SpoudazO Logos

The Fallacy of the Firstborn Right of Leadership

There is a long time popular fallacy and misinterpretation of Scripture that declares only males can be public leaders because the male was created first in the record of Genesis.

Recently, one of our Bible Study groups had the privilege of reading through the book of Genesis.  One of several things that stood out was that God never choose the first born to be leaders.  God always choose the one whose heart and intent was righteous.  Put these very clear facts of history together with the other glaring omission of God ever stating that the first born had leadership rights, and we see that this concept is man made and inserted into the interpretation of what is said in Genesis.  It is also inserted into the interpretation of what Paul said in 1 Timothy 2. 

What God did say in Genesis is that it was not good for the human to be alone.  This had nothing to do with authority or leadership, but aloneness. AFTER the man discovered what God already knew, that there was no one LIKE him (not different than), God proceeded to take of the man’s own essence and reform and refine it into the only one who was like the human enough to allay his aloneness — another human, but female. All of this had nothing whatsoever to do with the females fitness for leadership because God gave humanity, not male humans, the responsibility of leadership over the creation. The ability to compassionately lead, guide, protect and direct to promote life is part of the image of God that all humans share. Some are more gifted than others. But it is not imparted by being born first. It was imparted to all humans by the supernatural hand of our Creator. 

 

 

Wonderful to be Human! \o/\o/\o/

Orchids are one of the most beautiful and diverse of flowers. Sometimes when I’m out looking at my orchids I just get lost in the intricacies of the designs.  They each have their patterns but individually each one is different and yet equally beautiful.  

The thing that is so amazing about being human is that we have the loosest “pattern” if you can call it that.  All of earth and all of the creatures have tight patterns for who they are.  A dog is very doglike, not like a bear,  a skunk, a monkey or any other creature. Even all the different birds stay within their patterns, yet display their own specific personalities and individualities.  Humans on the other hand can achieve characteristics of other creatures.  We learn music from the birds (even chickens) and whales and all the sounds of the earth that we hear. We copy flying from all the creatures that fly including flying squirrels and make mechanical things to achieve flight.  We learn patterns of swimming from seals and other swimming creatures that can only swim one way although expertly.  Humans even have the ability to live like and among other species adapting to their life styles.  We also learn our good and bad behaviors from other creatures: stubborn like a donkey, crafty like a fox, teamwork like the ants, unthinking like a bulldog in heat, silly fun loving monkeys, and so forth.  Our pattern as a human is amazingly adaptive.  

We can be whoever, whatever, however we want to be.  And as long as we love God first and foremost with all our being honoring His Holiness, and love our neighbor as ourselves, it will turn out great.  :)   Jesus came to set us free from the bondages of sin.  Sin makes us more restricted like the other creatures of the earth. But within God's freeing guidelines we can become uniquely ourselves like Moses, Deborah, Joseph (Jacob's son), Miriam, John the Baptist (now there is unique!), Priscilla, Paul, Huldah, Timothy, Phoebe and any combination thereof to give honor to God and God's love to our fellow humans.

So whether you are male or female, a mother or a father, married or single, young or older, of any ethnic group of the earth, none of this matters although they all affect who we are.  Yet, within all those gifts we can still be uniquely a one of a kind pattern of human that God can bless others through.  We cannot be fully free outside of God.  But within God's holiness, within the charisma of the Holy Spirit, within relationship with our Creator we can be free and should avail ourselves of the opportunity for creative life to the best of our ability. Today, be free in Jesus the Messiah.

Romans 8:¹ There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

1 Cor. 2:⁹ But as it is written:  “ Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

 ¹⁰ But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. ¹¹ For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.