Last week, we talked about some important truths the Spirit of God gave through Paul to help us understand how we’re called to “behave in the household of God” (1 Timothy 3:15). One of those truths is that women are to receive teaching with a quiet and teachable spirit, submitting to God’s Word and to the elders in their local church. This is rooted in God’s good order and design, which we see in creation, and in the reminder of Eve’s deception when she stepped outside that design. Because of this, the role of teaching and leading the church is reserved for men who meet the qualifications laid out in 1 Timothy 3.
One big question we didn’t get to in the sermon still hangs in the air:
What do we make of the prophetesses we see in both the Old and New Testaments? And if God has used women to prophesy, could that be the same as preaching—or is there a key difference we’ve been missing?
1) One is reserved for qualified men, and the other is allowed with a qualification.
In a gathering of Christian men and women, the role of teaching is reserved for qualified men (1 Timothy 2:12; 3:2). Yet in 1 Corinthians 11:5, Paul makes it clear that women may pray and prophesy in the corporate gathering, provided their heads are covered—an outward sign of their inward submission to the spiritual authority of their husbands and the elders of the church. When we read these verses together, we see that one activity is prohibited while the other is permitted, which means there’s an important distinction between the two.
2) Prophecy was guided by the Spirit but does not carry the same authority as Scripture.
In Acts 21, Luke records three occasions where prophecies were made to Paul and his companions.
- Verse 4 Prophets from Tyre prophesied, “And through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go to Jerusalem”.
- Verse 11 Agabus made the following prophecy, “This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt”.
- Verse 9 Luke records, “Phillip the evangelist…had four unmarried daughters, who prophesied”.
A few observations to note. First, the context was not in a corporate gathering and Luke records that Phillip’s daughter’s prophesied, but he does not include their message. Second, the prophets from Tyre warned Paul not to go to Jerusalem and Agabus warned Paul what would happen to him in Jerusalem. Finally, and most notable, Luke records in verse 15, “After these days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem”. Paul told the Ephesian elders in the previous chapter, “I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.” (Acts 20:22-23).
Paul went to Jerusalem in obedience to the Spirit of God. The prophets from Tyre sought to prevent this knowing the dangers that awaited him. Paul instructed the Thessalonians “do not despise prophecy, but test everything, hold fast to what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21).
If prophecies do not carry the same authority as Scripture, then how were they helpful to the New Testament Church.
3) Prophecy unveils what is hidden.
Paul makes clear in 1 Corinthians 14:30 that all prophecy is based on a revelation and this is to be understood as revealing what was previously hidden. Think of Agabus’ prophecy to the church at Antioch in Acts 11 of a coming famine. The church was able to respond to this revelation of what was hidden by collecting an offering for the church at Jerusalem.
Wayne Grudem, prophecy is “something that God may bring to mind or impress on someone’s heart or thoughts in such a way that it is distinct from one’s own train of thought or that results in one’s having a clear sense that it is from the Lord.”
I’m reminded of an occasion many years ago at a previous church where the Spirit of God brought two individual members to the mind of one of the pastors. When the pastor called one of the two members, it was revealed that the two were engaged in adultery.
4) What about…
- Miriam (Exodus 15:20)
- Deborah (Judges 4:4)
- Aya (Isaiah 8:3)
- Huldah (2 Kings 22:14)
- Noadiah (Nehemiah 6:14)
- Anna (Luke 2:36)
- Philip’s Daughters (Acts 21:9)
- Jezebel (Revelation 2:20-21)
Not all prophetesses in Scripture were faithful—Noadiah and Jezebel openly opposed God. Aya was called a prophetess simply because she bore Isaiah’s son with a symbolic name. Others, like Deborah, served in unique historical moments. These examples are not the same as the teaching ministry of the Apostles (all men) or the pastoral office or teaching Scripture in the gathered church.
Like Christ, may we serve the Father with humility according to His perfect design—for the good of the Church and the glory of God.
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