Biblical Daughterhood Sermon Series – Part 2 of 2

by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church on 9 Oct. 2022.

REVIEW:

A couple of weeks ago, I introduced a sermon on Biblical daughterhood which I am continuing today.

  1. We also noted that Daughters were healed and saved by Jesus: Jesus’ commands in Luke 8:40-55, "Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace… Do not be afraid; only believe…" should be taken to heart by all the daughters of Zion. Then after being healed and saved by Jesus…

  2. Daughters worship God: Daughters were specifically invited to join in the sabbath rest and in the tabernacle worship to be included in the forgiveness of sins and in the communion meals of rejoicing before the Lord! Furthermore...

  3. Daughters show forth God’s beauty: but it is not outward adornment which is the beauty of a daughter; it is her heart-attitude - “your meek and quiet spirit” according to 1 Peter 3. The last sermon concluded with how...

  4. Daughters carry on their parents’ values: Numbers 27:8-9 affirms daughters carrying on things that their father cared about and invested in. We also noted that if you earthly father didn’t pass godly values down to you, your heavenly Father adopts daughters and gives them His own example to follow.

5) Daughters marry, have children, build a population which lives out their values

Genesis 28:1-4 “...Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: ‘You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother. May God Almighty bless you, And make you fruitful and multiply you, That you may be an assembly of peoples; And give you the blessing of Abraham, To you and your descendants with you, That you may inherit the land In which you are a stranger, Which God gave to Abraham.’" (NKJV)

• Isaac wanted his son to marry a woman whose values were similar to his. Why? Just so that his daughter-in-law would not make him uncomfortable with weird customs for him to put up with in his old age? No! Isaac was focused on bringing to fulfillment the promise God had given to his father Abraham to build a nation whose God was Yahweh. How would he do that? With a pagan Canaanite wife? No way. The promised nation of Israel needed to be built with god-fearing daughters, and therefore Isaac says, “Go to Laban’s place.”

• Notice the one prayer he bestows on his son, “May God make you fruitful and multiply you!” It’s the same sentiment that, almost a thousand years later, the town elders gave to Boaz and Ruth when they got married, “The LORD make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house of Israel!” (Ruth 4:11, NKJV)

In the law, it was a curse not to have children with which to build one’s community (Deut. 28:41). But even when the Jews came under God’s curse, some 500 years after Boaz and Ruth, and the Jewish nation was in exile in Babylon, then what does God tell His daughters to do? Get on birth control to alleviate their poverty? No! Jeremiah 29:6-7 “…take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive...”

• Is there a connection between the blessing and peace of Babylon and the number of Jews living in it? You better believe it! How much better-off the Jews in Babylon were under the fair rulership of Mordecai and Daniel than under the corrupt schemes of Haman and the other pagan satraps.

• And it is married daughters who do the powerful work of bearing children and
- either instilling them with the Godly values that make a nation blessed,
- or instilling them with the worldly values which corrupt and destroy nations.

• Judges 3:5-7 “Thus the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons; and they served their gods. So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God, and served the Baals and Asherahs.”

• A pagan spouse can turn the family of a faithful son or daughter away from God, but a godly son or daughter can cause a pagan spouse and children to be “holy,” according to 1 Corinthians 7:14. (I don’t believe that sort of holiness is a guarantee of eternal life, but it is a guarantee of being treated with special regard by God.)

• In 2 Timothy 1:5 Paul wrote to Timothy, who was the pastor of the church in Ephesus, “...I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.” (NKJV) Just think, if Eunice and Lois has not been faithful in raising Timothy, there might not even be a book of Ephesians in the Bible!

Psalm 144:11-12 “Rescue me and deliver me… [that] our sons in their youth [may] be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars [KJV corner stones] cut for the structure of a palace.” (ESV)

Does God still want Christians in the New Testament to have children and build a population with Godly values?

• God is still working to build a people for Himself:
1 Peter 2:9-10 “Y'all… are a people made to be around [Him] in such a way that y'all might extol the virtues of Him who called y'all out of darkness into His marvelous light – y'all who back then were not a people but now are the people of God” (NAW)
Titus 2:13-14 “...Christ Jesus... gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” (NKJV)

• And God still gives Christian parents the role of bearing children and teaching them His ways:
He didn’t say, “OK, it’s the New Covenant now; the creation mandate to ‘be fruitful and multiply’ is cancelled and Christians should stop getting married and having children.” Quite the contrary, He says:
1 Timothy 5:14 “I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children…”
Tit. 2:4 “admonish the young women to love their husbands & love their children…”
Ephesians 6:4 “...bring your children up in the training and admonition of the Lord.”

Ladies, the world is going to try to tell you that this is not important - that it is more meaningful to become an employee in some corporation. Don’t believe it! What a mother does at home to shape the values of the next generation is far more important that slaving away for some boss in a cubicle. Don’t underestimate the power of faithful parenting over generations!

Of course, the church is also built through evangelizing the world and discipling new converts in the context of the church community, but, do you accept the Biblical role of daughters making disciples of their own children, in the context of raising a family, for the purpose of building up the church and being a blessing to the world?


6) Daughters mourn over sin in their community

• Although we do read of men in the Bible like David and Jeremiah mourning and lamenting, it seems that women held a special place in the culture for mourning in groups over tragic events. • Female mourners seem to be a widespread norm across many cultures, for instance:

• Ezekiel 32:16 Prophesies the defeat of Egypt by the Babylonian army, saying, “…The daughters of the nations shall lament [over]... Egypt, And for all her multitude…”

• And in Jeremiah 49:3 there is a prophecy against the Ammonites, warning them that God is about to punish them for taking advantage of the Jews who were carried into exile, and that God is about to disgrace the Ammonite religion of worshiping Milcom. Once again, note how it is directed to the daughters: “...Cry, you daughters of Rabbah, Gird yourselves with sackcloth! Lament and run to and fro by the walls; For Milcom shall go into captivity With his priests and his princes together…”

• In Jeremiah 9, God warns the Israelites who have become idol-worshippers that He is about to punish them with exile in Babylon, and that the appropriate response is to mourn over their sin and put their faith in Him: Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider and call for the mourning women, That they may come; And send for skillful wailing women, That they may come. Let them make haste And take up a wailing for us, That our eyes may run with tears, And our eyelids gush with water… [Listen to] the word of the LORD, O women, And let your ear receive the word of His mouth; Teach your daughters wailing, And everyone her neighbor a lamentation…” Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man [boast] in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man [boast] in his might, Nor let the rich man [boast] in his riches; But let him who [boasts, boast] in this, That he understands and knows Me…” (Jeremiah 9:13-24, NKJV).”

• God commanded His people to “teach [their] daughters to wail.” In the Beatitudes, Jesus affirmed this saying, "Blessed are the ones who are lowly in spirit, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Blessed are the ones who mourn, because it is they who will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:3-4, NAW)

• Are we teaching our daughters to mourn? We’re not talking about throwing a fit because they didn’t get their way, but rather about that trait of holy maturity that grieves when a sin is committed against God, and weeps over the damage it has done to us and to God’s creation and to God’s holy reputation, and which loves God so much that it never wants to offend Him again in that way. That kind of mourning is what God wants from of his daughters (as well as His sons).

• In the New Testament, Jesus, as He was on his way to Golgotha to be crucified, also commanded daughters to weep for the same reasons: Luke 23:27 “And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. But Jesus, turning to them, said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!' Then they will begin 'TO SAY TO THE MOUNTAINS, "FALL ON US!" AND TO THE HILLS, "COVER US!" ' For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?" (Luke 23:26-31, NKJV)

• Jesus was prophesying God’s punishment of the entire city of Jerusalem, since its leaders had chosen man-centered religion instead of embracing Jesus as their Messiah and God. Thirty-seven years later, the Roman army slaughtered everyone in Jerusalem and tore it down so that there was “not one stone left upon another.”

• Yet, thousands of Jews took Jesus’ warning to heart. They mourned for themselves and repented of their sin and became Christians, and they taught their daughters to mourn, and, it’s interesting to note that Christians by-and-large escaped that Roman invasion.

• Nowadays, instead of mourning over sin, we pay movie-making companies to stream footage of actors committing all kinds of sin, and we cheer our favorite actors on as they: act like God does not exist, as they murder people, as they take God’s name in vain, as they dishonor authorities, we snicker and think it’s cute when they tell lies and when they lust, and we look the other way when they commit adultery.

• We aren’t that far removed from the gladiator fights of ancient Rome which drew audiences to watch one man kill another. We figure that since we’re just watching a movie of it, we’re not actually participating in those sins. That’s what porn users say too: “There’s no real harm done; I’m just watching actors.” Brothers and sisters, there is no hope for revival until our daughters feel devastated over the commission of these sins in their own lives and in our culture, rather than excited by watching and reading about these sins. Let us teach our daughters to mourn over evil and to yearn for the righteousness of Christ to be revealed!


7) Daughters speak forth God’s word into their family and community

• Ezekiel 13 highlights a problem of men and women in Jerusalem who pretended to be mes­sengers sharing God’s word but who really weren’t. Up until the time that the Chaldeans conquered Jerusalem, these false prophets said that God would not let Jerusalem be con­quered, and that the Jews did not need to stop sinning, and that those gloom and doom prophets like Ezekiel should not be listened to. So, the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel, saying, "Son of man, prophesy against... those who prophesy out of their own heart, 'Hear the word of the LORD!' Thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! ... You say, 'The LORD says,' but I have not spoken... they have seduced My people, saying, 'Peace!' when there is no peace... I will break down the wall... it will fall, and you shall be consumed in the midst of it. Then you shall know that I am the LORD… Likewise, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own heart; prophesy against them... Behold, I am against your magic charms… I will also tear off your veils… Because with lies you have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and you have strengthened the hands of the wicked, so that he does not turn from his wicked way to save his life. Therefore you shall no longer envision futility nor practice divination; for I will deliver My people out of your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD." ( Ezekiel 13:1-23, NKJV)

• Notice the contrast between Ezekiel the Prophet, who listened for God’s words and faithfully repeated them to the people, and the false prophets and “daughters of the people” who spoke what came from their own heart and mind.

Faithful daughters among God’s people speak forth God’s word rather than their own ideas.

• In the Old Testament, we see female prophetesses like Miriam (Ex. 15:20) and Deborah (Judges 4:4) and Huldah (2 Ki. 22:14) who faithfully shared God’s word,

• and Anna the Prophetess in the temple seems to follow in that train when she sees Jesus at His infant dedication ceremony in the temple and “gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem” (Luke 2:36-38, NKJV).

• Faithful women did not spout forth their own ideas and opinions, but that did not mean keeping silent in everyday life. They spoke God’s word into their life circumstances and reminded everyone around them of God.

In Joel 2:28, God had promised “...it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.”

• At Pentecost, after Jesus’ resurrection, the Apostle Peter said that Joel’s prophecy was fulfilled when the Holy Spirit fell visibly upon Jesus’ followers and they began preaching the good news of salvation through Jesus in every language there was around there (Acts 2:17).

• This scripture clearly equates prophecy with sharing the gospel, and the book of Revelation also confirms that when it says, “...the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (Revelation 19:10, NKJV).

• Understand what I’m saying. I’m not affirming everybody who claims to be a modern-day prophet, and I’m not saying that the nature of prophecy today should be like the Old Testament prophets, I’m just saying that Revelation 19 and Acts 2 indicate that sharing the good news about Jesus is at the heart of God’s intent for prophecy, and that when we do that, we carry on that important role.

• I also believe that prophecy, if it is practiced today, should be characterized by quoting Scripture. It should be reminding people of what God has already said, not inventing sensational new words from God.

Joel’s prophecy quoted in the book of Acts also clearly says that women can prophesy. And, while the New Testament puts boundaries on who should prophesy or teach in corporate worship (1 Cor. 14:34-35, 1 Tim. 2:12), it clearly affirms women prophesying outside of corporate worship. For instance:

• The whole church at Corinth was commanded in 1 Corinthians 14:1 “Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.”

• And the statement in 1 Cor. 11:5 that “...every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head…” implies that there was no problem with women prophesying; the problem was just when women did it with an uncovered head.

• Acts 21:8-9 also presents four young ladies prophesying as a good thing: “...we who were Paul's companions... came to Caesarea, and entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him… Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied. And... we stayed many days…” (NKJV) We are not told what these daughters said when they prophesied, but here are companions of the Apostle Paul appreciating what they said in their home. They didn’t respond in horror, “Phillip, tell your daughters to be quiet!” and shake the dust off their feet and leave; No, they stuck around and listened to what they had to say.

Let us therefore prepare our daughters to be able to speak forth God’s word:


Now, when we look at these seven Biblical principles of Biblical daughterhood and compare them to the typical school curriculum and media fare of our day, it is alarming how little overlap exists – in fact, the exact opposite is what is taught to daughters in our public schools and universities and social media. The institutions of the world teach daughters that:


Daughters, may God give you grace:

  1. to be saved from sin and hell and be made perfectly whole in heaven,

  2. to enjoy the ecstasy of worshiping Jesus,

  3. to have the freedom to show forth His beauty from the heart without being chained to selfishness and superficial appearances,

  4. to carry on your parents’ Christian worldview in meaningful and satisfying ways that make a difference in this world,

  5. to powerfully shape the lives of the next generation and build communities of faith,

  6. to mourn and repent over sin so that the blessings of repentance come down from heaven and bring new life to whole communities and nations,

  7. and to speak God’s words under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, utterly confident because you know the truth and you know that the awesome power of God is behind you!

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