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Were the Positions in the Priesthood and Leadership During the Age of the Jews Gender Specific?
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WERE THE POSITIONS IN THE PRIESTHOOD AND LEADERSHIP GENDER-SPECIFIC DURING THE AGE OF ISRAEL?
Now that you have some background as to the divine calling of someone to a leadership office in the New Testament church, we’re ready to take a look at pertinent Scriptures that will help us see a clearer picture as to this idea of whether appointments to various positions of leadership or responsibility during the institution of the Mosaic Law were gender-specific. This will be a daunting study. However, I’m so excited to get it started. Are you ready to accompany me on this endeavor?
Initially, we’ll look at the positions of responsibility relating to the priesthood of the Jews when they operated under the Mosaic Law. Were they gender-specific – for males only? If they are, should they serve as the model or type for gender-specifics concerning the leadership offices of the New Testament church? Let’s find out.
A. THE PRIESTHOOD
Suggested Reading: Leviticus chapters 28-29; Numbers chapters 1-8 & 18
Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
The idea of a priesthood began way back with the first humans, Adam and Eve, where a sacrificial offering and its acceptance by God concerning their son Abel was recorded. The priesthood became more unveiled (made known), when God called a man named Abram and told him that He would make of him a mighty nation; a covenant to which was eventually entered into that would allot to his descendants a particular piece of land, whose location would be unveiled in a specific geographical place in God’s timing.
Genesis 25:30-31 And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.
Scriptures disclose that the first-born son of a Jewish family would have the priesthood responsibilities delegated to him according to one of the advantages of the birthright. Numbers 3:12-13; 8:18
Over a period of many years, Abram’s ancestors grew significantly in population. Due to various circumstances, they wound up living in Egypt. After being under the rule of a succession of Pharaohs, one of them decided to put them into slavery. This captivity lasted for over four hundred years until they were led out of Egypt by a man chosen by God (Jehovah) named Moses.
What precipitated their release was the divine institution of twelve plagues, which had devastating effects on the economy and well-being of the Egyptians. It wasn’t until the execution of the final plague that caused Pharaoh to finally change his mind about releasing the Jews from captivity. One of the highlights of this plague was that the children of Israel were told to put blood on the doorposts of the houses in which they were living. The reason for this was so when an avenging angel passed over the land of Egypt, any house that did not have blood on the doorposts would result in the firstborn male and of beasts being slain. As a result, the firstborn of man and beasts of the Jews were saved from death, whereas the firstborn of man and beasts of the Egyptians were killed. This plague was so significant that it was to be continually observed by God’s people on the fourteenth day of Abib in all future ages.
Exodus 13:2 Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine.
It was at this time that the Lord told Moses to set aside from all secular purposes to some religious use, all of the firstborn of man and beast of the Jews, whose lives were saved that night. Later on, when the Jews left Egypt and arrived at a place called Mount Sinai, the setting aside of the firstborn of male and beast for the Lord’s purposes was changed. Changed how? The change occurred at the institution of a census, at which time the population of each of the twelve tribes was counted.
Numbers 3:12-13 And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine; Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the Lord.
One of the twelve tribes, called the Levites, was not counted in the numbering. The Levites, along with their cattle, were to be separated or substituted to minister unto the Lord, in place of the firstborn of the people and their cattle. This change took place when a portable tent-like structure called the tabernacle was being built. This tent structure would introduce an extensive sacrificial service, which required a special priestly order, as well as a separate staff of servants, who could exclusively devote themselves to the ministry of the sanctuary. It would accompany the Jews throughout their forty-year journey in the wilderness, their entrance into the Promised Land of Canaan, the land where they would eventually dwell, and up to the reign of a King named Solomon under whose direction a temple would eventually be built in Jerusalem, which would replace the tabernacle.
There were three groups of people who were assigned to work in the tabernacle and later the temple. First, there were the Levites, the assistants to the priests. Some of whose duties were to set up and tear down the tabernacle and make the shewbread on the Sabbath. Numbers 1:51; 1 Chronicles 9:32
Second, there were the priests, the sons of the high priest, who assisted him. Some of whose duties were in offering animal sacrifices, burning incense, and lighting the lamps. Leviticus 1:5
Last, there was the office of the high priest. This was initially given to Aaron, the brother of Moses, by instructions from the Lord. If Aaron had sons, then at some point, one of them would become the next high priest, and so on (Hebrews 9:6-7).The priesthood was the instrument through which Israel was taught and governed in spiritual matters by means of acted lessons of ceremonial or ritual service. Many years later, in 70 AD, the offices of the priesthood existed no longer when the temple at Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans.
When the Holy Spirit came and indwelt the disciples of Jesus on the day of Pentecost, the New Testament church (the Church Age) began with its new leadership structure of apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers. In this Age, there were no positions according to Scripture in which the local leader of a church was called a “priest.” Why not? Because the New Testament leadership and saints are not obligated to serve God according to the institution of the Mosaic Law, but according to a new covenant, a covenant of grace, with new truths, and reliance on the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Based on what we have read, was there any indication that a female could occupy or be appointed to any of the positions of the priesthood, those being of the Levites, the priests, or the office of the high priest?
Numbers 3:40 And the Lord said unto Moses, Number all the firstborn of the males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.
Numbers 3:45-48 Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I am the Lord. And for those that are to be redeemed of the two hundred and threescore and thirteen of the firstborn of the children of Israel, which are more than the Levites; Thou shalt even take five shekels apiece by the poll, after the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take them: (the shekel is twenty gerahs:) And thou shalt give the money, wherewith the odd number of them is to be redeemed, unto Aaron and to his sons.
The answer is no. Scripture is clear that those who would occupy these positions would be the firstborn males of the Levitical tribe of Israel.
I’m sure some New Testament churches would use this mandate to support their belief that the gender of those, males only, who were allowed to occupy positions pertaining to the tabernacle and temple, is a type of the gender-specific rule that only males are allowed to fill the positions of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher. If some churches want to use these Scriptures in this way, that is their right. However, I would hope that a further study would be undertaken before making such a decision.
What I would like you to take a look at next is the leadership positions of the Old Testament, i.e., as to those who were in charge of running the nation. The first is a position called a Judge. What was their function, and could females be called to this position?
B. THE OFFICE OF A JUDGE
Different people denoted as Judges were called by God to occupy this position of leadership over the Jews during the time following the leadership of Joshua. Joshua was the person who succeeded Moses and brought the children of Israel from the wilderness wandering in the desert over the Jordan River into the land God had promised them as an inheritance, the land of Canaan. Following his death, Israel, being without a leader, would fall into apostasy and, at times, would be under immediate peril by foreign nations. When this happened, they would cry out to God for deliverance, who would raise up someone to get them out from under their mess. This period, when various Judges ruled over them, lasted for about three hundred years.
How many Judges were there? Some believe that there were fourteen of them. Were any of them female? Here are their names: Deborah, Gideon, Samson, Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, Samuel, and Eli. Did you notice any female names? There was one female Judge named Deborah. What is known about her? Let’s find out by going to the Book of Judges.
Suggested Reading: Judges 4:1-24
Judges 4:1-2 And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, when Ehud was dead. And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.
Apparently, after Ehud, who had ruled Israel for over eighty years and commanded the people to worship only Jehovah, died, the children of Israel ceased to care about having another Judge over them but instead chose to worship the idols of the Canaanites for twenty years. Subsequently, many of them became slaves and were sent to a place called Harosheth, where they would be forced to hew timber. The Canaanite king at this time was a man named Jabin, and the commander of his army was Sisera.
Judges 4:3-4 And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel. And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.
The children of Israel cried out unto the Lord for deliverance. God heard their cry and raised up the next Judge, named Deborah. She was apparently from the hill country of Ephraim. Ephraim is the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. It was also known as a geographical area where those Jews who were from this tribe resided.
Deuteronomy 17:8-9 If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the place which the Lord thy God shall choose; And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment:
She was an interesting woman. Prior to her call to leadership, it appeared that she sat under a palm tree and judged (in deciding disputes) the people of Israel. Lower courts to judge disputes were set up throughout the land. If a conflict was unable to be resolved, this would result in bringing it to whoever was the leader of the whole nation in deciding it. However, in this instance, there was no leader.
Even though Deborah was married, God called her and not her husband to liberate the people from oppression. She was directed by the Lord to send a message to a man named Barak of the tribe of Naphtali, asking him to raise up an army of ten thousand men. This seemed to pale with respect to the army of King Jabin, which consisted of nine hundred chariots of iron and countless soldiers.
Judges 5:21-22 The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength. Then were the horse hoofs broken by the means of the pransings, the pransings of their mighty ones.
Judges 4:16 But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left.
As Deborah and Barak led the forces to battle Sisera, the commander of the army of King Jabin, the Lord intervened. As Sisera brought his troops into a dry riverbed, the Lord caused a great rain to come down and turn this area into soft soil, something like quicksand, which caused many of the chariots with the accompanying horses to be disengaged or bogged down. This also resulted in many of the foot soldiers having drowned. With this unexpected turn of events, Sisera and the rest of the army fled. Barak pursued after them and totally annihilated these enemy combatants to such an extent that none were left alive.
Wow, what a story. Wouldn’t it have been something to have met such a godly woman as Deborah? She walked in the ways of the Lord, judging the people with integrity. God evidently witnessing her testimony raised her up to free His people from their captivity. Deborah served as a Judge for forty years. Her name in Hebrew means “a bee.”
Another thing that resonated with me besides this incredible story is that of the fourteen Judges, only one was female. You might ask, why are you bringing this up? I think that this is something to keep in mind as we not only take a look at the next form of leadership in the Old Testament being that of kings but also when we take a look at the gender of those called to the leadership offices and non-office positions of the New Testament church in an upcoming chapter.
The next position of leadership we’ll look at is that of kings. How did this form of rulership come about? How many kings of Israel were there? Is there recorded in Scripture any female kings or, in other words, any queens?
C. THE KINGS OF ISRAEL
This is another leadership office, which surprisingly began following the reign of the Judges. Why were the Judges replaced with kings? Apparently, Samuel, a Judge, had two sons, named Joel and Abiah, both of whom he appointed as Judges to succeed him after he passed on.
1 Samuel 8:3 And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.
What we know about them is that they didn’t walk in their father’s ways. Unlike their father Samuel, they were inclined to make a profit illegally, take bribes (receive money to act the way the giver wanted them to act), and pervert judgment (accept money in deciding disputes). The elders of Israel were aware of their indiscretions and didn’t want to be under their future rule. They probably figured that the only way to get out from under what would be an oppressive and corrupt form of government, would be to ask for a different form of leadership to be placed over them like the other nations who were in subjection to a king. While God was not pleased with their request, He nonetheless granted them their preference.
The first person anointed as the king of Israel was named Saul. He was to be followed by his eldest son Ishbosheth. After this came David, the son of Jesse, and after him, his son Solomon. Even though during Solomon’s reign, a beautiful temple was built unto the Lord in Jerusalem, he had over seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, which severely hampered his fellowship with Jehovah (Yahweh).
1 Kings 11:4-6 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father.
1 Kings 11:11 Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.
1 Kings 11:31 And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee
Sadly, Solomon got involved with idol worship, and his heart was turned after other gods. He was informed by God that the Kingdom of Israel comprised of twelve tribes would now be broken up into two different kingdoms. One would be called the Northern Kingdom of Israel, comprised of ten tribes under Jeroboam, one of Solomon’s servants. The other would be called the Southern Kingdom of Judah, comprised of two tribes under Rehoboam, one of Solomon’s sons.
For hundreds of years, there were many kings over each of these kingdoms. How many kings were there? Were there any queens? The names of the various leaders of the ten tribes were: Jeroboam, Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Omri, Ahab, Ahaziah, Jehoram, Jehu, Jehoahaz, Joash, Jeroboam II, Zachariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah, Hoshea. The names of the leaders of the two tribes were: Rehoboam, Abijam, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Ahaziah, Athaliah, Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah.
Can you make an educated guess as to whether any of these names refer to a female? (Ha-ha, neither can I!) As we can clearly see, there were a total of thirty-nine leaders. How many of these were queens? Take a guess? There was only one, and her name was Athaliah. Let’s take a look at her reign.
Suggested Reading: 2 Kings 11:1-21
1 And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.
She was the wife of King Jehoram (Joram) of the Southern Kingdom. After he died, his son, Ahaziah, took over. Having sustained a mortal wound in battle after only one year of reign, he, too, died. After this, one of his sons should have been anointed heir to the throne. However, his own mother decided she wanted to be the sole ruler. She apparently appointed herself to the throne and sought to have all of the royal seed (her grandchildren) that were potential heirs to the throne killed. In my mind, this was hard to imagine.
This woman was the grandmother to her son’s kids. I assume she must have held them at birth and interacted with them when they were growing up to some degree. What could cause a grandmother to have her grandchildren murdered?
Unbeknownst to her, a woman named Jehosheba, who was married to Jehoiada, the high priest, took one of the royal seed, called Joash, and was able to hide him from detection. Initially, he was hidden in a room in the palace where old mattresses were stored. Later, he was brought to the temple, where he resided for five years. When Joash reached his seventh birthday, Jehoiada, the high priest, put forth a plan to coronate him as king. He assembled many of the military commanders and guards (royal bodyguards) to meet in the temple. From there, they would disperse and be located at certain places in case of resistance. On the Sabbath, this young boy, the royal heir, would be brought out into the courtyard of the temple and be crowned king.
2 Kings 11:13-14 And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people into the temple of the Lord. And when she looked, behold, the king stood by a pillar, as the manner was, and the princes and the trumpeters by the king, and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets: and Athaliah rent her clothes, and cried, Treason, Treason.
Athaliah heard the noise of those in attendance and went to the courtyard. Being aware of the coronation of a new king over the kingdom, she cried, “Treason, treason.” She was then immediately apprehended and escorted from this area and was promptly slain by the sword. It amazes me to think that a queen, the ruler of Judah who usurped the throne illegally, had the nerve to cry treason when the rightful heir, one of her grandchildren, was being crowned. So, there you have it.
We have one more position of leadership to consider, which is that of a prophet. What is a prophet? Were there any female prophets?
D. THE PROPHETS
What I would like you to look at next is the office of prophet in the Old Testament. You might ask, why are we looking at this spiritual designation? This will address the idea of understanding how the gender (male or female) of a noun, in this case of the word prophet, will determine the gender of the person occupying this position. What we’ll learn from this will help us when looking at the gender of nouns relating to the office gifts of the New Testament church.
The Office of a Prophet
During the time of the Judges, the priesthood had degenerated. The people were no longer affected by the ceremonial service of the priests. A new word to describe someone in leadership, called a Judge, was the title given to people, men or women, who presided over the affairs of the Israelites during this time. There were also people who were called by God to the position of prophet. What was their purpose?
The office of the prophet was used to reform the priestly order. The prophet’s duties were to admonish and reprove, denounce prevailing sins, threaten the people with divine judgment, explain the applications of the Law, disclose the future, and call the people to repentance. Some prophets received their office from their predecessor, while others received it directly from God. When the kingly order began, some of them were in contact with the prophets for various reasons.
In 2 Chronicles 9:29, a man named Nathan was called a prophet. The word prophet is transliterated from the Hebrew word hanaabiy, which is a masculine singular absolute state noun. Likewise, the word Nathan is translated from the Hebrew word Naatan, which is a proper noun. In Hebrew, the name of a person who is ascribed to a position, in this case to that of a prophet, is considered to be of the same gender as the noun to which it’s ascribed. So, it is understood that Nathan, the prophet, was a male.
2 Samuel 7:2 That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
What I wanted you to contemplate is this.The word prophet in this context was indeed in the masculine gender, so therefore the name of the person associated with it was a male. Could we conclude, therefore, that every prophet was a male? Likewise, if we take this same reasoning and ascribe it to the New Testament offices of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher as stated in Ephesians 4:11, can we determine that because each of these nouns are masculine that there are no female apostles, female prophets, female evangelists, or female pastors? This then begs the question. Were there any female prophets in the Old Testament?
Nehemiah 6:14 My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear.
This verse answers the question quite emphatically. Yes, there were female prophets. This woman, named Noadiah, was called a prophetess. The word prophetess is from the Hebrew word hanbiy°aah, which is a feminine singular absolute state noun. The name Noadiah is understood to be that of the female gender. What can we say that we have learned from these examples? If the noun of a leadership office or a spiritual office is in the masculine gender, this doesn’t mean that there isn’t a noun that is in the female gender. You just have to do your due diligence to study and find out if there’s a similar noun, albeit in the female gender.
Another thing to note is that the word prophetess occurred only six times in the Old Testament, whereas the word prophet was used over one hundred times. The word prophet was first used in the Old Testament as being ascribed to Abraham in Genesis 20:7. The word prophetess was first used in the Old Testament as being ascribed to Miriam in Exodus 20:7. Hundreds of years went by before a female prophet was mentioned again.
There are some interesting thoughts that we have learned in this chapter to keep in mind as we continue on in this study.
●All of the offices of the priesthood pertaining to the tabernacle and temple were held by males.
●Of the fourteen Judges, only one was a female.
●Of the thirty-nine kings, only one was a female, i.e., a queen.
●Of the one hundred plus prophets mentioned, at least 6 were female, i.e., a prophetess.
It’s pretty evident that while no females were allowed to be placed in an office of the priesthood as pertaining to the tabernacle or temple, some, albeit very few, were called to positions of leadership, i.e., of Judge or King or that of prophetess.
As to the gender classification of those who were called to the spiritual leadership positions of the New Testament, I wonder what we’ll find in our study concerning this in the next chapter. Some churches believe very strongly that a woman cannot be called to any of the office leadership gifts because Jehovah did not allow any women to be appointed to any position of the priesthood in the Old Testament. While this could be one reason, there’s another, which is probably most widely accepted for not supporting a woman’s call to leadership. And that is because it will be contended that every time an official position of spiritual leadership is mentioned in Scripture, it appears to be always in the masculine gender. Is this true ? Turn to the next chapter and find out.
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