"Women in ministry" refers to the various roles and contributions women play within religious contexts, encompassing spiritual guidance, leadership, teaching and service. Let me share with you a theological thought that has impacted me as of late. It is based on the book of Genesis 1-2 and the implications of chapter 3. Biblical scholars have seen the intertextual evidence within the final canonical form of the Pentateuch that the Garden of Eden is considered the original sanctuary on earth before the fall.
When Adam and Eve sinned against God, and their 'garments of light' were removed, they saw that they were naked. (See Genesis 3:10) The Bible then states that God clothed (labas) our first parents with "garments of skin" (kotnot). These Hebrew terms are the very terms used to describe God clothing the priest - Aaron and his sons! Dr. Jacques Doukhan, one of my former seminary professors shares this implication of the clothing . . .
"The rare occasions where God clothes humans in the OT always concerned the dressing of priests . . . Adam and Eve were, indeed, dressed as priests." - Flame of Yahweh, pg 58. Dr. Richard Davidson argues that, "The unmistakable and consistent linkage within the Hebrew Bible of this pair of terms - labas in the hip'il and kotnot - with the clothing of the priests, viewed in the larger setting of the Garden of Eden as a sanctuary, clearly points to Adam and Eve's inauguration as priests in the post fall world. - ibid.
What does this mean? Eve was implicitly seen, in the Genesis account, as a "priest" alongside Adam! There are therefore far-reaching implications regarding the divinely ordained sacerdotal status of women as well as men in the Biblical account of Genesis! In short, women in ministry is not just a byword. Not just a great idea. But it is divinely ordained by God! Today you will hear of local women in ministry and see for yourself . . . the divine ordained reality of God working in these women's lives!
So listen, learn, grow, and allow God to change your lives, thoughts, and actions today!
So, until the next time, this is Pastor Tello reminding you that thoughts do change lives!
Pastor Howard Tello