Hello and welcome to the Women’s Weekly Bible Challenge! I’m Lisa Ann Spencer. Thank you for stopping by. This is part 5 and the conclusion of the series titled, THY KINSWOMAN. If you are a first time visitor, click here to access part 1.
A quick Review of what we have covered thus far:
We have seen in this study that there are only two ways in Scripture beginning in the book of Genesis all the way through Revelation:
- God’s way
- Satan’s way
These two ways are portrayed in the book of Proverbs as two women:
- WISDOM and UNDERSTANDING called ‘thy sister, thy kinswoman’
- THE STRANGE WOMAN, or the harlot
We learned last week that we can know these women by their WORDS.
We proved from scripture that the GODHEAD – Father, Son and Holy Ghost - is male. If anyone says that God, or the Godhead, is female or gender neutral, that would be a lie.
Now we get to The BIG QUESTION: Why would WISDOM be represented as a female?
How is it possible that WISDOM, who clearly speaks the words of God, is referred to as a female by God in His preserved book?
While I am still seeking to understand this, I will attempt to shed light from God’s word to answer this question.
The word of God is a lamp.
Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
If we learn anything from this study, I hope it is that we should read and believe in the exact words of God.
Wisdom being personified as a woman has to do with God keeping a secret in order to reconcile the Earth and the Heaven back to Himself.
Let’s begin at Genesis. So grab your Bible, notebook and a ⛾ CUPPA.
We know from scripture that MAN was made in the image of God, male and female.
Genesis 1:26 Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:
This verse is the Godhead speaking to Himself, announcing His PLAN.
Then He does His creative work:
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
We should notice 2 things:
#1 There is a gap of time between God PLANNING to create man, and His creation of man. We do not know how long that was, but we have to accept that there was a GAP of time. There are many such gaps in the Bible. Some are gaps of just days, some months and years, and some are thousands of years. This is just a Bible fact that can help us as we study His word.
#2 We should also notice
that God created man in HIS IMAGE and that image is male and female; so both a male and female together express the image of God. Now we know that in Jesus Christ dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9). Yet in Christ is the hidden Wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 2:7; Psalm 51:6).
Putting these two points together, we see that EVE was HIDDEN inside Adam for an unknown period of time, as if God was keeping her secret.
Genesis 2:23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
So many people today are diminishing the importance of marriage, not holding to it as it is described in scripture, ordained by God for a purpose. Perhaps when the purpose is forgotten, then the value of marriage is forgotten. It is important that we hold to marriage as it was ordained in the beginning.
However, many people mistake the origin of marriage as more than it was created to be. It is so romanticized by the world that even Christians are confused about the purpose of marriage. Most Christians mistakenly think that marriage is a spiritual union, when it is not. Look at verse 23-24 again.
Genesis 2:23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be call Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
From this scripture it is plain to see that marriage is not a spiritual union, but a FLESHLY union. And we can see that by comparing it to another scripture.
1 Corinthians 6:16 What? Know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? For two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
Whether a man is joined to his wife or to a harlot; they are considered ONE FLESH. There is nothing spiritual about it.
Each person, male and female, has a SPIRIT, SOUL AND BODY (1Thessalonians 5:23). You share your body with your spouse, but you cannot share your your spirit with anyone but God and the other members of the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 6:17, 1 Corinthians 12:27).
As we have been studying THY KINSWOMAN in Proverbs, we have seen that God instructed “My son”, Israel, to be ravished by the wife of his youth (Proverbs 5:18-19) and not by the strange woman. God instructed his son, Israel, to call Wisdom and Understanding, “thy sister and thy kinswoman” in order to guard against the strange woman.
Also, Leviticus 18 warned against a FLESHLY relationship with a sister or a kinswoman; but in the first 9 chapters of Proverbs we are given an illustration of a SPIRITUAL union with a sister or a KINSWOMAN.
Look back at 1 Corinthians 6:16 What? Know ye not the he which is joined to an harlot is one body? For two, saith he, shall be one flesh. 17 but he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
When a man is joined intimately with a wife or an harlot; they two are one FLESH; but when a person is joined to the LORD, they are one SPIRIT.
We’ll come back to this union with Christ at the end of this study, but for now let’s talk about the reasons that Eve was brought forth.
TWO REASONS:
#1 Adam needed a help meet, someone to help him achieve the purpose that God created him for.
Q: What was God’s purpose in creating man?
A: It was God’s will for man to have dominion over the earth.
Genesis 1:26 …let them have dominion over…all the earth,
and
Psalm 115:16…the earth hath he given to the children of men.
Part of that plan obviously included being fruitful and multiplying to procreate “children of men”. Adam would certainly need a suitable helper to accomplish this.
#2 There was a second reason that God brought forth Eve as the pinnacle of His creation.
She was the bait to set the trap to overthrow Satan!
Take a look at Psalm 8:5 For thou hast made [man] a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. 6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:.
We see two things:
- God made man to have dominion over the works of His hands.
- Man was made lower than the angels. (This implies that angels were already made when man was made.)
Also notice in Psalm 8:2 Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
The purpose of making man was to still the enemy and the avenger!
Take some time to study Psalm 8 and consider that God created and made man to overthrow Lucifer’s scheme to have dominion over His creation.
I also ask that you consider two other passages that support this idea.
God says that He “hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty (1 Corinthians 1:27),
And,
that husbands are to “give honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel,…(1 Peter 3:7).
It would not be contrary to the word of God for God to take Eve, the weaker vessel, and use her to bring down the mighty.
Satan thought he would forever gain dominion OVER THE EARTH by deceiving man into following him instead of God, and he did gain dominion OVER THE EARTH temporarily. Today Satan is called the “god of this world” [2 Corinthians 4:4] But, he was actually digging the pit that he himself would fall into, a theme we see many times in scripture. Here are a few references for you to consider: Psalm 7:15; 57:6; Proverbs 26:27; and Ecclesiastes 10:8.
Satan’s temptation of the weaker vessel, Eve, sealed his doom. For through the purpose of God, by Adam and Eve being fruitful and multiplying, the seed of the woman, Jesus Christ, would come and “destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil:” (Hebrews 2:14).
SUMMARY, thus far:
We see the woman hidden inside the first man, brought forth as part of God’s plan in order to overthrow Lucifer who had previously rebelled.
This brings us to the reason we also see WISDOM, represented as a woman, hidden inside God and kept secret; in order to overthrow Satan’s plan to have dominion in the HEAVENLY PLACES.
The nation of Israel is never promised a KINGDOM in HEAVEN. Their promises are EARTHLY; and their heavenly kingdom will come down from heaven and be fixed upon the earth. (Matthew 6:10 Thy kingdom COME. Thy will be done IN EARTH, as it is in heaven.) We do not hear much about heaven until we get to the Apostle Paul because God had kept that part of his plan secret for a long time!
That phrase “heavenly places” is only found in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, the letter that reveals God’s secret to us Gentiles.
I hope you will consider these references:
The phrase “hidden wisdom” is also only found in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. Let’s look at it.
1 Corinthians 2:7 but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory.
So we can see that this was a plan that God had LONG AGO, even before He created Heaven and Earth; but it was kept hidden until revealed to Paul.
Q: Why did He keep it secret?
A: The very next verse tells us.
8 which none of the
princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have
crucified the Lord of glory.
Verse 2 of this chapter, he says, For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified.
And,
Verse 5… that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Paul is speaking of the mystery of the CROSS and what secret plan it had accomplished.
WARNING: ⚠
Do not misunderstand! The cross was prophesied in the Old Testament. Satan knew that God had set out to reconcile the Earth through the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15). But he did not know that God would usurp Satan's rebellion and reconcile the Heaven back to Himself through this mystery, the Body of Christ.
So notice again in verse 7, Paul says God ordained it BEFORE THE WORLD.
1 Corinthians 2:7 but we speak the wisdom of God in a
mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world
unto our glory.
I would like to show you two very important verses. If you do not mind writing in your Bible, it is a good idea for you to write these verses down in the margins of your Bible for comparison.
Let’s talk about the message of the CROSS from Peter’s perspective and from Paul’s perspective:
In Acts 3, Peter preaches the cross as a murder indictment against the nation of Israel:
13…his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him…
14…ye denied the Holy One and the Just…
15 And KILLED the Prince of life…
Peter goes on to say,
19 Repent YE (plural, speaking to the nation of Israel)… be converted that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord…(a future tense forgiveness of sins when the kingdom would come down to the Earth).
Please note in verse 21 …. Which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
You might want to underline ‘spoken since the world began’, and next to this verse in your Bible, write the reference Romans 16:25. Then turn to Romans 16:25 and write the reference, Acts 3:21.
Romans 16:25 …my [Paul's] gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began…
You might want to underline ‘kept secret since the world began’.
The fact that Peter and Paul preached two different gospels is made clear by comparing those 2 verses 👆 and by Galatians 2:7 but contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter;
Read Acts chapter 15 to cross reference Galatians chapter 2.
We see that Peter preached the cross to Israel as a murder indictment, whereas Paul gloried in the cross (Galatians6:14). Israel did not GLORY in the CROSS! They were to be ashamed of it.
Today, we are living in an age called "the dispensation of the grace of God” (Ephesians 3:2). It is also called “the mystery”, as we saw in Romans 16:25 and 1 Corinthians 2:7. Only Paul speaks and writes of these things.
What I hope you are beginning to see is that WISDOM was hidden inside God. Referred to as a ‘she;’ Wisdom was brought forth and revealed to PAUL for us Gentiles. WISDOM, was God’s secret plan to reconcile the HEAVENS back to Himself, just as EVE was hidden inside Adam for a time to reconcile the EARTH back to Himself.
The purpose was to presently save a Body of believers who would trust in Christ by faith alone. Our sins are forgiven the moment we believe in that gospel; Israel’s sins will not be forgiven until 'the times of refreshing shall come' when Jesus sets up their kingdom on EARTH. But we become members of Christ’s Body at the moment of salvation, the new creature that is purposed by God to reign in HEAVENLY PLACES.
This is why Paul burst forth into praise for God’s wisdom:
Romans 11:33 O the
depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable
are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! 34 For who hath known the
mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counsellor? 35 Or who hath first given
to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 36 For of him, and through
him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
I hope this helps shed light from God's word on the Question: Why is Wisdom called a woman in Scripture?
Thank you so much for sticking with me through this study on THY KINSWOMAN. I hope that it has been edifying for you. I encourage you to read Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, and all of Paul's letters, to study this topic for yourself.
Next week I will do a single lesson on “A Bible reading plan that works”.
The material covered in this blog can also be found in this YouTube video which is private. Contact me by email or leave a comment on this post for the link to the video:
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