Husbands “Rule” Over Your Wife?

This morning I begin a new study on the word “husband” as I have been in the family realm for some time now first with “wife”, then “home”, and then “family”. It is only good process to make my way through all members of the family as I study. This first one was a bit tough as I find myself looking at “the fall” from grace in the beginning. God created man and woman to be husband and wife. And what he created was “very good” indeed. And then He allowed them to be tested by Satan. And whereas it was woman or the wife who succumbed to the temptation first, both of them took part and fell out of grace together. And that is where we are now.

“¹⁶To the woman he said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;

in pain you shall bring forth children.

Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,

but he shall rule over you.”

— Genesis 3:16 (ESV)

This verse is the one I am going to spend my focus on for the purpose of this post. The rest of “the fall” are important to know, but is here that I am writing about. You see, it is that last pat of the verse that really gets things in me this morning, “Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”

As noted earlier, God created man and woman to be husband and wife and it was “very good”. Here we see that due to sin and “the fall”, husband and wife will be at odds. Where the wife was to submit to her husband and husband to lead, guard, and care for his wife (ESV commentary), it is now that wife will be at odds with her husband and husband will “rule” over his wife. This is not as God intended.

As husband I am not to “rule over” my wife. Yes, I am to be head of the household and am to be revered by my wife, I am not to “rule over” her, I am to love and care for her.

“²⁵Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, ²⁶that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, ²⁷so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” – Ephesians 5:25-27 (ESV)

We can see that Paul teaches for man to come back and work to defeat the results of “the fall”. We as husbands are not to “rule over” our wives, we are to love them, cleanse them, present them without “spot or wrinkle” so they “might be holy and without blemish”. We are, as noted earlier from my ESV commentary of Genesis 3:16, to lead, guard, and care for them. We are to make it they are lifted up and in the proper place of importance to us and to the LORD.

Yes, we were meant to be the head of our household, but it is just that the head of the household and not ruler of it. We were not created to “rule over”, but to lead, guard, and care. We were meant to be the husband, not the king. Thanks to “the fall” we are naturally at odds with our wives and we have to get back to what God intended. As we stay in God’s Word, we find continued reminders of what God intended and it is up to us to study and know of our role as husbands, to lead, guard, and care for our wives.

What is your view of the husband? Are they to be the ruler of all, including their wife? What if we looked more closely to find that we are to lead, guard, and care for our wives and not “rule over” them?

The LORD Cares for Us

It is known that the LORD cares for His people. And we know that care comes in all aspects. But to what extent do we think that the LORD will remove those who do not hold the same direction and care for us that He does. To what extent do we think that the LORD will provide new leadership when the time comes.

“³My anger is hot against the shepherds,

and I will punish the leaders;

for the Lord of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah,

and will make them like his majestic steed in battle.

⁴From him shall come the cornerstone,

from him the tent peg,

from him the battle bow,

from him every ruler—all of them together.

⁵They shall be like mighty men in battle,

trampling the foe in the mud of the streets;

they shall fight because the LORD is with them,

and they shall put to shame the riders on horses.”

— Zechariah 10:3-5 (ESV)

I was brought to a passage that I am not sure I have read through or studied before. I see the care of the LORD in the verses above, to both remove or deal with the current leadership of His people and to rise them up through leaders with His end in mind.

Starting with the removal of “bad” leaders. We are aware that the LORD will protect His people in the event that they are in need of that protection. He will deal with leaders of the opposition to Him and His people. But what about those in authority of His people. Are they just left to run rough shod over the people. I say NO as noted here in verse three above. But also later in Jesus’ time. Recall the Sadducee and Pharisee leaders that took advantage of the people, Jesus dealt with them as well. God demonstrates His authority by dealing with all who are against His people.

And then there is the rising up of His people. When needed, the LORD provides the strength and guidance for His people (us) to rise up and take the lead. As we look at verses four and five above, we see the confidence in us that God has to bring us to the leadership role. We are the foundation of His Church and the tip of the spear against evil. We will rule together as we follow His command to bring glory and the Gospel to the world. We will be majestic where needed and we will be meek where needed. But make no mistake, it is not us, it is the LORD in us that rises us up.

The LORD cares for us and He demonstrates that in many ways. This morning I was reminded that He will remove those that are not on the same plan as He and he will rise up those who are.

What is your view of the care the LORD has for us? Are you of the view that He only protects us from the outside dangers? What if we see that in His care for us the LORD will remove the authority within that does not align with Him and will rise up those within who do?

The LORD Consoles the Worry

I have a number of worries in my heart right now. I am having a hard time with some things and I need all the help I can get to deal with them and get through them.

“¹⁹When the cares of my heart are many,

your consolations cheer my soul.”

— Psalm 94:19 (ESV)

But, even as I have those worries, I know that the LORD will help me through them. The thing is that I am not aware of when His “consolations will cheer my soul”. God does not let us in on the timeline to His work. Only He knows all of that. I have only to trust that He will take care of things.

It is hard knowing that relief is in the cards, yet not knowing when that relief will come. I can only continue to follow Christ and do that which He has for me in this world. I have to put those “cares” aside to ensure that I am moving forward with the work of the LORD. I am not called to understand all, I am called to go and do and then the LORD will take care of the results that are to be in His plan for things.

When we are working for the LORD, our cares are put aside, being dealt with by the LORD on our behalf. As I sit here this morning studying and writing, I am not thinking of those worries. The LORD is working to guard me against them and keep me focused on Him. The “cares” are still there, they are just minimized in the moment and the longer I stick with the work of God, longer they stay at bay to the point that their hold on my slips away.

And there it is. God’s consolation comes in time as we place ourselves in His hands, doing His work. When I am focused on Him, all else goes away and the relief comes.

What is your approach when worry gets hold of you? Are you paralyzed by the worry and allow it to take you over? What if you were to dig into the work of the LORD and allow Him to console your soul over time by showing you that the worry is just not worth the time and effort you are spending?

God Sent Jesus to Demonstrate His Care

It is known that God cares for man. He made us in His image and gave us dominion over all the earth. He made us in that we were just below the angels in the grand scheme of things. We know this as it is written in His Word that is truth. Yet, the LORD found it important to do more for us. He sent Jesus to demonstrate to us that He cares for us.

“⁹But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” – Hebrews 2:9 (ESV)

I am glad to be reminded of the care God has for man. He sent Jesus, His only son, to die for me that I might not have to experience death for the sins I have committed. God did that for me. Jesus, where He came to live in this world with me, His brother, He came specifically to die for me. God demonstrated the ultimate caring for me in that Jesus came to die so that I would not have to.

I know what you might be thinking, but I am going to die, everyone dies. And yes, you are correct in that we all die physically in this world. The LORD sent Jesus that we might not die spiritually. My body will no longer be needed at some point and when that time comes, the LORD will take me to be with my brother, Jesus, in heaven where I will experience glory like I can only imagine. The LORD did that for me and for you, if we would only accept it and live it out.

“¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” – John 3:16-17 (ESV)

God demonstrates His love and care for you and me through is sending of Jesus for our sake. Jesus died so we would not have to.

What is your belief in the care of the LORD for you? Do you look at Him and wonder how He demonstrates His care for you? What if you looked at His sending Jesus to die for you as the ultimate demonstration of care for you?

God’s Care for Man

I am amazed that God cares for me. Grateful yes, but still amazed. Why you ask. Well, I am so small in the grand scheme of things.

“³When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

⁴what is man that you are mindful of him,

and the son of man that you care for him?”

— Psalm 8:3-4 (ESV)

Look at these verses and see the grandness of what God has created. And go to Genesis and read all that God created. And see how small we are. We are just sand when it comes to creation. In fact we were created from sand and yet we are God’s greatest creation.

“³¹And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.” – Genesis 1:31 (ESV)

We hold such a special place in the heart of God that once He had finished work on the sixth day He declared that it was “very good”. We were the last creation of God and once complete He was proud of all that He had done.

“⁵Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honor.

⁶You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;

you have put all things under his feet,”

— Psalm 3:5-6 (ESV)

God cares for man. He loves us and will do all to protect and comfort us. We are His children and just as I care for my sons, He cares for us, only greater still. As you continue in Psalm 8, we are just lower than the heavenly beings and we have been crowned with glory and honor. We have dominion over all things in this world and that is all due to the grace of the LORD.

God cares for me. He loves my with all His heart. So much so that He dwells in my heart and sent Jesus to die for me and sent the Holy Spirit to be with me always and guide me through this world. He cares for you as His finest and greatest creation.

What is your view of how God sees you? Do you feel as though you are just another creation that he put together? What if you were to review and know that the LORD cares for you as His greatest creation?