Ecclesiologia/Donne e ministero cristiano/L'ordinazione delle donne e l'Antico Testamento
III.
ORDINATION OF WOMEN AND THE OLD TESTAMENT
By Vernon H. Kooy
While the question of the ordination of women properly belongs in the New Testament sphere, the Church, in regarding the entire Bible as “the rule of faith and practice”, commits herself to study all problems from the whole of Biblical revelation. Thus a Biblical approach to this subject must take into account the Old Testament. This literature presents the following pertinent data:
I. The apex of God’s creative activity was the human race, male and female (Gen. 1:26ff.), with the sexes complementary (Gen. 2:20ff.) and forming a unity (Gen. 2:23f., cp. Mt. 19:4ff., Mk. 10:6ff., I Cor. 6:16), each having its distinct place and function without priority and without independence. To the race as a whole God gave the command, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion” (Gen. 1:28, cp. Ps. 8:4ff.). The subjugation of women is viewed as the result of sin (Gen. 3:16). Nowhere in the Old Testament does it appear as part of the created order. One would expect this curse to be removed by redemption.
II. God’s revelation came in a historical and cultural milieu in which male dominance was part of the social structure. One cannot insist upon the absoluteness of any Biblical social norm. When cultural and social patterns change the Biblical forms must be reinterpreted.
III. God speaks and acts through special individuals upon whom He places His Spirit. In the Old Testament there were:
A. Revealers of the divine will through divination, sacrifice, ecstasy, spoken word, etc. (cp. Jer 18:18, Ezek. 7:26). In this class we find:
1. The priest, whose function was to divine by sacred lot to determine God’s will and give instruction (torah). He was the holy person through whom the Israelite approached God in worship. He thus performed a dual function.
2. The prophet, whose concern was ” the word of the Lord”. He was the divine spokesman, revealer of the divine counsel and activity (Amos 3:7). He also served as intercessor for the people before God (cp. Gen. 20:7, Jer. 7:16, 51:1).
3. The sage (and elder), endued with wisdom and able to counsel in accordance with the divine will and plan (cp. Jer. 18:18, Ezek: 7:26).
B. Those acting for God in a special capacity as: leaders of the people (e.g. Moses and Joshua), judges (judicators of lesser disputes), charismatics (as Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Samson, Saul, etc.), and the king (as divine regent).
In both areas we find women serving. In the prophetic office we note such illustrious women as Miriam (Ex. 15:20f.), Deborah (Judges 4:4f.) and Huldah, consulted by king Josiah (II Kings 22:12ff., II Chron. 34:20ff.). Deborah held a three-fold office- prophetess, judge (dispensing justice in the hill country of Ephraim, Judges 4:4f.), and charismatic (inciting Barak to battle the Canaanites, she herself directing the battle, Judge 4:6ff.). Moreover, mediums (as the woman of Endor, I Sam. 28:7ff.) and false prophetess (as Noadiah, Neh. 6:14) were consulted by the people and believed capable of disclosing the divine will. In one instance a woman sat on the throne of Israel and ruled for six years (II Kings 11:3).
While the occasions were few, God did not disdain to speak and act through women, and the people apparently recognized them as divine servants. It is not surprising that the numbers were few. It is rather remarkable, and therefore more significant, that there should have been any.
- The sacred offices of prophet, priest and king (those usually identified with the ministry)
were neither indispensable nor permanent. When the prophetic office was degraded by those speaking “pleasing words” the true spokesman for God disclaimed any relationship to it (Amos 7:14, cp. Zech. 13:3ff.). The prophets described the sacrificial system as foreign to true worship (Jer. 7:22f., Amos 5:21ff., Mic. 6:6ff.), predicting the destruction of the temple (Jer.7:1-15) that a proper worship might be established. With temple and sacrifice go the priesthood. Again, the royal office, promised as everlasting by covenant (Ps.89:3f., I Chron. 17:12ff., II Chron. 6:16) is denied by some of the prophets as in keeping with the divine plan (I Sam. 8:10:18ff., Hos. 8:4,12:9, 13, 13:9ff.). Moreover, these offices were not envisioned as directly passing over into the New Order. They were to be consummated in the coming of the ideal (cp. Deut. 18:15ff., Hos. 12:10ff., Zech. 6:12ff., I Sam. 2:35, Ps. 110:4, Isa. 9:1ff., 11:1ff., Mic. 5:2ff, Ezek. 34:23f. cp. Also Isa. 42:6, 52:13ff.), which the New Testament rightly interprets as fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Whatever continuity these offices may have in the New Testament, their nature and qualifications would seem to be dictated by their fulfillment in Christ and not by the offices as constituted in the Old Testament.
V. While in the Old Testament specially called persons were endowed with the divine Spirit to act
on behalf of the deity, there was envisioned a time when such would no longer be the case, but the divine Spirit would be poured out on all flesh, sons and daughters, manservants and maidservants alike, and all would prophesy (Joel 2:28f., cp. Jer. 31:31-34). This time the New Testament sees fulfilled at Pentecost (Acts 2:17ff.). One notes the absence of any distinction in sexes.
IV. Whereas under the Old Covenant the male was the dominant figure and alone received the mark
of membership (circumcision) in the covenant community, in the New Covenant the mark of membership (baptism) is enjoyed by both male and female, both equally a part of the community, there being no longer any distinction but all are one in Christ (Gal. 3:28).
V. The ordained offices of prophet, priest and king (usually associated with the ministry) had a dual
function- to act on behalf of both God and people. If there is any symbolism to be found in that a man can best represent the deity (masculine in Israel without any female counterpart) before the people, by a similar argument the representation of the people before God would seem most appropriately symbolized by a woman. One notes that Israel is known as the wife of God (e.g. Hos. 2:16, Jer. 3:8, 20, Ezek. 16:8), as a mother (e.g. Hos. 2:2, 5, Ezek. 16), and as a daughter (e.g. Isa. 1:8, Jer. 4:31, Ezek. 16:44, Mic. 4:8). Moreover this is fully in harmony with the symbolism of the Church as the “Bride of Christ”.