Chapter 14 - The Curse of Eve is Broken !
This is a radical new way to look at the Bible, and it frees the Eucharist from the prison of "priestly authority". The Eucharist becomes the great eraser of any denominational or gender-based superiority. It restores every man and woman to the rightful relationship with Almighty God. The Eucharistic Adorer is not just a servant ...
"If any man serve me, let him follow me ; and where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my Father honour." John 12 : 26
... but a servant whom the Lord calls his friend.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants ; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth, but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you." John 15 : 13-15
In the book of Psalms, the authors use the word "serve / servant" 46 times, and except for one occasion, the “service” is always done in honor of the Lord. It is always in reference to God. But in His last evening with His beloved Apostles and close disciples, Jesus becomes the author of a brand new Psalm, a radical new way of looking at servanthood through the eyes of God.
"But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you ; but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister ; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant ; even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." Mathew 20 : 25-28
It is God Himself who is saying, the way the world operates, is not My way. I have come to flip everything upside down. I come to make servants into kings. "For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth." Luke 22 : 27 We will never look at a servant the same way. We will never look down on anyone again.
"So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord ; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him." John 13 : 14-16
Peter displays the difficulty we as humans have in accepting this teaching, as many did even at the time of Jesus, that we will become rulers of the world by our lowliness. The apostle, who boldly promised he would follow Jesus even unto death, failed to see the destiny that was reserved for Jesus, and the pride of Peter became his fall. Peter was convicted by ... a servant girl. This was so intentional on Jesus' part, "He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. And he gave some, apostles, and some, prophets, and some, evangelists, and some, pastors and teachers." Ephesians 4 : 10-11
Jesus is exalted above the highest heaven, because he descended to the lowest depths, to fulfill the ministry in which He was serving - Savior of the world. And in so descending, He is able to serve the servants, filling with grace those who will join His ranks, each in their own capacity.
But Paul ?? what was your reasoning in legalizing the five-fold ministry, if your definition of authority is exclusive to men and your assemblies silence women ? Paul says,
"Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety." 1 Timothy 2 : 11-15
And here arose another epiphany, perhaps the most incredible one of all, provided by the Holy Spirit. Paul does well to evoke the nature of Eve, when referring to the role of women in the Church. Through this choice I believe the Bible shows us explicitly where God places women in the Church and in His Kingdom. Paul is referring in his letter to Timothy to this passage in Genesis :
"And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." Genesis 2 : 21-23
God made Eve because "it is not good that the man should be alone," so He created a "helper",
‘ê·zer, עֵ֖זֶר
The origin of this word is the root "azar", to "help / support". There is much, much more to this word than it appears. Here is one of two victories for women, provided by God Himself. What Paul intended for silence, God transcended for the exaltation of women. Let's find out.
I heard this first from Jennie Allen, a Christian author in the USA, who helped me to understand, that this word "helper" in Hebrew is a very strong word, and in fact the one in the position of "Ezer" is there to give their support in a way that favors the other to accomplish a task that otherwise would have been impossible, or very difficult. The "Ezer" is the key to successful teamwork. It can describe God, or a human, coming to the aid of someone facing an enemy, or a difficult task. However, the word "Ezer" has no connotation of inferiority, as when God helps Judah, i.e. Deuteronomy 33 : 7. Or in this Psalm, God "shall deliver the needy when he crieth ; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy." Psalm 72 : 12-13
Nor does it denote a biological inferiority in the case of a human helping another human, i.e. Ezekiel 12 : 14. In light of the teachings from Jesus Himself on the new role of "servant" which He gives to us, the Hebrew language helps clarify Jesus' own teaching that the one who serves and helps, is the superior one ! "And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all." Mark 9 : 35
So already, we can see there are differences in the concept of the hierarchical relationship between man and women in the kingdom as Jesus sees it, versus how Paul perhaps suggests it. It's not so black and white as the superficial reading of Paul would lead us to believe. Paul himself states, the New Testament servant is different, not because we are better, but because "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4 : 13
The second epiphany is this - Paul seems to require that because Eve came second in creation history, she should have a subordinate authority to man, and, be silent. Here is the mega epiphany which Holy Spirit gave me, to allow Paul to speak, but allow God to hide the key to the mystery - in the very words of Paul himself ! Allow me to reveal this great revelation.
Paul bases his gospel on the role of "Eve", that because she is the “helper”, formed after Adam to help him in Eden, she would be the prototype for all women to come. It is interesting that Paul bases his New Testament gospel on an Old Testament concept. The authoritative Bible has included these letters of Paul, and God has ratified it, by displaying His authorship in the King James bible. We can, and most certainly must trust the Bible as the word of God, inerrant, and useful for all teaching, correction, and inspiration. So then why did God allow Paul to depict the woman as an inferior servant, when Jesus taught otherwise ?
It was a set-up. Remember, God operates via ongoing revelation, and He shrouds His Kingdom in mysteries until the appropriate time for His plans to be revealed. We've come a long way from Eden and the Law of Moses, and it's been over 2000 years since Jesus died on the Cross, but God is still talking. What Paul meant for the subordination of women because of Eve, God transformed into the exaltation of women beginning with ...
... Mary.
Paul categorizes spirit-filled women of the New Testament as remaining under the curse of Eve !! Paul blatantly shows that he stuck women in the Old Testament vision of fallen creation. He ignores the revelation of the mystery ...
... of the Virgin birth of Jesus.
Mary is the beginning of the liberation of all women from the curse of Eve. Remember that in Genesis, Eve "shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man," Genesis 2 : 23 Not so, in the Gospel ! Not so !
No longer is woman taken out of Man. Jesus was taken out of Mary. The Lamb of God was taken out of the womb of a virgin. "Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man." 1 Corinthians 11 : 9 Mary was created, so that God could one day be conceived in the womb of a Virgin. At that point, the female race was delivered from the curse of Eve.
Mary's own words are proof of the newness of woman. She says to the angel, “I never had any relations to a man”. Mary is saying - “I don't come after man. I come with him.” She is saying, “I am not a daughter of Adam. I am a daughter of God.”
Women don't come second anymore. They come ... together.
"Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God." 1 Corinthians 11 : 11-12
I believe that God wanted to hide the key from Paul, because God was orchestrating it to be a set-up. God wanted the 2000 years subsequent to the Incarnation of Jesus to be a time for the wheat and the tares to grow up simultaneously. Men would establish their domineering authority in man-made church buildings that exclude women on the basis of a vocation, the priesthood, that doesn't even exist anymore in the New Testament. And furthermore, the institution forbids all people the right to serve the Eucharistic meal, which doesn't even have anything to do with the priesthood.
Brothers and Sisters, now we can see the tares. In building His Temple, God has proven Himself to be an architectural genius. Already we know, that the "stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner ; this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." Mathew 21 : 42-43
We can see Jesus already giving a wink to all women in this passage, in which He clearly is referring to Himself as the cornerstone, but is prophesying to the female population of most religious denominations that will silence women. "Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood ; that our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones." Psalm 144 : 11-12
Jesus knows that the Church will fall prey to the myth of male domination. He foresees it happening. And He allows it, like He allowed the tree of knowledge of good and evil to be placed in the middle of the garden of Eden, and for the Law to be given to Israel, and for the Cross to crucify Jesus. These things take place, so that God can display the truth, the hidden things of our hearts that come out.
Already, the Psalmist was releasing the cry of the women silenced inside the Temple of Jesus. "But Thou, O Lord, shalt endure forever ... Thou shalt arise ... Thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof." Psalm 102 : 12, 13, 14 I love the image of all these little stones, scattered all over the earth, neglected and half-buried in the dirt and dust, and then Jesus comes all along and begins gathering them to build up the walls of His Temple.
I mean you, of course, you the reader. Every man and woman who has been denied the Eucharist, you are the stones. The Eucharist then emerges as the glory that rests upon all God's children living in exile on this earth, who understood the blessing, and reap already great rewards, bearing eternal fruit ... "And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me, that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Luke 22 : 29-30
It is those who seek Jesus above all, whose intimacy with God will conquer the devil, and the world. Once Holy Spirit taught me this, I gained an even deeper appreciation for the Canticle sung by Mary, who said,
"My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things ; and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath shewed strength with his arm ; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things ; and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy ; as he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever." Luke 2 : 46-55
