Should women remain silent in the church?
What does 1st Timothy 2 mean?
Paul told Young Pastor Timothy this, “But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.” (1 Timothy 2:12).
For us to understand this verse we must first understand the context.
In this letter, it was not a direct command for all churches what was specific for the church that Timothy was pastoring.
Paul wrote mini sweet and kind things to the churches and there were times when Paul had to bring correction to the church.
And some church groups they were people prophesying and other people speaking in tongues and the service was a bit chaotic.
Paul was bringing order to the church.
In Ephesus, this was happening because of the women in the church. Emphasis and their culture had a problem, they were followers of Artemis.
She was the Greek mother goddess.
The Romans called her Diana. She is actually mentioned by the Apostle Luke, “When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began crying out, saying, ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!’” (Acts 19:28).
They even had a temple of Artemis which was as big as a football field.
It was one of the Seven Wonders of the World during this time.
This was a pagan god that they worshiped.
This is also connected because these people of the time looked to Artemis to have a safe pregnancy.
Paul mentions this later to contradict the pagan goddess.
Why did Paul say this to this specific church?
Because they were dealing with the false worship of Artemis.
This led to many of the women in this region to be led astray away from the true God.
Paul actually endorsed several female teachers including Junia, Priscilla, Euodia and Syntyche.
Paul even told the church in Corinth, “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.” (1 Corinthians 14:39). Prophecy in the Bible is not just about telling the future, it is about proclaiming the word of God.
The prophet can speak out something that will happen in the future but that is not always what they do.
When we understand the background of Ephesus we can better understand Paul’s heart.
The main point that I see is that women are not to usurp authority over their husband. Timothy was dealing with some interruptions in the church and cultural difficulties so Paul instructed them to be silent to bring order.
This was not Paul just telling them that no Church could ever have women speak. This is why I try to avoid getting up or using the restroom when someone is speaking.
God wants men and women to speak as the Lord leads and guides.
There is to be order in the church to remove confusion. It can’t be that we have multiple people speaking at once, every church must follow the leadership.
