In his sermon titled 'Women Rulers?', Peter Allison explores Isaiah 3:12, which describes children as oppressors and women ruling over the people as a sign of societal collapse under God's judgment. The sermon delves into the historical and biblical perspectives on women in leadership roles, touching on the debates and emotional convictions surrounding this issue. Allison references historical figures like John Knox and John Calvin, highlighting their views on women rulers during the Protestant Reformation. He contrasts different interpretations and scriptural passages that address the roles of women in leadership, from egalitarian views to hyper-patriarchal extremes. The sermon particularly focuses on the biblical figure Deborah, interpreting her role as a prophet rather than a ruler and emphasizing her encouragement of male leadership. Allison argues that while capable women leaders have existed, the Bible consistently frames male leadership as the intended norm. He concludes by encouraging a balanced understanding of scripture, acknowledging the wisdom and contributions of women like Deborah, while calling for discernment in applying these principles today.

Isaiah chapter 3. I'd like to look this morning at verse 12, but I'm going to read a couple verses before and after for the context of that verse because it stands as a pivot between the two parts of this chapter. So it's starting in verse 10. Say to the righteous that it will be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe to the wicked, it shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hands shall be given him.

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. The Lord stands up to plead and stands to judge the people. The Lord will enter into judgment with the elders of his people and his princes. May his tender mercies come to us that we may delight in ourselves in his word.

Almighty heavenly father, your word is true even when it is hard to understand, even when it is contrary to all of the prophets of our day. So we ask this morning that you would show to us the truth of your word and enable us to rightly examine the so-called truths of our day and the very culture in which we live in the light of your word and what your spirit says to your church. Father, grant us humility to listen, and ears to hear, and a heart to understand, and to indeed love all of your word. Through Jesus Christ I ask for this work to be done and I ask that you would this morning sanctify my lips, preserve me from error, and cleanse me that I may be a vessel and a mouthpiece for you this morning. In Jesus name, Amen.

Well, at the beginning of this week, and I had planned to deal with the rest of Chapter Three as I had laid out the preaching schedule for the book of Isaiah. And chapter three is largely a rebuke of the sins of these women of Judah and of their destructive leadership. And of their destructive leadership. It begins with Isaiah's summary here in verse 12, the summary of this culture that he has described in the first 11 verses, a description of a culture that is collapsing. And he characterizes it here as one that is ruled by women and children, as for my people, his own people.

Children are their oppressors and women rule over them. Oh my people, those who lead you cause you to error and destroy the way of your paths, they eat them up. And from the context of this statement, this is obviously not a commendation of progressive leadership, but it's a condemnation of disorderly leadership. It's a mark of a culture that's under God's judgment. But this is a very sensitive issue in our day.

The role of women in leadership. And as I just couldn't get past this verse, I felt without more comment, I felt that it would leave too much room for misunderstanding about what the scripture says about women and how the scripture views women. If we didn't this morning take a moment to provide a fuller treatment of what the Bible teaches about women and especially women in the civil realm. So that's what I would like to do this morning. It's you might say a topical message and we'll be going back to judges because in the Lord's providence that is one of the key passages in rightly understanding all that the Bible says about women in the realm of civil government.

But in nearly every generation, not just ours today, nearly every generation, The question of women in positions of rule or authority has generated very sharp debate. It's a debate that is usually characterized by very strong emotions and deeply held convictions. And it's convictions that arise from a very wide spectrum of views on what the scriptures teach regarding women in positions of leadership. This becomes very personal to many people. The spectrum of views range from those on one end who see the promotion of women to leadership as some sort of social and moral imperative, sort of a long overdue correction to past centuries of repression.

Or it goes to those who hold a more egalitarian view that men and women are fully interchangeable in all their functions and offices, to what some call a more complementary view, which affirms an equality of personhood with a distinction of roles in the home and the church, to what I'll call a hyper-patriarchal extreme at the other end of the spectrum that sees women as either too refined to get their fingernails dirty or somehow strictly limited to this very narrow box of keeping a house and raising children. And each of these views, every one of them claims their view represents the correct teaching of scripture and they all have their passages that they like to go to. In Knox's day, to go back to a previous generation, what some people like to think about as the good days, Knox looked around in the 1550s at the Protestant Reformation in Scotland in England and he in his mind and in fact he saw it thwarted by very powerful women who reigned across three nations who were Catholics and greatly hindered the Protestant Reformation, the Reformation of the church and the work to return it to faithfulness to the scriptures.

And one of those women that he saw was Mary Tudor, Queen of England, more commonly known as Bloody Mary because of the 280 Christians that she burned at the stake or killed. And in 1557, the year before her death, he anonymously initially, he later on revealed who it was, and he stated at the beginning that he always intended to reveal who he was, but initially it was penned anonymously. He wrote a pamphlet entitled, The First Blast of the Monstrous Regiment of Women. And it was a bit over the top, even in his day. He said, where women, for example, just one of the many things he said, where women reigned and papists bear authority that their Satan must needs be president of the council.

Of women rulers, he wrote, for their sight in civil government is but blindness, their strength weakness, their council foolishness, and their judgment frenzy. Frenzy. This first blast was widely read and it was highly controversial, even among the reformers. Much of that controversy stemmed because of the implications that Knox drew from a theological position that was in many ways largely correct, but he concluded that women rulers needed to be removed from office. In fact, those who resisted their removal, he thought should face a death penalty.

Even John Calvin, while he largely agreed with the biblical principles that undergirded Knox's view he said that women are He felt that the book was unwise. And he wrote in a letter two years, he wrote in a letter two years ago, meaning in 1557, John Knox asked me in a private conversation what I thought about the government of women. And I candidly replied that as it was a deviation from the original and proper order of nature, it was to be ranked no less than slavery among the punishments resulting from the fall of man. But that there were occasionally women so endowed that the singular good qualities which shone forth in them made it evident that they were raised up by God. He wrote a little later in that same letter, for a whole year, he said, I was ignorant of this publication.

And when I was informed of it, I sufficiently showed my displeasure that such paradoxes should be published. But as the remedy was too late, I thought that the evil, which could not now be corrected, the book having already been published, it should rather be buried in oblivion than made a matter of agitation. Even John Fox of the Fox's Book of Martyrs strongly remonstrated with Knox on the severity of the language and the impropriety of its publication. And our age is no different. Knox, by the way, did backtrack quite a bit when Elizabeth came to authority, although she never forgave him for that book.

But even in our day, there is no shortage of misogynistic voices. Now, thankfully, most don't have any credible claim to being biblical or scriptural, but they're definitely out there. And interestingly, women are some of their biggest followers. But the question remains, how do we understand this passage here, where Isaiah is clearly identifying women rulers as wrong, as a sign of a collapsing society under God's judgment. Now some are quick, some commentators are quick to point out that this is a historical narrative, it's not a primarily a didactic or doctrinal passage And so this statement here should not be seen as normative.

It's not stating what's right and wrong. While we all admit that what's happening here is not good. This is a nation under God's judgment and they would say that the actual problem is that the rulers are bad, not that they are women and children per se. The view of another commentator was, quote, the prophet probably does not intend to describe an actual situation in which women were ruling over the nation, but rather would suggest that the rulers were weak as women. Those who are rulers are weak men and have no more authority than a child.

Well, I would submit that in an attempt to soften the force of this passage that women rulers is a sign of judgment, he actually, I think, insults women by stereotyping them as weak. We can't simply brush this passage off as a hyperbole or just a casual turn of phrase, so to speak. A metaphorical comment that's not meant to be taken literally. This is the holy, infallible Word of God. And God is giving an assessment here of what happens when a nation turns away from His ways.

God brings them under judgment. And one of those judgments is to give them children as rulers and women. See the issue is not whether there ever have been or could possibly be godly capable women who rule with great wisdom and skill and who promote prosperity in a nation. There certainly have been such rulers. But the question here is, should there be such rulers?

And so I think where Knox was right is the basic principle. The scriptures are clear on this question. 1st Corinthians 11 says, for a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and the glory of God, but a woman is the glory of man. For man is not from women, but woman from man. Nor was man created for women, but woman for the man.

And for this reason, the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels. And Paul writes to Timothy, in 1 Timothy 2, where he is giving him instruction on how he ought to conduct himself in the church. He says, Let women learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression.

Therefore, she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with self-control." and he also instructed the Corinthian Church regarding their worship he says let your women keep silent in the churches for they are not permitted to speak but they are to be submissive as the law also says and if they want to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home for a disshameful for women to speak in church. And some, you know, rightly point out that these passages are in the context of the church and the home. But we can also ask, how is it consistent that a woman who is not to exercise authority over man in the church and is commanded to submit to one man in the home, how should she be over many men in authority in the affairs of state? But we don't have to just rely on that reasoning. The scriptures themselves, when they speak of civil rulers, also affirm this principle.

All the passages that speak about choosing civil rulers speak of choosing men in the choosing of elders in Exodus 18, Moses 21, Moses was commanded to select from all the people, able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and to place them to be rulers over the thousands and hundreds, fifties, and tens. And in Deuteronomy 1.13, when Moses is recounting, again, this history as they are preparing to enter the land, he uses the same command, He has the same understanding. He says, choose understanding and knowledgeable men from your tribes to be heads over the people and officers. In Numbers 11, Moses is overwhelmed with the burden of ruling all of these people and he cries out in some discouragement to God that why has God made him this ruler over all these people and God's answered him was take 70 men who you know to be elders and rulers among the people and God said he would put his spirit on those men and they would be able to stand with him in that. But again, it was men that Moses was to take.

But in Deuteronomy 17, I'd like to just read, we have the, you know, one of the most clear and direct commandments regarding kings and those who rule. Moses is instructing the people in Deuteronomy 17 about the time in the future when they would say we want a king to reign over us just like all the other nations have. And God said to Moses, You shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses. One from among your own brethren you shall set as king over you. You may not set a foreigner over you who is not your brother.

But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses. For the Lord has said to you, you shall not return that way again. But then he says, neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he multiply gold or silver for himself. And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of the law in a book from the one before the priest and the Levites. And this copy that he writes with his own hands shall be with him all the days of his life that he may learn to fear the Lord and be careful to walk in all of the words of his law and that his heart not be lifted up above his brethren, even though he is in a position of authority and so forth.

Now, only men can multiply wives. Not even the willfully confused and rebellious men in our day who have replaced the natural function of women with men talk about marrying a wife, they marry husbands. So I think the testimony of the rest of scripture is very consistent that Having women and children ruling is a sign of a nation that has turned away from the Lord and is doing what's right in their own eyes. But this isn't all that scripture says. Unless we be misguided and fail to utilize all the gifts that God has provided his people, we need to understand these passages in the context of all of scripture.

We need particularly to think about how is this passage regarding these passages that we've looked at regarding women rulers consistent with the passages that speak of Deborah or Holda or Phoebe or Priscilla in the New Testament. To take Deborah for example, the situation in which Deborah lived was similar in many ways to the times that Isaiah is describing. It was striking and it's what caused me to think about this. And so I'd like to look at her situation in the context of Isaiah 312, because I think it provides us some keys to keep us from falling into the ditch on either side. And in applying these principles it keeps us from discouraging women from doing the work that they should be doing or encouraging them in work that they should not be doing.

So Deborah's account is in Judges 4. We read this morning, a little bit earlier, and I'd like to turn back there and just point out a few of the things that pertain to Deborah because she is one of the first places that people that resist the teaching that women are not to have rule in the church, or not to be pastors and elders and so forth, it's one of the first places they go to find support for their case. So the first thing we see is that just like Isaiah's day, the people were oppressed by Jabin. He oppressed them harshly, it says in verse 3, and he had done so for 20 years. The second similarity is that there was a loss of male leadership.

In Judges five, we read the highways were deserted and the travelers walking along the byways. Where were the men protectors? Says in verse seven, village life ceased. It ceased in Israel. Village life.

There was there there was no commerce and industry had dried up. Just like in Isaiah 3, where the counselors and the skillful artisans and the expert enchanters were all missing. You know, where were the businessmen? Where were the craftsmen in Israel? Village life, she said, had ceased.

There's a cessation of all of the men, just like Isaiah talks about. There's a loss of leadership. The men were not leading. The people were unarmed even. In verse 8 in chapter 5, she said, then there was war in the gates and not a shield or spear was seen among 40, 000 in Israel.

Where were the mighty men and the men of war that Isaiah said they had ceased as well? Deborah also describes thirdly a situation where the men were passive and completely uninterested in leading. Very similar to what Isaiah describes when he said in verse Isaiah 3, 7, these people would rise up and take hold of a man And he would say, I can't cure your ills. Don't make me a ruler of the people. This is exactly what Deborah describes in verses 15 to 17 of her song.

Among the divisions of Reuben there were great resolves of heart. Why did you sit among the sheepfolds to hear the pipings for the flocks. The divisions of Reuben have great searching for heart. Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan. Why did Dan remain on ships?

Asher continued at the seashore and stayed by his inlets. In other words, these are all people that when there's a need for deliverance of Israel, they were all that they said, don't make don't call upon me. And they stayed. At their homes. And they refused to get involved.

They had no regard for helping than in this case to deliver the nation, They had no regard for helping in this case to deliver the nation. They had no regard for helping their brothers. They were very selfish. It's like the men in Isaiah's day. They weren't interested in ruling and protecting for other people.

Instead of sacrificing themselves as providers and protectors in their land, they were just selfishly consumed by their own pleasure, their own affairs. This was the sad state into which Deborah arose. Deborah arose in Israel. Deborah was the wife of Lapidoth, which means lamps. And rabbinic tradition says that she was the wife of Barak which means lightning and that it's analogous to this word lapidoth I don't there's no scriptural support for that but it's interesting Both of those two names do have a very similar meaning.

And she said this village life had ceased. It ceased in Israel until I, Deborah, arose, arose a mother in Israel. She was she arose as a prophet, which means that she spoke God's words, not her own. She dwelt, it says, under the palm tree of Deborah between Rama and Bethlehem in the hill country of Ephraim. She wasn't in the center of the society, in the gates, in the halls, in the courts.

As to her role, that says the children of Israel came to her for judgment. And Israelites are trekking out to this tree somewhere out in the country for judgment. They weren't coming to her to ask them to save them from the enemy. They were coming to her to ask for her wisdom in solving their difficulties and resolving disputes because the leaders of the day who were supposed to be doing that had utterly failed in that. They weren't doing it.

They were they could they came to her because she as a prophet had answers from God. She wasn't sitting in a position of rule. They came to her because she was a prophetess, not because she was the judge who was exercising the civil authority. These people had lost complete confidence in those who were the judges, those who were to be able to do that, the men who were doing that. The men were failing.

Village life had ceased in Israel until I, Deborah, arose a mother in Israel. She did judge Israel, but Fruchtenbaum in his commentary on judges notes a number of reasons that although she was a judge, she was called a judge, she was not a judge in the sense of being one who delivered Israel. That was something that was true of all the other judges. They were the deliverer, the savior. The Lord would say he delivered them by the hand of these people, meaning they were the ones who were exercising civil rule.

Deborah, we see first is not introduced as the one whom God raised up, as earlier judges were raised up. Judges 2, 16, 18, 3, 9, 15, all speak of judges or men that God raised up. That's never said of her. There's no reference to her being empowered by the Holy Spirit as some of the other judges were. As you remember in Numbers 11, God put his spirit upon these men, those 70 men.

And that's said of some of the judges as well that God put his spirit upon them. But that's never said of her. She actually needed Barak to accomplish the deliverance. Although she goes with Barak, she doesn't lead the troops into battle. Although she states that God would deliver Sisera into the hand of a woman, she doesn't say he delivered him into her hands.

And she states in verse 14 that, quote, This day, God has delivered Sisera into your hands, meaning barracks, not into my hands, meaning Deborah's. For this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the Lord gone out before you? So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10, 000 men following him. And the Lord routed Sisera with the edge of the sword before Barak.

And in later lists of the deliverers of Israel, it's Barak's name that appears, not Deborah's. We see that in 1 Samuel 12, And we also see that in Hebrews 11, where these men of faith are listed. And it is in Barak is listed there, but Deborah is not. She functions as a judge in the sense of settling disputes, but not in the sense of delivering Israel. There is no duration of her judgeship given like there were for the other judges.

It doesn't say she judged Israel for so many years. The 40 years at the end of chapter five is attributed to God into Israel's collective power, not to Deborah. So she is then she's called a judge. She does decide disputes, but she does so as a prophet speaking the word of God. Now, what does she do?

Well, she encourages the men to lead. Her opening line in her song is when leaders lead. The leaders weren't leading in her day. She came along and encouraged them to lead. She as a prophet called them to lead.

She spoke God's word to them. She was God's mouthpiece. And as a prophet, she had authority to command others in God's name. As a prophet, she spoke the word of God, and through her, God gave direction and commands to men. It's just like the rebuke that God delivered to Eli through Samuel when he was a little boy.

Remember God, Samuel was a prophet. The word of God was rare in those days but God spoke to Samuel as a little boy and He used Samuel to bring a rebuke to leave but lead to Eli Now Samuel as a little boy in doing that was not ruling over Eli. He was simply being God's mouthpiece speaking what God put told him to say and so This is what Deborah does in the same way. She's not she's not exercising. It's not necessarily exercising authority over Barak.

And just like Samuel wasn't over Eli in Judges four, she sent and called for Barak this. And she said to him, has not the Lord God of Israel commanded, go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor. Take with you 10, 000 men of the sons of Natalie and of Zebulon and against you, I, that pronoun refers to God, not to Deborah, I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, and with his chariots and his multitude at the river Kaishan, and I, that's God, not Deborah, will deliver him into your hand. That's Sisera's hand. Just like I used to give my children, I could give the younger children, the three and four or five year olds that were old enough to carry a command to command their older siblings.

They weren't ruling over them, they were simply bringing the word I had for them, And that's what Deborah is doing here. You see, Peter says that prophecy did not come by the will of man, but it originates from God. She wasn't speaking of her own initiative as a ruler would do as God's minister. She was speaking by revelation from God. Prophecy never came from the will of man, but originates from God.

And they spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. And you notice it's not Deborah that raises an army. She doesn't even want to go with Barak. She wasn't called to lead the nations. She says, awake, Deborah, awake, awake, sing a song.

But of Barak, she says in verse 12, awake, arise, Barak and lead your captives away. But what does she do? And this is what I want to see. All the things this morning, all the things that Deborah as a woman does that the Lord commends. First of all, she's called a mother in Israel.

And there's one other woman in the Bible that is called a mother in Israel. And so I think it's proper to see these two women in a similar role. They were mothers in Israel. What does a mother in Israel do? Well, she interceded for the people.

In 2 Samuel 20, this rebel has fled into a city and gotten the elders of the city to protect him with the walls of the city and Joab brings the army of Israel to that city they're chasing this rebel to carry out a just sentence of execution on him and they get to the city and they're resisted by the city. And so Joab with the army is ready to attack the city and tear it down to get this rebel in the land that is being now harbored by the city. So now they have taken on the rebellion of the rebel. And they are now about to come under the judgment of God through the hand of Joab because of their support of this rebel. And what happens?

This woman, She's not named. She's simply called a mother in Israel, arises to intercede on behalf of the city, to intercede where the rulers have made a very stupid decision that was ready to bring destruction on their whole city. She intercedes and speaks to Joab and says, what do you need? And he says, well, we need this person. And she then, through her influence, persuades the elders of the city to turn over this person.

And She has the head through her intercession. The head of this rebel is thrown over the wall. And Joab now has what he needs. This man has been executed and that city is saved through her intervention. She didn't just sit back and say, I'm a woman, I can't speak.

She didn't just sit back and say, I'm a woman. I can't speak. She didn't just sit back and say, oh, I can't do anything. I can just all I can do is pray. No, she acted.

She acted when the men were foolish and unwise and very short sighted. She acted to persuade them to do what was right, to save the family. We also see Deborah is ministering outside the home. She's not locked up in just the tasks associated She is helping other families in their disputes. They're coming to her of their own accord.

She didn't set herself up as a ruler, but people saw her wisdom, and they came to her way out in the country where she was under this tree. But here's the third thing she does. She gives a rebuke to Barrack's cowardice. In chapter in chapter five, In Chapter 5, or sorry, Chapter 4, Berak said, If you will go with me, then I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go. And she said, I will go with you, but there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking.

And in Chapter five, she in verse 16 and 17, she does mention these people who don't rule, who don't lead. I once got a call from a husband and wife, there's nobody here, they were driving in the car and the husband called me because his wife had graciously pointed out a matter in his life or in the moment that needed to be rebuked. And he called me because he didn't think that was right and he was in the middle of this conversation wanting to appeal to me. And I in no uncertain terms said of course she needs to do that. Why not?

But this is what we see Deborah doing. Just because someone is a woman doesn't mean that they should not bring a rebuke where that is needed. Now there's a right way and a wrong way to do that, but that's something that a godly woman will do when it is needed. And She does this to Barak and to all these men in Israel who aren't leading. She encouraged the men to lead.

She's continually as as a woman encouraging them to do their job. She is as a wife of Lapidoth, helping the men to be better men and better leaders. She's the one who is who is helping them to see their duty, pointing things out to them where they're not doing it. She's not just passive and silent and just acting like a wallflower. She is concerned about the affairs of the state and she gets involved in this matter.

She says in Judges 5, 9, My heart is with the rulers of Israel who offered themselves willingly with the people. Here's a woman who is active. She is active in helping the men be better men, helping the leaders actually lead. And she then encourages them and she praises them when they do. My heart is with the rulers of Israel who offered themselves willingly.

Bless the Lord. Speak, you who ride on white donkeys, who sit in judges attire and who walk along the road. See, She's not usurping their leadership. She's encouraging them to take it and to exercise leadership. And that's what the Bible commends in women.

Deborah is commended, not as somebody who rules taking the place of men, but as someone who helps and encourages and counsels and enables these men who were weak and ineffective to step up to the plate and to lead. She and she praises those when they do. In verse in her song is filled with the praises of those who do. Verse 13, survivors came down the people against the nobles, The Lord came down for me against the mighty from Ephraim, were those whose roots were in Amalek. And after you, Benjamin, with your people." She's naming people and commending them and praising them and thanking them for stepping up in ruling.

For for stepping up in in ruling. Zebulon she says is a people who jeopardize their lives to the point of death naftally also on the heights of the battlefield. Yes, there is a certain position that the greater praises the lesser and she's able to step into that role of praising those who are men who are leading, even if it was through her encouragement. But she never steps into their role. She never seeks to take the reins from them.

But also I think she engaged in spiritual warfare. She was praying. She went with Barak, but it never says that she was leading troops or commanding them. She was not mentioned as being on the battlefield. But this is what it does say she did.

They fought from the heavens, the stars from their courses fought against the Cicero. The torrent of Kaishan swept them away. That ancient torrent. What's happening here? This is this is the Lord that is entered into battle through her intercession.

Oh, my soul march on in strength than the horses who have pounded the galloping galloping of his deeds. Curse, Meroz said, the angel of the Lord curses inhabitants bitterly because they did not come to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty. She was engaged in prayer and asking God to deliver this nation. See, Deborah was a mother in Israel. She made the men better.

She wasn't passive, simply accepting whatever happened. She wasn't inactive, saying, I can't do that. I can't speak. I can't get involved. No.

She was able to go engage in theological discussions with these men. She was able to persuade them from the scriptures to do what they were called to do. She didn't shrink back and say, well, I can't talk. It's not my place. She stepped out as a mother, as a mother in Israel.

And I hope that in looking at this woman of faith to correct some of the errors that would unbiblically restrict women from from their rightful call as mothers in Israel where God has given them wisdom where God has given them the time, the ability, the situation in their life to be involved in other places, in other ways. We see that throughout the scriptures, even in the New Testament. So I pray that God would give us a right understanding of the role of women in the church as well as in the civil government. Almighty Heavenly Father, we thank you for the sufficiency of your word. We ask that we might never be embarrassed or ashamed of the truths that it teaches or how often we shy back, We draw back in the day of battle, in the hour, because of what others might think, because of the leading ideas of our day, and yet how often we can fall into other errors as well.

We thank you for the many godly women that you have raised up and given us their example in scripture and even in our day. We pray that as men, we may be an encouragement and a blessing. To our wives and as a church, to the women and to the gifts that you have given them. We pray that you would give your grace to women as well. That they may receive your calling for them.

That they may excel in it as mothers in Israel. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.