The purpose of this whole offering is to encourage the use of unused power of women in the world and to discourage the abuse of power over men. Yes, women have power over men and as much as we don’t want to admit it, average men live for women. Everything we do is for women or about women. Every conversation we have is about women and we know that “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). Everybody blames the man (“as the head”, they say) but despite our cultures and believes, God does hold women accountable for their own power and deeds.
Power to destroy or build powerful great men and nations
Mat 14:6-10 NLT But at a birthday party for Herod, Herodias's daughter performed a dance that greatly pleased him, (7) so he promised with a vow to give her anything she wanted. (8) At her mother's urging, the girl said, "I want the head of John the Baptist on a tray!" (9) Then the king regretted what he had said; but because of the vow he had made in front of his guests, he issued the necessary orders. (10) So John was beheaded in the prison,
Who is John according to Jesus?
Mat 11:11 GNB I assure you that John the Baptist is greater than anyone who has ever lived. But the one who is least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than John.
By the way, Herodius was Herod’s mistress, so it is highly possible that Herod was not trying to have an affair with Herodiu’s dancing daughter. It was simply a woman’s dance that killed the greatest man ever to live then.
We may accuse mighty men like Samson, Solomon and David of stupidity but women have some power over men. Some other day I was walking with a friend in the streets of Makhado town in Venda when a very pretty girl dressed modestly and attractively was coming in the opposite direction. We were acting all “holier than thou” tried to give her an impression that we don’t want to look at her, so we continued in our conversation but the girl was very confident. As she pass, she gave us that look that says “I know you are dying but it’s fine, I will just pass quickly and make it easy for you”.We walked a few steps and at the same time we admittedly confessed to each other, “She is pretty though! ” . Then my friend turned his neck and exhailing heavily, he said “hey, let me look for the last time!”. She was just walking but she disturbed everything we were doing and that is some power right there! I must confess that I even get nervous and lose my step in the shops because the girls on the magazine covers keep staring at me when I am buying bread.
Unlike Herodius’s daughter, Esther (who pleased King Xerxes with her beauty) chose to use her power positively (to benefit others): -
Est 7:2-3 NLT On this second occasion, while they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, "Tell me what you want, Queen Esther. What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!" (3) Queen Esther replied, "If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request, I ask that my life and the lives of my people will be spared.
People usually criticize Adam alone for what happened at Eden in Genesis 3 and solely hold him accountable. Even some preachers give us an impression that Adam was punished for both their sins because he was the one created first or leader e.t.c. But If you read your Bible authentically, you will notice that God did not create Adam, the male first and then Eve. Hoooooh! I don’t know what to call that first human version but can I say, for the sake of illustration, Adam 1.0? Adam 1.0 was both male and female in one before God divided “Adam1.0” into male and female by removing Eve on the side of Adam 1.0, leaving the remaining part to be Adam, the male?
Gen 2:21-23 NLT So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the LORD God took out one of the man's ribs and closed up the opening. (22) Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib, and He brought her to the man. (23) "At last!" the man exclaimed. "This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called 'woman,' because she was taken from 'man.'"
I love God because, despite our manipulation of scriptures, the truth stays there. Eve was accountable for her own wrong and was punished for it. Adam was punished for his (not Eve’s). In fact, if you read these punishments with my crazy mind, you get an idea that Eve’s punishment was worse than Adam’s. Come on, you know it’s true! “Labour”? The man was already created for labour (Gen.2:5+) and… "the thorns" and stuff, God knew we will make shoes, come on! Eve’s punishment was severe to me (Gen 3:16) and Adam “got a spank on the wrist and a basop warning”. Jokes aside now, the point I’m trying to make is that the Lord holds women accountable too and it would be foolish for us to continue blaming everything on the men while God doesn’t! We all have a purpose to fullfil and God will question us one day, so we better raise our daughters with a sense of purpose and accountability mentality.
I would really encourage women to think highly and equal with men even with responsibility/accountability to God. I watched Frank Millers’s 300, the movie version and I was amused by how Queen Gorgo of Sparta teamed up with her Husband, King Leonidas, to rule and save Sparta from the Persians. The King trusted the Queen’s judgement and decisions over everyone else’s and while he was out in the battle of Thermopylae, Queen Gorgo was in the city fighting and playing her part to save her people. I loved that and thought, “Wow, that’s the way Adam and Eve should be!” I believe that a man is a head/face/leader but that a woman is a pillar/cornerstone/heart/engine of the family. People like me and most of my friends know that we are where we are because of the prayers and commitments of our grandmothers and mothers to the Lord. These women are demon casters and devil molesters. They may not take credit or show their faces but nothing can harm their families in their presence.
This offering was supposed to be about men but I ended up talking about women throughout and that’s the power of women. Hardy boys, next time!
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