Women in OT

[IIAmazingGraceII]

Hi! I am a relatively new Christian - reborn this year and baptized 4 months ago

I have read through all of NT and want to read through OT also to get a full understanding of what Jesus taught, but I can't seem to get through it! As a woman, I just feels so saddened by the way women are treated in the OT, and it just seems that in the OT, God does not value women at all.

For example: Abraham and Sarah. Abraham was someone that God favored and made a covenant with but when they first came to Egypt, instead of honoring and respecting Sarah as his wife, he lied and said she was his sister just to save his life. He didn't care that she became part of the Pharoah's harem and just treated her like his property to give away. She was basically passed on to the pharaoh like a prostitute. He did this to her twice.

There are also sooo many more examples in the OT that I will not type out. Basically, almost every woman in OT is treated like an inferior citizen whose only role is to have a son and provide pleasure for the men. The passage that bothered me the most was Judges 19. I don't want to write about it because it sickens me, but if anyone has read Judges 19 about the concubine, please give me your take on it. I know that was a sinful and dark time but there seemed to be no real repurcussion or justice for what they did to her. It almost seemed like, as a woman, she was insignificant and not worthy or justice.

I know Jesus respected women but I just don't understand how God could have allowed women to be mistreated for sooo long, and still be mistreated today. Does He not care about us as much? I love Christ and I want to learn more, but I feel so saddened when I read the OT. It makes me feel so bad because when I read and see the way God allows women to be treated, it makes me doubt His love for me. If anyone has any comments that can help me understand the OT better, please let me know!!

Thanks!
PS. Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[davidoffinland]

From Finland.

Couple of thoughts...a man´s attitude has alot to do with how he thinks and behaves...whether he is a christian or not...if a christian man does not use scripture to guide him in a loving and respectful way, then he will act and behave like any macho individual. Judaism in the OT had a equal and respectful attitude toward their spouse as being an equal helpmate.

In Him, david.

 

[ContentInHim]

Don't blame God for Abraham treating Sarah that way. Blame Abraham. And God blessed Sarah by giving her a baby at 90 years old! This baby was the child of the covenant, the child of promise, the child through whom Jesus was born. I'd say that Sarah was pretty blessed!

Don't buy into the idea that women were trashed in the OT just because their culture is different from our culture. Our culture hasn't been too kind to women either.

 

[eNathan]

Hi! I am a relatively new Christian - reborn this year and baptized 4 months ago

I have read through all of NT and want to read through OT also to get a full understanding of what Jesus taught, but I can't seem to get through it! As a woman, I just feels so saddened by the way women are treated in the OT, and it just seems that in the OT, God does not value women at all.

For example: Abraham and Sarah. Abraham was someone that God favored and made a covenant with but when they first came to Egypt, instead of honoring and respecting Sarah as his wife, he lied and said she was his sister just to save his life. He didn't care that she became part of the Pharoah's harem and just treated her like his property to give away. She was basically passed on to the pharaoh like a prostitute. He did this to her twice.

There are also sooo many more examples in the OT that I will not type out. Basically, almost every woman in OT is treated like an inferior citizen whose only role is to have a son and provide pleasure for the men. The passage that bothered me the most was Judges 19. I don't want to write about it because it sickens me, but if anyone has read Judges 19 about the concubine, please give me your take on it. I know that was a sinful and dark time but there seemed to be no real repurcussion or justice for what they did to her. It almost seemed like, as a woman, she was insignificant and not worthy or justice.

I know Jesus respected women but I just don't understand how God could have allowed women to be mistreated for sooo long, and still be mistreated today. Does He not care about us as much? I love Christ and I want to learn more, but I feel so saddened when I read the OT. It makes me feel so bad because when I read and see the way God allows women to be treated, it makes me doubt His love for me. If anyone has any comments that can help me understand the OT better, please let me know!!

Thanks!
PS. Happy Thanksgiving!

Welcome to the OT. You will find sexism. You will find the murder of children by the hand of God's commandment. You will find the mistreating of women as lower infiror beings. You will find war. You will find slave trade, if I'm not mistaken. You will also find the killing of homosexuals. I haven't even gotten through the entire thing yet.

My explanation: The OT may not be the best reference for God's word towards modern-day society, although we all hate to accept it. It's a testimony of the dealings of God and the society back then, which was rather darkened in my honest opinion. But remember, these were the actions of men and their understanding. God is love, and doesn't want anyone to be mistreated, but he doesn't interfere with our free will. Also remember, Jesus came to bring enlightenment to a darkened world -- you don't hear of any form of sexism in the teachings of Jesus, in fact, quite the opposite -- as you stated, he showed high respect for women.

 

[IronManMatt]

but if anyone has read Judges 19 about the concubine, please give me your take on it. I know that was a sinful and dark time but there seemed to be no real repurcussion or justice for what they did to her. It almost seemed like, as a woman, she was insignificant and not worthy or justice.

Read chapter 20. The rape and murder of this one woman incited a war in which 25,000 men where killed. The death of 25,000 men for the life of one woman, it is clear that God did not devalue this woman or the crime that was committed against her since God Himself condoned the war. In chapter 20 it is explained that the woman husband cut her up and sent her across the country to really the troops to get justice. Before war was called for the tribes of Israel sent men to Gibeah to retrieve the men who committed the rape and murder to put them to death. But when the nation of Gibeah would not give up the guilty men, the tribes of Israel warred against them.

It makes me feel so bad because when I read and see the way God allows women to be treated, it makes me doubt His love for me.

God allows many good people to be mistreated. God allowed Satan to take Job’s money, family, and forced him to suffer a terrible illness to teach all of mankind a lesson in faithfulness, both ours to God’s and God’s to us. God has allowed and still does allow many men a women to suffer but we must trust that God knows what He is doing and accept that we can never fully understand Him. May God bless your quest to learn more about Him.