these godly women act within that order. The biblical pattern is not: Men lead; therefore women do nothing. Rather, it is: Men bear the covenantal responsibility of headship, while women exercise substantial, meaningful, and sometimes remarkably courageous agency within God’s order.
The biblical patter is this: God frequently raises up godly women for courageous and indispensable service among His people.
The daughters of Zelophehad are therefore an excellent counterexample to a caricature of complementarianism. They are not elders, priests, or civil rulers, yet they are not marginalized or silenced. They act—and their action matters.
Application: Male leadership in the church does not mean that women are marginalized, silenced, or relegated to passive spectators. That is a slanderous caricature of biblical complementarianism. God has given women real gifts, real responsibilities, and real opportunities for meaningful service. Godly women have a God-given right to act—and their actions matter for the church today. The question is not whether women should act, speak, serve, or exercise influence. The question is whether they will do so faithfully within the order God has established for His church.
Women in the church are not wallflowers, standing prettily in the background while the men do everything important. Godly women can be just as strong as men, just as courageous as men, and just as resourceful as men. But they exercise those strengths in a different and distinct way—not in competition against men, but in complementarity with men.
And this brings us to something we hear much about today: diversity.
Diversity is not a virtue. Unity is a virtue. Unity is the virtue that orders diversity toward a common good. Diversity that is contrary to God’s order is always a vice, never a virtue. What makes diversity a social strength is not diversity by itself, but the unity that orders and directs that diversity toward a common good. Diversity without unity is fragmentation. Diversity without order is chaos. Diversity without a common purpose becomes not a strength, but a weakness. God’s design is not uniformity. Men and women are not identical. They are equal in dignity and worth, yet distinct in their God-given callings and responsibilities. And when those differences are brought together in unity, they become a strength.
Therefore, when men lead according to God’s design, and women faithfully exercise their gifts by helping, serving, strengthening, and working alongside men according to God’s design, we see the virtue of biblical complementarity. We see diversity ordered toward unity. We see difference becoming strength.
The biblical problem is not that men lead and women serve alongside them. The biblical problem is when God’s order is rejected—whether by reducing women to passive spectators or by turning men and women into competitors for the same roles. God’s design is better: men and women, equal in dignity, distinct in calling, working together in unity for the glory of God and the good of His church.
III. Women Helping Men Fulfill Their Calling
A third pattern we see in the Old Testament—rooted in the Genesis principle of the woman being created as a helper fit for the man—is women helping men fulfill their God-given callings. Throughout the Old Testament, women frequently strengthen, protect, counsel, correct, and otherwise assist men in carrying out their responsibilities. Although men are called to covenant leadership, the biblical pattern does not portray them as independent or self-sufficient leaders. God frequently uses women to provide the wisdom, courage, protection, counsel, and partnership necessary for men to fulfill their responsibilities faithfully. Sarah, Rebekah, Jochebed, Miriam, Deborah, Abigail, and Esther all illustrate this pattern in different ways.
This is the biblical principle behind the familiar maxim, “Behind every great man is a great woman.” Yet the biblical picture is even richer than the maxim suggests. The woman is not merely standing behind the man; she is often standing beside him, strengthening him, helping him, and contributing indispensably to the fulfillment of God’s purposes through him.
The man leads, but he does not lead alone. The woman helps, but she is not merely a passive assistant. Together, according to God’s good design, men and women fulfill their complementary callings for the glory of God.
Examples:
- Sarah
- Rebekah
- Ruth
- Abigail
- Esther
Biblical Pattern is this: These godly women were helpers whose role was not weakness but a vital ministry in advancing God’s covenant purposes.
Concrete Paradigm:
Let me give you a classic paradigm of such a godly woman who helps her husband fulfill their calling together. Proverbs 31 provides us a picture of the helper-paradigm of such a godly woman:
Proverbs 31:10–12 — Her Husband Trusts Her
“An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.”
This is perhaps the foundational text. Her faithfulness directly benefits her husband. She helps her husband through her faithfulness and trustworthiness.
Proverbs 31:13–16 — Industrious and Economically Productive
“She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands… She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.”
She is active, entrepreneurial, and capable. Her work contributes to the prosperity of the household. She and her husband both contribute to the economy of the household. The husband and wife both contribute significantly to the prosperity of the household, but they do so within their distinct callings. Her domestic economic productivity does not erase his headship, and his headship does not require her passivity.
Proverbs 31:20–21 — Protecting and Providing for the Household
“She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet.”
She anticipates needs and provides for her family. In his role as helper she is fiercely protective and shrewdly delivers whatever is needed! Such a woman can “get blood out of a turnip.”
Proverbs 31:23 — Her Husband’s Public Reputation
“Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land.”
This is especially important. While her husband serves in public leadership among the elders, her faithful labor contributes to the flourishing of the household that supports him.
Proverbs 31:25–27 — Strength, Wisdom, and Household Oversight
“Strength and dignity are her clothing… She opens her mouth with wisdom… She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.”
She is strong, wise, and actively manages the affairs of her household and has her husband’s back!
Proverbs 31:28–29 — Her Family Honors Her
“Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ‘Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.'”
Her husband and children recognizes the extraordinary value of her contribution. She is truly the Woman of the House!
Application:
Ladies— One of the great lies of modern feminism is the notion that equality requires sameness.
Biblical notion of equality is equal in value. In contrast, feminism teaches equality is sameness. This lie tells women that for them to be strong, capable, influential, and significant you have to be the same as men; you have to be just like men! Women (especially young women) that’s a lie from the devil! Equality does not mean “sameness.” The Proverbs 31 woman is strong, influential, and highly capable not because she’s the same as her husband, but precisely because she’s not: she’s a woman. Ladies—your wisdom, strength, counsel, labor, faithfulness, and courage are not secondary gifts. They are vital gifts that God uses to bless your family, your church, and His kingdom.
Wives—your calling is not merely to follow your husband’s leadership passively. You are called to be his helper—to strengthen him, counsel him, encourage him, correct him when necessary (Husbands—look at your wives and says “please correct me when necessary), and use your gifts for the good of your household and the glory of God. Your husband’s calling is not something you merely watch from a distance. In God’s good design, you are his partner in fulfilling the calling God has given your family. Ladies, when your husband struggles, you do not stand at a distance as a spectator. You are in this together. And men, when your wife struggles, you do not simply say, ‘That’s her problem.’ You are in this together. Your lives, your callings, and your faithfulness are deeply connected. Ya’ll are in this together!
And men—biblical headship does not mean leading alone. The Proverbs 31 man is able to sit among the elders at the gate while his wife faithfully manages the affairs of their household. A godly man does not fear the strength, wisdom, or competence of a godly woman. He recognizes those qualities as gifts from God and gladly receives the help God has provided. Real men are never intimidated by strong women—only weak men!
The biblical question is not, “How can men and women compete with one another?” The biblical question is, “How can men and women faithfully use their distinct gifts together for the glory of God?” The man leads, but he does not lead alone. The woman helps, but she is not merely a passive assistant. Together, according to God’s good design, men and women flourish as they fulfill their complementary callings for the glory of God.
(Tune in Next Sunday for the conclusion of this message!)
Part 2c: Sin distorts God’s design.
IV. Sin Distorting God’s Design
This brings us to our fourth point: sin is a moral evil—not a natural evil—that distorts God’s good order and design. In fact, that is precisely what sin does. Sin twists and distorts the good order God has established. Sin confuses and disorients the good orientation God has given to creation. Sin does not merely cause us to do wrong things; it causes us to misunderstand what is right and good.
And sin does more than distort what is good. Sin also deprives us of the good. Sin is not a substance or a positive thing that God created. It is a privation—a lack or corruption of goodness. Therefore, sin is not only the commission of evil, doing what God forbids; it is also the omission of good, failing to do what God commands. So when we look at the biblical pattern of God’s good design for men and women, we should not be surprised that sin attacks and distorts that design. Sin does not create a better alternative to God’s order. Sin takes what God made good and bends, reverses, confuses, and corrupts it.
That is why the fall (as we read this morning in Genesis 3) has such profound implications for the relationship between men and women. The problem is not God’s design. The problem is sin. And redemption, therefore, does not require us to abandon God’s creational design. Rather, redemption begins the work of restoring sinners to the good order for which God created them.
I listened to a pastor preach on this very topic last week, and he made the same rookie mistake. He assumed that before the fall Adam and Eve were equal in authority and leadership. He then went on to argue that exclusive male leadership is a result of the fall and that the gospel restores men and women as equals in authority.
Beloved, as we saw in Parts 1A and 1B, the exact opposite is true.
The original ordinance of creation, before the fall, already established a pattern of male headship and female partnership. God ordained Adam to lead, and He created Eve as a helper fit for him. Adam was not called to rule over Eve because of sin. He was given a responsibility to lead before sin ever entered the world.
The fall did not create male leadership. The fall distorted male leadership.
The fall did not create the woman’s role as a helper. The fall corrupted and frustrated the good exercise of that role.
Therefore, the gospel does not save us from God’s creational design. The gospel saves us from sin—including the sin that distorts God’s creational design. Redemption does not mean that men and women are restored to an imagined state of undifferentiated authority. Rather, redemption begins to restore men and women to the good order for which God originally created them.
And we see this pattern of distortion throughout the Old Testament in two primary ways.
First, we see ungodly women usurping authority and influencing men for evil. Women who were created to be helpers and partners in the fulfillment of God’s purposes instead use their influence to lead men away from God and into sin.
Second, we see ungodly men either mistreating women or becoming passive in their leadership. Men who were created to exercise responsible, sacrificial headship instead abuse their authority, neglect their responsibilities, or abdicate their leadership altogether.
In other words, the problem is not that God created men to lead and women to help. The problem is that sin corrupts both leadership and partnership. Sin turns male headship into domination or passivity. Sin turns female partnership into manipulation or rebellion. And the gospel addresses both distortions—not by abolishing God’s good design, but by redeeming sinners and restoring them to faithful obedience within it.
First, let’s look at some examples of the former, where we see ungodly women usurping authority and influencing men for evil.
The first example that comes to my mind is Jezebel from 1 Kings 16-21 and 2Kings 9.
Jezebel is the antithesis of the godly Proverbs 31 woman!
Who was Jezebel? Jezebel was the queen of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. She was married to King Ahab, and she was the daughter of Ethbaal, the pagan king of the Sidonians.
And when Jezebel entered Israel through her marriage to Ahab, she did not simply become the wife of the king. She brought her pagan religion and its influence with her. She promoted the worship of Baal, opposed the worship of Yahweh, persecuted the prophets of the Lord, and used her influence over Ahab to advance wickedness throughout Israel.
The Proverbs 31 woman uses her strength, wisdom, and influence for the good of her husband, her household, and her community.
Jezebel used her strength, wisdom, and influence for evil.
The Proverbs 31 woman strengthens her husband.
Jezebel corrupts her husband. She uses her influence over Ahab to draw him further into idolatry and wickedness. Rather than helping the king fulfill his covenantal responsibilities before the Lord, she encourages him to abandon them.
The Proverbs 31 woman fears the Lord.
Jezebel opposes the Lord. She does not merely worship a false god privately. She uses her position and influence to promote Baal worship and to oppose the worship of Yahweh. She persecutes the prophets of the Lord and seeks to eliminate the testimony of God’s Word from the land.
The Proverbs 31 woman is a helper fit for her husband.
Jezebel becomes a usurper who leads her husband—and ultimately the nation—into wickedness. She does not formally occupy the throne in place of Ahab, but she repeatedly exercises influence in ways that redirect the king’s authority toward her own wicked purposes. She manipulates her husband, devises the scheme against Naboth, uses the authority of the king to accomplish what Ahab himself was unwilling to do, and then takes possession of the vineyard.
Ahab may wear the crown, but Jezebel repeatedly demonstrates that she knows how to move the king.
And that is precisely the distortion of God’s good design. God created the woman to be a helper fit for the man—to strengthen him, to counsel him, to assist him, and to partner with him in fulfilling God’s calling.
In short we see that sin twists that good design.
The helper becomes the manipulator.
The counselor becomes the corrupter.
The partner becomes the usurper.
The influence given for good becomes influence used for evil.
Jezebel is therefore a powerful example of what happens when sin distorts God’s good design. Some may say that the problem was that Ahab could not handle strong, intelligent, and influential women! (That’s actually true of Ahab, but that was not the problem) The problem is not that she is strong. The problem is not that she is intelligent. The problem is not that she has influence. (In fact these are all Jezebel’s strengths!!) What’s the problem? The problem is that her strength, intelligence, and influence have been corrupted by sin and directed against God’s good order. Her God given gifts and strengths were corrupted. This is why some of your most evil people in history were some of your most gifted!
- a gifted preacher can preach falsehood;
- a gifted administrator can organize evil;
- a gifted politician can govern wickedly;
- a gifted scientist can use knowledge destructively;
- a gifted theologian can become a heretic;
- a gifted leader can become a tyrant.
Giftedness is not godliness.
Remember just because a person has gifts doesn’t mean those gifts are being used by God for good! Some of the most evil people have been the most gifted at speaking, administration, medicine, law, science, politics, theology, etc.
Second, let’s look at an example of ungodly men either mistreating women or becoming passive in their leadership. When I think of ungodly passive men I think of the posterchild of passivity being king Ahab, Jezebel’s husband. In 1Kings 21 we have a clear illustration of this. In 1 Kings 21 we see king Ahab coveting Naboth the Jezreelite’s vineyard which is adjacent to Ahab’s palace. Day after day, weeks after weeks, year after year—we don’t know how long Ahab was coveting Naboth’s vineyard but Ahab wanted that land. What makes coveting sinful? It’s this—desiring something you should never desire. You see, Naboth’s land was his ancestral inheritance. And like all ancestral inheritance the Mosaic Law says it’s a sin sell it or surrender it for good. Ahab couldn’t care less about the law, but Naboth did. So when Ahab gave Naboth an offer to buy his vineyard or exchange Naboth’s vineyard for another vineyard that Ahab owned— he refused! As Paul Harvey used to say, “Here’s the rest of the story.”
Ahab returns home angry and depressed. When Jezebel sees his distress, she asks why he is upset. After Ahab explains the situation, Jezebel takes control of the situation while Ahab acts passively! She tells Ahab to stop being troubled and promises to obtain the vineyard for him.
What does he do? Jezebel writes letters in Ahab’s name (this is the first autopen scandal), seals them with his seal, and commands the elders of Naboth’s city to proclaim a fast and falsely accuse Naboth of blaspheming God and the king. Two false witnesses testify against Naboth, and he is condemned and stoned to death. After Naboth’s death, Jezebel tells Ahab to take possession of the vineyard. Ahab immediately goes down to claim it.
But the Lord sends Elijah to confront Ahab. Elijah declares God’s judgment: because Ahab has murdered Naboth and seized his inheritance, disaster will come upon Ahab’s house. Ahab’s dynasty will be destroyed, and Jezebel herself will suffer a shameful death. Ahab is the antithesis of a strong godly man who leads his wife. Instead of rebuking the wife’s evil counsel and repenting for his sin of coveting and sin of self-pity—he does the opposite. This weak ungodly man takes the advice of his wife, and allows her to lead him into evil doing! The sin of passive and weak men is that instead of leading, they are led. This happens in homes, churches, and society. By way of application, we see this in politics. Passive civil leaders create the conditions in which a “deep state” can emerge. When legitimate, publicly accountable authorities refuse to exercise their proper authority, power does not disappear. It migrates. Bureaucrats, permanent officials, administrative agencies, intelligence networks, unelected experts, courts, corporations, and other institutional actors begin to make decisions that properly belong to accountable civil rulers.
But passive men aren’t the only problem—so are ungodly men who mistreat and abuse women! In 2 Samuel 13 we see this where in vv 11-12 it says, ‘Come, lie with me, my sister.’ But she answered him, ‘No, my brother, do not violate me…’” Amnon, David’s son, lusted after his half-sister Tamar. He manipulated her, deceived her, and then sexually violated her. Afterward, rather than taking responsibility for what he had done, he despised and rejected her, sending her away in shame. Amnon’s conduct represents a direct inversion of God’s design for men and women:
- Instead of protecting a woman, he exploited her.
- Instead of exercising self-control, he was ruled by lust.
- Instead of honoring her dignity, he treated her as an object of gratification.
- Instead of covenantal responsibility, he practiced selfish domination.
- Instead of loving a woman as a neighbor, he used her for himself.
The narrative is especially powerful because Tamar is clearly portrayed as the innocent victim, while Amnon’s actions are presented as wicked. The Old Testament’s pattern of male leadership must therefore never be confused with male license to dominate or abuse women.
Her is the sad Truth: When God’s order is rejected, both men and women suffer the consequences of sin. God’s creational design is good; sin distorts that design;
Application: Now, beloved, the Bible teaches us that there are three enemies against which we must continually do battle: the world, the flesh, and the devil. The world is the system of values and desires around us that is opposed to God. The devil is our spiritual adversary, the tempter and deceiver. And the flesh is the remaining corruption within us—our sinful nature that, even as believers, continues to wage war against the Spirit and remains hostile to God.
And this is where we must be careful.
It is easy to look at a passage like 1 Kings 21 or 2 Sam 13 and think, “There is that Jezebel. There is the wicked influence. There is the corrupting woman.” Or “There is that soy-boy Ahab or that wicked womanizer and rapist Amnon.
But the question we must ask is: Ladies— What is the Jezebel within me? Men—What is the Ahab in me” What is the Amnon in me?
What sinful desires do I allow to remain unchallenged? What temptations do I tolerate? What sins do I excuse, nurture, and protect?
Because the same sin that corrupts others can be at work within us.
And therefore, beloved, we must mortify our sin.
John Owen famously warned us: “Be killing sin, or it will be killing you.”You cannot make peace with sin. You cannot domesticate sin. You cannot allow sin to remain in your heart as a tolerated resident. If you do not kill sin, sin will kill you. Therefore, put sin to death. By the power of the Holy Spirit, put to death the sinful desires, thoughts, attitudes, and actions that remain within you. Do not merely ask, “What is wrong with Jezebel?”
Ask, “What is wrong with me?” Because the gospel does not merely expose the sins of other people. The gospel exposes our sin, leads us to repentance, and by the power of the Holy Spirit begins to restore us to the good order for which God created us.
In conclusion of Part 2c—we Sin distorts God’s good design—but sin does not have the final word. God continues to advance His covenant purposes through faithful men and women, and one of the clearest places where He does so is through the sacred calling of motherhood which my last point!
(Tune in Next Sunday for the conclusion of this message!)
Part 2d: motherhood is honored as a sacred covenantal calling
V. Motherhood as a Sacred Calling
Just to recap, in Parts 2a, 2b, and 2c, we have been taking a cannonball run through the Old Testament to see whether the principles established in creation actually become patterns throughout redemptive history.
In Part 2a, we saw the recurring pattern of men exercising covenant leadership. Patriarchs, priests, kings, elders, and other ordinary offices of covenant leadership were ordinarily entrusted to men. Even the extraordinary exceptions do not overturn the ordinary pattern God established.
In Part 2b, we saw the other side of that pattern: women displaying heroic faithfulness and helping men fulfill their callings. The Bible does not portray godly women as passive spectators. From the daughters of Zelophehad to the Proverbs 31 woman, women exercise remarkable wisdom, courage, strength, influence, and initiative—all within God’s good order.
Then in Part 2c, we saw what happens when sin enters the picture. Sin distorts God’s design. Jezebel shows us female influence corrupted into manipulation and usurpation. Ahab shows us male headship corrupted into passivity. Amnon shows us male strength corrupted into domination and abuse. The problem is not God’s design; the problem is sin.
So the pattern we have seen is remarkably consistent: God created men to exercise covenantal headship and women to be indispensable partners and helpers—and sin continually seeks to corrupt both.
But sin does not have the final word. God continues to advance His covenant purposes through faithful men and women. And nowhere do we see the covenantal importance of women more clearly than in one of God’s most fundamental callings for women: motherhood.
And that brings us to our fifth and final pattern in the Old Testament: Motherhood as a Sacred Covenantal Calling. Scripture consistently honors motherhood as a God-given vocation through which women bear, nurture, instruct, and disciple covenant children. Motherhood is a uniquely and ordinarily feminine covenantal vocation, and Scripture gives it profound theological dignity.From the creation mandate, through the household promises of the covenant, and into the New Testament’s affirmation of maternal faithfulness, Scripture presents motherhood as far more than a biological function. It is a sacred calling within God’s covenant purposes. Through motherhood, women participate in God’s ordinary means of populating, nurturing, and perpetuating His covenant community from generation to generation.
From the creation mandate to the household promises of the covenant and the New Testament’s affirmation of maternal faithfulness, the bearing and nurturing of children is presented not merely as a biological function but as a sacred calling within God’s covenant purposes. Motherhood therefore possesses profound theological dignity: through it, women participate in God’s ordinary means of populating, nurturing, and perpetuating His covenant community from generation to generation.
Examples:
- Sarah demonstrates motherhood within the covenant promise. Isaac is not simply the biological product of Abraham and Sarah; his birth is bound up with God’s covenant promise.
- Hannah gives you something particularly powerful because her motherhood is explicitly connected with dedication to the Lord. She doesn’t merely desire a child; she desires a child whom she will give back to God.
- the mothers of Israel — the ordinary women through whom the covenant community was physically and spiritually perpetuated.
The household promises of the covenant are biblical patterns in which God’s covenant dealings include not only individual believers but also the individual believer and his and her household and children. Why? It’s because Scripture gives us a different picture of the individual person.
The Bible does not begin with the autonomous individual. It begins with God. And God, in His wisdom, has ordained that human beings ordinarily live, grow, and flourish within relationships—first and foremost within the household and family.
That is why Scripture speaks of God’s covenant not merely in terms of isolated individuals, but in terms of households and generations. God says to Abraham, “I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.” And when Peter preaches at Pentecost, he declares, “The promise is for you and for your children.”
Why does Scripture speak this way?
Because there is no such thing as a truly pre-social individual. We are not born into this world as autonomous selves who later decide whether we will join a family or a community. Every one of us comes into this world already belonging to a household. We are born into a family. We are nurtured by a family. We are taught by a family. We are disciplined by a family. We are formed and informed by a family.
Yes, beloved, the individual is real. Every human being bears the image of God and possesses personal dignity and moral responsibility before Him. But the individual is never meant to be an isolated self.
The individual is formed within relationships that God Himself has ordained.
And this is one of the great errors of modern individualism. Modern culture has increasingly exalted the autonomous self. It tells us that the individual comes first and that family, community, church, and even moral tradition are secondary things that the individual may accept or reject according to personal preference.
But Scripture says otherwise.
God did not create us to live as isolated selves. He created us for covenant, for family, for community, for worship, and for ordered relationships under His authority.
Our forefathers understood something that we desperately need to recover: liberty does not mean freedom from every restraint. True liberty is freedom to live rightly under God.
A horse without a bridle may be free to run wherever it pleases, but that is not the highest expression of its purpose. The bridle does not exist merely to restrict the horse; it directs the horse. It gives the rider the ability to guide its strength toward a proper end.
So it is with human liberty.
God’s moral law, the family, the church, and the legitimate institutions of society are not merely chains placed upon the individual. Properly ordered, they are instruments through which God directs human life toward what is good, true, and beautiful.
But when the individual is severed from those God-given bonds, something changes. The self becomes untethered. The individual becomes like a wild horse roaming the prairie—free to run wherever it wishes, but without direction, without restraint, and without a rider.
And beloved, that is increasingly the world in which we live.
But the church must proclaim a better way.
The individual belongs within the household. The household belongs within society. And society itself must live under the authority of Almighty God.
And that brings us directly to the calling of motherhood.
If God has ordained the household as the ordinary context in which human beings are born, nurtured, instructed, disciplined, and formed, then motherhood cannot be reduced to biology. It cannot be dismissed as merely one lifestyle option among many.
Motherhood is a sacred calling.
A mother does not merely give birth to a child. She receives a life entrusted to her by God. She nurtures that child. She teaches that child. She disciplines that child. She prays for that child. She speaks God’s truth into the life of that child.
And when that child belongs to the covenant household, the mother has the extraordinary privilege of participating in the transmission of the faith from one generation to the next.
That is why Scripture honors the mother.
That is why Scripture speaks so highly of the woman who fears the Lord and faithfully tends her household.
And that is why Christian mothers should never believe the lie that what they do in the home is insignificant.
Motherhood is not a lesser calling. Motherhood is not wasted potential. Motherhood is not merely private domestic activity. Motherhood is a sacred covenantal vocation.
Through faithful mothers, God ordinarily forms the next generation.
Through faithful households, God ordinarily preserves His truth from generation to generation.
And through the covenant promises of God, we are reminded that our children are not merely the future of society. They are gifts entrusted to us by the Lord, whom we are called to nurture, teach, and bring up in the fear and admonition of the Lord.
So, beloved, let us reject the lie of the autonomous self.
Let us recover the goodness of the household.
Let us honor the God-ordained relationships through which He forms human beings.
And let us once again call motherhood what Scripture calls it: a sacred covenantal calling before Almighty God.
Here are some clear examples from the OT of this pattern of the household:
- Genesis 17 — covenant established with household and generations
- Exodus 12 — redemption experienced within households
- Deuteronomy 6 — covenant truth taught within households
- Joshua 24 — household allegiance to Yahweh
- Psalm 103 — covenant faithfulness extending to children’s children
Beloved, this is why the household matters in Scripture. The husband is called to covenantal headship within the household, while the wife is given a profound stewardship within the household. Her household is not a peripheral concern. It is one of the primary spheres in which her God-given vocation is exercised. We read again from Prov. 31, that the Godly woman’s sphere is her household. While her husband sphere is at the gates of the public square, her sphere is domesticity. That does not mean she does not work outside the household.
Notice that the virtuous woman is not inactive. She buys fields. She makes garments. She trades. She provides for her household. She serves the poor. She exercises wisdom. She is industrious and economically productive. But notice where all of that activity is ordered: toward the good of her household. What it means is the household (including nurturing her children) comes first in priority. The household is not the limitation of her calling; it is the center of her calling. From that center, her influence reaches outward—to the church, to the community, and ultimately to society itself. Proverbs 31 teaches that the household occupies a place of primary covenantal priority in a godly woman’s vocation. Childbearing in Scripture means so much more than just bearing children.
Beloved, childbearing in Scripture means far more than simply bringing children into the world. Motherhood is the beginning of a sacred stewardship. A mother receives from God a child made in His image. She nurtures that child, teaches that child, disciplines that child, prays for that child, and points that child toward Christ. In the covenant household, she becomes one of God’s ordinary instruments for passing the faith from one generation to the next.
That is why motherhood matters—not merely for the family, but for the church and for society. The future of a people is being formed in its households. And the formation of that next generation is one of the great privileges God has entrusted to mothers.
Motherhood, therefore, is not a second-class vocation. It is not wasted potential. It is not merely biology. It is a sacred covenantal calling.
So, beloved, let us recover what our culture has forgotten. Let us honor the household. Let us honor the family. Let us honor the God-given vocation of motherhood. And let us thank God for the faithful women through whom He has so often preserved His people and transmitted His truth from one generation to the next.
Conclusion (to Parts 2a-2d)
The Old Testament pattern is clear: as we’ve seen in….
2a — Men exercise covenant leadership. The Old Testament repeatedly reinforces the creational pattern of male covenantal headship.
2b — Women display heroic faithfulness and help men fulfill their callings. Biblical complementarianism does not mean female passivity; women exercise extraordinary wisdom, courage, strength, and influence within God’s order.
2c — Sin distorts God’s design. Jezebel, Ahab, and Amnon show how sin corrupts both female partnership and male headship. The problem is not God’s design but sin.
2d — Motherhood is a sacred covenantal calling. God ordinarily advances His covenant purposes through households and generations, and mothers have a vital role in nurturing, instructing, and forming the next generation
The Old Testament consistently portrays men and women as co-laborers in God’s kingdom, while ordinarily assigning covenant leadership to qualified men and celebrating the indispensable ministry of women.
[1] Calvin, J., & Pringle, W. (2010). Commentaries on the Epistles to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon (p. 67). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
Reverend G Carl Moore 