 Okay. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to our class, BC 106 on Interpreting Scripture. Let's pray and then I get started. Father, we thank You for this day. Thank You that we could be here in class and those online that we could take some time to study, to learn, to understand. Father, we pray that the Holy Spirit will open our hearts and minds and that we will understand, we will grasp and that these truths will be written in our hearts and in our minds and maybe be able to use them as we minister to people. We thank You Father in Jesus' name. Amen. All right. So just a quick update. I have shared the course notes for the entire course with the class, with those of you in person as well as those of you online. So you could make use of those notes, fine thing. And I made some changes, some corrections here and there based on our discussion. So you could use the final notes for the assessment that will be given. So we are now in our last section where we are talking about difficult topics. We started this last week just going through some topics that may people normally ask these questions. So I'm just addressing them. If you have any other questions or topics you could feel free to ask. So we've got a few more things to cover. I will go through it today and we may be able to cover everything today. We'll see how it goes. But we should be able to finish, I think. So if people ask us the question, is Jesus God? We can give a response to that. I'm in chapter 15 in your notes. Understanding the Trinity and the Incarnation, what are the different titles for Jesus Christ mean, especially when it talks about the first begotten, first born, so on. We explained that, then seemingly contradictory accounts in the Gospels. We looked at a few and we showed how to respond to that. Difficult statements. This is page 39. Difficult statements. Who has the greatest sin? Pilate or Judas? Forgiving people sins. What did Jesus mean? Three days and three nights. There are two possible explanations for it. The high Sabbath seems most likely because John mentions that in John 19 and verse 31. And then we also looked, okay, so that's where we came. We came up to 1 Corinthians 13. How does it matter for today? And so we quickly explained that. You will see that again. You can see some of these again in different courses in your second year and also in your third year. Some of these things will come up again. So we also did, can women be in five-fold ministry based on Ephesians 4.8 and 11. 8 to 11, we explained that. The Greek word for man is anthropos, which is gender-neutral, refers to people. So that's where we covered last week. Okay. All with me, Sopha. We'll go forward. Who's missing? Everyone's here. Okay. All right. Two people. So another common question is, can women teach the word of God? Right. And there are two main passages that people use to raise objection to allowing women to teach the word of God. So we'll address both. And I'll just quickly give a summary of this. Okay. And you can, of course, look into the scriptures. So first of all, you know, we say in order to understand anything in the Bible, we must look at the whole Bible on that subject. I don't take one passage in isolation. So when you look at the general context of scripture, we understand God's government. That means government is a structure through which God releases the flow of authority. Right. So that's God's government, a structure through which he releases his authority and governmental authority to keep things in order. So, for example, we see in the Bible, in the family, the husband is given that headship, meaning God is saying, you are responsible. Right. It doesn't mean the husband is better than the wife or the husband is better than the children. No, they're all people in the eyes of God. We're all saved by grace. Right. But in the family, the headship or the responsibility is given to the husband. So that is one that is God's government structure in the local church. It will be the spiritual leader. They are given or he or the spiritual leader is given responsibility, authority, God's government flows through that. So we understand that. But so we keep that understanding. We're not tearing that down. But in addition to that, we know in both the Old and New Testament, God has used men and women. It is never used women. You look in the Old Testament, you'll find God has used women. Examples, we see Deborah, we see Esther, we see Ruth, we see Hilda, the prophetess, we see Miriam, the prophetess. So we see even in the Old Testament, many names, women who were used in ministry and serving God. You come into the New Testament starting from the Gospels, you see Anna, the prophetess. And then you see the daughters of Philip. They were women who prophesied. You see Paul, he had people who served alongside him. You see Jesus, he had women who ministered to him and his team. But also very notably, the first person he speaks to after his resurrection is Mary Magdalene. He says, you go and you tell the disciples. It is so impressive that he spoke to a lady and said, you go. He didn't speak to John or Peter or one of them. It's significant that he spoke to a woman and said, you go and tell my disciples. So God has, you don't find in the Bible that God puts women down or he says, I cannot use you. You don't find that in the overall scripture. So that's the second point. And we also see number three that in the scripture, there is equal standing before God. So Galatians 3 28 says that in Christ, there is neither male nor female. There is neither Greek, Jew nor Greek. That means in Christ, Galatians 3 28 point number three, in Christ, they're equal. God doesn't treat us differently. We equal in Christ. First Peter 3 7 says we are joint as together. And number four, we also see that when there is the distribution of spiritual gifts, there is no distinction. The Holy Spirit gives gifts only to men. He doesn't say that. He says he distributes to everyone, every believer, every child of God. And it doesn't say he gives only gifts to men. Doesn't say that. So with that background, having understood that there is government, which means there is order, responsibility. But aside from the government order, in every other way, there is equality of male and female. So example, like we said, in the family or in the church, there is headship. Somebody is responsible, but the people are equal in the sight of God. Only in terms of responsibility, there is order, there is structure. But in terms of who we are to God and before God, there's equality. We are equal. So then if you go to 1 Corinthians chapter 14, verses 34 and 35, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 14 verse 34 and 35, he says, Let the women keep silent in the church. And if they have any questions, let them ask their husbands at home. But it is not good for a woman to speak in church. So people use that 1 Corinthians chapter 14. You can look at it and verses 34 and 35. And you know, so Paul says, let the women keep silent in church. Does that mean a woman can never teach the word of God? She is not speaking church. She should be silent, sit silently and listen. What's he trying to say? Well, we understand from 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians that Paul was addressing certain problems in the Corinthian church. Various problems. You can see, and I've shown that in the notes page 42, bottom of page 42. He was addressing division, immorality, marriage, food offered to idols, questions about his apostleship and how to take part in the Lord's table and so on. So he's addressing many things. So when he comes to 1 Corinthians 14, he's addressing the expression of spiritual gifts. And while he's talking all that, he says, let the women keep silent in church. If they have any questions, let them ask their husbands at home. So some of the things we can say is this. First of all, we see that the phrase keep silent is not used only for women. There are three times in 1 Corinthians 14 that he says keep silent. One, when speaking in tongues, he uses the words keep silent. In what context? If you're giving a message to the church and there is no interpreter, then keep silent. So when he says keep silent, doesn't mean stop speaking in tongues. No, he means when you're giving a message, if there is no interpreter, then you keep silent. Don't try to speak a message to the church in tongues if there is no interpreter because it's not helping anybody. Second time he says keep silent is because when the people are prophesying, when one person finishes prophesying, then you keep silent so that you give chance to the next person. That's the second time he uses the phrase keep silent in 1 Corinthians 14. You all understanding? You're with me? Yes? Okay. So that's in 1 Corinthians, look at verse 28, 1 Corinthians 14, 28. If there is no interpreter, keep silent. Verse 29, if two or three prophets speak verse 30, let the first keep silent. That means if another person starts prophesying, first person keeps silent. So when he says keep silent, he's not saying don't talk, don't never prophesy. What he's saying is you do it in proper order, do it properly. So now when he talks about verse 34, women keep silent. It's not that women can never speak in church. It just means keep silent so that everything is done properly in order. It's the same part that is being communicated. It's the same idea, same reasoning. That is we want things to be done in order. That's why you keep silent. That's the first thing. Second, he's not talking to all women. He's only talking to married women. How can we say that? Because he says verse 34, you keep silent. And then if verse 35, if you want to learn, you go ask your husbands at home. So that means only married women, he's not talking to all women. So he's giving some instruction to married women, saying if you have a question, then don't, while the preacher is preaching, you have a doubt. Don't start talking to your husband in the church. So example, right here, suppose I am explaining something and let's say Prince doesn't understand, then he, hey Bimel, what does that mean? Then it will disturb the whole class. The Bimel is explaining, they're having their own conversation. Example, and then here the lecturer is trying to explain. And if like that, three or four people are having conversation, it will disrupt everything. You're getting the idea. So that's what he's saying, don't do. So in the church, if you don't understand something, don't disturb and talk to your husband and start having a conversation. Now in those days, men used to sit on one side, ladies on the other side. So imagine one lady shouting to her husband, hey, what did he mean? Her husband is shouting back. He meant this, he didn't mean that. Full, full, shouting will go on across, preacher is trying to preach. It will be chaos, it will be chaos. So he says, you keep silent, you go home, you ask your husband. That's all he's saying. So we cannot use 1 Corinthians 14, 34 and 35 to mean that the woman cannot preach and teach the Word of God. That's not what he's meaning. He's saying, don't talk in between because it will disturb the order of what's happening. You understand? Okay. Then the next passage that is often used, which is a little bit more difficult passage, but it's easy to explain. 1 Timothy 2, verse 8 to 15. Many people use this passage to say that a woman cannot teach and she must not be in leadership and so on and so forth. But let's look at it closely. 1 Timothy 2. 1 Timothy 2 is a passage that is written to all believers and it is not written exclusively about a church setting. It is written about how believers should live. For example, 1 Corinthians 14 was written about how a church service or a church gathering should be conducted. In the gathering, when you come together, you behave like this. You do like this. Don't give a message in tongues if nobody's there to interpret. If there are three or four people want to prophesy, you take turns. First you keep, first person, when he finishes, keep silent. Next person can start. So 1 Corinthians 14 is about how to conduct a church gathering. 1 Timothy 2 is not about that. It's not about how to conduct a church gathering. It's about how to live your life every day. So that is the difference. You must understand the difference. You should mix it up. He's writing to believers. This is how believers should live. So if you look at 1 Corinthians 1 Timothy 2, he's talking about the conduct of men and women anywhere and everywhere, not just inside church. This is how you should conduct this. And so he starts by saying, you know, verses 2 to 7, the emphasis is on, hey, pray for all your leaders. Pray for those who are in authority. Pray for them. Pray that we will be lived peacefully. You can pray that. You can pray at home. You can pray anywhere, but pray for your leaders. That God, that we will all live peacefully because God wants everybody to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy chapter 2, 1 to 7. Then verse 8, he says, men, you lift hands up and pray everywhere, anywhere, verse 8, without anger and doubting. So he's telling men, men, I want you to pray. Where? He's saying pray everywhere. So you pray in the restaurant. You pray when you're outside. Pray everywhere. Not only, so you see the context is not just in church. Men, I want you, wherever you are, you pray. Lift up holy hands to God. Don't have anger. Don't have any doubt in your heart. Pray like that. Okay. So he's telling men how to pray anywhere. Then verse 9, he says, women, here's how to behave yourself, right? Here's how you carry yourself with modesty. You dress soberly and don't be, you know, don't withstand. Don't be caught up with the outward adorning, but you put your emphasis on godliness with good works. So women, you know, you focus on godliness with good works. So men, everywhere you pray. So the context is everywhere. So this is how you behave everywhere. Right. And he's not just in verses 8, verse 8, 9, 10, and then continues to verse 11. At that time, he's talking to general men, women. He's not just talking to married men or married women, just men, women, anyone. Then verse 11, let women learn in silence with all submission. Let a woman learn in submission. For I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then he. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression. Nevertheless, she will be saved in childbearing if they learn in faith, love, holiness and self-control. So after giving verses 8 to 10, then verse 11, he changes subject. He says, woman, I want you to walk in submission and don't, I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. And then he's comparing that to Adam and Eve. And then he goes on to talk about childbearing. So he's speaking to men in general, women in general. Then he's changing and he's bringing Adam and Eve and childbearing. That means there is a change in context because Adam and Eve were husband and wife. Childbearing happens within the context of marriage, the husband wife, you're understanding? So he's not just talking to all men, all women. No, the context has changed in verse 11. The context is now, woman, I want you to learn in silence with all submission and don't try to teach and don't try to take authority. What is the context? Adam and Eve, childbearing, that is marriage. And this is consistent, this is consistent with other writings of the Apostle Paul because in Ephesians 5, there also he will say, woman of the wife must be in submission to her own husband. This is consistent. Wife must be in submission to her own husband. So when we say from verse 11 onwards, verse 11 onwards, he's specifically talking about husband-wife relationship. Why? Because he's going on to talk about Adam and Eve and childbearing. Childbearing, not any woman having child. No, it is only in the context of husband-wife. So in the context of a husband and wife, so 1st Timothy 2, 11, 2, 15 must be interpreted in the context of husband-wife relationship and this is consistent with other passages like Ephesians 5 and Colossians and 1st Corinthians where 1st Corinthians 11, where he's talking very clear that the wife you be in submission to your husband because God has put him as the head, headship has been given to him. So in that context, don't try to teach your husband and don't try to take his authority. You understand? No? Yes or no? So this, don't try to teach and don't try to have authority over the man, which is verse 12, is in the context of Adam and Eve, husband and wife relationship. It is not for every person in the church, every man, every woman. He's not talking about every man, every woman. That is verses 8 to 10, every man, every woman. General, verse 11 to 15, the context is Adam and Eve, husband-wife, child-bearing, that's a marriage context. You understand? So I cannot take verse 12 and apply to every woman. No, no, no. It is in the Adam and Eve context. It is in the child-bearing context, meaning a marriage relationship context. And that is consistent with the rest of scripture. Other writings of the Apostle Paul. You understand? So can a woman teach? Yes, because God has used women, Old Testament and New Testament in various ways to proclaim his message, either as prophetesses or other ways. And he has never prevented women from being in leadership exercising gifts, serving him or serving his kingdom. He's never stopped them. So 1 Corinthians 14 and 1 Timothy 2, these two passages can be understood clearly if you look at them, that they're not preventing women from serving God. It has a context. The context is God's authority structure in the family or in the local church. Keep everything in order. That's it. You understand? Okay, let me just check online. If there are any questions from our students online. Did you all ask online students? Was it clear? Any questions on that? 1 Corinthians 14 and 1 Timothy 2. Is it crystal clear? I hope so. Okay. Fine. So let's move forward. I will try to cover other topics. So the next thing is about head covering. And again, there's one passage for 1 Corinthians 11 verses 1 to 16. And the head covering and headship, like I explained, we understand God's government. 1 Corinthians 11. 1 to 16. All right. So there is God's government or God's authority structure. And in God's authority structure, if you look at verse 3, it says the head of the woman is the man. The head of Christ is God. Now think about those two statements. Head of woman is man. Head of Christ is God. But is Christ equal with God? Yes. Christ is God. Christ by very nature is God. He is co-equal with the Father and the Son. He's not any lesser than the Father or the Son. But why does this verse say head of Christ is God? Because in His incarnation, when He walked on the earth, He walked in complete submission to the Father. So in that sense, head of Christ is God. Doesn't mean Christ is less than God. There is a context to verse 3. Same way, when it says head of woman is man, it doesn't mean woman is less than man. No. The context is in a marriage relationship, in the family. The wife walks in submission to her husband. Because God has made the husband responsible for the family. He's a leader. God will hold him responsible. So in the government of God, in the authority structure, in the flow of responsibility, man will be the first person to be held responsible. In that sense, the head of the woman is the man. But otherwise, just as Christ is equal with the Father, the woman is equal with the man in the eyes of God, in all things. But in government, God's government structure, it's like this. So that is what Paul begins to talk about in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. So then he says, he's addressing a local problem. How do we know it's a local problem? Because in verse 16, he says, after he talks about this whole thing about head covering, he says in 1 Corinthians 11 verse 16, he says, if anyone seems to be contentious, 1 Corinthians 11, 16, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God. In other words, if you want to argue about this, should a woman cover her head? Look, if you are contentious, you want to argue about, look, we don't have this custom in other churches. So it's very clear that this custom of covering the head was something very specific to the Corinthian church. Because that's how he ends in verse 16. If any one of you seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God. We don't practice this in other churches. So this head covering was very specific to the Corinthian church. So then we have to understand what was going on. So in the Corinthian church, Corinth in those days was a place of great religious worship, but also a place of great immorality. Because those temples had prostitutes and temple prostitutes shaved the heads. Now when these women got saved and they came to the church, they came to worship, so you can imagine all of them sitting with their head shone. So Paul was addressing that issue and he said, for a woman it is good to have head and as a sign that she's married, it is good for her to cover her head. That's all. That means a sign that she is married. Cover your head. It's a sign that you have head shift over you. That means you have a man over you. So this is a custom we even see in our own country. So different cultures do different things. Some cultures they put a red dot somewhere here or some cultures they actually cover their head. Married women will cover their head. As a sign that they are married or typically we wear rings or women may wear necklace. These are all cultural things, different things people do. To show that they are married. So that is all he is saying here. Saying, look, the head of the woman is man. To show that you have a man over you, you cover your head. Or if you're not married, to show that Christ is your head, you cover your head. That's all. So it is a very cultural thing. It is not something he says. So in verse 16 he says, we don't do this in all our churches. But he also see in this passage, he makes it very clear that man and woman are equal. If you look at verse 11, verse 11, nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman nor woman independent of man in the Lord. Verse 11, 11. Say, hey, in the Lord we are equal. Just as a man needs a woman, woman needs a man, we are not independent. We are dependent on each other. We are equal in the Lord. He makes it very clear. But as a symbol of headship, you cover your heads in the church setting when you are coming together. Okay. So that's what he explains. That's verse 10. If you look at verse 10, verse 11, one question that many people raise is this. He says, for this reason, verse 10, for this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels. So this is a big question. Why he said because of the angels? Why did Paul write? Of course, he's inspired by the Holy Spirit. Why did Paul say a woman, verse 10, a woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, which is, she's putting this covering, which is a symbol of authority. That means she has somebody over her. Why did he say because of the angels? The answer is it's not given. He didn't explain that further. So anything anybody says is only a good guess because Paul never went on to explain why he made that statement. Why did he say because of the angels? Now, I just want you to listen to some possible things that people have said. One people said, if you don't cover your head, then you will get deceived by evil spirits, like how Eve got deceived. Because Paul said you have to cover your head because they're angels. They're trying to deceive you. These are bad angels trying to deceive you. So some people preach like that. So you have to cover your head. Others, you'll get deceived. Well, you can't prove it from here. Paul never said that. So to preach that as though that was the truth is only a guessing and you're preaching an assumption as though it was the truth. But that's not what he said. Another thing that we know which we can cross or reference is in Ephesians 3 where angels, Paul writes in Ephesians 3 with the exact verse, where angels are looking at the church. Ephesians 3. Sorry, Ephesians 2. And I'll give you the exact verse. What was I thinking? Ephesians 10. Ephesians 3 verse 10. I'm so sorry. Ephesians 3 verse 10. I was confused between chapter 2 and 3. Ephesians 3 verse 10. He says that principalities and powers in heavenly places, referring to angelic beings, they through the church, the wisdom of God is made known to them. Admins, angels, good and bad, angelic beings, principalities and powers. They're looking at the church and through the church God's manifold wisdom is being made known to them. They're understanding the wisdom of God. So that is a possible explanation of 1 Corinthians 11 verse 10 that the angels are looking at the church and they're able to learn about God through the church. That has a more likely explanation because you can cross reference it to what the Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 3.10 about the church. So as you conduct yourself like this, because angels are looking at us to learn about God, the wisdom of God. But either way, we cannot state it that this is the right explanation because we don't know. Paul himself didn't explain it. So that's a statement that's there for which we cannot have a very definite explanation but we can have a most likely explanation based on Ephesians 3.10. But the other explanation which I said about angels deceiving women if they don't cover the head, that is far-fetched. That is a little out of the way because that's not substantiated by anything else in Scripture. So that's a phrase we know that that's not something we don't know for sure but most likely this could be what Paul was referencing because of what he wrote in other places. Okay, any questions on that? They're dealing with all the difficult things first. Now we'll get into some of the easier things. Okay, let me look at the chat. Nina, John, 1st Timothy 2.8. Okay, a woman shall be saved in childbearing. If they continue in faith, holiness, et cetera, please explain. 1st Timothy 2. Okay, yeah. So going back to 1st Timothy 2. So Nina has a question there. 1st Timothy 2. So the explanation is exactly what it means, meaning he's saying, if we maintain the order, so the context, of course, as we explained is marriage because Adam was formed first, Adam and Eve, context was marriage, Adam and Eve. We're going back to 1st Timothy 2 verses 11 to 15. There's a question on the chat to explain that. Okay, so we're going back to that. And so the context has now shifted to Adam and Eve. And he's saying, look, Adam and Eve, husband and wife, there's headship, Adam was formed first, then Eve, there's headship, which we understand. It doesn't mean Adam is better than Eve. No, it's just headship responsibility in the context of marriage. Therefore, woman, you being submission to your husband doesn't try to take his place, you know, that's the context we've understood. And in continuing that thought, he mentions two things in verse 14 and 15. He says Adam was not deceived, the woman was deceived, fell into transgression. So he's just stating an obvious fact. The serpent approached Eve and deceived her first. So that's the fact. Does it mean that women are more gullible, not necessarily? Because wisdom doesn't have to do with your gender. You're wise if you're wise. You know the word of God, you know God has given you wisdom, you're wise. So it doesn't mean that all women are gullible. That's not what he's saying. Adam was formed, Adam has a place of headship, but he's stating a fact that the serpent targeted the woman and he tried to go from a level lower. He didn't try to go directly to the head, Adam. He tried to one level lower. He tried the woman. So it is a main woman are gullible, but we understand that even the enemy tries to attack in that level. And if we stay in our rank and position, we stay in the authority structure, then we are staying protected and we are staying in the place where we should be. And verse 15 continues with that same thought, which is if they, husband and woman, continue in faith, love and holiness with self-control, that means you are walking the way God wants you to walk. So this is the responsibility of walking in faith, love, holiness and self-control is not just for the woman, it's for they, that means both Adam and Eve, both man and woman, husband and wife. If they walk in faith, love, holiness and self-control, she will be saved in childbearing. That means God will watch over her, protect her, keep her safe during her delivery. That's all it means. The word saved also is a Greek word which has multiple meanings. So you can talk about safety, preservation. So the word saved has a wide range of meanings, including forgiveness of sins, healing, deliverance. Also means protection and preservation and safety. So it's used in that context here. So what's he saying? There's authority structure. Woman, don't break that authority structure. Wife, don't try to teach your husband. Don't try to take his place. You walk in the authority structure. You know that the way the serpent gained access is he tried to go one level lower. He tried to directly attack the woman. He's not implying that all women are gullible. He's just saying that's the way the enemy operates it. He's stating a fact. So we stay in God's authority structure. And if both husband and wife are walking in faith, love, holiness and self-control, God's promise is that he will protect. He will save. He will preserve the wife through her child. Simple. Is that okay? Now in some books, I'll just make mention of this. In some commentaries, they will give some other information like they'll give that the information. Generally, you might read this if you read some commentaries that Ephesians was a place where the goddess of fertility was being worshipped. They'll give some information. Okay, maybe, maybe not. We don't know, but you might read this. And so there was this fear that because now these people have become believers, they are no longer worshipping that goddess of fertility. So these people had fear that maybe their childbearing will be disrupted. So that's why Paul is writing these words. It's interesting to know whether it's a fact or whether it's somebody making up something. I don't know, but we can just read the scriptures and what is relevant for us today. The goddess of fertility doesn't matter today. What is relevant for us today is that if the husband and wife walk in faith, love, holiness, and self-control, the promise is a wife will be saved during childbearing. That applies to us today. Okay, so whether that commentary which you might read in some books is useful or not. So the emphasis is continuing in faith, holiness, and not so much on childbearing. Well, because it's in the same verse, both are equally important. But the answer is yes. Whether a couple is going through childbearing or whether the next 40 years after they've given birth to a child, they still have to walk in faith, love, holiness, and self-control. So that's important. From that sense, yeah, that's what he's saying. But in the context of that verse, he's dealing with both. But if you look at it from a practical sense, love, holiness, self-control is something we live right through, whether there's childbearing happening or not. So, okay. All right, any other questions? So let's move forward. Okay, it's break time. Fine. Let's go for a 10-minute break. We'll come back and then we will cover the rest of the questions. Okay, the other things I'll just move through quickly. They are different topics. I'll just go through them quickly. All right, let's be back in 10 minutes. Thank you, everyone.