One Chilling Word
Former Editor, Signs of the Times
Author, Another Chance
Today's reasons for seeking ordination echo those from an ancient story in the Bible.
Why not ordain women to the Adventist ministry? Everyone knows that the women in our church are as good as the men; in character, many are better. Women have proved themselves capable in every other church position they have held. And in many cases it is better that a woman be the minister, especially when ministering to a woman; women are more understanding of women's needs.
So why not? Only male pride and selfishness block women from serving in the roles God wants them to fill. That must be right; I hear it all the time.
I could get quite enthusiastic about women's ordination except for one word I find in my Bible. To be frank with you, that one word totally chills my enthusiasm.
It is the name of a man. The word—the man—is Korah, perhaps more easily recognized when linked with his two equally ambitious friends, Dathan and Abiram.
It seems to me that every argument brought up to support or to oppose women's ordination today was present in Korah, Dathan, and Abiram's campaign to get themselves ordained. If I am right—that is, if the arguments are as similar as I think they are—ordaining women to the Adventist ministry could prove to be just as offensive to God as ordaining those three men would have been, with disastrous consequences to our church if we go ahead.
I confess that I find this prospect definitely chilling.
Reasons Given Today
The reasons I have heard in support of women's ordination include:
1. Insider dominance.
Long ago (I have heard it said) a small part of the denomination decided that only members of their group should be ordained. Since that group happened to be entirely male, men have ever since made sure that the powers and privileges associated with ordination are limited to men, only.
2. Dimensions of the priesthood.
Every member of the church is a priest. Peter wrote, "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. . ." (1 Peter 2:9). Therefore, obviously, women are as eligible for ordination to the priesthood as are men.
3. Experience proves eligibility.
Having served successfully in many lesser positions within the church structure, women have proved their ability and suitability for ordination and ought therefore to be advanced to the more-responsible positions currently limited to fully ordained males.
4. God's call.
Over the last several years numerous Adventist women have publicly testified of their conviction that God has called them to the ordained ministry. This call, it is said, not only proves their suitability for the ministry but also God's desire that they be ordained.
5. Preparation creates obligation.
Many Adventist women have already prepared themselves to fill positions as ordained ministers. The church is obligated to let them climax their preparation with ordination. This is especially true where church leadership has encouraged a woman with the promise that her preparation would lead to ordination.
6. Danger of mutiny.
There is such a strong feeling among the laity in favor of women's ordination that leadership will have enormous difficulties controlling the rebellion that will break out if permission for ordination is not given soon.
Reasoning in Korah's Time
So much for the reasons given in our day. A few more will emerge as we proceed. But let us look at the issues in Korah's day. See how similar they are!
1. Insider dominance.
Korah snarled at Moses and Aaron, "Ye take too much upon you: . . . wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?" (Numbers 16:3). Clearly, in Korah's view, Moses and Aaron had conspired to restrict the priesthood to Aaron's family, forever keeping administrative and priestly powers in their own hands.
2. Dimensions of the priesthood.
Korah quoted from God's instruction to Moses at Mount Sinai, "Tell the children of Israel, . . . Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:6). The whole nation was holy, holy priests! Then why was the priesthood limited to one family? Clearly this was contrary to God's will!
3. Experience proves eligibility.
The 250 men who presented themselves for ordination along with Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were experienced leaders in the congregation. They were recognized by their peers as "princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown" (Numbers 16:2). Korah himself was a deacon. So of course it was appropriate to ordain them as priests.
4. God's call.
Those 253 men would not have presented themselves for ordination if they had not been convinced that God had called them. The laity agreed. In the estimation of the congregation they were "people of the Lord" (Num 16:41).
5. Preparation creates obligation.
Every one of the 253 had prepared for the priesthood. The censer was the sacred object in which a priest burned incense while interceding for sinners. Each one of the 253 had gone to the effort of providing himself with a censer and, probably, priestly clothing also. So they ought to have been allowed to be priests, considering all the effort and expense they had gone to to prepare.
6. Danger of mutiny.
Korah and his party had tremendous backing. The congregation were convinced that Moses and Aaron had abused their authority. If the leaders did not approve the new ordination policy, the members were prepared to stone them.
God's Response
There really is a close resemblance between the reasoning of our day and the reasons given in Korah's, so it is interesting to examine God's response. What comes through very, very clearly is that God didn't buy Korah's arguments. He wasn't impressed at all, except negatively, but negatively He was very greatly impressed, so much so that He opened the ground under the three leaders and burned up their 250 cohorts.
Oh, but the church members were angry then! Talk about mutiny! Today's leaders who fear the wrath of the laity can point to the public reaction in Korah's day as evidence. Even after the demanding delegation was so dramatically destroyed, the Israelites were still sufficiently furious the next morning that they gathered against Moses and Aaron shouting, "Ye have killed the people of the Lord" (Numbers 16:41). Only the immediate intervention of a devastating plague saved the godly leaders' lives.
But do note that God did intervene to save Moses and Aaron. God was on the side of the leaders who refused to ordain Korah, Dathan, and Abiram in spite of their reasoning and the obvious support they had from the congregation. Because what happened in those days happened in order to teach us things we need to know about God, we can expect God to support leaders who resist women's ordination today.
"Whom I Shall Choose"
When the uprising had cooled somewhat, God moved forward to settle the question of ordination for all time. I find what He did next extremely significant. He told Moses to ask the leader of each of the twelve tribes for a rod. Each prince was to write his name on his rod, with Aaron's name on the rod for the tribe of Levi. Then these rods were to be placed before the Lord in the tabernacle overnight. God said, "The man's rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom" (Numbers 17:2-4).
Whom I shall choose
Whom God shall choose. What comes through to me as the most important lesson is that God chooses who shall be ordained, and that He has reserved this choice exclusively to Himself. It is not for us to choose who should be ordained. That is God's prerogative. Our reasons may sound marvelously persuasive. We may say, "It seemed good to us..." but we do not make the choice. God does. In the days of Israel, God chose the family of Aaron. He did not choose the family of Korah or of Dathan nor of Abiram or of any of the 250. When they tried to push their way into the priesthood, no matter how good their reasons sounded to themselves or to the members of the congregation, they were still not part of that group which God had chosen, and He rejected them.
The Missing Text
Can the proponents of women's ordination show us from the Bible or from the Spirit of Prophecy any clear statement that God has chosen women for ordination? We have seen that Korah's six reasons justifying his ordination were insufficient. Because today's reasons supporting women's ordination are so similar to Korah's, we must conclude that they also are insufficient.
We do, on the other hand, find specific texts in the Bible saying that ordained ministers should be men. Correction: not just should be men, they must be men. See 1 Timothy 3:2: "A bishop then must be... the husband of one wife." Husbands are men. The Greek has "one-woman man," and the word used for man in this passage is aner. Paul might have used anthropos, the more generic word for "human" or "person," and if he had intended to say that bishops could be men or women he very likely might have. But he didn't. The word he used specifically distinguishes men from women. But do note that he did not say that just any man could be a bishop, even as in the Old Testament not just any son of Aaron could be a priest. The office has always been limited. The Christian leader Paul spoke of must be "blameless" and married, "vigilant, sober, of good behaviour," etc. There is a long list of requirements that eventually eliminates almost all men and leaves only a very few eligible.
Note that not only the women are ineligible. So are 99% of all men.
If the defenders of women's ordination could find even one text or Spirit of prophecy statement which says that a minister must be a woman, whether married to one husband or not, what a difference it would make to this whole discussion! But in all the years that some have been asking for women's ordination, no one, not even the most zealous, has found such text or statement. And when I think what happened to those men of old who set up their own criteria and said that they were fit when God had not said they were, then I feel a cold chill in my bones. Do we want what happened to Israel that day to happen to our church today? I don't.
To avoid her fate, Jesus said, "Remember Lot's wife." Perhaps, to avoid his fate, we should add, "Remember Korah."