Joshua and Judges: Crossing the Jordan - Obeying God's delegated authority, part 7. Jos 1:16-18; 1Pe 3.

Title: Joshua and Judges: Crossing the Jordan - Obeying God's delegated authority, part 7. JOS 1:16-18; 1Pe 3.   

 

1PE 3:1 In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own [unbelieving] husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives,

 

1PE 3:2 as they observe your chaste [pure] and respectful behavior.

 

1PE 3:3 And let not your adornment be merely external —  braiding the hair [elaborate hairdo], and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses [apparel];

 

1PE 3:4 but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.

 

Now Peter uses the examples of the holy women of the past. They were not sporting halos. They were sinners all of them, but sinners saved by grace. Holy means that they set themselves apart as unto God and away from the common worldly type of behavior found in all other women. They obeyed their husbands because it was a command from their Lord to Whom they set their lives apart. It was not because of the husbands that  they did this, but as unto the Lord.

 

1PE 3:5 For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands.

 

They hoped in God - confidence that God's way is the only way to life.

 

1PE 3:6 Thus Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.

 

Sarah referred to him as lord in deference to her true Lord.

 

GEN 18:12

And Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?"

 

"If you do what is right" is literally "if you do good," the good being divine good or the will of God. If you do so you bear the image of Sarah as if you were one of her children.

 

"her children" - you resemble her or bear the image of her.

 

And they are to do so without fear. Again this is likely referring to fear that their husbands will never see Christ in them and that by obeying they are losing whatever edge they might get over their husbands by nagging and pestering them, as the other wives seem to get. Yet God wants us to perform good from proper motivation. As a daughter of God, called to imitate Him, you should desire your husband to do good from proper motivation as well. If a man does a thing that seems good, but has only done so because he was nagged and pestered into doing it, then his motivation is completely wrong.

 

Imagine in the situation written about here in 1Pe 3 that the unbelieving husband simply says he believes in Christ just to get his wife to stop pestering him, but he has not come to see that Christ is the Lord.

 

The helpmate is to help the husband lead and not to attempt to force him to lead. Don't let fear motivate you to motivate him.  

 

In that same idea, they might fear the reprisal by the other wives who view them as weak and exhort them to stand up for themselves and be like all the other wives. As we have noted many times, the world hates the believer who obeys God because they are so unlike the world and even expose the evil and selfishness of the world. There is also the fear of ever being in a bad marriage and never finding rest, when it is God that gives rest, even in the wilderness situation.

 

JOS 1:9

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

 

Now to the husbands who possess God's delegated authority.

 

1PE 3:7 You husbands likewise, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel, since she is a woman; and grant her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

 

"Likewise" is Peter tying together, for all the saints in the body of Christ:

 

1PE 2:17 Honor all men; love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.

 

And exhortation is specifically given to Christian household slaves in 2:18-25, and then to Christian wives in 3:1-6, and now in verse 7 to Christian husbands.

 

"You husbands, dwell with them in accordance with knowledge [gnosis] = an intelligent recognition of the marriage relation.

 

This means that the husband needs to intelligently understand how the woman is different from him and so comprehend her specific needs. He is to intelligently understand the different roles that God has Sovereignly delegated to the husband and wife so that he may not make it difficult for her to follow him and submit to him. As the Lord has made it a joy for the church to follow Him as her head so the Christian husband can do the same for his wife. In this way he truly shows her that he loves her as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. Any oaf can bark commands, but only a husband who is intelligent in the ways of God and honorable and faithful to those ways can truly lead his wife.

 

The word "honor" is the translation of the same Greek word in 1:19 translated "precious" as a description of the blood of Christ. Christian husbands are to deem their helpmates which God has given them precious, and are to treat them with honor as Christ would treat a member of the church.

 

So then the precious blood of Christ, which is what He gave for the church, is the type of honor that the Christian husband should have for His wife.

 

In this picture of Christ's relation to the church is the very heart of the good Christian husband. He gave Himself up for her but He still rules her, yet He rules her in the way of love and honors her. Every Christian husband should honor his wife as Christ honors the church.

 

Husbands should keep a special place of honor in their hearts for their wives, and that place of honor cannot be even approached by another woman. It is to be her place and her place alone. They should treat them with special deference, courtesy, respect, and kindness.

 

Then there is the number one question regarding this verse. What does God, through Peter, mean by weaker vessel?

 

The word "vessel" is the translation of a Greek word referring to a vessel used in the services of the temple (MAR 11:16), also to household utensils. The English word comes from a Latin word vasellum, the diminutive form of vas, a vase, the Latin words referring to a receptacle which covers and contains.

 

"Vessel" - from Latin vasellum (vase), referring to a receptacle which covers and contains. It refers to an instrument whereby something is accomplished.

 

It is in this sense that it is used here. The word is used of Paul who is called "a chosen vessel" (ACT 9:15), a chosen instrument of God, and it is used with the word "honor" for all believers who cleanse themselves from worldly things.

 

The husband is to dwell with the wife, remembering that she is an instrument of God as well as the husband, a child of God to be used by Him to His glory.

 

The husband must ever keep in mind that she is the weaker instrument of the two, not morally or intellectually, but physically.

 

"weaker" - physically. She is not intellectually or spiritually weaker for in the spiritual life there is no male or female. She is naturally a caregiver, more gentle than a man, more sympathetic, more empathetic, each of which are ties to her physical frailty.

 

That is not to mean that being a caregiver is weaker than being a provider. It means that her natural inclination to compassion for another and caring for another is linked to her smaller and frailer body. The man is more equipped for hard physical labor as well as physical punishment. He is physically stronger and this lends him to gravitate somewhat more towards physical sports, soldiering, hard work, being a protector and a provider. This doesn't mean that a woman will not like sports or physical labor, but she is generally not as inclined towards it as the man. The husband is to recognize this. She is different than him and so she needs things that he doesn't need, or doesn't need as much. She is more curious, more emotional, more sympathetic, empathetic, and more caring, especially for the weaker things in this world (people and animals). This is in general. There are exceptions, but the natural order is not defined by the few exceptions.

 

This is not to make the husband the arrogant one of the household by thinking he is better than his wife, he is not. The nature of his gender simply leads him into different ways, but in the category that really counts before God, spirituality, he is given no advantage. She is a fellow heir of life just as much as he is, and he must remember, "as you have done it to the least of these, My brethren, you have done it unto Me."

 

So she is different from the man in this way. However, she is just as called as the husband, has just as many spiritual assets and just as much intellectual ability.

 

This attitude toward the wife on the part of the husband therefore includes loving consideration of the wife in view of the fact that she is not physically as strong as he is.

 

The husband must not only have the knowledge of the roles of each in marriage but in their natural differences so that he is sensitive to her needs rather than a bumbling oaf.

 

1PE 3:7 You husbands likewise, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel, since she is a woman; and grant her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

 

The husband should pay due honor to the wife because she is a joint-heir together with him of the grace of life, eternal life, the gift of God.

 

That is, he is ever to remember that Christ died for her as well as for him. Her soul is just as precious in the sight of God as his is. This admonition was especially needed at the time when this letter was written because of the low place in general which was accorded womanhood. History records the fact that the woman was not generally held in high esteem nor given that respect, reverence, and honor that her sex demands of the man. Christian husbands today will do well to heed this admonition.

 

Remember, you are the Commander, congratulations, but she is the Chief or Master Sergeant and she should be honored as such.

 

The husband is to pay her honor so that his prayers are not hindered. This refers to satanic inroads into the spiritual life of the husband. When the spiritual life is hindered it is usually the prayer life that is the first to be severely diminished.

 

It is also true that when a believer is not operating according to the will of God that his prayers are often outside of the will of God. It is also true that such a believer does not have the capacity for many of the things he may pray for. If he is selfish, will he intercede continually for others? Will he have capacity for God's highest and best? If his life is lived outside the will of God then God has taken an opposing position to him, so regardless of what he prays for, it is God's priority to return His child into His perfect plan.

 

What good is answered prayer when the person has a mind saturated with cosmic thinking?