A WOMAN'S PLACE IS IN THE HOME

We’ve begun a blog series based on Proverbs 14:1 “The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.” (NIV)  In my previous blogs on this verse, we explored the question “Who Am I”?  in which we unveiled the identity of the woman; and followed with the second question “Where Do I Belong”? in which we discovered the territory God has given to the woman. Today, I want to explore the place of the woman a little further.

The word “place” is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as:  a physical environment; physical surroundings, i.e., atmosphere; a region; a position in a social scale; a proper or designated niche; or status.

The house is the place God has given to the woman.  That is a noble assignment; but that assignment has been treated with contempt by both men and women down through the ages.  How many times have you heard it said in a derogatory manner, “A woman’s place is in the home”?  Where did that idea come from?
 
The first person to whom this phrase is attributed is “The ancient Greek playwright, Aeschylus who said it this way in 467 BC: ‘Let women stay at home and hold their peace.’  In 1732, an English writer, Thomas Fuller, wrote: ‘A woman is to be from her house three times: when she is christened, married, and buried.’   In 1825, The Edinburgh Magazine and Literary Miscellany, Volume 97, had a family version: ‘A woman’s place is in the bosom of her family; her thoughts ought seldom to emerge from it.’  In 1832, The New Sporting Magazine, Volume 3, put it this way: ‘A woman’s place is her own home, and not her husband’s countinghouse.’  And in 1970, Time magazine quoted Bella Absug as she campaigned for office in the US Congress using the slogan, ‘This woman’s place is in the House…the House of Representatives.’” (http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/womans place is in the home)

All of these thoughts originate from an earthly mindset that has been subtly prepared by the enemy in an attempt to keep the woman from occupying the place God designed for her.  Rather than become distressed over phrases like this one, let’s look at what God says about the woman:

Genesis 2:18, “But for Adam no suitable helper was found.”  

Some translations render the description of the woman as “suitable helpmate” with the idea that the woman was to be an assistant, a companion, and a supporter of the man.  But when we go back to the Hebrew text, we get a much more complex picture of the role God intended for the woman.   
 
“The words translated ‘suitable helpmate’ in verse 18 are expressed in the Hebrew as ezer kenegdo. Ezer means ‘power’ and ‘strength’; and kenegdo means ‘equal to him’, specifically a counterpart’.    Therefore, Genesis 2:18 is translated as ‘I will make a power (or strength) corresponding (or equal) to the man.  God made for the man a woman fully his equal and fully his match.  This same line of reasoning occurs with the apostle Paul, who urged in 1 Corinthians 11:10, ‘For this reason, a woman must have power (or authority) on her head (that is to say, invested in her).’  This line of reasoning, which stresses full equality, is continued in Genesis 2:23 where Adam says of Eve, ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man’, meaning, she is a ‘very close relative’ to ‘one of us’ or in effect ‘our equal’.  The woman was never meant to be an assistant or ‘helpmate’ to the man.  What God had intended was to make a ‘power’ or ‘strength’ for the man who would in every way ‘correspond to him’ or even ‘be his equal.’…. The Torah Study for Reform Jews describes man and woman facing each other with arms raised, holding an arch between them, giving a beautiful picture of equal responsibility.”
(http:/godswordtowomen.org/ezerkenegdo.htm quoting from an article by William Sulik who references R. David Freedman and Biblical Archaeology Review 9 (1983): 56-58)
 
Having declared the identity of the woman in verse 18, the Lord then established the house through the covenant of marriage between the man and the woman in Genesis 2:24, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”  This did not render either the man or the woman as relinquishing their individual identity.  The oneness God declared was that the home was also made “in His image” in the same order as the Trinity: the unique unity of totally distinct individuals.  The man and the woman in covenant relationship with each other and with God would produce unity and order in the home. 

And what was the purpose of this relationship?  Genesis 1:28 - “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground’.” 

When God created the fish, the fowl, and the living creatures, He charged them to reproduce according to their kind.  God is a God of order; all of His creation follows a majestic and intelligent design.  The covenant relationship between the man and the woman was intended to reproduce ‘according to that same kind’ so that the whole earth would be filled with a human creation living in covenant relationship with God and with each other!  

God’s original design was confirmed when Jesus responded to a question in which He was asked to name the greatest commandment.  He said “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind….and love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:37, 39)   This is the ultimate purpose of the covenant relationship of marriage: to love God and to love one another; and to reproduce the fruit of that covenant relationship in generations yet unborn.

While I was preparing this lesson, the Lord gave me a word to help us understand how our being where we belong affects our house: “I build My house – nothing out of plumb, everything perfectly joined together, each element lending its beauty to the whole structure so that all marvel at it and praise Me, the Master Builder.  You are my house!  When you walk uprightly, your house flourishes – with life, beauty, prosperity, joy, and fruitfulness.”

So where do you truly belong?  The most powerful place for the woman is to be fully yielded to the will of God.  God has given you an assigned place; He designed every detail with you in mind.  He wants you to take possession of the house He prepared for you.  He wants you to fully occupy your house, filling it with the beauty that comes from a vibrant relationship with Him.  And He wants you to reproduce the Fruit of the Spirit as a testimony to a lost and dying world.

Are you building your house, or are you tearing it down with your own hands? The wise woman builds her house.
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Blessings,
Linda
© 2020 Linda Sue Harper