WHO IS THE PRIEST OF THE HOME? by Barbara Collins

Is there any scriptural basis for the husband serving as priest of the home? If so, where? Have I totally missed it? Or, is this principle birthed in man's traditional mind? If so, and we've got the order in the home mixed up, then that error will carry over into the local church as well. During a time when there was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in his own eyes, the idolatrous Micah committed a sacrilegious act by consecrating a young Levite to become his household priest. (1) This single Old Testament example of a priest in the home has nothing to do with the subject at hand since the only other family members mentioned are his sons, excluding his wife. More importantly, Micah is disobeying God's law. However, it remains the only instance in God's Word that speaks of a priest in the home. In the New Testament, Peter writes to Gentile Christians about a holy priesthood that offers up spiritual sacrifices as well as a royal priesthood that is a chosen generation and a holy nation - the Lord's own special people. (2) In neither verse does he specify gender. The apostle John writes of Jesus Christ who "made us kings and priests to His God and father" who "shall reign on the earth."(3) John, too, makes no gender distinction. Again, we ask the question "Was the doctrine of the husband as 'priest of the home' spawned out of man-made tradition?” Certainly, we acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as the great High priest over all members of ahousehold. However, some take the major "chain- of-command" scripture in I. Cor. 11:3, which says, "But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God," and use it to support the subordination of woman to man which God did not ordain.

Genesis 3:16b (4) is merely the fruit of sin. The root of subordination is found in rabbinical and pagan teaching particularly after the Babylonian captivity, not in the Scriptures. If one believes in the subordination of the Son of God, then no problem exists in assigning woman a subordinate role in the home. However, the truth is that the Son of God is not less than His Father in any way. Indeed, He "did not consider it robbery to be equal with God." (5) The hierarchal view supporting male headship that gives man authority over woman is reinforced by a twisted concept of the meaning of "head," not only in I Cor. 11:3 but also in Ephesians 5:23 as another example. The most common Greek word for "head" is "kephale." Alvera Michelsen captures these rarely considered thoughts. Those translators who wrote the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, rarely chose "kephale" when ro'sh carried the idea of authority, realizing that kephale did not carry the same "leader" or "superior rank" meaning for "head" as did the Hebrew word ro'sh. In seven New Testament passages where "head" is used figuratively, Paul took pains to use different words than "head" (kephale) when the Hebrew word for head implied "superior to" or "authority over." Paul didn't use "kephale" when the Hebrew word for "head," which is "ro'sh," depicted authority but rather chose the word "archon" for leader or ruler as in Romans 13:3 or exousia (authority) in Romans 13:1-2. Many Christians have been taught that "kephale" means authority rather than “source or beginning or completion.” For a more thorough study of "head," please refer to Berkeley and Alvera Mickelsen's article on our website entitled, "The Head of the Epistles.”

Can we agree that man was the source or beginning of woman in that woman came forth from the side of Adam? (6) Can we agree that the Father was the source of the Son and that our very life is dependent upon the Son as our source? (1 Cor.8:6) The whole doctrine (and doctrine it is!) of subordination diminishes the Son of God, making Him less than the Father. Believing this heresy denies the equality of the Triune Godhead as well as the equality of man and woman. The perfect unity that existed between the Father and the Son caused Jesus to say to Philip: "He who has seen Me has seen the Father. . ."(7) If we falter in our understanding of this root principle of equality, we will surely slip easily into patriarchy and/or the complementarian persuasion that relegates woman to a subordinate position with man, the superior. When the Bible tells us "God created man in His own image. . .male and female He created them." He is saying that He created them equal. (9) Yes, God did "form" (elaborate) Adam first, but both were created simultaneously. (10) When God said He would make a "help meet" for Adam, He was saying that He would make a helper comparable to, corresponding to, or suitable for Adam. (Gen. 2:18). The Hebrew word for "meet" means to aid, protect, surround or succour. This help that woman would provide for him is superior, not inferior help according to the Old Testament. Of the twenty-one times the word "help" is used, sixteen times it refers to divine help. What a beautiful example of the spirit of a comparable one who comes alongside man to surround and succour him with aid. Could it be that the Holy Spirit, who is called the Helper, is a role model for woman in her coming alongside man and surrounding him with aid in loving harmony? Paul's instruction in Ephesians 5 doesn't give a Christian husband the role of chief honcho of the home, having the final word on all family decisions. The husband is not given the responsibility for governing his wife. Even when these verses are interpreted to mean that encouragement is given for the husband to act in a Christian way in exercising his authority, and the woman is urged to voluntarily subordinate herself; you still end up with inequality and what has become known as "patriarchy." Actually, the equality of husbands and wives is revealed in verses 15-33. One of the evidences of being "filled with the Spirit" is the " submitting to one another in the fear of God." In v. 22, "submit" or "be subject to" does not appear in the original Greek. It says only "wives to your husbands" and refers to the same kind of mutual submission demanded of all Christians in verse 21. In her book, Equal to Serve, Gretchen Hull points out that in the ancient world, "submit" could also mean "identify with" or "become one with." In that context, Hull notes that the passage then emphasizes the couple's oneness as they identify with each other's interests as they would with Christ's. Additionally, in Eph. 5:25, Paul told the husbands to love their wives "just as Christ also loved the Church." What? Are women to receive the same grace of God that men receive? The concept of sacrificial self-giving so that a spouse can achieve full potential has been the role that society has traditionally given to the wife. In radical departure, Paul gives it to the husband. (11) When Paul told the men to "love their own wives as their own bodies," he followed that statement with "he who loves his wife loves himself." (v. 28) Paul is telling the husband to nourish and cherish his wife as he does his own body. These verses sound the gavel, not on gender inequality as we have been taught, but on gender equality - equally human, redeemed, and free. As co-equals and partners in that holy, royal priesthood, both husband and wife are priests in the home seeking God's will in all family decisions and His will for their children ______(1) Judges 17:1-13. (2) I. Peter 2:5, 9. (3) Rev. 1:6; 5:10. (4) Gen 3:16b "...your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you." For a full discussion of this verse see God's Word to Women by Katherine Bushnell Lessons 16-19 (5) Phil. 2:6. (6) I. Cor. 11:12. (7) I. Cor. 8:6 (8) John 14:9. (9) Gen. 1:27. (10) I. Tim. 2:13 (11) Mickelsen, “The Head of the Epistles.”.