🛑ARE WIVES SUPPOSED TO SUBMIT TO THEIR HUSBANDS?

By Bishop Elijah H. Hankerson III, BA, MA, DD

(Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible)[1]

GREETING

Psalm 134:1-2.1 Behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord, which by night stand in the house of the Lord.2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1.               Life Center Service Tonight: 7:00 pm.

2.               Join me this week in Minneapolis, MN and St Louis!

3.               Please register for the International AIM Convention under “COGIC Department of Evangelism.” July 1-5, Tampa, FL. We have many outstanding guests that will be providing training, resources and inspiration.

4.             Missouri Midwest Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Holy Convocation 4th Annual Holy Convocation July 21-26. In 2020 I will be celebrating 5 years as a jurisdictional bishop. Special guests include: Evangelist Renee Winston, Bishop Paul S. Morton, Bishop J. Drew Sheard GBM, Dr. Joyce Rodgers, Bishop Todd Hall and many more

LESSON NOTES

I.               KEY WORDS AND VOCABULARY.[2] [3]

A.             Wives (Greek gyne). A wife, woman or women.

B.             Submit. (Greek hypotasso). To submit or put in subjection. To rank under.

C.             Subjection. (Greek hypotasso). To submit or put in subjection. To rank under.

D.             Obedient. (Greek hypotasso). To submit or put in subjection. To rank under.

E.             Husbands (Greek aner). A husband or adult (mature) male

F.              Love (Greek agapao). The love that God has for His Son and His people; and that we are to have toward one another. 

G.            Bitter (Greek pikraino). To be sour, irritated or harsh.

H.            Blasphemed (Greek blasphemeo). To insult, slander or curse.

I.                 Hindered. (Greek ekkopto). To cut off or cut down. To break up a road. To place an obstacle in the path.

J.               Please (Greek aresko). To accommodate.

K.            Head (Greek kephale). To be at the top.

L.             Weaker (Greek asthenes). Without physical strength.

M.          Joined (Greek syzeugnymi). To join together in wedlock.

N.             Honour (Greek time). To value or respect.

O.            Praiseth (Hebrew halal). To cheer, celebrate or boast about.

P.              Nourish (Greek ektrepho). To feed, nurture, care for and bring up.

Q.            Cherish (Greek thalpo). To care for and comfort. To keep warm as birds covering their young with their feathers.

R.             Lord (Greek kyrios). Master, or a title to address a person of a higher status. To have power or authority.

II.            ARE THE BIBLICAL ADMONITIONS CULTURAL; OR DO THEY APPLY TO EVERY GENERATION.

I am quite certain that there are many people that would love to rewrite history and have the Bible conformed to our “progressive” society.

However, the culture of the Bible and the culture of the West are different like night and day. Like it or not; biblical culture was strongly patriarchal. The man was to be reverenced, respected, obeyed and feared. 

III.        MEN OF GOD CARRIED SO MUCH WEIGHT AND AUTHORITY THAT JUST THEIR WORD OF BLESSING (WHICH WAS TO FIGHT FOR) WOULD AFFECT MANY GENERATIONS.

A.             Esau begged for a blessing from his dad; after being tricked out of his original blessings.

Genesis 27:4 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

⁴ and prepare a savory dish for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die.”

Genesis 27:38 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

³⁸ Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” So Esau lifted his voice and wept.

B.             A couple thousand years before Christ, Jacob’s blessing “sealed the deal” that the Christ would come from the royal tribe of Judah.

Genesis 49:10 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

¹⁰ “The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes,
And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

IV.        ALONG WITH THE ANCIENT HEBREWS BEING PATRIARCHAL; THE GRECO-ROMAN WORLD WAS SIMILARLY PATRIARCHAL. The secular culture of the New Testament environment was concerned with order. The “family code” found in many New Testament passages (of the man being the head, the wife submitting to the husband and the kids submitting to the parents) would have been very familiar to people in the Greek or Roman culture; as those cultures took “order” very seriously:

Colossians 3:18 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

¹⁸ Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

Ephesians 5:22-24 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

²² Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. ²⁴ But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.

A.             Peter felt that an unbelieving husband could possibly be won to Christ by his wife’s conduct.[4] In contrast, a Christian husband will (or is supposed to) treat his wife considerately.

1 Peter 3:1-6 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

¹ In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, ² as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. ³ Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; ⁴ but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. ⁵ For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands; ⁶ just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.

B.             Christian women had freedom and liberty in spite of the cultural norms of the day.[5] Paul did not want women to use their freedom as the opportunity to alienate and confuse people. Thus, he warned for the women to be subject.

Titus 2:4-5 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

⁴ so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, ⁵ to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.

C.             Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 11:3 are in sync with the Genesis text.[6] Apparently, the apostle did not feel that the New Covenant nullified the following passage:

Genesis 3:16 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

¹⁶ To the woman He said,
“I will greatly multiply
Your pain in childbirth,
In pain you will bring forth children;
Yet your desire will be for your husband,
And he will rule over you.”

1 Corinthians 11:3 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

³ But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.

V.             NOTE, HOWEVER THAT THE BIBLE DOES NOT CALL FOR BLIND OBEDIENCE. The authors are expressing the ideal and ultimate expression of life in a Christian home. It is not so much just rules and regulations to govern; but a goal and standard to set and live by.

A.             The ideal environment in a Christian home.

1 Peter 3:8-9 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

⁸ To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; ⁹ not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. 

VI.        SUBMISSION AND SUBJECTION ARE NOT UNCONDITIONAL.[7] There is a vast difference between submitting to a perfect Christ vs a fallen man. Therefore, the Scriptures place parameters and guidelines on how the husband is to conduct himself as well.

VII.    IT CANNOT BE DENIED THAT THE BIBLE SHOWS THAT THE HUSBAND HAS ONE ROLE AND THE WIFE HAS ANOTHER. However, this does not mean that the husband and wife are not equal as human beings before God. The husband and wife are one and equal as humans before God. But, it cannot be denied that God gave the assignment of “headship” to the man. Which basically means the one that is responsible.

Genesis 2:23-24 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

²³ The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones,
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.”

²⁴ For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

Genesis 5:2 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

² He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created.

Genesis 1:28 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

²⁸ God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

VIII.                       THE DUTIES OF A HUSBAND IN A HOUSEHOLD. Being called the head may seem exciting to some men. However, when one sees all the duties involved in being the head; it can be quite sobering.

               1.                        The husband is to praise his wife.

Proverbs 31:28 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

²⁸ Her children rise up and bless her;
Her husband also, and he praises her, saying:

               2.                        The husband is to provide for his household.

1 Timothy 5:8 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

⁸ But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

               3.                        The husband is forbidden to mistreat his wife. To do so will incur the wrath of God.

Malachi 2:14-15 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

¹⁴ Yet you say, ‘For what reason?’ Because the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. ¹⁵ But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while he was seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth.

               4.                        The husband is to be joined to his wife. She comes first and he is not “joined” with anyone else.

Matthew 19:5 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

⁵ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?

               5.                        The husband’s body belongs to his wife. He has not authority over his own body.

1 Corinthians 7:4 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

⁴ The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

               6.                        The husband is to honor and understand his wife; recognizing her equal value. Or God will ignore his prayers.

1 Peter 3:7 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

⁷ You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.

               7.                        The husband is to love his wife and be willing to give his life for her.

Ephesians 5:25 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,

               8.                        The husband is forbidden to be embittered (or harsh) with his wife.

Colossians 3:19 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

¹⁹ Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them.

               9.                        The husband is to be concerned about how he can please his wife.

1 Corinthians 7:33-34 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

³³ but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, ³⁴ and his interests are divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.

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[1] New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, The Lockman Foundation

[2] Strong, James. The Strongest Strong’s. Zondervan: Grand Rapids, 2001.

[3] Vine, W. E. Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Nelson: Nashville, 1996.

[4] Buttrick, George. The Interpreter’s Bible Vol. X. New York: Abingdon, 1953.

[5] Buttrick, George. The Interpreter’s Bible Vol. X. New York: Abingdon, 1953.

[6] Buttrick, George. The Interpreter’s Bible Vol. X. New York: Abingdon, 1953.

[7] Buttrick, George. The Interpreter’s Bible Vol. X. New York: Abingdon, 1953.