In light of President-Elect Trump’s revealed private statements about women, I thought it appropriate to publish here Sermon 41 from my book “The Basics and More: A Year’s Sermons.”
Primary Scripture: Revelation 12. On Friday, May 23nd, 2014, Elliot Rodger, Age 22, after writing a 137-page manifesto and posting a 7-minute video online, fatally stabbed his three male roommates before killing two women outside a sorority house and then shooting a man at a deli in Isla Vista, California. Six dead victims later, Rodger killed himself.
In his video Mr. Rodger blamed humanity–and women in particular–for never having a girlfriend or losing his virginity. Claiming to have treated the females in his life with the utmost kindness and respect, he now saw women as the source of his loneliness and misery…laughing in the video at the prospect of killing as many of them as he could.
Misogyny is defined by Wikipedia as “the hatred or dislike of women or girls.” Misogyny can be manifested in numerous ways, including gender discrimination, denigration of women, violence against women, and the sexual objectification of women.” In the history of the human race it is an undisputed fact that, both inside and outside of the Household of Faith, women have been taken for granted, exploited, oppressed, suppressed, abused, tortured and murdered by those that were commissioned by God to love and protect them: men. Male-dominated religion in general has been accused of being misogynistic in its fundamental doctrines. However, not being a member of any other faith, I will restrict my attention today to the faith of which I am forever a devotee.
So…I ask you all The 64 Million Dollar Question: IS GOD A MISOGYNIST? Does The Creator support in any form or fashion the dislike, hatred, denigration, degradation, oppression or exploitation of women? IF HE DOES NOT, know for certain that in The Last Judgment, those of our species belonging to the male gender have a mountain of atrocities against women to answer to God for.
Now the Bible says that in the mouth of at least two or three witnesses let the evidence for a truth be established (Deuteronomy 19:15; Matthew 18:15,16). To provide a clear answer to my Question, I will present to you Four Passages of Scripture that should clarify beyond the shadow of a doubt God’s Divine Mind on the matter of the Female Gender.
Scripture One: [Read Genesis 5:1,2]. “Eve” is NOT the name God gave to the Being He made from Adam’s rib; Adam gave her that name: CHAVVAH, which means “Life” because she was and is to this day the Mother of all living humans; she is truly the Mother of us all (Genesis 3:20)! GOD NAMED HER “ADAM.”
Scripture Two: [Read Matthew 22:23-30]. In the Christian community it is accepted without question that, on any given topic, Jesus Christ has the Last Word (Revelation 1:17). Therefore I ask you to consider the deep implication of Jesus’ statement on the future of the human species: if humans no longer marry each other, doesn’t it follow that today’s distinctions of gender no longer apply (1 Corinthians 7:29)? Nowhere in Its pages does the Bible speak of a female angel; the word “angel” itself in both the Hebrew and Greek languages is in the masculine gender. Without falling into speculation I will say this: in the New Universe Redeemed Women and Men are COMPLETELY EQUAL UNDER GOD. And if we are all completely equal to God then, then we are all completely equal to God now.
Scripture Three: [Read Galatians 3:26-29]. Yes: this is the Apostle Paul who’s speaking; the same Saul of Tarsus that many critics consider a misogynist because of other statements he is alleged to have made (1 Corinthians 14:34-37; 1 Timothy 2:9-15). Do I think Paul was a misogynist? Saul of Tarsus was many things: a male, a sinner, a Pharisee, a Jew…among other things. In the context of this sermon, however, my opinion of Paul is irrelevant; for the question being addressed today is “What is God’s Attitude towards women?”…not man’s. And in stating God’s Opinion in this Passage, Paul states clearly that in the Kingdom of Christ and of God, gender is irrelevant and non-existent.
Scripture Four: [Read Luke 8:1-3]. It’s 90 miles from Capernaum in Galilee to Jerusalem in Judea IF you go through Samaria. In the 1st Century A.D. Jews didn’t like to go through Samaria, so that made the journey as long as 120 miles and these women took every step Jesus took in order to serve Him! The Four Gospels– Matthew, Mark, Luke and John–paint a wonderfully fascinating picture of the effect Christ had on the women He encountered during His Earthly Ministry! The love, devotion, commitment, loyalty, dedication and self-sacrifice He inspired in women can only be explained by the Divine Kindness, Compassion, Love and Sensitivity with which He addressed their identity, their needs and their concerns.
Time would fail me if I attempted to enumerate every positive encounter Jesus had with women in the Gospels. You don’t believe me? I did a count: the words “woman” and “women” occur no less than EIGHTY-TWO TIMES in The Gospels!
And let’s get something straight: The Lord Jesus Christ NEVER had a wife and NEVER had sexual intercourse with ANY female in His Human Form…which means He NEVER placed Himself in a compromised position that would make Him appear to be anything other than THE CREATOR, FATHER AND SAVIOR of the female gender. THE LORD JESUS CHRIST DID NOT COME TO EARTH TO USE WOMEN, BUT TO SAVE THEM AND TO RESTORE THEM TO A PERFECT LOVE RELATIONSHIP WITH HIMSELF…can I get an “Amen”?
In addition to many other tragedies, Sin RUINED the relationship between men and women. If it wasn’t for the Words God spoke in Genesis 3:15, I believe that God would’ve had to destroy Adam and Eve right then and there:
“…and enmity [a 600-year-old-word meaning animosity, antagonism, bad blood, bitterness, gall, grudge, hostility, rancor, a very deep unfriendly feeling] I put between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; He doth bruise thee — the head, and thou dost bruise Him — the Heel.” (Young’s Literal Translation).
It’s important to note that enmity exists not only between the Serpent and the Woman, but between their seed. We know the seed of the Woman to be Christ; but who is the seed of the Serpent?
The Man Adam is the seed of the Serpent. Without The Redemptive, Transforming Grace of Jesus Christ, unregenerate men will continue their oppressive “rule” over women (Genesis 3:16). They can’t help it: the seed of their father (the Devil) is in them, and the desires of their father they will commit (John 8:44).
I call every man under the sound of my voice to examine themselves right now. How do you THINK and FEEL about women and girls? Does your perspective resemble Jesus Christ’s, or Elliot Rodger’s? Do you believe women and girls OWE you something, or do you feel indebted to them to honor them, to protect them, to bless them, to serve them, to pray for them and to exhibit the Character of Christ to them?
These ARE the Last Days; and wicked men will wax worse and worse (2 Timothy 2:12,13). At the same time righteous men will become holier and wiser and more humble and more merciful and more compassionate and more kind until That Great Daystar dawns, and the Sun of Righteousness–Jesus Christ–will be fully risen in their hearts unto The Perfect Day (Proverbs 4:14-18; 2 Peter 1:19). Amen.