‘The Bible says a woman is worth two goats and a donkey.’ This is the comment that inspired this series of posts as well as the title. As I mentioned in part 1 of A Couple of Goats, the Bible does not in fact say anything about a woman being worth any kind of livestock. Or does it?

Wait actually it does. Now that I think about it, it say she is worth a lamb. In fact she is worth The Lamb of God. The Lamb of God, is Jesus. Jesus is God’s only Son. So a woman is worth God’s only Son.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” -John 3:16

“The World” includes women. It includes all of us, but it definitely includes women. The truth is, no other religious text in the world elevates women like the Bible does. God saw fit to include women like Sarah, Ruth, and Mary in the Messianic genealogies (the line of Christ). The Bible calls out numerous female heroes like, Esther, Deborah, Jael, and Rahab the prostitute. Consider the following verses from the Gospel of Luke:

“When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.” … Then he [Jesus] turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.” – Luke 7:36-39 & 44-47

This is one of the few stories which is shared in all four Gospels. Matthew and Mark add this comment from Jesus;

“Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” – Mat. 26:13 & Mark 14:9

What honor Jesus has given this woman. He never said anything like that about anyone, not even his disciples.  Another example of  Jesus honoring women was right after He rose from the dead.  He made his first appearance to a group of women. In their culture, women could not even be called as a credible witness in a court of law, but Jesus honored them as first witness to His resurrection.
Finally, consider this verse in the first chapter of the first book of the Bible:

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. – Genesis 1:27

God created woman in His own image.  He didn’t just arbitrarily make a creature; He gave her His image.  Now you can speculate as to full implications of that verse, but let me tell you one thing it definitely means.  To be born a woman is a sacred thing.  Her sex is sacred. This distinction is unique to the Judeo-Christian worldview and it’s fulfilment is only reached in the Christian.

This shared image or likeness with God means she was made for a relationship with God. Now because of her sin (for we all sin -Rom 3:23) her relationship with her Creator was broken. Because He loved her so much, He was willing to sacrifice His Son on a cross to mend that relationship (Rom 4:25). And as a sign to affirm this, Jesus was raised from the dead after three days, giving her the hope of eternal life (John 11:25). If she but believes in this, she will live forever in the presence of her loving Creator.

Today’s subject is Ignorance
As with context, Biblical ignorance is rampant among non-believers and believers alike.  The Bible may be the best selling book of all time, but I wonder if it is not the most unread.  It is so easy to quote something out of context when you haven’t read that from which you are quoting.  I suspect that most people who abuse the Bible, when challenged, will probably tell you that they are simply quoting something they heard from someone else.  And those that have cracked open the Word of God, probably have only read a handful of verses from here and there and never read a whole chapter, a whole book, much less the whole Bible.

For those who have not read it, let me tell you what it is.  The Bible is a collection of 66 books divided into two sections; an old and a new testament.  (A testament is an agreement or a promise.) These books were penned from about 1500 B.C. to 95 A.D., a period of more that one thousand five hundred years.  There were at least 40 different people who wrote these books.  The writers included shepherds, landowners, a tent maker, prophets, scholars, a doctor, priests, soldiers, a cup bearer, fishermen, and kings. It was written primarily in three languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek) on three continents (Africa, Asia, and Europe). And the singular message of this book from beginning to end is the redemption of mankind by its Saviour, Jesus the Christ. It’s amazing. It really is.

Like any book, these books should be read contiguously from beginning to end, except perhaps, the book of Psalms and the book of Proverbs; these should at least be read contiguously by chapter. What author in the world expects his or her readers to start reading in the middle or the end and only a sentence or phrase at a time?

But mainly, the underlying point is that a book is meant to be read and the Bible is no exception. Which writer (except perhaps me) expects their works to be left unread? So if you have one, for what are you waiting? I know they look pretty sitting on your shelf, but let me assure you it is far more beautiful on the inside. Actually there is beauty and terror, love and hate, poetry and prophecy, life and death and the death of death. You will never read a more fascinating book than the Bible.

For those who have read, let me apologize for coming off the way I am. If you continue to read my posts, you will recognize a common theme. Read and Pray, Read and Pray, Read and Pray…. This is probably why I have no friends. But if you have read the Bible, read it again. I won’t let a day go by without reading His Word. If I go blind, I’ll have it read to me. If I lose my hearing too, I’ll learn Braille.  Every time I go through it I learn something new.  This is the only way to combat Biblical ignorance.

Listen.  I’ll be the first to admit that I am not the sharpest tool in the shed. But there is no better way for me to flaunt my ignorance than by quoting from or voicing my opinion about a piece of literature I have not read.  In a situation like this it is far better to keep my opinions to myself.

“Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.” – Proverbs 17:28

One of my favourite verses.

So probably next week I’d like to address the comment that started this post in the first place.  Let’s find out exactly what a woman is worth.  Stay tuned for A Couple of Goats part 4.

So today I want to talk about CONTEXT
This is something that non-believers and Christians are both guilty of abusing all the time. Christians use it of course to defend their position. In effect they try to make God say what they want Him to say. A great example of this is found in Exodus 21:24 “an eye for an eye…” We’ve all heard this. It’s justification for us to get even with whoever offended us, right? Wrong! First of all this was written in a historical context. This is meant to be read descriptively not prescriptively. Second, this is legislative or judicial. This is not a free pass for revenge. Taken in context this had to do with the fair treatment of an offence that was properly judged by the Hebrew’s governing body. Today in the United States, we still use this to deal with capitol crimes in 32 of our 50 states.

However, historical context aside, Jesus raised the bar for believers. Consider His words in these verses:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” – Matthew 4:38-42

Christians, this is a command. You don’t get a pass on this one. So taken in context what does “an eye of an eye” mean? Well, if you obey the Word of God it means be gracious, merciful, and loving to everyone, even your enemies.

Taken out of context you can make any piece of literature say what ever you like. Take this example from Charles Darwin’s book “The Origin of Species,” Chapter 6:

“To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.”

Whoa! Wait. Did Darwin just say that even an eye could not be formed by the processes of natural selection!?! Mr. Evolution himself? Well that is what it says because this isn’t the whole context. He goes on to defend his theories in the following passages and in fact the whole book is about how eyes and everything else are formed by natural processes.

So this brings me to my next topic; Biblical ignorance.  Look for A Couple of Goats part 3 where we will dive deep into that vast pool of the uninformed.