Nurturing the Nations
Reclaiming the Dignity of Women in
Building Healthy Cultures
Sexism and the
Spirit of Baal
Part 4
THE TRANSFORMING STORY
12 The Big Story
13 Genesis 1: Equal in Being
14 Genesis 2: Corresponding in Function
15 Genesis 3: The Distortion
16 Sexism and the Spirit of Baal
17 The Coming of the Bridegroom
18 The Bride of Christ
19 The Wedding of the Lamb
20 The Reign of Women: Nurturers of Nations
Four Epochs of Biblical History:
CREATION
Four Epochs of Biblical History:
FALL
Four Epochs of Biblical History:
REDEMPTION
Four Epochs of Biblical History:
CONSUMMATION
Three Strands
• The Dark Strand
– The Spirit of Baal and the Rise of Sexism
• The Brighter Strand
– Hebrew Distinctive in the Ancient World
• The Brightest Strand
– The Return of Ishi
The Dark Strand
The Rise of Sexism and the Spirit
of Baal
The Great Exchange
• Genesis 6:5-6
• Romans 1:21-23,25
• Romans 3:23
Your concept of man and
husband is determined by the
kind of God that you worship!
Ishi
God the Archetype Ishi
• Genesis 2:23
• Ishi – Hebrew for husband
• God is the Archetype for husband
• He is Husband
• God‘s very nature is to husband - loving,
self-sacrificing headship
• He is Ishi to His people Israel
• Christ is Ishi to His bride the church
God the Ishi of Israel
• Israel entered into a covenantal marriage
with God (Exodus 19-24)
• No sooner had they ratified the covenant
(Genesis 24:3) than Israel committed
adultery with a god of her own making
(Exodus 32) – the Golden Calf
Golden Calf
GRAPHIC
God the Ishi of Israel
• God the loving Husband accepts Israel‘s
repentance and renews the covenant
(Exodus 33-34)
• But because of their unfaithfulness they
will wander in the wilderness 40 years
(Numbers 14:33)
• During this time God warns Israel against
prostituting herself with Baal (Exodus
34:14-16)
Psalm 106
Breaking Her Vows
• Psalm 106: 19-22
• Psalm 106: 24-29
• Psalm 106: 36-39
Baal: Pagan Animistic Deity
• Local deity in Moab and Philistine
• Gained ownership of a place by providing
water – fertility of the land
• Often had a consort, fertility goddess –
Ashtoreth – the ―great mother of the earth‖
• Name: owner, master, husband
• Worship of Baal involved ―sacred sexual‖
practices with temple prostitutes
―Lord of the Hole‖
• Baal-peor
• Mt. Peor in Moab
place of worship
• Another name Molech
(Jer. 19:5)
• Name means ―Lord of
the Hole‖ – body
orifices
Breaking Their Wedding Vow
1―While Israel was staying in Shittim, the
men began to indulge in sexual immorality
with Moabite women, 2 who invited them to
the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate
and bowed down before these gods. 3 So
Israel joined in worshiping the Baal of
Peor.‖
Numbers 25: 1-3
As Worship Changes, Culture
Changes
• Cult (Worship) Culture
• We make cultures like the god(s) that we
worship
• As Israel worshiped the Lord of the Hole,
her culture changed
Culture of Baalism
• Culture is a product of cult (worship)
• The marks of Pagan Animistic culture
– Sensuality
– Self indulgence
– Sexual immorality
– Faithlessness in marriage
– Human sacrifice (low view of human life)
– Fatalism
– Corruption (bribery of the gods)
Change of Gods
Change of Language
• God is Ish: loving, self-sacrificing,
headship
• God Baal- Peor: owner, master
• Word for Husband changes from ISH to
BAAL
Concept of marriage changes
• Husband
– He is no longer the loving, self-sacrificing
head
– He is the master, owner, tyrant
• The wife
– Is no longer the Vice-Regent of Creation, the
imago Dei
– She is now the property of her owner -
husband
The Darkest Days for Women
• Pagan Animistic culture brought dark days
for women
• Their being is no longer equal; their
function as the nurturer of the nations is no
longer respected
• The one man, one woman sacredness of
marriage is lost for polygamy and adultery
• A man could reverse a wife‘s vows
Dark Days (Cont.)
• A woman would receive reproach in the
community if she did not produce a son
• A husband could divorce his wife, but she
had no right to divorce a tyrant husband
• A woman became a slave in her own
home
The Brighter Strand
Hebrew Distinctive in the
Ancient World
O.T. Order that Honored Women
• Creation Story
• Hebrew Laws that Protect Women
– God hates divorce, calls husbands to
faithfulness (7th commandment)
– First year of marriage honored (Deut. 24:5)
– Daughter has a right to inheritance (Numbers
27:1-11)
Women Are Prominent in
Scriptures
• Women mentioned 400 times
• Mothers mentioned 300 times
• Wives mentioned 400 times
• Daughters mentioned 200 times
• Women named 200 times
Women Are Prominent in Scriptures –
Two Books Named for Heroines
Esther Ruth
Women Are Prominent in
Scriptures
• One book written to a woman: 3 John
• Women are heroines and the focus of
stories
• Their songs are recorded in Scripture
• 886 verses are recorded by women
• Women led public celebrations
Women Are Prominent in
Scriptures
• They are public figures
– Queens: Esther and Sheba
– A Judge (Deborah)
– Prophetess (speak authoritatively on behalf
of God)
More Precious than Rubies
• Proverbs 31 – the ideal wife
• Vital part of an extended community
• The maker of a home
• ―The master of the manor‖
• ―The queen of the forest‖
• A Vice-Regent of Creation
Her Virtues
• Her reputation (31:12, 31)
• Discernment (31: 13, 16)
• Work ethic (31:15, 17, 18b, 27b)
• Entrepreneurial (31:16, 24)
• Profitable (31:18)
• Compassionate (31: 20)
Her Virtues (Cont.)
• Prepared (31: 21, 25b)
• Personal Strength (31:25a)
• Dignity (31:25a)
• Wise (31: 26a)
• Fear of the Lord (31:30b)
Her Skills
• Investment (31: 16)
• Farming (31:17b)
• Art (Fabrics and Interior Design) (31:22)
• Weaving and sewing ( 31: 13, 19, 22, 24)
• Sales (31:24b)
Skills (Cont.)
• Communication (31:26a)
• Education/Instruction (31:26b)
• Management (31:27)
• Parenting (31:28)
John Angell James
―There she is seen enlivening the sacred
page with her narrative and adorning it
with her beauty, sometimes darkening it
with her crimes, at others brightening it
with her virtues; now calling us to weep
with her in her sorrows, then to rejoice with
her in her joys.
John Angell James
―In short, woman is everywhere to be
found wrought into the details of God‘s
Scriptures, a beacon to warn us or a lamp
to guide us. And all the notices written by
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit are to be
considered as His testimony to the
excellence and importance of your sex,
and the influence it is intended and
destined to exert upon the welfare of
mankind.‖
The Brightest Strand
The Return of Ishi
Hosea
The God Sized Love Story
Israel‘s Legacy
―But when they came to Baal Peor,
they consecrated themselves to that
shameful idol and became as vile as
the thing they loved.‖
Hosea 9:10b
Hosea and Gomer
Gomer‘s Three Children
• Hosea 1:3-5 Jezreel - ―God Scatters‖
• Hosea 1:6-7 Lo-Ruhamah – ―No Mercy‖
• Hosea 1:8-9 Lo-Ammi – ―Not My People‖
Ish Continues to Husband Israel
―She has not acknowledged that I was the
one
who gave her the grain, the new wine and
oil,
who lavished on her the silver and gold—
which they used for Baal.‖
Hosea 2:8
Israel‘s Response
• Hosea 2:12-13
• Hosea 10:1-2
• Hosea 2:8b
A Living Parable
• Read Hosea 1:2-3, 3:1-3
• Questions:
– What did God ask Hosea to do?
– By what standard is Hosea to do what God
has called him to do?
– Why did God ask him to do this?
– How do you respond to God‘s request?
The Love Song of God
Hosea 2:14-23
God will Court Israel
“Therefore I am now going to allure her;
I will lead her into the desert and speak
tenderly to her.‖
Hosea 2:14
Bring back Hope
―There I will give her back her vineyards,
and will make the Valley of Achor a door of
hope.
There she will sing as in the days of her
youth,
as in the day she came up out of Egypt.‖
Hosea 2:15
Call Me Ish not Baal
―In that day,‖ declares the LORD, ―you will
call me ‗my husband [Ish]‘; you will no
longer call me ‗my master [Baal].‘ I will
remove the names of the Baals from her
lips; no longer will their names be
invoked.‖
Hosea 2:16-17
The Character of Ish
―I will betroth you to me forever; I will
betroth you in righteousness and
justice, in love and compassion. I will
betroth you in faithfulness, and you will
acknowledge the LORD.‖
Hosea 2:19-20
Yada
―… and thou shalt know the LORD.
Hosea 2:20b KJV
Yada
The Song of Solomon
Pure Love
―… eros as it should be! There
is a sensuality without
licentiousness, passion without
promiscuity, love without lust.‖