Life Learning Series

In most of our familial situations, the child of man is the student of woman. That is a truth which will endure, across all time. The associated principle is also broadly true: the daughter of woman is the responsibility of man. This can be an uncomfortable realization for a woman that is pushing to be an alpha type of societal agent. We say that, the lack of comfort is not necessary. Please note: we do not say that an alpha type expression by woman should never be done. Here, these women did that . . .

Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,

As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee. But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.

And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?

(Jeremiah 44:15-19)

You ask: isn’t there a more positive example that you can use? Yes, I could; but, I would have to rely on external history. For instance; in history, we see Joan of arc. It is true that, someone decided that she was worthy of almost-apostolic recognition. However, that decision of external historians is not so impressive, for me. More impressive are the references to women of the Bible.

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– Explore Election to Serve – Delicately: Part Fourteen –

As I read that Scripture, above, I had this contemporary thought: David was asking for welfare. In the modern day, this could be a reason to criticize him, for his lack of preparation. In this present day, responses such as that of Nabal are often accepted as being appropriate; especially, as far as his answer to the request for sustenance, to give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be. David could have been engaging in welfare fraud; couldn’t he? Nabal had a right–maybe even, a responsibility–to properly manage the distribution of his assets; didn’t he? Actually, he did; and, most definitely, his responsible behavior needed to include this consideration.

If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.

Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee. Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.

For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.

(Deuteronomy 15:7-11)

As you study situations in life, such as this one; be sure to feel the Spirit. In Scripture, the Spirit identifies the spirit of the matter . . . as openly presented in lead-in statements about the environment and the characters that are in it. As you analyze your present situation, the Sprit will feed impressions to your spirit. For instance, the Spirit may feed you this impression of someone: the man was churlish and evil in his doings. This may come through, to your spirit, as a feed from your mind, along with the following possibility: if a person is too comparative about their own achievement, or boastful about their present lifestyle (which God can modify, in an instant); then, you may be witnessing this coming, life correction in waiting.

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– Explore Election to Serve – Delicately: Part Thirteen –

There is no need for any woman of God to ignore the majesty of her position in the LORD. The woman is the portal through which the LORD delivers new things; chief among which are, those ones that are in the category of, life spawning. For instance, this is one of the particularly significant appearances of such products.

Then came the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph: and these are the names of his daughters; Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah. And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not in the company of them that gathered themselves together against the LORD in the company of Korah; but died in his own sin, and had no sons. Why should the name of our father be done away from among his family, because he hath no son? Give unto us therefore a possession among the brethren of our father.

(Numbers 27:1-4)

This action of those daughters brought about the first change in succession planning, as it was practiced among the Israelite line of the children of Abraham.

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– Explore Election to Serve – Delicately: Part Twelve –

At the Beginning, shortly after Creation, the woman was forced into a prize fight, of sort.

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

 (Genesis 3:1-3)

The “agent” that was negotiating for a certain recompense for the woman told her that she would have an impressive victory, with little work needed by her.

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– Explore Election to Serve – Delicately: Part Eleven –

The LORD’S wisdom considers that you need to be at peace, to allow you to project peace. That is a simple equation: in order for you to send something out, there must be an available supply of that thing, and, too, the supply must be under your control.

But, why should you, O woman, care about sending out peace? Why don’t we just be stingy, and receive that precious product for our self and our own, only? One good reason not to be so constricted in your service is this:

Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

(Luke 6:38)

Okay, let us evaluate that, as looking at it from a certain modern perspective.

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– Explore Election to Serve – Delicately: Part Ten –

Ideas that are held in check, by God, until they are fully formed, are parts of the woman experience; though, please do not think that, these ideas are totally dormant. Rather, think of the ideas as being in hibernation; for, in accordance with God’s wills, even the dormant ideas have a measure of life. Each idea travels through a dual, quickening process of activation. The two steps in the process–projection, and, resource allocation–are revealed in the pattern of the Genesis of man.

And the LORD God formed man

of the dust of the ground,

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(Genesis 2:7)

For ideas, this is the logic-powered place of origin: the dust of the ground. For ideas, the ground of their potentiality contains the principles that participate in giving life to the idea. As standing alone; that logic-based place of origin has no apparent similitude to the eventual product that will come from it. This is the common beginning of all manufacturing processes that use raw materials.

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– Explore Election to Serve – Delicately: Part Nine –

Tender correction that comes from the source of a directive is, oftentimes, even harder than talking to an intermediary. For instance; how different it would have been, for Aaron, the priest; if he had been required to speak to his Ultimate Boss, the LORD God, without buffering by Moses, the servant, prophet and friend of God As things were arrayed, Moses was an intermediary to Aaron’s Ultimate Boss. Moses is the pattern for the reporting relationship that is closer to the top. Such intermediaries are conditioned to carry a burden that presses from two directions: the dependent’s proposal, and, the authority’s final pronouncement. On the dependent side, the major activity involved; gathering information: as was done, here.

And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the LORD had given him rest round about from all his enemies; 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 Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the LORD is with thee.

(2 Samuel 7:1-3)

From the authority figure, the intermediary receives the ordained statement of action; as Nathan did, here.

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– Explore Election to Serve – Delicately: Part Eight –

As I looked at the layered request of Esther; at first, I thought: “Isn’t it just like a woman; to make the man wait for fulfillment?” And, as I reviewed that thought, I was visited by another thought–indeed, layering is powerful. So, it seems that; actually, I am okay with the thought that, there is nothing wrong with that approach to motivating men. Sometimes, a man needs a brake of his thought vehicle; to allow him to take a good look at the benefit that is in his midst. This need, for a brake, is not limited to individuals; it also applies to larger things. In the life of a certain prophet, he described this necessary brake for this larger thing: the rapidly transforming morals and ethics of the congregation of Israel.

In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people, And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate. But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.

Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine?

them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.

For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.

(Isaiah 28:5-11)

Layered presentation is also one of the guiding principles of the field of education. Textbooks are designed to build basic principles, first; and then, to build on those basic principles. The art of parenting, too, uses layered presentations, as set in its more useful form of, layered correction. As the LORD God was manifesting His Fatherhood, He applied layered correction over an even larger thing than the congregation of Israel. In an even larger expression over the world, the LORD used a form of layered correction. However, in the LORD’S correction there, there is a heavy seasoning of layered discipline. Often, this was a significant distance away from tender correction. We see that layering, here.

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– Explore Election to Serve – Delicately: Part Seven –

Even if, for some reason, you are looked down upon, by a seemingly powerful operative; still, the LORD will make a way for blessings to be matched with your faithfulness. Consider this: as introduced in Scripture, at a place that may be an extreme end of reputations for women, there sits this woman . . .

And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there.

And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country. And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country.

(Joshua 2:1-3)

Even though Rahab was both, a harlot, and, a member of the nations that were condemned by commandment of the LORD; still, she participated in service for the LORD.

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– Explore Election to Serve – Delicately: Part Six –

In the Bible texts on open service to the LORD, we see that; a goodly number of the readings in the Bible seem to highlight the place of the male. Fortunately, that is not the totality of the revelation about service for the LORD. Sprinkled throughout the Bible, there are records of significant contributions of the women of God. As you review those contributions, I ask you to notice this: the women were not intimidated by their relative weakness, as it was set beside the power of the men. Actually, for the man of their pairing; the woman was a welcome complement in the assigned mission, as being an asset from the LORD. This is an important dynamic, to this day.

To gain insight into the complementary nature of the two levels of power, let us begin with the power of the men of the Bible. In this way, we will be able to identify the matching power that is of the woman, as consisting of the remainder of the requirement for congregational service for the LORD. The power of the men of the Bible is generally indicated by this requirement that the LORD placed on Israel.

And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying, Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls; From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies.

(Numbers 1:1-3)

The men of the Bible are the warriors. Please, do not limit this to person-to-person conflict. The men of the Bible were also the warriors as against principles and practices. An example of that is seen in the architecting of the priesthood.

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– Explore Election to Serve – Delicately: Part Five –