• Home
  • Issues
  • Articles
    • Alan Day
    • Alan Stewart
    • Ed Litton
    • Gary Miller
    • Keith Drury
    • Michael Catt
    • Stephanie Bennett
    • Vance Havner
    • Warren Wiersbe
  • Quotes
  • Sermon Outlines
  • Podcasts
  • More
    • Book Reviews
    • Calendar
    • Odds n Ends
    • Web Resources

Calendar

March 2023
S M T W T F S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031  
« Jul    

Archives

  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019

Categories

  • Alan Day
  • Alan Stewart
  • Articles
  • Book Reviews
  • Calendar
  • Ed Litton
  • Gary Miller
  • Issues
  • Keith Drury
  • Michael Catt
  • Odds-n-Ends
  • Podcasts
  • Quotes
  • Sermon Outlines
  • Stephanie Bennett
  • Uncategorized
  • Vance Havner
  • Volume 01 | Issue 01
  • Volume 01 | Issue 02
  • Volume 01 | Issue 03
  • Volume 01 | Issue 04
  • Volume 01 | Issue 05
  • Volume 01 | Issue 06
  • Volume 01 | Issue 07
  • Volume 01 | Issue 08
  • Volume 01 | Issue 09
  • Volume 01 | Issue 10
  • Volume 01 | Issue 11
  • Volume 01 | Issue 12
  • Volume 01 | Issue 13
  • Volume 01 | Issue 14
  • Volume 02 | Issue 01
  • Volume 02 | Issue 02
  • Volume 02 | Issue 03
  • Volume 02 | Issue 04
  • Volume 02 | Issue 05
  • Volume 02 | Issue 06
  • Volume 02 | Issue 07
  • Volume 02 | Issue 08
  • Volume 02 | Issue 09
  • Volume 02 | Issue 10
  • Volume 02 | Issue 11
  • Volume 02 | Issue 12
  • Volume 02 | Issue 13
  • Volume 02 | Issue 14
  • Volume 02 | Issue 15
  • Volume 02 | Issue 16
  • Volume 02 | Issue 17
  • Volume 02 | Issue 18
  • Volume 02 | Issue 19
  • Volume 02 | Issue 20
  • Volume 02 | Issue 21
  • Volume 02 | Issue 22
  • Volume 02 | Issue 23
  • Volume 02 | Issue 24
  • Volume 02 | Issue 25
  • Volume 03 | Issue 01
  • Volume 03 | Issue 02
  • Volume 03 | Issue 03
  • Volume 03 | Issue 04
  • Volume 03 | Issue 05
  • Volume 03 | Issue 06
  • Volume 03 | Issue 07
  • Volume 03 | Issue 08
  • Volume 03 | Issue 09
  • Volume 03 | Issue 10
  • Volume 03 | Issue 11
  • Volume 03 | Issue 12
  • Volume 03 | Issue 13
  • Volume 03 | Issue 14
  • Volume 03 | Issue 15
  • Volume 03 | Issue 16
  • Volume 03 | Issue 17
  • Volume 03 | Issue 18
  • Volume 03 | Issue 19
  • Volume 03 | Issue 20
  • Volume 03 | Issue 21
  • Volume 03 | Issue 22
  • Volume 03 | Issue 23
  • Volume 03 | Issue 24
  • Volume 04 | Issue 01
  • Volume 04 | Issue 02
  • Volume 04 | Issue 03
  • Volume 04 | Issue 04
  • Volume 04 | Issue 05
  • Volume 04 | Issue 06
  • Volume 04 | Issue 07
  • Volume 04 | Issue 08
  • Volume 04 | Issue 09
  • Volume 04 | Issue 10
  • Volume 04 | Issue 11
  • Volume 04 | Issue 12
  • Volume 04 | Issue 13
  • Volume 05 | Issue 01
  • Volume 05 | Issue 02
  • Volume 05 | Issue 03
  • Volume 05 | Issue 04
  • Volume 05 | Issue 05
  • Volume 05 | Issue 06
  • Volume 05 | Issue 07
  • Volume 05 | Issue 08
  • Volume 05 | Issue 09
  • Volume 05 | Issue 10
  • Volume 05 | Issue 11
  • Volume 05 | Issue 12
  • Volume 05 | Issue 13
  • Volume 05 | Issue 14
  • Volume 06 | Issue 01
  • Volume 06 | Issue 02
  • Volume 06 | Issue 03
  • Volume 06 | Issue 04
  • Volume 06 | Issue 05
  • Volume 06 | Issue 06
  • Volume 06 | Issue 07
  • Volume 06 | Issue 08
  • Volume 06 | Issue 09
  • Volume 06 | Issue 10
  • Volume 06 | Issue 11
  • Volume 06 | Issue 12
  • Volume 06 | Issue 13
  • Volume 06 | Issue 14
  • Volume 06 | Issue 15
  • Volume 07 | Issue 01
  • Volume 07 | Issue 02
  • Volume 07 | Issue 03
  • Volume 07 | Issue 04
  • Volume 07 | Issue 05
  • Volume 07 | Issue 06
  • Volume 07 | Issue 07
  • Volume 07 | Issue 08
  • Volume 07 | Issue 09
  • Volume 07 | Issue 10
  • Volume 07 | Issue 11
  • Volume 07 | Issue 12
  • Volume 07 | Issue 13
  • Volume 07 | Issue 14
  • Volume 07 | Issue 15
  • Volume 07 | Issue 16
  • Volume 07 | Issue 17
  • Volume 07 | Issue 18
  • Volume 07 | Issue 19
  • Volume 07 | Issue 20
  • Volume 07 | Issue 21
  • Volume 07 | Issue 22
  • Volume 07 | Issue 23
  • Volume 08 | Issue 01
  • Volume 08 | Issue 02
  • Volume 08 | Issue 03
  • Volume 08 | Issue 04
  • Volume 08 | Issue 05
  • Volume 08 | Issue 06
  • Volume 08 | Issue 07
  • Volume 08 | Issue 08
  • Volume 08 | Issue 09
  • Volume 08 | Issue 10
  • Volume 08 | Issue 11
  • Volume 08 | Issue 12
  • Volume 08 | Issue 13
  • Volume 08 | Issue 14
  • Volume 08 | Issue 15
  • Volume 08 | Issue 16
  • Volume 08 | Issue 17
  • Volume 08 | Issue 18
  • Volume 09 | Issue 01
  • Volume 09 | Issue 02
  • Volume 09 | Issue 03
  • Volume 09 | Issue 04
  • Volume 09 | Issue 05
  • Volume 09 | Issue 06
  • Volume 09 | Issue 07
  • Volume 10 | Issue 01
  • Volume 10 | Issue 02
  • Volume 10 | Issue 03
  • Volume 10 | Issue 04
  • Volume 10 | Issue 05
  • Volume 11 | Issue 01
  • Volume 11 | Issue 02
  • Volume 11 | Issue 03
  • Volume 11 | Issue 04
  • Volume 11 | Issue 05
  • Volume 11 | Issue 06
  • Volume 11 | Issue 07
  • Volume 11 | Issue 08
  • Volume 11 | Issue 09
  • Volume 11 | Issue 10
  • Volume 11 | Issue 11
  • Volume 11 | Issue 12
  • Volume 11 | Issue 13
  • Volume 11 | Issue 14
  • Volume 11 | Issue 15
  • Volume 11 | Issue 16
  • Volume 12 | Issue 01
  • Volume 12 | Issue 02
  • Volume 12 | Issue 03
  • Volume 12 | Issue 04
  • Volume 12 | Issue 05
  • Volume 12 | Issue 06
  • Volume 12 | Issue 07
  • Volume 12 | Issue 08
  • Volume 12 | Issue 09
  • Volume 12 | Issue 10
  • Volume 12 | Issue 11
  • Volume 12 | Issue 12
  • Volume 13 | Issue 01
  • Volume 13 | Issue 02
  • Volume 13 | Issue 03
  • Volume 13 | Issue 04
  • Volume 13 | Issue 05
  • Volume 13 | Issue 06
  • Volume 13 | Issue 07
  • Volume 13 | Issue 08
  • Volume 13 | Issue 09
  • Volume 13 | Issue 10
  • Volume 13 | Issue 11
  • Volume 13 | Issue 12
  • Volume 13 | Issue 13
  • Volume 13 | Issue 14
  • Volume 13 | Issue 15
  • Volume 13 | Issue 16
  • Volume 14 | Issue 01
  • Volume 14 | Issue 02
  • Volume 14 | Issue 03
  • Volume 14 | Issue 04
  • Volume 14 | Issue 05
  • Volume 14 | Issue 06
  • Volume 14 | Issue 07
  • Volume 14 | Issue 08
  • Warren Wiersbe
  • Web Resources
2ProphetU
  • Home
  • Issues
  • Articles
    • Alan Day
    • Alan Stewart
    • Ed Litton
    • Gary Miller
    • Keith Drury
    • Michael Catt
    • Stephanie Bennett
    • Vance Havner
    • Warren Wiersbe
  • Quotes
  • Sermon Outlines
  • Podcasts
  • More
    • Book Reviews
    • Calendar
    • Odds n Ends
    • Web Resources
Articles . Stephanie Bennett . Volume 06 | Issue 07

Silly Women

If you are breathing today, then you have probably been bombarded by the latest hype surrounding Dan Brown’s best-selling book, The Da Vinci Code. I read the book a few years ago when it first came out because a friend who was wrestling with the claims of Christ “dared” me to. Because I’m extremely competitive, I didn’t pass up the challenge.

My friend and I dialogued often about the book, and I even wrote a paper in seminary about Jesus’ marital status based on Brown’s claims of Jesus’ more-than-platonic relationship with Mary Magdalene. Now that the movie starring Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou is set to premier in May, the controversy has surfaced once again.

Granted, the Gospel writers do often include women in their writings about Jesus’ life. In the Jewish culture during the time of Christ, women were regarded as second-class citizens and had few, if any, rights. However, Jesus crossed the cultural barriers of His day and befriended these “outcasts.”

Luke described the ministry of these women in 8:1-3:

“And it came about soon afterwards, that He began going about from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God; and the twelve were with Him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing their support out of their private means.”

All of the Gospel writers included Jesus’ interactions with women, but Luke included events not recorded by Matthew, Mark and John. Readers, and especially women, can clearly see from Scripture that Jesus loved women and regarded them as precious and important, even in the work of His ministry. Jesus talked to a Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:1-26); healed Peter’s mother-in-law (Luke 4:38-39); raised a widow’s son from the dead (Luke 7:11-17); allowed a sinful woman to anoint His feet (Luke 7:36-50); forgave a woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11); traveled with women (Luke 8:1-3); healed a diseased woman (Luke 8:43-48); visited Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42); healed a crippled woman (Luke 13:10-17); healed the daughter of a Gentile woman (Mark 7:24-30); and appeared to women after His resurrection (Matt 28:8-10). There is no doubt that Jesus regarded women as equal, created in the image of God for His glory.

Just as some are doing today with Mary Magdalene, people in Jesus’ day tried to exalt the status of women like Jesus’ mother. Following His instruction on a divided household in Luke 11, a woman raised her voice and said to Jesus, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts at which You nursed” (vs. 27). Clearly, this woman thought that Mary ought to be lauded because of the impact of Christ’s life. However, Jesus responded to the woman with these words: “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and observe it” (vs. 28). Jesus was more concerned with a woman’s sanctification, not her status.

I have always had an insatiable thirst for knowledge and learning. I was the kid who hated summer and always looked forward to going back to school in August; I still love school to this day. As a seminary student, one passage of Scripture in the New Testament grabbed me unlike any other. While studying the Pastoral Epistles, I came to 2 Timothy 3:6-7 and stopped dead in my tracks.

“For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

That last phrase echoed in my ears for many days, and it still does each time I approach the Word of God. The New American Standard Bible translates the Greek word, gunaikarion, as “weak women.” Other translations use the words “gullible,” “idle” and even “silly.” The word literally describes a foolish woman who lacks maturity and dignity. Because of their foolishness, these women are led away by any false doctrine that tickles their ears.

Unfortunately, Paul’s words aptly describe many women in our churches today. We’re the first to sign up for the latest Beth Moore Bible study. In fact, some of us have been known to juggle two or three at a time. We’ll grab the girls and load up the church van for the next Women of Faith conference. We’ll read every book out there on parenting and marriage. We have journals full of sermon and conference notes. We’re always learning, always learning…and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

It seems we have it all backwards. We try to do what we think a woman of God should be doing before we try to be the woman of God He has called us to be. We are, as Paul says, “weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses.” The woman in Luke 11 was led on by the impulse of status…”Let’s exalt Mary because look how her son has turned out!” However, Jesus knew that the women who would be blessed were those who “hear the word of God, and observe it.”

We don’t have to be characterized as silly women who live from Bible study to women’s conference. Proverbs 31:26 says a worthy woman “opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.” Scripture holds vast storehouses of wisdom and riches for our personal exploration. The Lord has clear directives for your life through His Word. May it be said of your life: “She was always learning, and her life was grounded in His truth.”

Stephanie Thompson, © 2006

Stephanie Bennett
Stephanie Bennett is the research assistant to Pastor Michael Catt at Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia. Stephanie and her husband, Ryan, minister to college-age students in the Southwest Georgia area. She also leads women in weekly Bible study and serves in the leadership of the Women’s Ministry at Sherwood. Stephanie and Ryan have two boys.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Print

Read An Article

  • A Step at a Time
  • Hard Words to Swallow Lead to Revival (Part 1)
  • Day and Night

RSS Warren Wiersbe Podcast

  • Crucial Questions about the Will of God: Living by Faith, or by Chance? (Romans 14:22-23)
  • Crucial Questions about the Will of God: Gideon - Don't Get Fleeced (Judges 6-8)
  • Crucial Questions about the Will of God: Jonah - God in the Hands of an Angry Sinner
  • Crucial Questions about the Will of God: Four Views on the Will of God (Psalms 33:11)

RSS Sherwood Baptist Podcast

  • Practicing the Presence of God
  • Faith That Works, Part 1
  • Will Christians Face God's Judgment?
  • A Night of Answering Questions

MICHAEL CATT MESSAGES

Verse

For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.
Romans 5:19

Quotes On

  • Hypocrisy

Search

Links

Michael Catt

Vance Havner

Ron Dunn

Sherwood Church

Copyright 2ProphetU 2021. All righrts reserved.