Welcome to answers from an apostolic faith.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.
Today we try to answer the question that asks why is it that women are called to submit to their husbands in the Orthodox ceremony of matrimony. Now, for us to be able to begin answering this question, it's important for us to be able to take our time and to be able to go all the way back in understanding what it is that truly happened within the fall of mankind that would lead the Orthodox Church to be able to make such a declaration.
So for us to do this, we will separate ours answers into two separate videos. Today's video will focus on the idea of understanding what happened to both man and woman, and to all of creation, when the fall of mankind happened in that garden with Adam and Eve for us to be able to answer this question. The first part of that question that we must tackle is to begin by asking this: Was this was God’s original plan? Was God's intention from the very beginning for man to have a certain authority over his wife and is this was part of His Divine plan for all creation from the very beginning? By asking that question: Is this God's plan and purpose from the very beginning, even before the fall?
For us to be able to answer this, we turn to Genesis, chapter 3, verse 16. Now, the context of what is happening here is that we just finished seeing woman disobeying the law and what happens in our mother Eve when she had that conversation of that deceitful serpent, she ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and then after eating and falling she then offers it to her husband who also eats of it and they both fall and they find themselves straying from the commandment of God. Now at this point, in Genesis chapter 3, verse 16, the Lord God is speaking to both Adam and Eve and now He turns his attention to Eve and He asks her: What is it that you have done, Eve? And she answers by saying that the serpent deceived her and she ate and she fell and then she offered to her husband and he also fell. And it is in this moment in verse 16 that the Lord God explains the natural consequences of what will happen to woman because of the fact that she fell into this sin. And He tells Eve:
'' 16 [from now on] ...your desire shall be to your husband [only] and he shall rule over you’'. (Genesis 3:16)
Now this is important for us to understand, because what we understand from this moment is that there is a shift. God is explaining the consequences of something that He never intended. As a matter of fact, we see this clearly in the explanation of St. John Chrysostom when he gives his commentary on Genesis. Now, when St. John Chrysostom is speaking, he
is portraying himself as if in understanding that he is trying to explain what the thoughts of God were when he was having this conversation with Eve. Let us read what St. John says. He says:
“In the beginning I created you equal in esteem to your husband, and my intention was that in everything you would share with him as an equal, and as I entrusted control of everything to your husband, so did I to you; but you abused your equality of status. Hence I subject you to your husband.” (St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Genesis 17.30-31, 36.2)
Now this is the understanding of St. John Chrysostom. What he's explaining here, he is drawing an image for us. What he is telling us is that God’s original plan was for man and woman, Adam and Eve, to be able to walk next to each other united in one flesh. They were then walking together, side by side holding hands. But now, ever since the fall, there is a commandment that is given: not that you should let go of each other’s hands, but that man should step up and lead while the woman takes a step back and follows his lead. No longer do they stand side by side. They stand still united and unseparated, but with man having a pace that is a little bit faster than hers in order to lead the way. Now why is it that God would ask Adam to do this? This is the next part of the question.
For us to understand why it is that God would call Adam to be able to rule over his wife and why God would ask Eve to be able to submit and for her desire to be only to her husband, we must understand the proper meaning of this word: rule. Now, in Genesis, chapter 3, verse 16, when he says “and your husband shale rule over you” the original Hebraic word here is mashal. The word mashal in and of itself is a word that expresses not necessarily a notion of power and authority towards someone who is a subordinate, but on the contrary, what it explains is that through leadership, that you make something like or that you assimilate the other to you.
So what is happening here? God is telling Eve that your husband will make you like him, that he will lead you in a direction where the both of you follow together and you are unseparated. Now for us to understand this idea of not being separated, again, let us understand what happened at the fall. We see an image of Eve away from her husband speaking to the serpent on her own and in that notion she falls and then she brings that fruit to her husband and when she comes back to him, instead of helping him and being that helper that God created her to be, she is now offering to him the fruit of disobedience. So what is happening? What we are seeing is God trying to reinstate the original purpose of man and woman being together, that they both walk together with one purpose, with one will for the sake of knowing Him. Now are we to simply say that it is only woman who fell? No, of course not! Adam also is mistaken in this story.
So Adam also has a part responsibility in what it is that we see today in the roles and responsibilities of both the husband and the wife. Now, we must understand: Adam was given
this responsibility of making sure that he was the head, exactly like Christ is the head of the Church today. So when God institutes this rule and this responsibility that is given to man now to be able to walk before his wife and for the wife to be able to walk with him and yet be ruled over her and for her to be able to be submissive, what we understand here is that God is trying to re-establish the order that he originally intended. Again let's turn to St. John Chrysostom. Let's see how it is that St. John understands what happens here, and again in this commentary, what we see is St. John speaking as if it was God speaking to Adam. He says the following:
“After all, you are the head of your wife [here speaking to Adam], and she has been created for your sake; but you have inverted the proper order: not only have you failed to keep her on the straight and narrow but you have been dragged down with her, and whereas the rest of the body should follow the head, the contrary has in fact occurred, the head following the rest of the body, turning things upside down.” (St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Genesis, 17.18.7)
So what we see here is St. John Chrysostom explaining the fact that in the fall everything was flipped upside down. It was the man who was supposed to hold his wife dear and close to him and walk with her in the knowledge of God and she was supposed to be his helper; she was supposed be the helper who supported him in growing in the knowledge of God. And yet things were inverted. He was not leading her; it was her who was leading him and yet again she was not helping him: on the contrary, she was the reason of his fall. And now God tries to reinstitute a new order; an order where he says let things be the way that I originally intended them to be, and he gives us the perfect example of how a husband should be when Christ became man and He became the Bridegroom of His wife, His bride, the Church.
For us to understand that, we will see it in a separate video when we discuss what St. Paul the Apostle has to say about Christ the Bridegroom and the wife being exactly like the Church, who is the bride. For now, we have come to a conclusion where we understand what it is that had happened in the fall and how it is the fall has distorted the original plan of God for both man and woman.
Remember: Know your faith, live your faith, and teach your faith. And to God be the glory now and forever and unto the ages of all ages. Amen.