Women Bible Teachers - Part 1

Welcome to the Women’s Weekly Bible Challenge! I’m Lisa Ann Spencer. 

This week we’re beginning a new series, Everything the Bible has to say about WOMEN TEACHING.

Part One

Let’s search the Scriptures like the Bereans in Acts 17:11.  This is so easy to do today with access to digital concordances at our fingertips.

I use www.biblegateway.com and www.BlueLetterBible.org. 

For example, using both of these concordances, I looked up the word TEACH.

“Teach” is found 170 times in Bible Gateway, including all forms such as: teaching, teacher, teachers, teachest, and teacheth.

BlueLetterBible catches only the word “teach” 109 times in 108 verses.

I also looked up the following related words:

• Taught
• Instruct; including instructs, instructor, instruction, instructions, instructed,
• Learn; including learned and learning.

I combined each of those words with each of the following words:

Her, She, Woman, Women, Mother, Daughter, Wife, Wives, Sister and Maid.

The following is the list of HITS from the Old Testament:

1. Proverbs 1:8
2. Proverbs 31:1
3. Song of Solomon 8:2
4. Jeremiah 9:20
5. Ezekiel 23:48
6. Matthew 14:8  – Yes, Matthew is part of the Old Testament as Jesus had not yet shed His blood to initiate the New Testament (Mt. 26:28; Heb. 9:17-18)

 

Before we dig into these Old Testament verses, I want to issue a WARNING AND CAUTION:  ⚠

The “Old Testament” portion of the Bible is called “the LAW and the PROPHETS and the PSALMS” (Luke 24:44), which includes everything from Genesis through the middle of the book of ACTS.

We must be careful to understand these scriptures doctrinally BEFORE we try to APPLY them to ourselves today. 

We are plainly and directly told much later in the canon of scripture that we are not under the law (Romans 6:14-15).  The Apostle Paul warns his readers not to go back under the Law (Galatians 5:18) because it will lead to an increase in sin (Romans 5:20)! 

So, to summarize:  DO NOT PLACE YOURSELF UNDER THE DOCTRINE OF THE LAW! IT WILL NOT HELP YOUR CHRISTIAN GROWTH!

LET'S DIG IN!

1.  Proverbs 1:8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, And forsake not the law of thy mother:

Doctrinally, who is the son? By cross-referencing “my son” in a concordance, we learn that it is Israel (Exodus 4:22; Hosea 11:1). 

And who is the Father?  Is it King David? No. Israel’s Father is God.

Who is the MOTHER? We must consider the role of a mother in the Bible. A mother nourishes up the child until the time comes for him to be weaned from the milk of the word. By comparing scripture with scripture, for example:

1 Timothy 4:6

If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.

1 Peter 2:2

as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

So, what is the LAW OF THY MOTHER? Scripture teaches that the Law is the word of God.

Conclusion: Proverbs 1:8, by way of application, teaches the reader that it is expected that a mother should hold to and teach the word of God to her son.

2. Proverbs 31:1 The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him.

Doctrinally, we see a mother teaching her son, the King, a prophecy that has to do with the city of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel.

📔 Note: In scripture, there is a difference between the wife of a king and the queen; these are roles not always held by the same person. King Solomon had many wives, but his mother was the Queen.

By application, we conclude that it is biblical for mothers to teach their sons. 

3. Song of Solomon 8:2 I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother’s house, who would instruct me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate.

Doctrinally, Proverbs and The Song of Solomon is all about Israel (the land and the people) and Jerusalem (the city). In scripture we see  Jesus returning to marry His bride, the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:9-10) and the cleansed land (Isaiah 62:4, Beulah land).  Both Proverbs and Song of Solomon are prophesies pertaining to Israel.

Conclusion: I would not attempt to make any application of this verse to women today, except that a mother may obviously instruct her daughter in her house.

4. Jeremiah 9:20 Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, And let your ear receive [the word of his mouth], And teach your daughters wailing, And every one her neighbour lamentation.

Doctrinally, punishment is coming on the city of Jerusalem.  Jeremiah is looking for any “daughters of Jerusalem” that will believe God’s word and teach their daughters and neighbors to cry and mourn instead of believing the false prophets promise of peace.

By application we conclude: It is biblical for mothers to teach their daughters and neighbors to believe God’s word.

5. Ezekiel 23:48 Thus I will cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness. 

We should define Lewdness – 1. The unlawful indulgence of lust; fornication, or adultery. 2. In Scripture, it generally denotes idolatry. 3.  licentiousness; shamelessness.

Doctrinally, this is the story of two daughters that committed whoredoms:  Aholah, the elder; and Aholibah her sister -- A tale of two cities: Samaria and Jerusalem. God is pronouncing judgment on them for their whoredoms. 

Conclusion: We mothers should read the chapter and teach it to our daughters. By application we can see that scripture teaches all women not to behave lewdly. 

6. Matthew 14:8 And she [Herodias], being instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger.

Doctrinally,  Matthew 14 is canonically in the OLD TESTAMENT, as the New Testament cannot begin without the shedding of Jesus’ blood. Here we see a mother and daughter both being used by Satan (Ephesians 2:2) to murder an innocent man.

By application we conclude just how powerful the influence of a mother can be upon her daughter for evil.

I will end Part One of this blog with Ezekiel 16:44

Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee [Jerusalem], saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter. 

This is powerful and convicting.  We can certainly apply this to ourselves as mothers who have great influence in our homes. 

In Part Two of this study on WOMEN TEACHING, we will take a look at what the NEW TESTAMENT has to say on the topic.  I hope you'll join me.

I pray this study will motivate us to use our influence as Christian wives, mothers and neighbors to share the truth of the word of God with everyone we know.

Link to Part Two of Women Teaching

This study is available on YouTube: