Introduction

In this conference we will examine four major items in the Bible related to sisters: allegories, parables, examples, and teachings. In the Bible there are many allegories. An allegory is something that is not so clear. The Random House dictionary defines an allegory as a figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another. For example, if we look at modern art it does not seem to say much. There may be some lines on the canvas to represent light, but it is not clear. This is like an allegory. An example of a parable is a self-portrait. When we look at such a painting we can see the psychology and the feeling of the artist. The third item, an example, is like a clear portrait. For instance, we may see a painting of a flower or a person and we can see right away what it is. Finally, in the Bible, what we see most often are clear teachings.

To talk about the Biblical perspective of women is not that easy. This is because in the Bible women have caused many problems. Even Paul said that it was not the man's fault that he fell, but rather the woman who was the first to be tempted. "And Adam was not deceived; but the woman, having been quite deceived, has fallen into transgression" (1 Tim. 2:14). Sisters have caused many problems from the beginning. Eve was a problem to Adam, and Sarah was a problem to Abraham. Because of Eve we all have sinned. Because of Sarah we all suffer today. Women are powerful. Because of one mistake, a woman caused all of the human race to suffer until the Lord Jesus comes back. And Sarah's opinion caused God's operation on this earth to be affected. Today the Israelites suffer because of the descendants of Ishmael, who was born because of Sarah’s interference.

In the New Testament, Mary the mother of Jesus started out so well. When the angel came to her she magnified the Lord (Luke 1:46-56). But twelve years later when the Lord was seemingly lost (Luke 2:40-52), she forgot the commitment she had heard from God. Even more than that, when Jesus began to operate, the first miracle He performed was because of His mother (John 2:1-11). The Lord told her it was not His time, but she insisted. From this you can see how powerful woman is. These examples show us the negative side of woman.

In the whole Bible, however, there is a hidden line which is the positive side of woman. Outwardly, after man's fall, man took the lead. In the Old Testament many men are mentioned. If you only read the Bible in a shallow way you will never appreciate the rich operation of women. There is an American proverb that says, "Behind every successful man is a woman." I mention this not so that you will try to make your husband successful. If you do this, you will cause trouble in your family life. In the same way, if a sister tries to make the church successful, the whole church will be in trouble. But on the other hand, if a man is really successful his wife is behind him. And if the church life really becomes prevailing it is because the sisters are there.

The Bible seems to be a history of God working with man. We may not see God's dealing with woman in the Bible. The New Testament begins with the genealogy of Jesus (Matt. 1:1-16). In this genealogy three sets of fourteen generations are mentioned. Out of all these generations five women are mentioned. This is something hidden, yet the women that are mentioned are very crucial. The names of the men do not seem to stand out, but when a woman is named the whole thing becomes meaningful. This is a spiritual principle that is covered throughout the whole Bible. Every time the Lord does something drastic a woman is involved. They may not stand out; they may even cause a problem. But for some reason without them God is not able to fulfill all that He desires. In the Bible women are very crucial in a hidden way. Therefore, to study women in the Bible, you must understand allegories, parables, examples, and teachings. To study man is easy. To study woman is much more difficult because the number of times the Bible mentions women is so few that unless you have some spiritual insight, you will not understand the operation of woman.

If you want to understand the operation of woman you must know allegories, parables, examples and the clear teachings. If you never understand the allegory, the parable, or the example, you only have the teaching. For example, you may take the teaching that wives should submit to their husbands (Eph. 5:22). But you may not understand why it must be so. If you were to mention this verse to someone in the women's rights movement they would be very upset. They would say this is discrimination against women. And how can you blame them? They have the clear teaching, but they have never seen the examples. First you need to see the allegories, then the parables, and then the examples, so that when you come to the teachings you will be very impressed.

I. The Purpose of God according to God's Economy (Eph. 1:10; 3:9; 1 Tim. 1: 4b)

The next two points are based on Brother Lee's word given on February 15, 1992 in Anaheim, CA.     

A. To have man as His organism

I don't believe we have ever had such a clear utterance as this. Usually we say that man has God's expression, image, or likeness. Here Brother Lee uses the words: "to have man as His organism." In other words, from the very beginning, God's heart, God's desire, is to have an organic enlargement. He is a great God, but seemingly He is also a lonely God. He needs to be enlarged, not in an outward way, but through an increase in an organic way. This word is difficult to apprehend. To understand this you need to see a vision. Consider the following example. The first house you buy in your 20’s is a small house. The older you get, the bigger will be the house you buy. But no matter how big your house is, it is not a part of you. You can only live in it until eventually you have to leave it. Even if your house is a mobile home and you can take it wherever you go, it is still not an organism. God desires an organism. He doesn't merely desire multiplication. His desire is an organism, and this organism is just His enlargement, His increase.          

1. With His image (Gen. 1:27)          

2. With His likeness (Gen. 1:27)          

3. To magnify Him          

4. To represent Him (Gen. 1:26)

In the beginning when God created man He didn't only pay attention to our outward appearance, but also to our inward nature. Image is something of God's nature. Likeness is something of God's appearance, but this appearance is not just physical. This appearance is also of the divine attributes. As a man created in the image of God, when we experience the divine attributes a certain likeness comes out. Before we were saved we were evil. Even our attempts to be good were evil. Once we are saved, however, we are an organism with the Triune God. Within us are the divine attributes, and what comes out of us are human virtues. For example, when we see a beggar on the street looking through the garbage, we may be moved to buy him some food and give it to him, without understanding why we want to do this. As a Christian this may happen often because of our enjoyment of the divine attributes. These attributes lived out of us become our human virtues. God's view when He created us was not to make us good men or evil men, but that we would be a part of the divine organism with His image and His likeness to magnify and represent Him.     

B. To have the corporate Body of Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:23)

The divine organism today in reality is just the corporate body of Jesus Christ.

1. To be joined to Him (John 15:5a)

Jesus said, I am the true vine, you are the branches.               

a. With the same life and nature              

b. To become one with Him (Eph. 5:31-32)

Here Brother Lee quoted Ephesians 5:31-32. The verse says that a man should leave his parents and be joined to his wife. This is not our thought. Our thought is that the father gives the wife to be joined to the husband. Yet the verse says that the man should depart from his parents and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh. From this you can see how crucial women are. According to God the man marries the woman. Again, this shows how powerful women are. Brother Lee's burden in quoting this verse was not on women, but rather on how this verse shows that we should be one with the Lord.          

2. To become the helpmate of Christ (Gen. 2:20b)     

C. The process of God's accomplishment          

1. God formed man (Gen. 1:26)

How does God accomplish His purpose? Firstly He formed man. In Genesis there are four Hebrew words used to describe God's creation of man. In Genesis 1:26 God said, let Us make man. Then in 1:27 God uses the word create. You can only make something out of something, like a table is made out of wood. But to create brings something out of nothing. When God made man He made him as a body, soul and spirit. In using the word creation God had a different view. His creation was something completely of life; no raw material was used. In verse 27 God was considering the whole human race. He had the multiplication of the organism in view.

Then in Genesis 2:7 another word is used, that is the word formed. Man was formed. Anything that is formed is not that precious. A mold is used to form an object. For example, part of my watch is formed and part of my watch is built. The outward shell is formed. But the inner parts are built. In Genesis 2:27 the woman was built. After God formed man, He realized that the shell alone was not good. In other words, it was not good for man to be alone (Gen. 2:18). So God built a helpmate to meet his need; He built a woman.          

2. God builded woman (Gen. 2:22)

Now you can see how men and women balance one another. Men are obvious in an outward way, but they would be so void and empty without women. Outwardly in the church life you see so many prevailing brothers, but the church life can never become healthy unless the sisters are built inside. Man was formed. Woman was built. Man is outward. Woman is inward. In the church life you see the brothers, but the reality of the church life is the sisters. The real value of the church is not only based on how marvelous the brothers are outwardly. It is really based on how marvelous the sisters are inwardly.

You may ask why this is. Man was formed, but woman was built. Woman was built with a view to meet the need, the shortage, of man. For example, my watch may have a nice shell, but what makes it work are the inward parts. If the inward parts are not built properly, even if the watch is a Rolex, the whole watch is in trouble. Being a man is simple because man is simply formed as by a mold. A woman is built very delicately, with a careful design, and with a goal. When we come to God's economy we must have this kind of understanding. God desires a divine organism and that organism today is the Body of Christ. Within the Body of Christ there is this principle of the brothers and the sisters. The brothers are formed, and the sisters are built. This is an operating principle in the Bible. The church life has many presentable brothers, but what really causes the church life to operate is very much related to the sisters.     

D. Man's Fall

Right after man and woman were created, the woman overdid it. She began to think she was so crucial, so she did everything. Then man fell. This caused women, especially in the Old Testament, to become very limited. In fact, as you read the history recorded in the Old Testament mostly what you see is the operation of men. Women seemingly are not mentioned. The Old Testament records many great men carrying something for God’s move, such as Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and many others.

II. The Four Major Allegories and Types in the Old Testament

In the Old Testament we can see four crucial matters through four allegories, four types. Out of all the men in the Bible, four women stand out. What is most crucial in God's economy? There are four crucial matters revealed in the Bible: life, the covenant, redemption and the kingdom. The line of life began with Eve and will consummate in the New Jerusalem, with the tree of life and the river of water of life. For this life to be realized we need the covenant. In God’s eyes the Old and New Testaments are actually the old and new covenants. Then, because of the fall of man, we need salvation. Salvation brings us back to God's people and to His intention. As saved ones we need to fight so that we can bring in God's kingdom. These are the crucial things in the Bible. Even though many of the characters in the Bible were men, the four crucial matters are still life, the covenant, redemption and the kingdom, as represented by four women.     

A. Speak of God's unceasing operation in His economy throughout the Old Testament period (4000 years)

These 4000 years have been divided into two periods -- the age of the forefathers lasting about 2500 years, and the age of the law.          

1. In the age of the forefathers -- Eve and Sarah         

2. In the age of law -- Rahab and Ruth     

B. Eve -- the Mother of all life (Gen. 3:20)

The name Adam gave to Eve means "the mother of all life." Even though she caused so much trouble in this world yet she was still the mother of all life.     

C. Sarah -- the reality of the covenant (Gal. 4:24)

Sarah is the reality of the new covenant, as seen in Paul's letter to the Galatians. Sarah represents the covenant according to grace. Her handmaid Hagar represents the covenant according to law. Sarah was a very complicated woman. She was the one who encouraged her husband Abraham to marry Hagar, yet once Sarah gave birth to Isaac she was jealous of Hagar and Hagar's son Ishmael, and cast them out into the desert. This action makes you question her humanity. Yet God still refers to Sarah as the covenant according to promise.

I am very concerned when sisters tell the elders what to do. They may come in a very nice spirit to make a suggestion, but it is very hard to tell them not to give advice because they are a weaker vessel. Elders and husbands must learn not to offend the sisters but also not to be manipulated by them.

Sarah's recommendation caused a lot of problems but in God's eyes her existence was very valuable for His operation. A brother seems to bless the church by his actions but a sister is able to bless the church through her mistakes. We need to have this basic understanding. Eve got into a lot of trouble yet Adam called her the mother of all life. Sarah's humanity seems lacking at times yet she represents the covenant according to promise. Sisters must learn to treasure themselves. Even they should tell the Lord, "Lord, thank You. I may be Eve, but I am the mother of life. I may be Sarah, but I am the new covenant. Something within me is so crucial."

I believe it is the Lord's sovereignty that He did not use a man to represent the new covenant. Men tend to be like Moses, authoritative, full of the law. Behind all the men in the Old Testament are life and the new covenant, which are represented by two women, Eve and Sarah. In order to see the church life match the new covenant there is the need for sisters to operate properly.     

D. Rahab -- a degraded Gentile sinner joined to God's people to bring forth the proper fruit for God's kingdom (Matt. 1:5)

In Jericho Rahab was an immoral woman. But she was freed by joining God's testimony. Eventually she brought forth fruit for God's kingdom. Rahab brought forth a son, Boaz, an ancestor of David and of Christ. Why is a sister mentioned for such deep things and not a brother? This is because the operation of the sisters is very crucial.     

E. Ruth -- a sinful Gentile by birth redeemed by the Savior through her purity and pursuing to bring in the reality of the kingdom (Matt. 1:5)

Ruth may be the most beautiful and attractive character in the Bible. When her mother-in-law Naomi told her to return home she refused to leave, telling her, "Your God is my God and your people are my people." Ruth was so pure and simple, yet she was still a sinful Gentile by birth. But she was redeemed by Boaz through her purity and pursuing to bring in the reality of the kingdom. Eventually David was one of her descendants.

These four major items in the Bible -- life, the covenant, salvation and the kingdom -- are all represented by sisters. This shows us that the reality of all these points must spring out from the sisters in the church life.

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