Page:Woman-1949.djvu/7

May 1m 1949

The WATCHTOWER

135

consecrated in body and spirit, but the woman who marries is concerned with worldly affairs, and how she can please her husband. A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. If her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she pleases so long as he is a Christian. But she will be happier, in my judgment, if she remains as she is." -l Cor. 7: 34, 39,40, An Amer. Trans.

² In singleness a girl or a widow can be just as fully occupied with good things to do as her married Christian sister, provided she occupies her body, mind and spirit in God's direct service. In the congregation of ancient Israel woman's position was an inferior one and there were limitations placed upon what she might take up as her occupation. Nonetheless, her position was far freer and more protected than that of pagan women who were not under the Theocratic law of Moses. Certainly, though, when Christianity came in, it lifted the position of women and enlarged their sphere of action more than anything else till then. - Gal. 5: l.

³ Priests, Levites, kings in the nation of Israel? A woman could never hope to fill any of those positions. Priesthood was strictly for male members of the family of Aaron, and there were no such things as priestesses. The Levitical service at the temple was also confined to the males, those of the tribe of Levi. Likewise, the royal throne was reserved by Jehovah's kingdom covenant with David to the male members of the lineage of David. (Ex. 28: 1-3, 43; Num. 3: 1-10; 2 Sam. 7: 1-17) Womankind could be only unofficial mothers and wives to these officials. But in the Theocratic congregation of Christians, women no less than men made up part of the holy nation to whom the priestly and royal promises were made. They were among the ones addressed when the apostle Peter wrote his fellow Christians and said: "Ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." For in the same epistle the apostle addresses the wives and tells the husbands to be "giving honor unto the woman, as unto the weaker vessel, as being also joint-heirs of the grace of life". -l Pet. 2: 9 and 3: 1-7, Am. Stan. Ver.

⁴ Think of the equalization between men and women that it meant before God when he inspired his apostle to write to Christians to say: "But now that faith has come, we are no longer in the charge of the attendant. For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through your faith. For all of you who have been baptized into union with Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no room for 'Jew' and 'Greek'; there is no room for 'slave' and 'free-

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3 How did the Christian woman differ from Jewesses In privilege?

4-5 How, In Christ, was there neither male nor female?

man'; there is no room for 'male' and 'female'; for in union with Christ Jesus you are all one. And if you belong to Christ, then you are true descendants of Abraham and his heirs under the promise." -Gal. 3: 25-29, An Amer. Trans.

⁵ To the female as well as the male was allowed the privilege of accepting the true faith and of devoting oneself entirely to God and thereby being baptized into union with Jesus Christ. That meant becoming a son of God, a part of the "seed of Abraham" and an heir of God's promise. To the female believer as well as the male were opened up the same heavenly hopes and opportunities as "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ", to gain the "first resurrection" and to live and reign with Christ a thousand years and to be priests of God and of Christ. (Rom. 8: 16, 17; Rev. 20: 4-6) They, equally with the male Christians, are "living stones" and are built up into the spiritual house in which God dwells by his spirit, that they might offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Christ Jesus. (1 Pet. 2: 4,5, An Amer. Trans.) So they, too, may serve God in this life, copying Jesus' example, suffering reproach with him, and praising Jehovah God daily. God does not withhold his adoption and his anointing with the spirit from them.

⁶ There was no general segregation between the two sexes, but after Jesus' resurrection and ascension to heaven and down to the day of Pentecost they met together at Jerusalem. We read: "These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and "Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven ... and they were all filled with the holy [spirit], and began to speak with other tongues, as the spirit gave them utterance." (Acts 1: 14 and 2: 1-4) Thus it came about that persons of both sexes spoke under inspiration. Likewise persons of both sexes kept on becoming believers, so that we read: "And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women." Baptism in water was no more denied to them than was baptism with the holy spirit, and the testimony to this effect says: "When they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women." (Acts 5: 14; 8: 12) The first Gentile to hear apostolic preaching in Europe and to believe was a Philippian lady named Lydia. Luke tells us that, "when she was baptized, and her household," she insisted on entertaining Paul's missionary group. (Acts 16: 14, 15, 40) In these things God and Christ were not partial to either sex.

⁷ 1 There is a consistency in God's actions, so that

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6 How was there no segregation, nor partiality, as to sex?

7-8 Yet how does God recognize sex, and why do we not complain?