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“Deborah” Palin, Sarah of Arc, or merely a the curse of Isiaih 3:12 & the final triumph of feminism in the church & culture ???? The support of “big name” Christian leaders for McCain after they swore they would never do so has not surprised me at all. Their theology, their pragmatism, & their blatant partisan bias always leads them to ultimately support Republicans no matter who or what. However, I have been very shocked and profoundly disappointed by the advocates of patriarchy & Reformed men who have come around since Sarah Palin became his running mate (many repudiating years of their own teaching in doing so). This has split up men who have been allies & friends in the reformed world & particularly those who have taken a more Bible-based/ less modernist approach to the Christian life as it relates to family, gender, church, culture, etc. Men who have traditionally been allies have become opponents.
On one side you have Doug Phillips, Geoff Botkin, Voddie Bauchum, William Einwechter, Joe Morecraft, etc denouncing Christian support for Palin (ala John Knox). On the other, Gary Demar, Al Moeller, James McDonald, Doug Wilson, David Kotter, etc are lined up defending — just as articulately — the position that we must support McCain-Palin & doing so neither promotes feminism or undermines the Biblical family/ Church because the civil realm is different. Both argue that they are strictly trying to adhere to Biblical truth and are not influenced by political biases, an agenda, circumstances, fear, modernity, etc (both “sides” are mistaken about this.) One of the central themes of the “pro-Palin” advocates has been to bring up Deborah. Set aside for a moment the specific argument of whether the “rule” of Deborah was truly a positive thing & what the results of it were (many more capable than me have argued for & against this of late). Initially, I even read a couple of pieces likening Palin to not only Deborah, but the Biblical Ester as well. Believe it or not a few Christians were saying that a Vice President Palin could be like Queen Ester — whispering in a moderate President McCain’s ear & influencing him towards godly policy. When it was pointed out that Queen Ester was the King’s wife who was chosen for her beauty, not his running mate/ stand in ruler chosen for her political views/ strategic value, the these references were, thankfully, retreated from. During all this debate on Sarah Palin, I have been thinking much a particular issue. I am on a e-mail list of Christian Fathers and one of the men wrote the following which prompted me to address this.
Matthew Clark wrote : ” I don’t know, but I think Isaiah 3:12 makes it CRYSTAL clear how we are to understand the story of Deborah. An unqualified appeal to Deborah is the rallying cry of the evangelical feminists. To use the Deborah narrative as the foundation for an argument also ignores many of the basic requirements of sound Biblical hermeneutics, first of which is to let the clear and direct portions of the Sacred Text (like Isaiah 3:12) teach us about those other areas where the lessons are not so clear (such as Deborah).“ It can be, and has been, argued that the rule of Deborah was not a curse, but a blessing. And, therefore, support for a mother of five — including a handicapped newborn & a troubled teen — for the office of Vice President is the right thing to do, as long as she is “right on the issues”. I will save the specific arguments of whether Palin & McCain are truly with us on the issues for a later post. Also, I want to set aside the much more frightening non-political ramifications for now. Is this a sound, Biblical way to make decisions ? I think Matthew’s post makes a clear case that it is not & I want to say “Amen” to it and add to it, if that’s OK. Perhaps it is because we have named our most recent addition after him, but I think the story of King Josiah relates to this. The Isaiah passage that Matthew referenced says that it is a curse when women and children rule over you. While it is debateable whether Deborah’s rule was a good thing, it is unarguable that Josiah’s rule was a time of great blessing from God. God sent a Spititual revival and a cultural/ political reformation during Josiah’s rule. In fact, the Bible says that no king before or since has been greater. How does this relate ? Josiah was merely a little boy of 8 years when he became king. Does this, therefore, mean that we should support a 8 year old boy for vice president, or governor, or mayor as long as he is a professing Christian and right on the issues ? Of course not. Should we start seeking children to rule over us, since we have a plain example from the Bible of God blessing/ using just such a rule in a positive way & the Word openly giving such high praise (the “best ever”) to him as a king. Is this a straw man ? NO, it is not. It is a direct & equal analogy. The broad, plain principle that we should follow as NORMATIVE throughout the Old and New Testaments is that God ordained men to lead. God called us to select men with certain qualities to be in authority in the family, in the church, and in government. Normative is normative. Extroadinary is, well, extra ordinary. God uses extraordiary events throughout the Scripture to show His power, to bring Himself glory, and to teach His people. But He does not expect us to order our lives/ societies or make our decisions based on the extraordinary, but rather the broad, plain, normative commands. If we are going to support Palin because of the extrodinary Deborah in spite of the normative Isiaih 3 passage (and others), then it follows that we would also need to be willing to support a little boy for political office because of Josiah. If we are to be consistent, we must, likewise, be willing to bring a Jackass into our pulpits to speak beacause of Balam (no cute comments here). We must be willing to dance around half naked like fools and call it worship because David danced before the ark. We must be willing to marry prostitutes. (you get the picture). The possibilities and level of ridiculousness you could take this to are almost without limit. King Josiah and Deborah were extrordinary, and used by God. They are not the norm. The norm is that it is a curse to have women & children ruling over you, and we should, seek godly men to support for rulers — or support no one. |
