Enmity | Wayfarer

But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.
Luke 24:11 (NIV)

Looking back on my life journey, I’m grateful that God surrounded me with women. While I have two older brothers, they are identical twins and seven years older. Thus, growing up, it was my older sister Jody who was my constant companion. We even went to the same college. Then, God blessed me with two daughters and for pretty much the next thirty years I was the lone male in the house with three females.

Being surrounded by women has been a life-long course for me in female appreciation. The fact that my earthly journey coincided with the unprecedented rise in the role, status, and rights of women has only accelerated my understanding. Back in high school, our study of world history tracked the role of women in society throughout the ages, which was huge in preparing me for the learning I’ve had to do along the way.

My thoughts on the role and status of women have changed dramatically over the years. This is not just rooted in cultural changes, but in my spiritual maturity and understanding, as well. It’s only in the last ten years that I’ve come to increasingly appreciate one of the foundational pieces of the Great Story from the very beginning. When cursing Adam, Eve, and the evil one for the original sin God tells the serpent that there will be “enmity” between him and the woman.

I believe that the struggle of women throughout history is, among many other things, a spiritual struggle. I believe that there is a special hatred that the evil one has had for women from the beginning, and men have been largely complicit in blindly accepting the schemes. I confess I have, especially in my younger years. I have a whole host of thoughts on this subject that I hope to share in a future post and podcast, so I won’t belabor the point.

One of the things I’ve come to love about Luke’s version of the Jesus Story is the fact that he alone gives credit to the women who followed Jesus and financially made it possible. In today’s final chapter, Luke not only records that it was the women who first discovered that Jesus had risen, but he also names them. Consider that while Matthew, Mark, and John were primary sources and witnesses of events in Jesus’ story, Luke was not. He investigated the Jesus Story by interviewing and collecting evidence from primary sources. I personally believe that Luke names women like Joanna, the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household because he interviewed her. He knew her, and he recognized the role she played in being among the inner circle of followers and financing Jesus’ ministry.

I also believe, as a man who has lived a life surrounded by women, that Luke records that the Eleven (The Twelve minus Judas) did not believe the women and considered their report of the risen Lord “nonsense” because the women would have clearly remembered this detail and emphatically made a point of it in their retelling. God bless Dr. Luke for honoring them by not leaving that out.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself thinking about my mother, who crossed over into eternity this past March. There is so much more that I appreciate about her today than I did even ten years ago. I think about her mother and three sisters who influenced my life as well as their mother who was the spiritual matriarch of our clan. I think about Wendy, her mother, sisters, and grandmother. I think about my daughters and granddaughters. As I consider the base enmity that the evil one harbors for them, it creates a desire within me to honor them more, appreciate them more, and encourage them more in all the days I have left on this earth.

If I could go back in time and have a chat with Peter and the boys, I would tell them, “Dudes, trust me on this. Always believe the women. Always.”

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be ceremonially unclean seven days…If she bears a female child, she shall be unclean two weeks….
Leviticus 12:2, 5 (NRSV)

I am going to be honest. There are still many things that cause me to scratch my head as I journey through God’s Message. I am content to accept the fact that my 21st century American brain cannot completely fathom the realities of life in the middle east c.1500 B.C. It does not stop me from being curious and inquisitive.

In today’s chapter, we read the Levitical system’s prescribed purification rights for women after they’ve given birth to a child. If a woman gave birth to a male child in the that culture she was deemed “unclean” for 40 days. If she had a female child, the period of being “unclean” doubled to 80 days. Even the scholarly text notes in my study Bible states: “It is not clear why the period of uncleanness after the birth of a baby boy (40 days) was half the period for a girl (80 days).” [cue: scratching head]

There is no doubt that ancient cultures, by-and-large, valued male births more than female births. It was a brutal period of human history. Daily life was a bloody, violent version of “king of the mountain.” Wars between tribes, clans, and towns waged non-stop. Power ebbed and flowed through never ending battles of local conquest. Boys became warriors and hunters required to protect, provide, and conquer.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. In the past year there has been a lot of press about China’s infamous program of population control, and the Chinese government’s moves to change the policy now that its unintended effects are shaking their society. Over the years China has gone to horrific lengths to control the birth rate of their people. Hearkening back to the misogynistic practices of history, male births were preferential to female births. According to one report, by 2020 there will be 30 million more men in China than women. A certain amount of societal chaos is now anticipated.

Beyond the natural, cultural considerations, however, there is a spiritual context that has to be considered. Going back to the Garden of Eden, to original sin, and to the harsh spiritual realities that were unleashed at the beginning. God speaks to the Serpent, to Eve, and to Adam of the consequences of their willful disobedience.

Among the woeful, core consequences is “hatred” between the serpent and the woman. Misogyny is evil, and at the very beginning of the Great Story we see that Evil (a la, the Serpent) is expelled from the Garden with a core, misogynistic hatred of women. The never ending power struggle between male and female is also alluded to as a foundational spiritual consequence of the Fall and continues to be a hot topic in our society, our political campaigns, and our current events.

This morning I am, once again, amazed that God saw fit to surround me with strong, beautiful, capable, intelligent, wise women. I will confess to you that, in certain moments of life, I have experienced pangs of that common male desire to have a son and occasional pangs of grief that it was not part of the plan for me. Fascinating to think about in the context of today’s thoughts. Nevertheless, I have been blessed to be surrounded by females, and it has made me a better man.

This morning is one of those mornings when I walk away from my quiet time with more questions than answers, more curiosity than certainty. I am, however, thinking about the women in my life. I’m thinking how much I truly honor and appreciate them and their femininity. I am again inspired this morning to continually root out deep seated misogynistic tendencies in my own heart, and to seek ways to join the struggle against the enmity against women that has been present from the Fall. I have been surrounded in this life journey by women, and I love ’em.