Noah’s Day of Disobedience Whenever you study the Bible, pay attention to times when God seems to be repeating Himself. Even in the most mundane of words, is a message God does not want you to miss. We all know one of the greatest stories in the Bible. We learned this as a child, and it seems this story is known by Christians and non-Christians alike. A story of God’s justice and love wrapped into one amazing tale. Many of God’s people have gained hope and strong lessens for how to live their daily life. Many have said that we are now in the days of Noah. I believe this is true, but not for the reasons many would think. When we really read the text, a new truth and revelation jumps out and stares us in the face. We see in Genesis 5:32 that after Noah was 500 years old, he had three sons. The Bible does not indicate if Noah had other children before this point. In chapter six, God begins to reveal a larger problem within mankind. In verse 6:3, we see that God decides to lower the life expectancy of the human race to a mere 120 years. I will not explore the Nephilim here, but I will say that there is a direct reason why the fallen angels were able to mate with human females and produce offspring. A topic for another day. In verse 6:13, God speaks to Noah about His decision and plan for humanity. It is interesting to note that God did not need to kill every living creature on the earth, or did He? God could have wiped out the wicked humans through disease or another event without flooding the earth. After all, what did the animals do to deserve death as well? I will just mention the obvious here. God wanted to wipe the slate clean and start over fresh. This fresh start is deeper than we have been taught. This is an important point that God is making here in Genesis 6:18 "But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you." Notice the order that the people were to enter the ark; men first and women all last. Genesis 7:7 "And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood." Noah went into the ark exactly how God had said to. Genesis 7:9 two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. Here we see that the animals did not enter the ark male first and then female, as they went side by side. Have you ever seen a drawing of the animals entering the ark any other way than side by side? Genesis 7:13 "On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark," God mentions it again, how Noah and the rest entered the ark. God wants to make a point here. Genesis 7:15 "They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. 16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in." Again, God is pointing out the difference in how the animals entered. Genesis 8:15 "Then God said to Noah, 16 “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you." Here is where God completed the instructions to Noah, and thus the wiping of the slate clean. Noah was to leave two by two- male and female TOGETHER! Why is this so important that God mentioned it over and over? God desired that the Traditions of Man stop with regards to how women were treated since the fall. Remember in the Garden of Eden, Adam’s heart immediately turned against Eve. Genesis 3:12 "The man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Many have been taught that this was God’s will and punishment towards women, but God is actually speaking of the sin consequences, not what He actually desired to happen. This is what a sin curse means. It is the same reason why humans can enter hell that was never created for them in the first place. When mankind came into alignment with Satan, we were given his curse because Adam and Eve gave Satan the authority that we had over the earth. Adam willingly chose to eat and disobey. I will say that Satan had already turned his heart towards wanting to disobey God long before that day. The Bible states that Eve was deceived. A point that God never challenges with Eve. However, Satan planted that seed of “what if I did disobey and eat” in Adam’s heart and mind long before Eve was speaking to the serpent. We would like to think that Adam and Eve, as perfect humans, were way different than how we are internally, but I doubt it. Questions fill our minds so easily when we get rules. What is so special about this tree that I cannot eat from it? And why is it here to begin with, if I cannot enjoy it? It is unlikely that God gave Adam a 30 page explanation about the tree when He said not to eat from it. And God will not do that with us either when He tells us not do something. Genesis 2:15 "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” We notice here that Eve was not even created when God spoke to Adam about the tree. We have no idea what Adam said to Eve about the tree before the fall. Regardless, Adam knew Eve was being lied to. We can only conclude that Adam went along with eating because the seed had already been planted by the enemy to eat. Adam surely did not seem to argue about it or hesitate in joining Eve. He must have already thought about it a few times before this moment because the thought did not alarm his mind to react against it. Adam lived 930 years. Do we think he ever truly forgave Eve? It is one thing to not really know what you lost, it is another to have perfection and lose it. Do we think Adam’s attitude affected how women were treated? Many leaders have preached that something was defective and flawed about Eve to fall for the lies of Satan. If this is true, then God is not perfect and a liar. Was Eve created less than perfect and damaged in some way? God said just the opposite when He created Adam and Eve. The question is how long was it really going to take Adam and Eve to fall in reality? Genesis 3:1 "Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made." Satan had no plan to give up causing problems, and he still seeks to destroy mankind every single second of each day. We would like to think that they could have avoided falling, but how often to we fall for the same old tricks Satan throws at us in our daily lives? Satan has no new tricks. He is a limited being. He does what works, and if you stop giving into that area, he just targets another area of yours, with the same old traps. Sin aside, we fall for the enemy's traps, in some form, all the time. We can’t even tell if our friends are telling us the truth, let alone a stranger. It is not because of the fall that we cannot discern the truth easily. We simply choose to not use our God given wisdom. King Solomon had plenty of divine wisdom, and chose not to use it in his personal life (1 Kings 11:1-8). And God was crystal clear when He instructed Solomon not to marry those women and why. Moving on. So if this was God’s plan to go back to men and women being side by side and equal, why did it not happen? Genesis 8:18 "So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him." Noah disobeyed and continued with the Traditions of Men with this New World that they were at the beginning of. This aspect was so important to God that He mentioned it over and over in detail. And yet, we see the hardness of Noah’s heart that he would not change how things were done. Even after going on this wild journey with God, Noah was unable to see past what was, and Look at how God wanted things to be. Sounds familiar in our own lives for sure. God wants us to place down our mindsets and sacred cows, but our mind gets offended to what God is telling us. People have been arguing a women’s place and role since the beginning. God has always said that she is to be at the side and equal; different in abilities, but equal. God used women repeatedly in the Bible for Great exploits without even a second thought. What held women back was the hearts and traditions of men, not God. Where women were accepted in high and powerful roles, women flourished in their anointings, callings, and destinies throughout the Old and New Testament. God has been moving greatly in His Daughters for the last 100+ years. He has brought more and more equality to humanity to the point that less and less people think women are not capable and fully called by God. This is what the Traditions of Men fully means. What you believe as truth, you will believe all scripture taken out of context to fit your belief system, while ignoring the pure facts of how God treats women throughout history. God will offend the mind of the religious with example after example of women doing the exact opposite yesterday, today, and tomorrow for God’s Glory and Honor. Genesis 3:16, "Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." God is saying that when He created Eve as an equal Helpmeet, that now Adam would not see her that way. And she would continue to desire that equal status back. Again, this is a consequence of the hearts of men and not about how God sees or relates to women. Adam and Eve’s relationship changed, not God and Eve’s. Sin is rebellion. Eve sinned through deception, and Adam sinned through full choice. God does not see Adam as better because of how he came to sin. Logic would say the complete opposite, but it is important to understand that our ability to have a complete and prosperous relationship with God never changed because of the fall. Only the relationships of mankind were affected through the curse. God appointed many women in high positions both in the world and church throughout the Bible. We can clearly see this it modern times, as well. I was taught as a child that God will only raised up a woman if there was no man to be used. What a silly notion indeed and not scripture on any level. God designed our callings and destiny at the foundations of creation. I have been mantled and anointed since birth, and I have countless examples of God’s power flowing through me, even as a child. Could not the God of the Universe surely find a man to use instead of me if He so choose. Before we ingest lies from the pit of hell, we really need to think about the logic of the situation, and not make God into a small insignificant Being who has no sovereign authority over anything. Back in the day when we actually wrote letters to people, by the time we received a letter in response, weeks/months would have passed. We may not even remember what we wrote, and we may have written several letters in the meantime. So when we write letters, we write context back into the letter, so people are clear about what we are talking about. Many have looked to the writings of Paul to justify women not serving, but then other writings of his seem to contradict that notion. Paul relied on many women during his ministry. Romans 16:7 "Greet Andronicus and Junia,[a] my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles,[b] and they were in Christ before me." Junia was a female Apostle, even if your Bible translation changed her name to a male name. In the original text, she was clearly a female. There are plenty more women in high godly leadership position. I will leave this for you to study on your own. Put simply, when Paul wrote letters back to the church, he would precede with what the topic was that he was answering in the church's letter to him, and then Paul would give his response to how they were to handle the issue. 1 Corinthians 14, Paul is writing to the church and going over their issues from their letter. Verse 1-12, Paul is speaking out their problem of tongues being spoken during services. He prefaces what they are saying was the concern, and his response to it; they need to have interpretation while in service or the tongues will have no meaning to the body- verse 13-25. Verse 26-32, Paul then moves on to their concerns about order in service. Now verse 33-35, Paul announces the topic of women by again prefacing what was written to him first. "As in all the churches of the saints, 34 the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. 35 If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church." Paul replies back, verse 36 "Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached?" Paul is challenging them as to if they are the vessels for God to give His word through and would have the power to silence women and exclude them from services over what God desired. This church was living in the Traditions of Men. We see that they mentioned the Law. God did not make that Law against women, which specifically Paul challenged the law vs what God had said. If we read Corinthians straight through from chapter one, we will see this back and forth style of writing where Paul states what the church wrote him, and then his reply. When we do this, we will see Paul’s beliefs and teachings vs what the churches were practicing. Verse 39 "Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way." You will find when you do a study on this verse, that the original text states sisters, but many Bible translations left sisters out. Just as they changed a female apostle to a male. Do not be fooled. God will never contradict His word, but He will contradict your understanding of His word. The traditions of men affected some Bible translations. Study in-depth what the Bible really says. If it seems to contradict other parts of the Bible, question what you are understanding. 1 Timothy 1:18-20, Paul is addressing Timothy. Then Paul moves onto the church in 1 Timothy 2:1-7. Then Paul moves on to address all of the men in verse 8; Then all women in verses 9-10; "likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works." There is a lot of cultural and historical instructions here that were relevant to their specific issue. Take the spirit of what has been written here and not a legalistic view or intent. 11 "Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet." If we notice here that Paul shifted from using the word Women in verses 9-10 to just talking about A Woman. Paul was no longer addressing all women, but instead he was addressing this church’s specific problem with a certain woman. The translation should have said "That woman" and not "A woman". If we know our history, Timothy was the lead Apostle at Ephesus where the goddess Artemis (Acts 19) was running a cult. She was polluting God’s word and creating chaos among the people. Verses 13-15 refer back to 1 Timothy 1:12-17 again. We must be a people who Studies Scripture in its entirety, and In Context to what is being said. God is not honored when we take scripture out of context to serve our purposes. Study the original texts and meanings of words. So often a dictionary can show us more depth to what words actually mean then what we use that word for in our daily life. Root meanings to words are so powerful. God is speaking to this generation to wake up and walk fully in His truth. We cannot do that if we continue to repeat false teachings to one another or impose oppression against God’s will and desire. When something doesn’t make sense, we owe it to ourselves to stop and question the why of it all. The Bible does not contradict itself. If you think it does, it is merely your understanding of the word that is in conflict. God does not desire His people to be ignorant. God is calling His Daughters out of hiding. Do not let anyone tell you that God will not use you for great things in the Kingdom. God alone determines what He will do in and through you. God will make a way even when the minds of men say no to you. Let God take you into a land where the people will welcome your calling. You are a blessing and worthy to be God’s Royal Daughter! The Days of Noah were supposed to bring back God's balance to mankind's relationships. These are the Days we need to embrace now. Mark 7:6-9 &13 6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” 9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 13 making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
Galatians 3:23-29 23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave[g] nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.