Church Fires Teacher for Being Female

WATERTOWN, N.Y. (Aug. 21) - The minister of a church that dismissed a female Sunday School teacher after adopting what it called a literal interpretation of the Bible says a woman can perform any job - outside of the church.

The First Baptist Church dismissed Mary Lambert on Aug. 9 with a letter explaining that the church had adopted an interpretation that prohibits women from teaching men. She had taught there for 54 years.

The letter quoted the first epistle to Timothy: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent."

The Rev. Timothy LaBouf, who also serves on the Watertown City Council, issued a statement saying his stance against women teaching men in Sunday school would not affect his decisions as a city leader in Watertown, where all five members of the council are men but the city manager who runs the city's day-to-day operations is a woman.

"I believe that a woman can perform any job and fulfill any responsibility that she desires to" outside of the church, LaBouf wrote Saturday.

Mayor Jeffrey Graham, however, was bothered by the reasons given Lambert's dismissal.

"If what's said in that letter reflects the councilman's views, those are disturbing remarks in this day and age," Graham said. "Maybe they wouldn't have been disturbing 500 years ago, but they are now."

Lambert has publicly criticized the decision, but the church did not publicly address the matter until Saturday, a day after its board met.

In a statement, the board said other issues were behind Lambert's dismissal, but it did not say what they were.

Titus 2:3-5 The aged women (Greek; “The Woman elders”) likewise, that they be in behaviour (Greek; “Bright lights” Kat-astemate to arrange in order. “Aster: means to shine brightly as a star, “Asteios” means to be fair comely and beautiful) as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine,(that they may be) teachers of good things; (what is righteous) That they may teach the young women to be sober (To be sober is not in the Greek), to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, (Greek Oiko-upous overseers of the house) good, obedient (Upo-tasso to submit one self, to render obedience, to place one under subjection. The same word is used in Luke 2:51 And Christ went down with them, (His parents) and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them. Ephesians 5:24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.) to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed (Greek: (is much milder) Spoken evil of).

A better reading of Titus 2:3-5 would be: The woman elders should be bright lights of holiness, not false accusers, or given to much wine, but teachers of good things, that they might teach (and instruct) the younger women, (as Sarah, Rebekah and Naomi) as teachers of righteousness, to Phileo their husbands, to phileo the children, to be discrete, (In their service unto the Lord) to be chaste, to be guardians of their home (Like Rebekah) Filled with goodness, and placing themselves in subjection to their OWN husbands (as Sarah did, As Rebekah did, As Christ also placed himself in subjection to his own parents and as also the Church is to be subject to Christ alone her husband.)

Since we see demonstrably that the only text Titus could be speaking from is in Genesis, concerning where Rebekah by faith girded Jacob. We see clearly now that Titus declares when Rebekah usurped Isaac’s authority and Isaac’s express wishes, she was acting as the guardian of her own household. Titus declares here that Rebekah was discrete and that her actions were not self-seeking, but chaste, and that she did so because she loved her husband and loved God’s seed. In other words, Rebekah not only became Jacobs Ezer and Boethos, but she became Isaac’s Ezer and Boethos when he no longer could help and protect himself.

Now I want to draw you to the Apostle’s next words: Titus 2:6-9 Likewise exhort the young men to be discrete. In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you. Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again;

This will come as a shock to some, but who is it that is exhorting these young men here? By context, it is still the elder women who are the guardians of the husband’s household and acting as Rebekah as she exhorted and commanded Jacob. And again in verse 9, who is it that is exhorting these servants to be obedient to their masters? It is these elder women, who are the guardians of their husband’s households that are once again exhorting and teaching (male and female) servants to be subject to her husband as she also is. This also appears to be a reference to Sarah’s nameless, selfless handmaidens whom she brought up in the fear and admonition of the Lord and to love and serve her husband. So after her death, these in Sarah’s stead taught Rebekah the fear and admonition of the Lord, to love and serve her husband.

Genesis 25:22-23 And Rebekah his wife conceived and the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went (alone) to enquire of the LORD. And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.

Now it is hard to imagine that Isaac knew nothing of the difficult pregnancy that Rebekah was going through. It is equally hard to understand why Isaac did not go and seek God once again on Rebekah’s behalf and inquire of the Lord. It appears within the text, that Rebekah did go to her husband and inquire what God had said to his father, Abraham, to know what was prophesied of the children she was to bear. It also appear s that she was not particularly thrilled with his non-deplume response, for in scripture Rebekah replies: “If it be so, why am I thus?”

Regardless of what was said to her, or who did the saying, we see that Rebekah was not pleased by the saying. Then, without any help from Isaac, Rebekah goes by herself and inquires of the Lord as to what was wrong? We see here that despite what is preached in many circles today concerning headship and coverings that the Lord does not go to the headship of this household. God does not go and speak to Isaac in a dream or a vision. Instead, we see that the Lord speaks to Rebekah alone. So that Rebekah alone received the promise not Isaac -- which is odd to say the least.

As we read the rest of this, we clearly see that it becomes Rebekah’s responsibility alone to see that this command of the Lord is fulfilled. With revelation comes responsibility – and this responsibility does not end with the woman being submitted to her husband, even if he, as in this case, is the son of promise, Isaac. This does not negate the woman’s responsibility; her duty before God does not end by being submitted to her husband, a local pastor, or even a “powerful ministry” as in Rodney Howard Brown, or a denomination, even much vaunted the Southern Baptist Convention.

Rebekah seeking the Lord alone and receiving the Word of the Lord alone did not happen in the house of Abraham, neither did it happened in the house of Jacob. This lends to the thought that there was something very wrong with Isaac’s walk with God.

Contrary to the doctrines and traditions of men that fill a great many churches, ministries, and denominations, Divine intervention with the use of a woman occurs quite a few times in Scripture. Sarah, Rebekah, Tamar, Rahab, the Harlot, Manoah’s wife, Hannah, Ruth, Bathsheba, the widow woman of Samaria, Esther, Elizabeth, and Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Of these, all twelve found favor in the sight of the Lord, nine received revelations from the Lord apart from a man, eight received miracles from the Lord, six were in Christ’s genealogy, six were gentiles, six are mentioned in the New Testament, five were visited by angels or the Lord, five were barren and received seed of the Lord, four were mentioned by Christ and Paul as women of faith, four left their kindred, nations, and father’s house to become part of the seed of Abraham, four by the letter of the law were adulteresses, two usurped authority over men, and two delivered Israel. All twelve of these women individually surpassed the acts and deeds of 11 of the sons of Israel – who, fallen and corrupt teachers have taught, are seated on 12 of the 24 thrones in the book of Revelation.

With the text of Titus stating that women teachers were accepted in the church we will now take a cloer look at the words of paul the apostles and attempt to show the origin of his words in that passsage.

1 Timothy 2:12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

Note here that Paul says "I" not The Lord or The Holy Ghost commanded me to teach this. This "I" here of Paul is the same as the "I" of Peter concerning the circumcision, which Paul rebuked Peter from head to foot for partaking of.

This event is recorded two times in the New Testament, in Acts, and later in the Paul’s Epistles. Paul himself was so disturbed that Peter, one of the chiefest Apostles, was found in sin, filled with "prejudice," and that Peter had shrank from the charge the Lord had given unto him – and for of all things, “the fear of the brethren” that Paul unloaded all over him publicly without speaking to him in private first, or coming to him with two or three witnesses.

I find no fault in Paul over this because he saw this by revelation of the spirit and the words he spoke were the mind of the Spirit. So Paul, in this matter, walked in the Spirit and therefore was not subject to the letter of the law, (Even the Letter of NT Law) because he obeyed the Spirit of the law. – This has given the theologians of the flesh, fits, because this defies the patterns that they ever seek to emulate as “true spirituality.” Obedience comes first from hearing the word that proceedeth – which they hear not, for they know Him not. And, faith cometh by obedience to that word that proceedeth.

So what use then is scripture? It is of use in everyway –it is our schoolmaster, and our instructor of sin, righteousness, and the judgment. It shows us the way to God. It teaches what is Holy and Unholy, and when we meditate therein day and night, and delight in it – we do occupy until He comes as speaks unto us the word that proceedeth. Even as he did unto Abraham, and we note here that even as great as the walk and fellowship with God Abraham had, the Lord did not visit him daily, but Abraham walked with God daily. – The Lord departed for days and even years to see what Abraham would say and do with the word He had instructed him with. So also we see in the lives of the Apostles, for we can see clearly in the book of Acts that the Lord did not visit Peter, James, or even John daily.

But when the Lord does come:
Luke 12:37 Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching: (Delighting themselves in Him and obeying His commandments) verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.

Proverbs 8:30 Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; (This is the watching that God seeks).

1 Timothy 2:12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

However powerful Paul’s walk was with the Lord, and regardless of all the revelation he had received, “above and beyond even all the other Apostles combined,” Paul was not infallible, just as Peter was not infallible.

And as Scripture in the Old Testament does not hide the sins of the kings, prophets, and holy men of God – the books in the New Testament not only reveal the Apostles’ strengths, but the bible also reveals their weaknesses and fallibilities.

Elsewhere we have discussed Paul in his own words describing his being filled with pride and that the Lord had to intervene by humbling him for the rest of his days by a messenger from Satan which he calls “an infirmity “ among other things. – And we can see in Scripture that this very thing came upon Isaac. This is the same action that befell the Church of Corinth to those that did not discern the “Lord’s Body.”

So, we see here that Paul himself, being filled with his own prejudice of women, shrunk away from the charge given unto him by the Lord just as Peter did. But in that day that Paul spoke and wrote his personal prejudices, there was none that could stand before Paul and rebuke him before all the brethren.

Rebuke him over what?

Over those twelve women cited in Scripture who were led by the Spirit and not made subject to the letter of the law (The chiefest among them being Rebekah who by the spirit usurped her husband’s express wishes and authority – and by her selfless act, all of Israel and the church was blessed) For without her selfless act – Paul would have never been named an Apostle and able to write Timothy the words he wrote above.

From the word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God unto Paul we read: “there is neither male nor female in Christ Jesus.” This requires no further explanation.

In the Book of Acts, whom Paul commissioned Luke to write, we read the following words: “The Evangelist Philip had four daughters all who prophesied” and thus all four women were permitted to speak and teach what they had seen and heard of the Lord in their respective churches.

So also is it in this hour, for all women who walk in the Spirit in any church. These too should be allowed to prophesy, praise, sing, exhort, and teach, whatsoever they have seen and heard of Him -- lest the body be deprived of what they heard.

And not only that, but the Lord also revealed unto Paul, by His Spirit, that: The Lord had broken down the middle wall of partition in the church. Here, Paul was speaking of the wall in the temple and synagogues that separated the court of the gentiles from the court of Jews. But Paul’s blindness and hardness of heart allowed, after such partition walls had been done away with in Christ, to be erected once more in the churches he presided. I want to be clear here, for in the temple and the synagogues, there was not only one wall or partition, there were in fact two. The first was the court of the gentiles that separated them from the congregation of Israel and the second wall of partition separated the women’s court from the men’s court.

This wall of partition was not in Christ’s ministry. Paul himself also commissioned Luke to write a gospel that meticulously records all of these things. In the Gospel of Luke, we read time and again that women were allowed to meet with Christ, touch Christ and make their demands of Christ without their husbands or father’s present. In other words, they sought him without covering.

Christ himself marveled at the faith of several of these women and found no fault in them. At the same time, Christ continually upbraided the Apostles for their unbelief and Christ continually found fault in the Apostles. So we see that many of the women that came to Christ obeyed a higher law and were justified therein. Of the women that preached the Gospels, not the least of which was the Samaritan woman, which not only brought salvation to her husband and household, but to dozens of households in the city of Samaria.

Paul’s highly prejudicial and self-serving doctrine: “I suffer not a woman to teach -- but to be in silence,” was not so in the first three chapters of the book of Acts.

For example, in the first church in Jerusalem, all met and that includes Jew, Gentile, Male and Female without partition on Solomon’s porch. Additionally, when they came together on that porch, they all spoke of the newness of life that was in them. They all shared that which the Lord had revealed to every member.

Ephesians 4:15-16 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Romans 12:3-4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

This membership, one of another, finds its basis in Scripture of Adam and Eve, for even thou the woman was taken from the man of whom Paul declares the woman to be the Glory of Adam. Between bone marrow and blood, their bodies are the same and one can not distinguished one from the other. (I am not speaking here from a scientific standpoint.) Bone is bone, human blood is human blood, and human marrow is human marrow, whether the donor is male or female in blood or marrow is not an issue.

Likewise of Christ, He testified that He came forth from the bosom of the Father. Christ is declared by Paul to be the Glory of God, and Christ said, “If you have seen Me you have seen the Father.” Christ was the ‘weaker vessel” and spoke the words that proceedeth from the mouth of the Father - preached and taught and healed. Christ did not speak of Himself, but of the Father. Likewise, a man or woman in Christ is not to speak of themselves, but of the word that proceedeth from the mouth of the Father. There is therefore no distinction between these vessels in Christ. And if the truth be known, it was women that first proclaimed the resurrection, not the Apostles – when the Apostles were without faith or hope. And it was Christ Himself and the Father that sent these women on more than one occasion to preach to Peter and the other faithless Apostles.

As we noted earlier in the book of Acts in the first three chapters there is no evidence of a wall of partition that was erected on Solomon’s porch, nor in the house meetings throughout Jerusalem, in which the church met.

We further see that not allowing women to prophesy and proclaim what they saw and heard was not true in the church that Philip was in, nor was it true in the church that met in Alexandria, Egypt that Philo describes in his writings.

For the most part, Protestant Churches never recognized this wall of partition. However, I have attended services in very frigid, legalistic Calvinist churches, where the women and men are segregated on opposite sides of the church.

But regardless, most churches having no physical separation of men and women in their congregations or having erected any physical partitions, there has been, and still is, a strong spirit of malice and prejudice towards woman, especially woman teachers and woman preachers. When Paul spoke what the Lord revealed unto him by the Spirit, “When ye come together everyone hath…,” Paul never said in any of his Epistles to a church that by the command of the Lord, this does not include gentiles or women.

I Corinthians 14:34-35 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak (The word “Speak” in the Greek is Lalein: To converse, To babble); but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law. (We will see here that this law Psul refers to is not the Law of Moses in the Bible that the source he is quoting is actually the Mishnah/Talmud) And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame (aichron) for women to speak (the word is not Logos, but to converse Lalein) in the church.

In the Greek Septuagint the word Aichros is used 6 times in Genesis 41 concerning the seven bad years Pharaoh saw in adream. And the word Aichroos is used one time Proverbs 15:10 Correction is grievous (a shame) unto him that forsaketh the way: and he that hateth reproof shall die.
This verse appears to be more of a rebuke to Paul than to women.
So, this word that Paul uses aichron is not in the Law of Moses even once.

However, it is in the Mishnah and the Babylonia Talmud, the Online Jewish Encyclopedia says the following: ”In the area of education, women were traditionally exempted (This would be as is women were not allowed to read the bible or bible study materials)– and often discouraged – from any study beyond a understanding of the practical aspects of Torah, and the rules necessary in running a Jewish household – both of which they have an obligation to learn. Until the early 20th century, women were often discouraged from learning Talmud and other advanced Jewish texts. Women are exempt (by exempt they mean disallowed) from having to follow most of the set daily prayer services, and most other positive time bound mitzvot”

“As such, the Halakha (traditional law codes) (This is not in the Torah) specify that women are not eligible to be counted in a minyan (Minyan is defined as a minimum of ten men. The meaning of this in the Talmud is that a woman can not be “counted among their number” and therefore can not participate in prayer and scripture reading, or Talud reading or the discussion of these.) afor purposes of time-specific prayer, as a minyan is a quorum of those who are obligated.”

“-- Orthodox synagogues do not allow a woman to become the president of a congregation, or to give the customary d'var Torah (brief discourse on the weekly Torah portion) during services. Supporters of these positions believe that they are essential to preserving modesty, are based in the Halakha

R. (Rabbi) Berman explains the Ra'avad's position as having the following -- components:
1. A man may not hear a woman's speaking voice. (The Rabbi’s of the Talmud were so sexually repressed that they are the ones that invented the clothing and coverings that we later see in Roman Catholic Nun’s and the walking tents (Burkas) Muslim women are bound to wear.)
2. A man may not recite keri'as Shema (This is the recital of certain response reading texts) while hearing his wife's singing voice or another woman's speaking voice (Paul in commanding that the women be silent and saying in the law it is a shame for women to speak in the assembly is quoting this.)

Rabbi Berman cited the extremely stringent view of Rabbi Yehudah he-Hassid in his Sefer Hassidim that not only may a man not listen to a woman's voice, but a woman may not listen to a man's voice.(Of this Paul instructs for the women to ask their husband(s) at home for the teaching other men are giving) The implication that a woman may also be sexually aroused by a man's voice, much like a man might be aroused by a woman's voice, seems clear even if quite unique in the Halakhic literature (In other words these repressive and perverse traditions are only contained the Halakha writings -- Hebrew: äìëä; also transliterated as Halakhah, Halacha, and Halachah) are the collective corpus of Jewish religious law, (In the gospels we understand this as the laws of scribes, lawyers and the pharisees) (which) include biblical law (the 613 mitzvot) and later talmudic and rabbinic law as well.)

These blind Pharisees Scribes and Lawyers can not see that without the unclean woman Rebekah not only speaking preaching and teaching, but overruling her husband, and riding roughshod over all the so-called laws of Rabbi’s in the Talmud and Halakha – they would net be meeting and able to recite any of their response readings or perverse laws. For it is only through the unclean woman Rebekah that there are any Jews period and we might add that it is only because of courageous acts of the unclean woman Rebekah that Paul was able to preach and teach in the church.

“One who looks at a small finger of a woman and intends to enjoy it is like one who looks at private parts. Even to hear the voice of [a woman is] Ervah (Heb. nakedness, nudity, shame, pudenda) or to look at her hair is forbidden.” (Mishneh Torah Hilkhos Issurei Bt’ah 21:2) (Here Paul translates the Hebrew word in the Talmud Ervah as the Greek word Aichros as: A shame)

So, using the test of the Boreans in the Book of Acts, and finding that what Paul wrote in these verses are not written in the Law of Moses, or the Prophets, but were written in of all the corrupt sources, the Mishnah and Babylonian Talmud. We judge these words of Paul contained in the 1 Corinthians 14:34-37 and also in I Timothy 2:12 to be not of God but belong to the corrupt teachings of the Scribes, Pharisees and Lawyers – who Christ Himself continually derided as making the Law of Moses of none effect.

This is not to negate or to bring into question Paul's writings as a whole. But this is rather obedience to the command to judge or test or prove all things, to see what spirit they are of.

And as Christ's second coming draws neigh we are to examina and test all the more what we are taught to see if these things be so in scripture.

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