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"In the beginning ... God said, Let us make man in our image ..
.
in the image of God created
he him, male and Jemale created he them
.. .
heirs together of the grace of lije .
..
that as many
as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God."
.,.......__ od never intended
there be any "bat–
tle of the sexes"–
God always con–
sidered men and
women equal ly
"in his image."
But mankind- male and female–
has been responsible for many contra–
dictions of God's inten
t.
T hat's where
our problems have come from.
The ideal circumstances of the
Garden of Eden provided equality
befare God of Adam and Eve, man
and woman.
Since mankind's expulsion from
the Garden, circumstances have nev–
er provided the God-intended equali–
ty. A marked deterioration in every
facet of life has ensued, varying in
degree from generation to genera–
tion. The ideal woman, so artfully
described in Proverbs 31, has proba–
bly never existed in an actual, living,
case history. There is no counterpart
chapter in the Bible to describe the
ideal man, and obviously, even if
there were, there would be no living
example completely fulfilling that
ideal, either.
J esus was a man. He was per–
fect-that is, no sin was found in
Him. Yet , He did not marry, have a
family, produce progeny. That was
not His purpose. The purpose of His
The
PLAIN TRUTH May 1979
by
Jon
Hill
life was to provide the perfect sacri–
fice for sin required for you and
me- maJe or female.
There are no other examples of
perfect men, or women, in the Bible.
Every other man or woman men–
tioned is flawed with error of one
nature or another. Sorne are basically
righteous, sorne basically evil. Sorne
have names to identify them, others
are anonymous. Their examples, in
the light of God's perfect law, give us
guidelines in two directions: 1) how
to act to achieve good; 2) how to
act--or not act- to avoid evil.
In striving to achieve the best rec–
ord in this life and to become quali–
fied to inherit eterna! life, applying
the principies of these examples is
very helpful. Here are sorne exam–
ples, good and bad, of the conduct of
women in the Bible. 1 hope all the
men readi·ng this will be able to learn
helpful points regarding their own
lives; and of course it is the primary
intent of this article to aid women in
attaining the very most of their hu–
man potential.
Powerful examples of women in
the Bible are an inspiration to any
human being, regardless of sex. Out–
standing examples of faith. Admira–
ble stories of intelligence, intrigue
and cleverness. Strength of character
when all the men had given up, forti–
tude in the face of adversity, sheer
guts in performing action necessary
for the freedom of a nation. Passion
and compassion. Merey, love and pa–
tience. All examples of spi ritual
character, which knows no boundary
of sex- yet makes for a sparkling
jewel in the crown of God.
Yet, just as with the tales of meo
in the Bible, there are other accounts
of jealousy, evil incarnate, depravi–
ty-deliberate, ugly sins and sins of
omission and ignorance, sometimes
with the best of intentions.
Let's look at a few.
Mlrlam the Prophetess
We all remember the song of Moses
in Exodus 15-why don't more rec–
ognize that Moses himself also re–
cords in the same chapter his sister
Miriam's song? She was a prophet–
ess, leader of all the women of Israel,
Moses' older sister who had watched
over him as he floated helpless down
the Nile, a baby in his reed basket.
Miriam spoke, Moses recorded, and
God inspired and included as a part
of His eterna! Word the powerful
promise: " I am the Lord that healeth
thee"! (Ex. 15:26.)
We know that Miriam made a
mistake: She accused Moses of a bad
marriage with an Ethi opian
woman- even God was furious, and
punished her severely. So, who said
she was perfect? She was just a hu–
man being made in the image of God
who, in her overall life, is an out-
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