When God Speaks to Women - Part 3

Hello and welcome back to the Women’s Weekly Bible Challenge!  I’m Lisa Ann Spencer.  Today we will be diving into Part 3 of our series, When God Speaks to Women.

Last week we spent most of our lesson taking a close look at those first conversations that took place between Eve and Satan, and between Eve and God. 

Today, we will look at a few New Testament references to Eve before we move on to the next woman that God speaks to as recorded in Scripture.

Our search results for Eve from last week were:

• Genesis 3:20
• Genesis 4:1
• 2 Corinthians 11:3
• 1 Timothy 2:13

We already looked at Genesis 3 and 4 last week. So let’s begin today by taking a closer look at 2 Corinthians 11:3

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

I point out again, that one of the purposes for God preserving His word is for our learning today.  (Check out these two references: Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:6.)

In this passage, we see a reference to what Satan did to Eve.  He beguiled her.  In order to understand the context, you will have to begin reading at 2 Corinthians 10:1 and continue through the end of the letter.  Paul is defending his ministry and his apostleship from accusations of other so-called ministers, who gloried in appearance.

2 Corinthians 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

These ministers preach a false Jesus, a false spirit and a false gospel.

2 Corinthians 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. 

Paul preached one gospel and these ministers preached another; just as God preached one message and Satan another.  Eve did bear with the serpent as he persuaded her to not believe the word of God.

Warning:⚠

Many churches today are filled with these ministers preaching that you can be made righteous by your works.  It is a lie of Satan.

Eve had liberty to eat FREELY from all the trees of the garden.

Genesis 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest FREELY eat:

And we see that the gospel that Paul received of God is given to us FREELY.

2 Corinthians 11:7 Have I committed an offense in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God FREELY?

Paul is referring to the gospel of the grace of God given to him for us Gentiles.

Acts 20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the MINISTRY, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

Romans 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:

Ephesians 3:1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, 2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: 3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, 4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)

As Paul went about preaching the grace of God, Satan’s ministers came behind him putting people back under a law of works.  The message of grace, the gospel of grace, is how that Christ died, was buried and rose again (I Corinthians 15:3-4), and anyone who trusts in this gospel is JUSTIFIED, or made righteous, by what Christ did.  Satan’s ministers teach that one must do certain works to be righteous.  This is a false gospel that is still being preached today.

The lesson we can all learn from Eve is that we ought to believe the word that is given to us by God.  The word that we are to believe today is the message that was give to Paul by Jesus Christ from heaven that says we are justified freely by his grace.

Romans 3:24 Being justified FREELY by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

Just as Eve was beguiled into not believing that God meant what He said; it is possible for Christians today to be beguiled into not believing that God meant what He said to Paul.

Let’s move ahead to the next reference for Eve:

1 Timothy 2:13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

We already looked at this verse last week, so we will not say more about it, but I wanted to point out again that “the woman” is another term for Eve in verse 14, and we see that term being used several times in Genesis before Adam named Eve.  As the term “the woman” is closely identified with the position of wife, it is safe to assume that when we encounter the term “the woman” in scripture, it is referring to a married woman.  That will help us as we continue to study women in the Bible.

Let’s briefly introduce the next woman that God speaks to:  HAGAR.

Historically, we are jumping ahead about 2000 years and past the following major events:

 

• Cain murders Abel
• Giants in the earth
• The global flood
• Man’s refusal to obey God and fill the earth
• God dividing mankind into language groups and scattering them at the tower of Babel
• God calling Abram and promising to make him a great nation, and to give him a land.

Abram and Sarai went down to Egypt due to a famine in the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:10), and it is possible they acquired Hagar as handmaid to Sarai at this time.  I’m sure you are familiar with the story of Sarai trying to obtain children by offering Hagar as wife to Abram (Genesis 16:2).  When Hagar conceived, the Bible says she despised Sarai (Genesis 16:4-5). 

Despised is a very strong word.  Compare these verses:

Genesis 25:34 … Esau despised his birthright.

Leviticus 26:43 …[Israel] despised [God’s] judgments, and … their soul abhorred [God’s] statutes.

So we see that the Bible uses the word ‘abhorred’ to define despise.  Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines abhorred as:  Hated extremely, detested.

The Bible does not tell us why Hagar despised Sarai.  We can speculate, but that is unwise.  We can only understand Scripture by the light of other Scripture.  We cannot know what God does not make known to us.  BUT, we can know this – that what has been revealed and written in scripture is for our learning.  For this reason, we will search our concordance for the name Hagar to see what God has to say about her and to her.

Using either Blue Letter Bible or Bible Gateway to find ‘Hagar’, you will get between 12 - 14 results, all in the Old Testament. 

However, Hagar is also found 2 times in the New Testament.  You will find her by searching for ‘Agar’. 

You may have noticed that the New Testament spelling of names is often different from that of the Old Testament.  For example; ‘Elias’ for Elijah, 'Osee' for Hosea, and 'Esaias' for Isaiah.

So your challenge for next week’s study is to find ‘Hagar’ and ‘Agar’ in your concordance, write down the verses and make notes.  We’ll meet back next week and dig into the details of her story.

There is something I would like to mention before I say goodbye.  

You know that this is a Bible study taught by a woman, and the target audience is women. But I am aware that there are some young men, perhaps, that might stumble upon these studies for whatever reason.  For you I want to say this:  In addition to having four daughters, I also have two sons; one grown and the other almost grown.  As a homeschooling mom, I have spent a lifetime teaching these young men many subjects, including the Bible.  My husband has also taught them Bible when we were all together as a family.  There were years when we did not have a church within driving distance, so that none of us could properly submit ourselves to the teaching of a pastor as we are instructed in the scripture (See 1 Corinthians 9:12; 16:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:12).  

I do not think that it is wrong for a young man, who does not have a mother in the home, or does not have a mature Christian at home, to learn the Bible from a woman such as I. BUT I would advise him to find a local church pastor that he can submit himself to and learn in the way that God instructs in His word.  If there is not a church near you, I invite you to subscribe to our church’s YouTube channel.  You can find it on our website,  www.hopebiblechurchga.com

We live stream Sunday at 10:15, 11:15 and Wednesday at 7:15 p.m. eastern time.  If possible, come visit!  Hope Bible Church is located in Jackson, Georgia. 

Thank you sincerely for watching, and I look forward to seeing you next week for PART 4 of WHEN GOD SPEAKS TO WOMEN!

The material covered in the Blog can be watched here: