cheryl

Ryan: The thought of the woman ruling the husband is not that she did so necessarily before the fall, but that her innate desire after the fall will be one of wanting to rule the man. This is how many commentaries define the word “desireâ€. They see her desire as being a bad thing, not as something good. My article was to dispute that. In fact, my article was in defense of God’s prophecy. God is the one who said that the woman would desire the man. Women understand what this means. In fact, I believe that it is God’s grace that allows this. As one who laid in the delivery room in excruciating pain as I gave birth to each child, at that moment in time the thought of ever allowing him near me again so that this pain would happen to me again was repugnant. Yet after the birth of my child, those thoughts were gone. The same thing happens when women are dominated and controlled and at times treated as if they are children and not mature adults, yet the women still keep coming back to the men that they love. There is something in a woman that keeps her love for him no matter what. Any other meaning for “desire†in this passage would fail to prove out as a fact in this world.

Molly: Your comments were well said. Women understand our ability to take abuse and mistreatment and keep coming back for what we hope will eventually be emotional love shown in the way we need to receive it. It is so rewarding for me to see so many men refusing to continue the tradition of male domination and who are now coming alongside women and treating them with respect and who have a willingness to hear what women have to say and to teach them. In the past if men would have been more willing to listen to women, they would not have so easily attributed to God a prophecy about women’s desire to rule men. That is a false prophecy that God did not originate. Instead God prophesied about women’s future and their ability to love the man despite being treated as a creature to be ruled over. Oh that God would allow the time to come quickly when every member of the body of Christ will be treated with dignity and respect and honored for their gifts and placement in the body no matter what their gender happens to be.