Fivefold Ministry Gifts
PART ONE
Ephesians 4:11 (7KB)
11 In giving ministry gifts, He gave some as Apostles, and some as Prophets, and some as Teachers and some as Pastors and some as Evangelists,
A list of Fivefold ministry gifts is found in the above scripture and these ministry gifts are:
1. Apostles
2. Prophets
3. Teachers
4. Pastors
5. Evangelists
1 Corinthians 12:28 (7KB)
28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers…
The abbreviated scripture above lists the first three ministry gifts in order of importance. These are the Apostle which brings divine order and the Prophet who brings holiness and the fear of the Lord and the Bible Teacher who brings revelation of God’s word. The church is built upon the foundation of divine order of the Apostle and holiness and fear of the Lord of the Prophet and revelation of God’s word provided by the teacher.
Below is a general description of the Fivefold ministry offices and their function.
1. Apostles: They set things in order within the church according to the Divine Order of God.
2. Prophets: They expose and rebuke sin and bring a fear of the Lord and holiness to the church.
3. Teachers: They have special gifts to teach the word of God with clarity and feed the sheep by bringing revelation of God’s word.
4. Pastors: They are also called elders or bishops and they provide oversight over a congregation as a shepherd who watches over a flock of sheep.
5. Evangelists: Their gift is for the unbelievers and they have a divine authority to get people saved and most often they will have signs and wonders and gifts of healing manifest in their ministry (which is needed to show the unbelievers that God is real).
Apostles
An apostle can often do all of the other Fivefold ministry gifts if the need arises for it. This was evident in the Apostle Paul in that he could win souls like and Evangelist, he would rebuke sin like a Prophet, he could teach like a Teacher and guide a congregation like a Pastor. But the gift and operation of an apostle can be as varied as the men who have this gift.
In the case of Apostle Paul, he was pioneering churches in regions that never had the gospel before and so he was gifted to do everything as one-man having all five gifts wrapped up into one person. But as the gospel advanced in the following generations there have been apostles who were not primarily focused on pioneering new works but rather strengthening the works that already exist. This is done in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit in those regions where there are many churches already and there is no need for new ones. In such a case the Apostle will stop planting new churches and be busy in the task of establishing and strengthening those that already exist. One who is a true missionary should primarily have a gift of Apostle so that he can do the work of the ministry related to raising up new works in various countries.
Acts 15:36 (NASB)
36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.”
After Apostle Paul had fully preached the word of God in every region then his ministry took on a different approach as he went back again to the churches that he had planted to see how they were doing. If a region is not in need of new churches an Apostle will switch from planting churches and to confirming them.
Acts 15:41 (NASB)
41 And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
The Apostle Paul strengthened the churches by his gift of an Apostle. The fruit of Apostle can generally be seen in the fact that he can put things in order within the church.
1 Corinthians 11:34 (NKJV)
34 But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. And the rest I will set in order when I come.
Apostle Paul said that he would set things in order when he came and that is a description of what the office of Apostle does. The Apostle sets things in order within the church wherever disorder exists.
1 Corinthians 4:17 (NASB)
17 For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church.
Apostle Paul taught everywhere in every church and put things in order according to the divine order of God.
1 Corinthians 7:17 (NASB)
17 Only, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this manner let him walk. And so I direct in all the churches.
Apostle Paul would give directions to all of the churches that he founded so that they would know the proper protocol or divine order of God. When the churches are set in order according to the divine order of God that is when an atmosphere of order is created where the gifts of the Holy Spirit will operate. The Holy Spirit is grieved by all disorder and when He is grieved His presence will not be manifest. It is the job of the Apostle to set things in order in a concise manner and give directions to the church.
1 Corinthians 16:1 (NASB)
1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also.
The Apostle Paul also gave directions concerning the collection of money because all aspects of church function are to be guided by Divine Order or God’s protocol. It was the job of the Apostle to put these things in order and the same directions that Apostle Paul gave to the church at Galatia were also given to other churches including the church at Corinth. Even today the teaching of Apostle Paul continues to live on through his letters that were preserved and reprinted and which make up much of what is now called the New Testament. The New Testament teaching of Apostle Paul contains the Divine Order of God that is necessary for churches to follow if they wish to have the presence of the Holy Spirit manifest and to operate in spiritual gifts.
Prophets
The primary function of a Prophet is to expose sin and this can be seen in the operation and function of the Old Testament Prophets.
2 Samuel 12:7-9 (NASB)
7 Nathan then said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul.
8 ‘I also gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these!
9 ‘Why have you despised the word of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon.
Nathan the Prophet was sent to David and he exposed and rebuked his sin by divine revelation. A Prophet will often know about the sins of others and this is given to him by divine revelation by the operation of the Gift of Word of Knowledge that is a knowing of information in the present.
2 Kings 5:25-27 (NASB)
25 But he went in and stood before his master. And Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant went nowhere.”
26 Then he said to him, “Did not my heart go with you, when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to receive money and to receive clothes and olive groves and vineyards and sheep and oxen and male and female servants?
27 “Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.
The Prophet Elisha knew about the sin of his servant Gehazi who lied and obtained clothing and money under false pretenses and he exposed this sin that was done in secret.
Acts 11:28 (NASB)
28 One of them named Agabus stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would certainly be a great famine all over the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius.
At times a Prophet may operate in a Word of Wisdom that predicts the future events that are to come. A Prophet named Agabus knew in advance by revelation of God’s Spirit that a great famine would certainly come and this came to pass in the reign of Claudius Caesar. The word of wisdom can operate through a Prophet as the need for it arises but normally, they will expose sin both in individuals or corporately and they can rebuke that sin and call people to repentance.
Teachers
1 Corinthians 12:28 (NASB)
28 And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.
The bible Teacher is listed as third in order of importance for their ministry in the church. They are gifted to expound the truth of God’s word and this is not something that depends on natural education of the mind. They have supernatural equipment to bring revelation of God’s word that does not come from natural study alone but revelation imparted to them by the Holy Spirit.
Pastor
The word “Pastor” can be used interchangeably with the word “Shepherd” because it means to give oversight over a congregation like a shepherd provides oversight over a flock of sheep. Pastor is also called elder or bishop and means the same thing.
Jeremiah 23:1-2 (KJV)
1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
2 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.
The term “Pastor” is used here in the same context as that of a shepherd who watches over a flock. The term “Pastor” is derived from the word pasture which is a field of green grass were a flock of sheep graze. So, Pastor is related to pasturing sheep or feeding the sheep and is synonymous with the word shepherd. This role speaks of giving oversight over a congregation as a shepherd would do in tending a flock of sheep and watching out for their welfare.
Evangelist
Acts 21:8 (NASB)
8 On the next day we left and came to Caesarea, and entering the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, we stayed with him.
Philip was called an Evangelist and as such he was gifted in winning souls to the Lord.
Acts 8:5-7 (NASB)
5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them.
6 The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing.
7 For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed.
Philip was gifted as an Evangelist and he had an anointing and supernatural ability to proclaim Christ to the unbelievers. Often the Evangelist will also have signs and wonders accompany their ministry as this is what God uses to prove Himself real to the unbelievers. There were demon-possessed people who were set free and paralyzed and lame were healed. The gifts of healing confirm the Evangelist and cause unbelievers to accept Christ.
Ministry Gifts Given by God
The Fivefold ministry refers to those who have a calling of God from their mother’s womb in any of the five offices of Apostle, Prophet, Teacher, Pastor or Evangelist.
Jeremiah 1:4-5 (NASB)
4 Now the word of the LORD came to me saying,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
The Prophet Jeremiah was born with the gift of Prophet and the Lord said that before he was formed in the mother’s womb he was already consecrated and appointed by God as a Prophet.
Galatians 1:15 (NASB)
15 But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased
The Apostle Paul wrote that he was set apart even from his mother’s womb and called to be an Apostle. This can be said of any of the Fivefold ministry offices because these are callings from God and they are present even before a man is born into this world.
Galatians 1:13-14 (NASB)
13 For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it;
14 and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.
Prior to salvation Paul was a religious zealot and he persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. But when he was saved on the road to Damascus, he came to know and understand that he had been called as an Apostle since his birth. Men cannot choose a Fivefold ministry gift of their own accord but they are simply born with it. When they are saved, they will come to realize their gift and will learn how to flow in it.
Luke 6:44 (NASB)
44 “For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush.
Jesus said that a man is known by his fruit the same way that a tree is known by its fruit. If the tree produces oranges, they will call it an orange tree and if the tree produces apples it will be called an apple tree. In similar fashion a man who has been born with a ministry gift can be identified by the fruit that he produces. An Apostle can bring order to the churches so his ministry fruit can include divine order. A Prophet can bring holiness and fear of the Lord to the church so holiness and fear of the Lord are fruits of a Prophet. A bible Teacher has divine enablement to teach so revelation of God’s word is a fruit of a Teacher. A Pastor can provide oversight for a congregation like a shepherd who guides the sheep. Oversight is a fruit of a person with a ministry gift of a Pastor. An Evangelist has divine authority to win souls so salvation among unbelievers is a fruit of an evangelist.
Dual Gifts
Acts 13:1 (NASB)
1 Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
While this scripture can most certainly apply to those who have individual gifts of Prophet and also individual gifts of Teacher it can also be applied to a dual-gift of Prophet/Teacher. There are men who may be gifted with more than one ministry gift and it can be seen in the fruit that they produce.
I know of a man who had a dual gift of Prophet/Teacher and as such he has the fruit of both ministry gifts evident in his life. The Word of Knowledge would operate in his life and ministry and he can expose individuals who are living in secret unrepentant sin and at times he may even expose the sin of an entire congregation. When he exposed individuals, who were living in unrepentant sin he did so in front of the entire congregation and this produced a fear of the Lord. People repented and forsook secret sins because they did not want to be exposed in similar manner by God’s Prophet. The fruit that was produced in the congregation by his ministry gift was holiness and fear of the Lord.
On other occasions he rebuked an entire congregation because of their indifferent attitude toward the things of God that was grieving the Holy Spirit. His rebuke brought revival and the presence of God in a church that had previously been spiritually dead. This is the fruit of a Prophet and his ministry gift produces fear of the Lord and holiness in every church where he ministers. But this is not his only gift because he is also a gifted bible Teacher and great revelation flows from him. But when he does teach, his teaching will always flow along the same lines of the prophetic and he can systematically teach on sin and expose it and define it with great clarity. He wrote books that exposed and defined sin and also gave clear instructions about how to overcome that specific sin. He has a dual-gift of both Prophet and Teacher and because of this he has the fruit of a Prophet and the fruit of a bible Teacher both evident in his life and ministry.
There are some men that have only a single gift of bible Teacher and they can teach on a vast array of various biblical subjects as they are more of a “general” bible Teacher. They have revelation that comes from God as part of their supernatural equipment and calling and this is not dependent upon natural education because it is not a learned behavior. Even with a minimum education a man with a gift of bible Teacher can reveal great light and revelation from the word of God that theologians are not capable of seeing.
The ministry gifts and even the dual-ministry gifts can be as unique as the man who possesses them. I know of another man who operated in a dual Prophet/Teacher gift but his ministry was a bit different because he could also teach on any biblical subject and was used greatly in bible schools to teach general biblical knowledge. But he also had a dual gift of Prophet and he was able to write detailed words of the Lord that exposed the secret sins of unrepentant ministers and he circulated these written words and every one of them were proven to be true when these unrepentant sinners were exposed publicly. His teaching was not restricted only to prophetic lines but he most certainly operated as a Prophet and the Word of Knowledge operated in his life to expose those who were involved in secret sins. The fruit of his gifts were holiness and fear of the Lord as well as revelation from bible teaching in a general manner. He could take any biblical subject and break it down with great clarity so that even a child could understand it. He was a gifted Teacher and also a Prophet as well but his ministry flowed a bit different than the other Prophet/Teacher which I previously mentioned.
1 Timothy 2:7 (NIV)
7 And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle–I am telling the truth, I am not lying–and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.
Paul mentions that he was both an Apostle and a Teacher and the dual gift of Apostle/Teacher will produce the fruit of divine order and his teaching gift will flow along these lines. An Apostle/Teacher will be able to expose disorder in the church and teach the word of God with great detail and clarity and set this disorder back in order again with revelation of God’s word. He will define that disorder and show clearly how it is unscriptural and give detailed instructions of how to put things back in order again. This is the fruit that is evident in an Apostle/Teacher who puts things in order using systematic teaching of God’s word.
I know of a man who had a dual gift of Pastor/Evangelist. This man would go overseas and hold crusades and he had the fruit of an Evangelist with authority to win souls. When he gave an altar call the unbelievers would all come forward and accept Christ. He also had healing gifts accompany his ministry and many people were healed in the crusades and when they saw that God was real then they wanted to be saved because their bodies were healed. But this same man also had a large church and he had the gift of Pastor and was able to lead the congregation and provide oversight and help them to grow spiritually. He was able to cause unbelievers to be saved and then he was able to bring these unbelievers to the first level of spiritual maturity. His dual gift of Pastor/Evangelist worked together to save men and bring them into the church for spiritual growth. The fruit of both a Pastor and an Evangelist was evident in the life of this man.
I know of another man who had an Apostle/Evangelist gift and he was similar to Apostle Paul in being able to pioneer churches. He could go to any country and start new churches rapidly and his congregations were all his own converts. He had the fruit of an Evangelist to win souls and he had the fruit of an Apostle to start churches and his works would continue to thrive even after he had moved on long ago. His lasting church works were the fruit of an Apostle and his crusades and soul winning was the fruit of an Evangelist. He also had a gift for “Deliverance” and he was able to cast out devils of those who were possessed and this happened in many nations where he was confronted with the devil’s power. He was used in a special way during his time and generation and his ministry fruit produced a lasting work for the Lord on earth.
Sometimes an Apostle can do all five of the ministry gifts as they can establish churches, win souls like an Evangelist, Pastor the people like a shepherd, and teach them and cause them to grow spiritually and even expose sin like a Prophet. But often a man will have only one or two gifts where the fruit is really evident and he will need other ministry gifts in other men to complete the work that needs to be done in the church. Most often God will limit a man in his gifts so that he will have to depend on others and not be a “one-man” show. Only when a man is called to do a pioneering work may he be given all five-ministry gifts wrapped into one man and so he can do everything on his own even if there are no other ministry gifts available to help him. This is useful when pioneering works in new regions where no churches have ever existed before.
1 Corinthians 12:11 (NASB)
11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.
It is the Holy Spirit that determines exactly what type of ministry gift is needed and so a man’s calling may be dependent upon the spiritual needs of his time and generation. If pioneering works in new regions is no longer necessary a man may have gifts that focus more on strengthening the churches and causing believers to grow rather than starting new churches. It is the Holy Spirit who determines what ministry gifts are necessary and the Holy Spirit distributes these ministry gifts (or combinations of these gifts) just as He wills to certain individuals.
Ephesians 2:20 (NASB)
20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,
This scripture speaks of the fact that the foundation of the church is established upon the Apostles and Prophets and that is why these two gifts are listed first in order of importance. The Apostles will set things in order within the church according to the divine order of God and the Prophets will expose and rebuke sin and bring a fear of the Lord and holiness to the church. The foundation of the church is established upon these two gifts because the church is to be established upon divine order of the Apostles and holiness and fear of the Lord produced by the Prophets.
1 Corinthians 12:28 (NASB)
28 And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.
The office of Apostle was listed first in order of importance because it is necessary that the church be first established upon the Divine Order of God that comes from the teaching of the Apostle. Then secondly follows the office of Prophet who will generally expose and rebuke sin and bring holiness to the congregation. These ministry gifts are listed as number one and two because they are the first things necessary to bring a church into Divine Order and Holiness.
Teachers are listed as third in importance and these are men who are gifted bible teachers who can teach on any sort of biblical subject. Biblical knowledge therefore is listed as third in importance after the church is first set in order then made holy by the Apostles and Prophets.
Miracles, gifts of healing and helps and administrations and various kinds of tongues are all grouped last in importance. Some people try to elevate miracles and healing first place but the fact of the matter is the people can see miracles and healing take place and still have lives of disorder and even be unholy in the sight of God and they can even harbor secret sins. Without divine order and holiness produced by Apostles and Prophets the believers will not typically produce the fruit necessary to finish their race on earth and obtain eternal life.
Helps are those men who are called to the ministry of a deacon who take care of the natural administration within the church so that those in Fivefold ministry can focus on spiritual things like prayer and study of God’s word and feeding the sheep spiritually. Without the ministry of deacons, the spiritual ministry of the Fivefold ministers would be largely negated or made of none effect simply by keeping these men busy with natural matters and distracting them from the ministry. This is why those in the Fivefold ministry are not allowed to have secular jobs or even sidelines because these things can distract them from the ministry and make them ineffective.
Ministry Gifts With a Different Emphasis
There are Apostles who have had all five gifts in operation if there is a need for it but not all Apostles are created for the same purpose. Different Apostles can have a different ministry emphasis like that of an Apostle/Teacher to set things in order by biblical teaching. Some might have an Apostle/Evangelistic emphasis to win souls and organize a church with the new converts they win to Christ. Often however God will intentionally leave some deficiency in a man so that this man will have need of others and will work together with others who are gifted in areas where he is not gifted.
In the case of Peter, he had a gift of Apostle but he also operated as a Prophet and he brought holiness and fear of the Lord in the church. The fruit in his ministry indicated a ministry emphasis of Apostle/Prophet with the first gift listed as his primary gift and the second gift listed as a secondary function. It is the fruit that is produced that indicates what ministry emphasis a man has.
Acts 5:1-5 (NASB)
1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property,
2 and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet.
3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land?
4 “While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”
5 And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over all who heard of it.
This is a case where an Apostle operated in the gift of Word of Knowledge as a Prophet would do and he discerned the hypocrisy of a man’s heart. This man lied about donating the full-price of the land he sold because he sought to have praise of man by appearing to be more sacrificial by giving everything. This was an offense against God however and this liar dropped down dead in the church.
Acts 5:7-10 (NASB)
7 Now there elapsed an interval of about three hours, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.
8 And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for such and such a price?” And she said, “Yes, that was the price.”
9 Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.“
10 And immediately she fell at his feet and breathed her last, and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
The Apostle Peter also confronted the wife knowing that she had full knowledge of this deception and was in agreement with her husband to do this. He gave her a chance to repent by asking her a question to which he already knew the answer. It was the Word of Knowledge that revealed knowledge about present things that gave Peter the understanding of what happened. She did not repent or admit her sin so the judgment of God came upon this woman as well and she also dropped dead instantly in the church.
Acts 5:11-13 (NASB)
11 And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things.
12 At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s portico.
13 But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, the people held them in high esteem.
The result of the judgment of these liars in the church was that great fear came over the whole church and over all those who heard about these things. The fear of the Lord causes people to depart from evil and people had a great fear of the Lord when two sinners dropped dead in the church! This fear of the Lord produced holiness in the church as people feared to harbor unrepentant sin in their lives. As a result, there was an atmosphere of holiness in the church and in this atmosphere of holiness the gifts of the Spirit operated and there were many signs and wonders and healing that took place. Those who were carnal or worldly or living in sin did not dare to associate with these holy people in the church for fear of dropping dead themselves. So, there was an absence of carnal Christians and an absence of sinners in the church and this separation and holiness caused the gifts of the Spirit to flourish.
Typically, it will be a Prophet who will expose sin in the church and bring a fear of the Lord and a spirit of holiness to the congregation. But at times an Apostle may also operate in this gift if God sees a need for it. In the case of Peter, it indicated that he operated with an Apostle/Prophet emphasis and this was displayed in the fruit that was evident in his ministry.
This also indicates that there are no hard rules about the distribution and operation of ministry gifts but it is the Holy Spirit who distributes these gifts as He wills. Why didn’t the Holy Spirit just use a Prophet to rebuke the sin rather than giving Peter a secondary prophetic gift? I do not know but I know that the Holy Spirit knows all things and He has all wisdom and He always does what is right and He does what is best in the distribution to ministry gifts to certain individuals.
Ministry Gifts Distributed at Birth
Isaiah 49:1 (NIV)
1 Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name.
Isaiah was called to be an Old Testament Prophet and he said that he was called to be a Prophet from his mother’s womb.
Isaiah 49:5 (NIV)
5 And now the LORD says– he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD and my God has been my strength–
The calling of Isaiah the Prophet was to bring Jacob (the Jewish race) back to the God of Israel. He had a special calling as a Prophet that was exclusive toward the nation of Israel.
Jeremiah 1:4-5 (NIV)
4 The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah was an Old Testament Prophet and he was called by God from his mother’s womb. He was specifically called to be a Prophet to the nations. While Isaiah was a prophet called to speak specifically to the nation of Israel, Jeremiah was called to utter God’s prophetic words (not only to Israel) but to all of the nations around Israel. The words of Jeremiah were like a hammer that shatters and breaks rocks into pieces. If Jeremiah prophesied the downfall of a nation it was sure that that nation would become extinct as a race of people.
The calling of a Prophet or any of the other Fivefold ministry gifts is not something that a man can choose for himself but it is an office or calling that they are born with.
Galatians 1:15 (NASB)
15 But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased
The Apostle Paul was also called to be an Apostle from his mother’s womb meaning that he was born with this gift and he did not try to honor himself or call himself by entering the office of Apostle of his own accord or by his own idea.
The same can be said of all five offices of the Fivefold ministry in that these offices are not something that men can choose of their own accord but these are something that they are born with from their mother’s womb. Paul was formerly a blasphemer and a religious man and a persecutor of the church but when he met the Lord and was saved. Then he came to realize the calling that existed within him from his birth. He found that God had given him the ministry of an Apostle.
Hebrews 5:4 (NASB)
4 And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was.
In the same way those who are called to the Fivefold ministry do not take this honor to themselves by their own choice but it is something that they were born with and they must fulfill their calling because they have no choice.
1 Corinthians 9:16-17 (NASB)
16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.
17 For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me.
Paul was called to preach the gospel as an Apostle and because he was called by God, he was under compulsion to fulfill this calling. Paul had no choice but to obey his calling and he said, “Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” This means Paul would receive great damnation if he should resist the call and refuse to preach. He was under divine obligation and had no choice in the matter.
Those who have a Fivefold ministry gift are required by God to fulfill this calling and they have no choice about it. If they do not fulfill this calling, they will experience eternal damnation in hell. They have only one choice and that is to fulfill their calling and if they do this willingly, they will have reward but if against their will they are still required to fulfill their calling anyway.
Paul said that he had a stewardship entrusted to him and that means that a man is required to steward his gift and fulfill his calling with excellence rather than grudgingly or reluctantly.
Acts 26:14 (NASB)
14 “And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
When Paul had an encounter with the Lord, Jesus told him that it was hard for him to kick against the goads. An ox goad was an iron instrument with a pointed end used to jab a young untrained bullock in the rear-end when he was pulling a plow. An untrained ox would often kick and fight and resist the plowman but he would always be jabbed with an iron goad until he learned to obey and pull the plow without fighting. So, the Lord said that Apostle Paul was fighting against his calling by trying to destroy the church rather than building it. It is hard to fight against the goads because a man will be destroyed if he does not cease from his resistance and obey. Apostle Paul was under compulsion to preach just like oxen in the yoke that had no other choice but to obey and pull the plow or get goaded with an iron point. This speaks of forced submission because no man can fight against God and his only choice is so obey willingly and have reward for it or obey unwillingly and be goaded forward against his will.
Psalm 68:18 (7KB)
18 You have ascended on high [into heaven], leading the righteous captives into eternal freedom. You have given [dispersed] ministry gifts among men, even among the rebellious, That the LORD God might dwell there.
When Jesus ascended from the inward part of the earth, he led a train of captives out of the place of comfort called Abraham’s bosom and he ascended on high with these righteous Old Testament captives following Him into heaven as the first-fruits of saved Old Testament men.
See the link “Abraham’s Bosom” for more details.
The scripture is best translated as “distributed” gifts among men (even among the rebellious). This speaks of the Fivefold ministry gifts that are used to build the church upon the earth so that the Lord might dwell there. The souls of men are like living stones and these are built up into a spiritual house or a temple on earth so that God might dwell there in the presence of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of everyone who believes. These believers make up the church on earth and that church is a spiritual temple and it is built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets and includes the Fivefold ministry gifts that build up the body of Christ on earth.
Receiving gifts among men (even among the rebellious) refers to men like Paul who was once rebellious and kicking against the goads and resisting God’s plan for his life. Paul was born with the gift of Apostle and he was even an Apostle before he was saved and when he was still a religious zealot who was rebelliously fighting against the Lord and against the church. When Paul got saved on the road to Damascus, that is when he realized his gift that existed from this natural birth and began to flow with that gift. This rebellious man who once persecuted the church was now the one who worked the hardest to build the church rather than to destroy it. Distributing gifts even among the rebellious speaks of men like Paul who were called from the mother’s womb with a Fivefold ministry gift but who were also rebellious against the plan of the Lord before they were saved.
Special Apostle Emphasis
Romans 11:13 (NASB)
13 But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,
The Apostle Paul was called specifically to be an Apostle to the Gentiles and he had a special anointing for reaching these people. This shows that a Fivefold ministry gift can have a special emphasis attached to it and Paul had a special grace for ministry to Gentiles.
Galatians 2:7-8 (NIV)
7 On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews.
8 For God, who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles.
The Apostle Peter had a special anointing to minister to the Jewish people and Paul had a special anointing to minister to those who were Gentiles. It is for this reason that Peter (and those Apostles who were called to minister to Jews) remained in Jerusalem while those who were not called to minister to Jews were scattered out of the city by persecution.
Acts 8:1 (NASB)
1 Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
The Apostles that were not scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria were those who had a special grace or anointing to minister to the Jews. These men (like Apostle Peter) remained in Jerusalem because Jerusalem was the capital of the Jewish nation and the location of the Jewish temple and it is here where they conducted their outreach to the Jewish people.
Acts 8:4-7 (NASB)
4 Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.
5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them.
6 The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing.
7 For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed.
Those who were scattered and went about preaching the word of God were those Fivefold ministry gifts which had a special grace to minister to Gentiles. One of the Fivefold ministry gifts that was scatted during the persecution was Philip who operated as an Evangelist. He went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed Christ to these Gentiles (non-Jewish people). The crowds of people in Samaria gave attention to what Philip had to say because they heard and saw the signs which he was performing. Unclean spirits would come out of people shouting with a loud voice and there were also many who were healed of paralysis and lame people who were healed. An Evangelist will typically have signs follow their ministry like deliverance and healing and these things are like a dinner bell to the unbelievers to show them that Christ is real. Often unbelievers are healed under the preaching of an Evangelist and when they are healed, they immediately accept Christ knowing that God is real and has manifested Himself in healing for them. The Evangelist has divine authority to cause unbelievers to accept Christ but he also will typically have signs and wonders follow his ministry to prove to unbelievers that God is real.
I know a man who works as a tour guide in Israel and he told me that an Evangelist came to Israel with a tour group so large that it required 50-buses to transport them. This Evangelist had a crusade in Israel and the unbelieving Israeli bus drivers and tour guides were standing around smoking and scoffing at this Evangelist and mocking the Christians who came with him on his tour. But one of the Israeli bus drivers had a terminal cancer growing under his left arm and this evangelist had a Word of Knowledge from God about this disease and the Evangelist specifically told this bus driver to left up his left arm. When he did so the power of God came upon him and he was instantly healed and the growth under his arm vanished! My tour guide friend knew this man personally and witnessed the growth vanish and both this tour guide and this bus driver accepted Jesus and were saved because of this healing! Healing often accompanies the ministry of an Evangelist and it is healing that shows the unbeliever that God is real and healing confirms the words that are spoken by the Evangelist so that unbelievers know that God is endorsing the words of the Evangelist by backing them up with signs following.
At times however an Apostle called to the Jews may also be used to minister to the Gentiles, as was the case of Apostle Peter.
Acts 10:22 (NIV)
22 The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to have you come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.”
Cornelius was a Gentile centurion who was a soldier in command over a hundred men. He was righteous and God-fearing and an angel of the Lord appeared to him and told him to find Peter who would speak to him words of salvation. This was done in God’s wisdom to choose an Apostle called to the Jews in order to bring salvation to the Gentiles because this made it clear to the Jews that God had opened the door of salvation to the Gentiles also.
Acts 10:28 (NIV)
28 He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean.
Peter had received a vision from God which showed Peter that he should not call any man impure or unclean and this was a precedent given by God to show the Jewish believers that they were no longer to reject those who were Gentiles.
Acts 11:2-4 (NIV)
2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him
3 and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
4 Peter began and explained everything to them precisely as it had happened:
Later Peter returned to his place of ministry among the believing Jews in Jerusalem and they criticized him for having gone to the house of uncircumcised men and for having eaten with them.
Acts 11:12 (NIV)
12 The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house.
Also, there were six Jewish believers who accompanied Peter to the house of Cornelius and they witnessed what happened there.
Part Two
Acts 11:15-18 (NIV)
15 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning.
16 Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
17 So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?”
18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”
God specifically used Peter (an Apostle to the Jews) and even had six Jewish believers accompany Peter and they were witnesses that the Holy Spirit fell on those who believed in the household of Cornelius. This was evidence that God had opened the door of salvation to the Gentiles and because of this the Jewish believers in Jerusalem had no further objections about Peter preaching to the Gentiles.
Typically, Peter was called to minister to the Jews only but on this occasion, Peter did preach to the Gentiles and Peter was the doorway in which God brought the Jewish believers into understanding that the Gentiles were also included in salvation through Jesus Christ.
There exists special anointing and grace for different Apostles and they can function in different purposes given to them by God. No two Apostles are exactly the same and they may have various ministry emphases that are evident as fruit in their lives. God may even use someone not normally called to Gentiles to do a one-time work (as in the case of Peter) who fulfilled a special purpose in enlightening the Jewish believers of God’s acceptance of the Gentiles. Peter had connections with the Jewish believers in Jerusalem because he was gifted as an Apostle to the Jews. But his primary emphasis was that for Jewish people and that is why he (and the Apostles of similar calling) remained in Jerusalem even after other ministers were scattered by persecution. But Peter was used one-time for a specific purpose for Gentiles but that did not make a precedent for him to be operating in that capacity continually. God had other Apostles like Paul and Evangelists like Philip who were focusing their ministry on the Gentiles.
In order for a Fivefold minister to evidence fruit of his calling it should be something that happens on a repeated basis not just a onetime thing. If a man has a common fruit evidenced everywhere he goes then that is likely the evidence of his Fivefold ministry gift and it can also “define” him as a minister since no two ministry gifts are exactly the same. Jesus said you will know a tree by its fruit and the same principle applies to the Fivefold ministry. Men will be identified by the fruit that they produce and this gives indication of their gifts and calling from God.
There are laymen who try to intrude into the holy office but they do not have the fruit evident to confirm they were called by God.
Luke 6:44 (NIV)
44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers.
A thorn bush does not produce figs and a brier bush does not produce grapes. In the same way a man who is not born with a Fivefold ministry gift will not be able to produce the fruit of this calling anymore that a thorn bush or a brier can produce edible fruit. It is the fruit that identifies those who have been born with a Fivefold ministry gift and if the fruit is not evident in those who claim to have a ministry gift then they are simply not called into the Fivefold ministry.
Altering Scriptures to Endorse Layman Intruders
There are many laymen who intrude into the Fivefold Ministry and much of this problem is due to the fact that many modern bible translations have been altered to support the idea that laymen are to do the work of the ministry.
See the link “Endorsing Layman Intruders” for more details.
Intruding into the Holy Office
2 Chronicles 26:16-21 (NASB)
16 But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.
17 Then Azariah the priest entered after him and with him eighty priests of the LORD, valiant men.
18 They opposed Uzziah the king and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful and will have no honor from the LORD God.”
19 But Uzziah, with a censer in his hand for burning incense, was enraged; and while he was enraged with the priests, the leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, beside the altar of incense.
20 Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous on his forehead; and they hurried him out of there, and he himself also hastened to get out because the LORD had smitten him.
21 King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death; and he lived in a separate house, being a leper, for he was cut off from the house of the LORD. And Jotham his son was over the king’s house judging the people of the land.
Uzziah was the king of Israel and God had given him success as a king but then his heart was lifted up in pride and he assumed that he could intrude into the holy office of a priest and operate in the role of a priest. He boldly entered into the temple of the Lord to offer incense before God as a priest would do. But those who were called by God as priests resisted him but he was so proud that he became enraged that anyone would dare tell him what to do. But while he was raging at the priests in great anger, leprosy broke out on his forehead.
Isaiah 48:4 (NASB)
4 “Because I know that you are obstinate, And your neck is an iron sinew And your forehead bronze,
The forehead is significant as is represents the unrepentant pride of a man. Isaiah referred to the unrepentant pride of Israel saying they had a forehead made of bronze. This is a picture of someone who is hardened in pride and bold and brazen in pride. Brazen is a derivative of the word bronze speaking of something that is hard and unyielding.
Jeremiah 3:3 (NASB)
3 “Therefore the showers have been withheld, And there has been no spring rain. Yet you had a harlot’s forehead; You refused to be ashamed.
The Prophet Jeremiah compared the hardened unrepentant pride of Israel to the forehead of a prostitute who refuses to be ashamed. A prostitute is one who engaged in immorality on a regular basis until they have become hardened in sin and no longer feel shame for it anymore. The hardened prostitute will be defiant and proud and will refuse to be ashamed. It is the forehead that is symbolic of unrepentant pride.
King Uzziah had leprosy break out on his forehead and this is symbolic of God’s judgment on his unrepentant pride. The result of this judgment was that he was banned from the temple of God and even removed from his throne and had to live in isolation for the rest of his life as an unclean leper and his son assumed leadership on the throne of his father.
2 Chronicles 26:18 (NASB)
18 They opposed Uzziah the king and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful and will have no honor from the LORD God.”
The priests who rebuked this proud king made it clear that the ministry in the temple was reserved exclusively for the priests who were the sons of Aaron (the Levites). Those who were not called by God into this ministry were not to intrude into this holy office. This is a biblical principle that those who are not called by God are not to assert themselves into the ministry by their own freewill (as King Uzziah had done). No man can honor himself by placing himself into this ministry because it is a calling from God.
Hebrews 5:4 (NASB)
4 And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was.
The scripture states clearly that no man takes this honor to himself to enter into the ministry but those called to the ministry receive it when they are called by God just as Aaron the Levite was. This same biblical principle carries over into the New Testament because no man can honor himself by entering into the Fivefold ministry because this is a role reserved only for those who are called by God as Aaron was. King Uzziah assumed that he could enter into the temple and operate in the role of a priest but God had not called him into this office and he was not a Levite and he was judged by God because of his stubborn pride in intruding into this holy office.
I have seen a number of people who committed the sin of King Uzziah by trying to intrude into a holy office of the Fivefold ministry. One time I was ministering in a pastor’s seminar in a remote island of the Philippines and there was present among the pastors a man who was not called by God into this holy office of Pastor but he intruded into this office presumptuously like King Uzziah had done. He had no fruit of this calling and anyone who had spiritual perception could tell this man was not called by God into the Fivefold ministry office of Pastor.
He had no anointing or grace and no fruit of this calling but he stubbornly had persisted to intrude in this office for a long time. When I did a pastor’s seminar, I received a special message from God just for this man. I taught for nearly four hours on the Fivefold ministry gifts and defined them all clearly and made it abundantly clear that no man can honor himself by entering into a Fivefold ministry office but they are to be born with the calling from their mother’s womb. All of the men who were called and born with their gifts (that were in attendance in his seminar) all knew that this man was not called but that he was intruding into the holy office. Those who are called into the Fivefold ministry have the ability to identify those who are fellow Fivefold ministers. Laymen generally do not notice the difference between a fake pastor and one who is called by God. It is for this reason that when a person is endorsed before the congregation by the laying on of hands it is to be done by fellow ministers that also have a Fivefold ministry gift. Only those who are called into the Fivefold ministry can see and identify ministry gifts in others. Those who are called into the Fivefold ministry can perceive those are fakes and it is glaringly obvious to them. Those who were called to the Fivefold ministry (who attended my seminar) all acknowledged that this man in question was a fake pastor who had no calling from God and no fruit evident that testified to him having a ministry gift.
But after I had taught this lesson in great detail about the ministry gifts, this guy knew clearly that I was referring to him. He stood up with great pride and defiance before the entire group of ministers and declared, “I thank God that I am called to be a Pastor from my mother’s womb!” He had the brazen forehead of King Uzziah who refused to repent and forced his way into the ministry of the temple by his own accord! The message that I gave to this man was his last warning and it was like a flashing warning sign that is posted on a highway that warns of a bridge out up ahead! But after this man received a clear and detailed warning, he hardened his heart in pride and refused to repent and sped past the last warning sign that warned him of coming destruction!
It was a short time after this seminar that his man was struck down with a stroke and before I had returned to that region again, I was told of this man’s death. Yes, he had persisted a long time in intruding in this holy office and did not experience judgment but the judgment came after he was given his last warning and his last chance to repent. He committed the same sin of the proud King Uzziah by intruding into a holy office for which God had not called him.
Numbers 16:35-40 (NASB)
35 Fire also came forth from the LORD and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense.
36 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
37 “Say to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he shall take up the censers out of the midst of the blaze, for they are holy; and you scatter the burning coals abroad.
38 “As for the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, let them be made into hammered sheets for a plating of the altar, since they did present them before the LORD and they are holy; and they shall be for a sign to the sons of Israel.”
39 So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which the men who were burned had offered, and they hammered them out as a plating for the altar,
40 as a reminder to the sons of Israel that no layman who is not of the descendants of Aaron should come near to burn incense before the LORD; so that he will not become like Korah and his company—just as the LORD had spoken to him through Moses.
During the time of Moses there were 250-men who assumed they could enter the tabernacle and offer incense before God as a priest would do. But fire came out from the Lord and consumed these men and turned them to ashes! Eleazar the son of Aaron was instructed to take the 250-censors and beat them out into plates and these were used as plating to cover the altar and this was to be a warning to future generations and a reminder to the sons of Israel that no layman (who was not of the descendants of Aaron) should come near to burn incense before Lord.
1 Corinthians 10:11 (NASB)
11 Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
These things written in the Old Testament have direct application under the New Testament and what happened to these people under the Old Testament are examples to teach those of us who are living under the New Testament. The 250-men who were consumed by fire from the Lord had this happen to them as an example. What happened to these men was recorded for our instruction under the New Testament.
These men serve as an example that no layman is to intrude into the holy office of the Fivefold ministry because they have not been born with this gift. The only way that a priest was qualified for his ministry in the time of Moses was if he was born as a son of Aaron. This gives indication that the calling to the ministry was by birth and it has direct application under the New Testament as well.
Isaiah and Jeremiah were both Prophets called from the mother’s womb under the Old Testament era but it is evident that Apostle Paul was also called from his mother’s womb under the New Testament era. The New Testament is a fulfillment of the Old Testament and it stands to reason that if those involved in the ministry of the tabernacle of Moses were qualified by their birth for their position so also those called as ministers of the New Testament Fivefold ministry are also qualified by receiving a calling of God from their birth. Those who intruded into the holy office under the Old Testament received judgment and the same is true of those laymen who intrude into the holy office of the Fivefold ministry when God has not called them.
Yes, there are a great number of laymen who have intruded into the holy office of the Fivefold ministry and they have not yet perished. But this does not mean they are endorsed by God but rather God has given them time to repent.
Revelation 2:20-21 (NASB)
20 ‘But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.
21 ‘I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality.
In this scripture we read about a woman who called herself a prophetess. This is the sin of those who intrude into the holy office because there are laymen who call themselves Apostles, or Prophets, or Teachers or Pastors or Evangelists but they have not been called by God. They call themselves into this holy office just as King Uzziah had done. They assume they can just enter the pulpit and receive some limelight and attention and some laymen even suppose they can escape a secular job and use the ministry for a means of livelihood.
This woman is called a Jezebel in the scripture above because the woman Jezebel under the Old Testament was a pagan woman who usurped the authority of her passive husband and was running the nation of Israel. She even destroyed the real priests who were called by God and replaced them with fake pagan priests and introduced her own false religion in Israel. This woman called a Jezebel intruded into a holy office and called herself a prophetess. She assumed to use spiritual authority and take leadership like the usurped authority that Jezebel had taken from her passive husband Ahab in the Old Testament. This woman who placed herself in a self-assumed position of leadership in the church was leading God’s servants astray and teaching them to commit immorality and to eat things sacrificed to idols. Why didn’t God strike this evil woman dead immediately?!
Revelation 2:21 (NASB)
21 ‘I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality.
The scripture says that the Lord gave this wicked woman time to repent but she did not want to repent.
Revelation 2:22-23 (NASB)
22 ‘Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds.
23 ‘And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.
So God brought judgment on this unrepentant woman who had a forehead of a harlot who was hardened in pride and who loved to have preeminence before the congregation and who assumed herself as a prophetess when in fact this was unscriptural. She had pride like King Uzziah who intruded into the holy office where he was not called.
2 Peter 3:9 (NASB)
9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
The only reason that people are not judged sooner is that the mercy of God gives them time to repent. But if people harden their hearts is pride and refuse to repent then a time will come when they will meet the judgment of God. God was merciful to this wicked woman who was intruding into a holy office and who called herself (implying that God had not called her). But she did not repent and when the time was up for her repentance she was judged by God.
This is the only reason that the laymen who intrude into the holy office are not judged immediately because God is giving them time to repent. Some however have passed by that grace period and they have received their last warning from God and then judgment struck them.
I believe that when people are warned by God then they will be held accountable for that knowledge and if they do not get out of the holy office in which they have intruded they will be judged.
I know of another layman who intruded into the holy office when he started his own church in a rural part of America. He did not want to submit to a real Pastor so he decided to call himself as a pastor and start his own church. So, he started a church in his own home and invited his neighbors to attend. It was a case where the sheep were leading the sheep. He had no spiritual gift or authority for the ministry and he was a fake pastor presuming to assume the role of a shepherd over others. He continued this for a long time and the Lord was gracious to give him time to repent but a time came that this man hardened his heart in pride and refused to get out of the holy office for which he had intruded into. A time came when he was hospitalized for a terminal disease and this fellow sheep-Christians all prayed for him to be healed. But he was not healed and he died. He had gone too far and the Lord gave him time to repent but he persisted and refused to get out of the ministry that he was not called into and he received judgment as a result.
Luke 6:39 (NASB)
39 And He also spoke a parable to them: “A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit?
This principle about a blind man leading another blind man can also be applied to a sheep leading another sheep. Those who raise sheep know that if one sheep jumps off a cliff then the entire flock will also jump off the cliff to their deaths. It is for this reason that sheep need a shepherd and a shepherd will watch out for them and even go ahead of them and remove poisonous plants from the grassland where they graze. The sheep will eat toxic plants and die if the shepherd does not watch out for them and guide them to good pasture.
John 21:15-17 (NASB)
15 So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus *said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He *said to him, “Tend My lambs.”
16 He *said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He *said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.”
17 He *said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus *said to him, “Tend My sheep.
Peter was an Apostle but Jesus asked Peter to feed His sheep. The sheep Jesus was referring to here are not natural four-legged sheep wearing wool. These are people who are converts and must be fed spiritually. Peter had returned to his fishing business and the Lord met him and asked Peter if he loved his fishing more that feeding his sheep. A biblical principle that can be seen here is that sheep cannot feed sheep. If sheep could feed fellow sheep then there would be no need for Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, or Teachers. If sheep could feed other sheep then Peter could have just returned to his fishing business.
Mark 6:34 (NASB)
34 When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.
Jesus was moved with compassion for the people because they were like sheep that had no shepherd. Jesus taught them many things and it is biblical teaching that is used to feed God’s sheep.
Sheep cannot feed other sheep spiritually and that is why God gave the Fivefold ministry to feed the congregation of the church.
Acts 2:42 (NASB)
42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Those who were saved in Jerusalem were continually devoting themselves to the Apostles teaching because this was their spiritual food to help them grow and mature spiritually. The sheep were not teaching the sheep but the Teachers where those who were appointed by God as Fivefold ministry gifts who fed the sheep. It is the Fivefold ministry that was given by God to do the work of the ministry and to cause the saints to mature spiritually.
Ephesians 4:12 (7KB)
12 For the perfecting (maturing) of the saints, and for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying of the body of Christ:
The job description of the Fivefold ministry is threefold:
1. They are to perfect or mature the saints
2. They are to do the work of the ministry
3. They are to edify the body of Christ
It should be noted that the emphasis in modern bible translations gives the impression that the Fivefold ministry is to prepare the layman to do the work of the ministry but in fact the layman cannot do this because they do not possess the spiritual equipment needed to do so. The error that results from this false teaching is when sheep go out to try and start churches and lead other sheep when they have no spiritual endowments for this work and no fruit evident of a Fivefold ministry gift.
Layman can be a witness but they cannot be an Evangelist because they do not have the spiritual resources and gifts to be an Evangelist. Many sheep have gotten into a ditch by trying to intrude into a ministry for which God has not called them and for which they are not gifted for and for which they have no spiritual gifts. The greatest thing that a layman could do is to have their own household in order and if this happened the church would be the greatest testimony on earth. Unbelievers would all ask how to be saved so they could experience the same peace and order that the Christian layman is supposed to have in their personal lives and families.
When the saints are matured, they will have divine order in their lives and their homes will be in order, their marriages will be in order and their children will be in order. This principle can be seen in the fact that deacons and elders had to be mature men before they qualified of that office and the evidence of their maturity is that the man was the leader of his home, his wife was under submission, and his children were obedient and he had a good reputation even outside of the church so there was no cause of slander against him. This is the evidence or fruit of spiritual maturity that a man has his family in order. It is a sign of spiritual maturity if women are submissive to their husbands in everything. It is a sign of spiritual maturity if children are obedient to their parents.
The teaching of Fivefold ministry gifts puts things in order and teaches people how to live so that their lives will be in order according to the divine order of God.
Exodus 18:20 (NIV)
20 Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform.
The Old Testament Levitical ministry is a counterpart of the New Testament Fivefold ministry. The purpose of the Fivefold ministry is to teach people the decrees and laws of God and to show them the way to live and teach them the duties they are to perform. Showing people the way to live according to God’s ordained plan and order is what will bring peace and harmony to marriages and families and this divine order will spread to societies and nations because societies and nations are made of families.
Ezra 7:6 (NASB)
6 This Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given; and the king granted him all he requested because the hand of the LORD his God was upon him.
Ezra was a scribe and a priest of the Levitical priesthood and he was skilled in the Law of Moses.
Ezra 7:10 (NASB)
10 For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.
Ezra set his heart to study God’s words and to put them into practice and to teach them in Israel. Jesus said that the believer is not to be a forgetful hearer but a doer of the word. If God’s word is not applied to everyday living then it is useless to change lives.
Nehemiah 8:1-3 (NIV)
1 all the people assembled as one man in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel.
2 So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand.
3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.
When the exiles returned to Israel from Babylon to rebuild their nation, they brought Ezra the scribe and asked him to bring the Law of Moses and he read God’s words before the people to everyone who was able to understand it. The people listened attentively because they knew that their nation was destroyed because of breaking God’s laws in the past and they did not want to repeat the same sins that had previously brought a curse on their nation.
Nehemiah 8:7-8 (NIV)
7 The Levites–Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah–instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there.
8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read.
The Levites helped Ezra and they also instructed the people in the Law of God and they made it clear to them and gave the meaning of God’s words so that the people could understand what was being read. The purpose of this teaching ministry was to cause people to understand God’s word and teach them how to apply God’s word in their lives. This is the same purpose that is carried over into the New Testament under the Fivefold ministry of the Apostles, Prophets, Teachers, Pastors and Evangelists whose combined ministry gifts are all focused on teaching the word of God to the people and giving the people a clear understanding of God’s words so that the people can apply the word of God to their lives and know how to live by God’s word. Those who live according to the principles of God’s word are those who are mature spiritually and who have God’s divine order in their personal lives and in the lives of their family members.
The best thing that a layman could do is to have their lives in order and that means that men should be a provider and head of their homes, the wives should be a helpmeet and submissive to their husbands and the children should be in obedience to their parents. When believers have their personal lives in order then all unbelievers who see them will want to have the same peace and order that they have. The divine order evident in the lives of believers is like salt that makes unbelievers thirst for the kingdom of God. To be a salty Christian is to have one’s life in order and be a living witness to the change that God can bring in the personal lives of people. Unbelievers who see a family whose lives reflect the divine order of God will want to have the same thing for their own lives and families. This will cause them to inquire of the believers what makes them different. This is a doorway for believers to witness to the unbelievers.
A witness is different than an Evangelist who has divine authority to command unbelievers to repent. The evangelist often has signs and wonders follow his ministry to convince the unbelievers that God is real. But a layman who is not born with the gift of Evangelist will not have the supernatural equipment that an Evangelist has for winning souls. Instead a layman will have to be a witness for the Lord (rather than an Evangelist).
A witness is like a person in a courtroom who is called upon to give his testimony. The witness does not speak until he is called upon. In the same way, this also applies to the layman who is not to speak until he is called upon to give his testimony. This can have several applications because a layman should not witness until the Holy Spirit gives him the prompting. The Holy Spirit knows whose hearts are ready to receive and who are not. Witnessing in the flesh can just harden those who are not ready to receive.
Another application of waiting to be called upon to witness is when an unbeliever sees the change that a believer has and inquires of them how they can have the same peace and order in their lives. So, a layman can be called upon by the unbeliever to share his testimony of what makes him different. This is the opportunity to speak to the unbeliever of the hope of Christ and tell them of the transformation that comes from being born again.
It is evident that the greatest thing that the layman can do for winning the lost is to have their personal lives and homes and families in order. This comes by learning God’s word from the Fivefold ministry gifts and applying that word and living by that word and being a doer of that word. This is how a believer can let his light shine before men. This is how they become a salty Christian and this will cause the unbelievers to thirst for the kingdom of God and causes them to have a desire to be saved.
But if the layman has his or her life in disorder and are not living according to biblical principles then they will offend the unbeliever rather than attract him to Christ. The unbeliever will see the disorder and he will say that he does not want anything to do with being a Christian because these Christians have more disorder in their lives than he has himself as an unbeliever!
It is the purpose of the Fivefold ministry gifts to put the lives of believers in order according to the word of God and in doing so this will cause them to mature spiritually. It is a mark of spiritual maturity to have the home and marriage and family and their personal lives in order. Those who have their lives in order are those who are doers of the Word of God and have applied it and have submitted to the divine order of God. It is the goal of the Lord to bring all believers into the fullness of maturity and that maturity is reflected in the order that is seen in their personal lives and family (as they obey and apply God’s word to their lives).
Levitical Ministry Counterpart of the New Testament Fivefold Mininstry
Exodus 2:1-10 (NIV)
1 Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman,
2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months.
3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.
4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it.
6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.
7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”
8 “Yes, go,” she answered. And the girl went and got the baby’s mother.
9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him.
10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”
It is evident that both parents of Moses were Levites. His father came from the tribe of Levi and he married a wife who was also from the tribe of Levi making Moses a 100% pure “Levite” by birth.
Exodus 4:14 (NIV)
14 Then the LORD’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you.
Aaron was the brother of Moses and he had the same Levitical parents that Moses also had. God refers to Aaron as the “Levite” for this reason.
Genesis 34:25-27 (NIV)
25 Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male.
26 They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword and took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left.
27 The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city where their sister had been defiled.
Simeon and Levi were the two brothers who put to death all of the men of the city of Shechem because their sister had been violated. This produced a curse upon them later.
Genesis 49:5-7 (NIV)
5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers– their swords are weapons of violence.
6 Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.
7 Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel.
Simeon and Levi were cursed because of their violence and anger that was so cruel. The curse that was pronounced upon them was that they would be scattered in Jacob and be dispersed throughout Israel. This curse however was later turned into a blessing for the descendants of Levi. The turning point of their curse being changed into a blessing was when the Levites used their zeal in service of the Lord.
Exodus 32:26-29 (NIV)
26 So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him.
27 Then he said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.’”
28 The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died.
29 Then Moses said, “You have been set apart to the LORD today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day.”
When the children of Israel become defiled with immorality and idolatry at the foot of Mount Sinai, Moses went down and said, “Whoever is for the Lord come to me!” It was the Levites who rallied to Moses. They distinguished themselves in their zeal for the Lord that day. Moses told them to strap on their swords and go throughout the camp and kill those who were engaged in immorality and idolatry. It is interesting that the Levites who carried out this task did not show any mercy even toward brother or friend or neighbor. They put to death (without mercy) anyone who sinned against God and they distinguished themselves by their zeal for the Lord. Moses informed them that God had set them apart that day because they were against their own sons, and brothers and so they showed loyalty to God even over their closest of relatives. This was the day that the dispersion of Levi was turned into a blessing for the entire nation because the Levites were set apart by God because of their zeal for the Lord.
Deuteronomy 33:8-10 (NASB)
8 Of Levi he said, “Let Your Thummim and Your Urim belong to Your godly man, Whom You proved at Massah, With whom You contended at the waters of Meribah;
9 Who said of his father and his mother, ‘I did not consider them’; And he did not acknowledge his brothers, Nor did he regard his own sons, For they observed Your word, And kept Your covenant.
10 “They shall teach Your ordinances to Jacob, And Your law to Israel. They shall put incense before You, And whole burnt offerings on Your altar.
The Thummim and Urim speak of items used in discerning the will of the Lord and seeking direction from God. Of the Levites Moses said that they did not consider their own father or mother and did not acknowledge their own brothers and had no regard even for their own sons. If anyone broke God’s laws Levi would not hesitate to put them to death even if they were near relatives. This means that God was first place in the lives of the Levites had no human relations on earth which were put before God. The Levites were set apart for God’s service because of their zeal for the Lord and they were given the task to teach God’s ordinances to Jacob and God’s laws to Israel. This is where the dispersion of Levi was turning into a blessing because Levitical cities were located throughout the entire nation of Israel so that no Israelite was more than ten-miles away from a Levite city and it was the task of the Levites to teach God’s words throughout the nation of Israel. They were set apart for the ministry by God because of their zeal for the Lord and they are direct Old Testament counterparts of the New Testament Fivefold ministry gifts.
Matthew 10:37 (NIV)
37 “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
The zeal of Levi to put God before the closest family relationships can be seen under the New Testament as Jesus said that anyone who loves his father or mother more than him is not worthy of him and if anyone loves son or daughter more than the Lord is not worthy of him.
Luke 14:26 (NIV)
26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters–yes, even his own life–he cannot be my disciple.
Jesus said that the closest relationships on earth should be like “hate” in comparison to the love that a person has for the Lord. This has direct application to those called into the Fivefold ministry.
Matthew 4:18-22 (NIV)
18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.
19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them,
22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
When Jesus called his disciples, these men left everything immediately and followed him. They even left their own father in order to follow Jesus.
Mark 10:28-31 (NIV)
28 Peter said to him, “We have left everything to follow you!”
29 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel
30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields–and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.
31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Peter spoke of how all twelve disciples had left everything to follow Jesus. This speaks specifically of the call to the Fivefold ministry and Jesus replied that no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for him and for the gospel who would fail to receive a hundred times as much in return. Those who are first will be last and the last first means that when a person gives up everything it may seem that they will become last or debased but in fact God will bless them much more in return and they will end up being first when they enter into the kingdom of God.
Luke 9:59-60 (NIV)
59 He said to another man, “Follow me.” But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
One man wanted to follow Jesus but this man had put his natural father first place and wanted to go home and care for his aged father until he passed away and then he would come and follow Jesus. But Jesus required that he put God’s kingdom first place even before the closest of human relationships.
Luke 9:61-62 (NIV)
61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.”
62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Another man said he would follow Jesus but he wanted to first say good-bye to his family. Jesus referred directly to the same incident with the calling of Elisha and said that no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God. This all has direct application to the calling into the Fivefold ministry and what is required of those who are called.
1 Kings 19:19 (NIV)
19 So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him.
Elisha was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen and there were eleven other drivers working with the other eleven pairs of oxen while Elisha was driving the twelfth pair in the lead. He must have been acting as a plowing foreman over the plowing crews when Elijah came and put his cloak around him. Elisha immediately understood what this meant because Elijah was selecting him to be trained as an apprentice to learn how to operate the ministry of a Prophet that God had given to Elisha from his birth.
1 Kings 19:20 (NIV)
20 Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother good-by,” he said, “and then I will come with you.” “Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?”
Elisha left his oxen and ran after Elijah indicating that Elijah threw is cloak around Elisha and kept on marching. If Elisha wanted to follow, he would have to leave immediately because Elijah did not wait for him. Elisha then asked Elijah if he could first return home and kiss his father and mother good-bye!” This is exactly what the man told Jesus who wanted to say goodbye to his parents before following Jesus. But Elijah roughly told him to go-back because the deal was off if this guy wanted to put his family before his calling to the ministry.
1 Kings 19:21 (NIV)
21 So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant.
When Elisha was faced with the choice to either choose the ministry now or forget it, then he went back and slaughtered the pair of oxen he had be driving and he burned the plowing equipment and cooked the meat of the oxen he had killed and fed it to the people who were working on his plowing crew. By doing this, Elisha was indicating that he was finished with his old way of life and he burned the bridges behind him so that he would never again return to being a plowing foreman and from that day forth he began to train under the prophet Elijah so that he could learn how to fulfill his own calling of prophet.
This was the Old Testament illustration that Jesus was referring to when he said that no man who has put his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God. Jesus was speaking of the call of Elisa to forsake his family and his former life and to enter the ministry when he was called. Jesus compared the ministry to plowing just as Elisha had been doing when Elijah found him. The oxen pull the plow forward but the operator has to hang onto the plow handles with both hands to keep it upright while it is being pulled. This requires 100% undivided attention because a plowman cannot look back over his shoulder and plow at the same time. In the same way, when a man is called to enter the full-time ministry, he cannot have his attention divided by anything else. He must give himself exclusively to his calling with his 100% undivided attention. This means that a Fivefold minister cannot have sidelines, part-time jobs, business or investments to support himself. He cannot do the ministry on a part time basis on the weekends and spend the rest of his time in secular work. He must be 100% full-time in the ministry because it is a full-time job and he cannot operate spiritually if he is divided in his attention between secular work and ministry.
Elisha had to slaughter his oxen and burn his implements and never return to his secular job again. The same was true for all twelve disciples of Jesus who all left their natural occupations and followed Jesus without hesitation. When the Lord calls it is time to drop secular and natural things completely and serve the Lord.
I know of a man in the Philippines who was called into the full-time ministry. But he tried to do a carpentry sideline in order to feed his family. He told me that he was in debt at the store when he had to buy milk for his baby on credit and they were nearly starving to death while he was working this sideline. But his wife was a godly Levite woman who knew how to encourage her man and she told him, “We are starving to death with this sideline so why don’t you trust God and go into the ministry full-time and quit this sideline!” It is better to starve trusting God than to try to feed ourselves with this natural job!” So, encouraged by his wife this man quit the sideline and focused his 100% attention on the ministry. They said that they did not know what happened but they were soon debt free at the store and they had all of their needs met and food to eat. It seemed that when they trusted God to go full-time without natural distractions then God met their needs.
Part Three
This is actually the reason that the first deacons were instituted in the early church so that the Apostles could focus full-time on the ministry and not be distracted by natural things in the church like waiting on tables. The deacons handled all the natural matters so that the Apostles could focus on spiritual things.
Acts 6:1-4 (NIV)
1 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.
3 Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them
4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
The Apostles assigned the natural duties of the church to seven men who were later called “deacons” and because of this the Apostles were able to focus their undivided attention upon prayer and the ministry of God’s word. This caused the church to prosper and grow because the Apostles were giving their 100% undivided attention to the ministry and were not distracted by natural matters.
Acts 6:7 (NIV)
7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
As a result of giving themselves to prayer and ministry of the word the church began to grow and multiply and the word of God spread and the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly. The ministry will increase and prosper when those called into the full-time ministry are able to focus on this ministry without distraction from natural matters. This also includes not being distracted by having to work sidelines or secular jobs for support.
Nehemiah 13:10-12 (NASB)
10 I also discovered that the portions of the Levites had not been given them, so that the Levites and the singers who performed the service had gone away, each to his own field.
11 So I reprimanded the officials and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” Then I gathered them together and restored them to their posts.
12 All Judah then brought the tithe of the grain, wine and oil into the storehouses.
In the time of Nehemiah, the governor he had helped to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple there but when he was gone on official business then the people stopped bringing their tithes to the temple. The Levites did not receive their portions and because of this they had to leave the ministry in the temple and they went to their pasture lands in order to scratch out a living by planting some gardens for food. When the Levites did not receive their income from the ministry then they were forced out of it and had to return to farming for survival. Nehemiah reprimanded the officials for this and he restored the Levites back to their posts again and all of Judah again brought in their tithes that were neglected. The principle here is that if the Levites do not receive their income from the ministry then the ministry will cease as they are forced to do natural things to survive. Anything natural that distracts the Levites will cause the ministry to be diminished. When the same Levites are focused 100% on their ministry then spiritual things will thrive and increase. This will cause the laymen to prosper as well.
2 Chronicles 31:9-10 (NIV)
9 Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the heaps;
10 and Azariah the chief priest, from the family of Zadok, answered, “Since the people began to bring their contributions to the temple of the LORD, we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare, because the LORD has blessed his people, and this great amount is left over.”
When the people gave their tithes and offerings to the Lord then those involved in the ministry had plenty to eat and more than enough. Also, those who gave were blessed by the Lord and there was abundance for both the giver as well as those in the ministry. There was a great amount left over because of the prosperity that God had given to the people who contributed to the Lord. Everyone is blessed by giving and the ministry will increase and the givers will prosper and this is God’s method of prosperity for everyone through giving.
Levite Zeal for the Lord
The Old Testament Levites are direct counterparts of the New Testament Fivefold ministry and the principles seen under the Old Testament have direct application under the New. The Fivefold ministry cannot compromise with anyone including close family members. The Lord has to be first place or else the man with the Fivefold ministry gift will be deemed unfit for service in God’s kingdom. Another example of this was with Phinehas a Levite and grandson of Aaron.
Exodus 6:25 (NIV)
25 Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These were the heads of the Levite families, clan by clan.
Phinehas was the son of Eleazar who was the son of Aaron and these men were all part of the tribe of Levi and were Levites by birth. They represent the New Testament counterpart of the Fivefold ministry who are also called to minister before the Lord.
Balaam counseled the Midianites to send pagan women to the camp of the Israelites and seduce the men to commit sexual immorality and eat food offered to idols.
Revelation 2:14 (NIV)
14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality.
Balaam could not curse the Israelites as he was paid to do by Balak so he advised Balak the king of the Midianites to seduce the Israeli men to sin against God and then the Israelites would curse themselves. So, the Midianites sent pagan women to the camp to seduce the men of Israel to sin against God and thus curse themselves. One of the men even brought a pagan woman into his tent in the sight of those who were weeping before the Lord over this sin which had caused a plague in the camp. When Phinehas saw this brazen sin of a man who was not ashamed to commit sexual immorality in the camp, he was enraged and took a spear and pinned both Israeli man and the pagan woman to the ground with one strike!
Numbers 25:7-8 (NASB)
7 When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand,
8 and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman, through the body. So the plague on the sons of Israel was checked.
Phinehas the Levite displayed his zeal for the Lord when he took action against sin in the camp and because of this the plague was stopped.
Numbers 25:10-13 (NASB)
10 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy.
12 “Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give him My covenant of peace;
13 and it shall be for him and his descendants after him, a covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.’”
God was pleased with the zeal of Phinehas the Levite and God said that Phinehas had turned away the wrath of God by his actions. God said that Phinehas was jealous with God’s jealousy among the people and Phinehas was awarded as covenant of peace by God. Phinehas was granted a perpetual priesthood because he was jealous for his God.
This has direct application to the New Testament Fivefold ministry gifts because these men are to display the same zeal for God and be jealous for God’s Name and not to compromise with sin. Even if a close relative is sinning against God, a man who is a Levite would not spare him but would rebuke him in the Name of the Lord.
It is evident that the tribe of Simeon and the tribe of Levi were separated during the time of Moses with the tribe of Levi receiving a blessing and endorsement of God for their zeal. When Simeon and Levi killed the men of Shechem they did it in anger of the flesh. But God saw something different in the descendants of Levi during the time of Moses who were zealous for the Lord. They would even kill their own relatives if those people sinned against God and Phinehas also displayed his jealously for the Lord when he put to death those who were sinning against the Lord.
Numbers 25:14-15 (NASB)
14 Now the name of the slain man of Israel who was slain with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader of a father’s household among the Simeonites.
15 The name of the Midianite woman who was slain was Cozbi the daughter of Zur, who was head of the people of a father’s household in Midian.
The man who brought a pagan woman into his tent for sexual immorality was from the tribe of Simeon. Rather than the Simeonites being zealous for the Lord it appears that they were involved in the sexual immorality and idolatry that brought a curse to the entire camp.
Numbers 1:23 (NASB)
23 their numbered men of the tribe of Simeon were 59,300.
In Numbers 1:23 the census indicated that the population of the tribe of Simeon was 59,300 males.
Numbers 26:14 (NASB)
14 These are the families of the Simeonites, 22,200.
A second census taken in Numbers 26:14 indicates that the population of males in the tribe of Simeon was reduced to 22,200. It could be that it was the tribe of Simeon that was foremost in their involvement with the pagan woman of Midianite who came to seduce the Israelite men into sexual immorality and idolatry. It was a man of Simeon who was killed together with a pagan woman by Phinehas and this man showed no shame for this sin. Possibly the tribe of Simeon was greatly reduced in number when they were decimated by a plague from God showing that many of the males of the tribe of Simeon were involved in this sin.
It is for this reason that the curse of Simeon and Levi was turned to a blessing only for Levi because the descendants of Levi redeemed themselves by displaying their zeal for the Lord which even exceeded their own family ties. The scattering of Levi turned out to be a blessing because Levi was separated by God for the ministry to teach the word of God. This turned out as a blessing when there was a Levitical city (with teaching Levites) within ten miles of every person who lived throughout all the tribes of the land of Israel.
This has direct application for the New Testament Fivefold ministry gifts and indicates that they are to have a zeal for the Lord that exceeds even their closest family ties on earth.
I have been called to into an international ministry and my wife has God’s grace to be my helpmeet as an international minister. We can both testify that we have felt no twinge of homesickness no matter how many years we might be away from family members or separated from next of kin. We have a special grace of God so that we have no homesickness whatsoever. This is a great blessing because we are not distracted from the ministry by homesickness.
I have seen many people come overseas who do not have this grace and they are literally tormented by homesickness. Such people tell me that they were away from family and loved ones for only a few days and they can hardly stand it. They would even set their watches with a second time zone to constantly be checking what time it was back in their homelands and would imagine what their loved ones were doing back home each hour of the day. They were tormented by homesickness and because of this they were totally ineffective in overseas work and greatly distracted. This shows that they had no grace for international ministry work and they also had no fruit or evidence of a Fivefold ministry gift. Those who were called to a Fivefold ministry office and have grace for international ministry were happy and content and enjoying themselves on the foreign field. But those without a calling and grace of God were totally miserable and gloomy and depressed. One of the factors that indicate that a person is not a New Testament Levite is that they have their family ties before the Lord and they cannot stand to be separated from family for even a short period of time. Jesus made it clear that if anyone loves family members more than Him then they are unfit for service in the kingdom of God. This is a requirement for those called into the Fivefold ministry.
Matthew 10:37 (NASB)
37 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
It is a requirement of a New Testament Levite (speaking of those born with a Fivefold ministry gift) that they have the Lord first place even over the closest human relationships on earth.
Luke 9:61-62 (NASB)
61 Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.”
62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
When a man wanted to say goodbye to his family before following the Lord Jesus told him that anyone who put his hand to the plow and then looked back was not fit for the kingdom of God. Jesus required the same commitment that was required of Elisha when he slaughtered his oxen and burned his farm implements and left for the ministry immediately without saying goodbye to his parents or his own family members.
The Levites were separated to God when they put the zeal of the Lord before family ties. They did not hesitate to put anyone to death even if they were a father or mother or brother or even their own son because their zeal for God was before any human relationships on earth. This is what redeemed the Levites and caused them to be separated by God into the ministry and the same requirement is expected of a New Testament Levite called into the Fivefold ministry. God must be first place and they must be zealous for the Lord even if it means rebuking their own family members or in the case of international ministry being separated from family members for years at a time. God must be first place in their lives even before father or mother or brothers or sisters or any of the closest human relationships on earth.
God Before Relatives
One example of a man who served in the ministry but did not honor God first place was Eli. Eli served as a chief priest in the tabernacle set up at Shiloh.
1 Samuel 1:3 (NIV)
3 Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the LORD.
The two sons of Eli were named Hophni and Phinehas. Phinehas is not the same man as the grandson of Aaron but was probably named after this man. But the sons of Eli displayed no zeal of the Lord as Aaron’s grandson Phinehas displayed when he put to death those who sinned against God in the camp. The sons of Eli were wicked in the sight of God.
1 Samuel 2:22-24 (NIV)
22 Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
23 So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours.
24 No, my sons; it is not a good report that I hear spreading among the LORD’s people.
The sons of Eli were committing sexual immorality at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and they were also exploiting those who came to worship God. But Eli was so passive that he only told his sons that he was not hearing good reports about them but he did nothing to reprimand them.
1 Samuel 2:27-29 (NIV)
27 Now a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Did I not clearly reveal myself to your father’s house when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh?
28 I chose your father out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in my presence. I also gave your father’s house all the offerings made with fire by the Israelites.
29 Why do you scorn my sacrifice and offering that I prescribed for my dwelling? Why do you honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choice parts of every offering made by my people Israel?’
The passivity of Eli in disciplining his sons indicated that he honored his sons more than he honored and feared God. Passivity is endorsement in the sight of God because of a man does nothing when he sees wrong being committed it is the same as giving his stamp of approval for that sin.
1 Samuel 3:12-13 (NIV)
12 At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family–from beginning to end.
13 For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them.
Eli was passive with disciplining his sons and these wicked boys supposed that the tabernacle and worship service only existed to provide them with a livelihood to feed their bellies. God judged Eli because he failed to restrain his sons but instead allowed them to do whatever they wanted.
God takes this seriously as it shows that Eli cared more about his sons than he cared about God. He feared his sons more than he feared God. This has direct application to the New Testament Levites called to the Fivefold ministry because of they have fear of man and do not rebuke and set things in order then they will be judged by God for their passivity just as Eli was.
Proverbs 29:25 (NASB)
25 The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in the LORD will be exalted.
God’s word says that the fear of man brings a snare. Eli had fear of man when he feared to rebuke his own sons and this brought a snare to him that caused him to be judged by God and removed from his office of priest.
1 Samuel 2:29-30 (NASB)
29 ‘Why do you kick at My sacrifice and at My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling, and honor your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat with the choicest of every offering of My people Israel?’
30 “Therefore the LORD God of Israel declares, ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever’; but now the LORD declares, ‘Far be it from Me—for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed.
The fastest way to be demoted by God and rejected is to honor men before honoring God. Those who despise the Lord are those who have fear of man and try to please man more than God. Such men will be intimidated and controlled by men rather than God and they will be rejected by God just as Eli was rejected.
1 Samuel 2:12-17 (NASB)
12 Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the LORD
13 and the custom of the priests with the people. When any man was offering a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand.
14 Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. Thus they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.
15 Also, before they burned the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest meat for roasting, as he will not take boiled meat from you, only raw.”
16 If the man said to him, “They must surely burn the fat first, and then take as much as you desire,” then he would say, “No, but you shall give it to me now; and if not, I will take it by force.”
17 Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD, for the men despised the offering of the LORD.
These sons of Eli were taking offerings by force from the people and causing the worship of God to be despised by those who were abused and taken advantage of by these carnal men. The fact of the matter is that Eli himself should have been the first to put them to death but instead he allowed them to do whatever they wanted to do and only told them he was not hearing good reports about them.
This is not the same attitude that the Levites had when they put on their swords and put to death anyone who sinned against God in the camp. This is what gained the Levites a place of separation to the Lord. This is the same good attitude that Phinehas (the grandson of Aaron) had when he put a man to death who was committing sexual immorality in the camp.
The Levites were chosen by God because of their zeal in putting God before their own family members but Eli displayed the opposite attitude in his passivity to put his own sons to death for their great wickedness. The passivity of Eli resulted in his descendants being removed from the priesthood forever and God put the sons of Eli to death Himself because Eli refused to do this job. The priesthood was taken from Abiathar the descendant of Aaron’s son Ithamar and given to Zadok a descendant of Aaron’s son Eleazar. Thus, the descendants of Eli (who was a descendant of Abiathar) were rejected by God and removed from the ministry forever.
1 Kings 2:27 (NASB)
27 So Solomon dismissed Abiathar from being priest to the LORD, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD, which He had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.
In the days of Solomon, the line of Eli was removed from the priesthood forever.
1 Samuel 2:34-36 (NASB)
34 ‘This will be the sign to you which will come concerning your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: on the same day both of them will die.
35 ‘But I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul; and I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed always.
36 ‘Everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and say, “Please assign me to one of the priest’s offices so that I may eat a piece of bread.”‘”
The two sons of Eli were killed on the same day that their father Eli also died and the passive father and his wicked sons were all removed from the priesthood. It was predicted that those left of the lineage of Eli would beg for one of the priest’s offices to that they might have a piece of bread to eat. This shows that those who are self-indulgent and view the ministry as a means of gain will be cursed by God and removed from the ministry.
This has direct application to the New Testament Levites because they also can be rejected by God if they show preferential treatment to relatives or have fear of man that exceeds their fear of God. They can be rejected from the ministry and sent to hell for this.
One prominent minister once said that if a Fivefold minister somehow lost his salvation and was sent to hell that he would still preach in hell because the calling and gifts of God are irrevocable. To be rejected by God from the ministry like Eli was (because of passivity) is a serious crime indeed because a Fivefold minister cannot do anything else except his calling or be damned. Those with a Fivefold ministry gift must understand the serious consequences of being rejected by God and being removed from the ministry. Their damnation will be unspeakable because they will be punished according to their knowledge.
James 3:1 (NASB)
1 Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.
Those who are teachers of God’s word have more knowledge than the students which they teach so they will be held more accountable since they have more knowledge. Any Fivefold minister who is rejected by God and sent to hell will have the most unspeakable damnation and judgment (over anyone else in hell) because they have more knowledge.
Luke 12:47-48 (NASB)
47 “And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes,
48 but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.
This scripture indicates that judgment will be according to knowledge and those who know better will receive greater damnation. It is therefore evident that a Fivefold minister has the highest responsibility of all and has the greatest risk of judgment if he should be rejected by God (as Eli was). Those who did not know (lacked knowledge) will receive few stripes but those who knew better (or had knowledge) will receive many stripes. Judgment will be increased for those who are called into the Fivefold ministry of a New Testament Levite because they are called and gifted and have more spiritual knowledge than any layman which they can teach. Those who have been given much will have more required of them and to those whom God has entrusted much God will also ask all the more. The Fivefold minister under the New Testament has been given more than anyone else in the body of Christ and they have been entrusted with more by God. While this may be a big honor for them it also holds a grave responsibility because they will be required more by God than anyone else in the body of Christ.
If the laymen intruders into the ministry understood the grave consequences for those in the Fivefold ministry then few of these laymen would be seeking to intrude into this holy office. It is serious business and no one should be seeking to intrude into an office for which they were not called by God.
1 Corinthians 9:16 (NASB)
16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.
Paul had a New Testament Fivefold ministry gift of Apostle and he was under compulsion to preach the gospel and stated that woe to him if he did not preach. Woe is an exclamation of great distress and unspeakable judgment for a man who does not fulfill the calling he was given from birth as a Fivefold minister. Those who are New Testament Levites (Fivefold ministry gifts) are under compulsion to fulfill their calling because if they are rejected by God for disobedience or fear of man, they will be damned to the most unspeakable punishment that can be imagined!
No one in hell will have a judgment as severe as a Fivefold ministry gift that was rejected by God! They were entrusted with much and have great knowledge so their judgment will be much more severe!
New Testament Levites should count the cost and determine that they will never disobey God in any way and commit to themselves that they will not be controlled by fear of man or put anything or anyone before the Lord. They must fear God or they are in danger of being rejected just as Eli also was.
Selling a Ministry Gift for Money
Jude 1:11 (NASB)
11 Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
The error of Balaam speaks of a man of God who was a prophet but he sold his gift for money because he was full of greed.
2 Peter 2:15 (NASB)
15 forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
Balaam sold out his prophetic gift for money and he ended up in hell because of this. This is a warning to Fivefold ministry gifts to beware of selling their gift for money. Many have been rejected by God because of greed when they compromised with carnal men who wanted to use their gift to make money for themselves. It is for this reason that it is of top priority for a New Testament Levite to learn to trust God by faith for his income and not look to natural sources. If a Fivefold minister looks to people for income he will drift into compromise and end up being rejected by God. Many true ministers were rejected by God when they sought to use their ministry gift to earn money. This is another way that Fivefold ministry gifts can find themselves in hell.
Passivity is really the worse enemy and danger to a man of God because if they are passive, they will allow others under their authority to sin as Eli did and the fear of man can keep them from rebuking sinners and fear of losing financial support can keep them from speaking what is right. Many men of God have been controlled by elder boards, deacon boards, congregations, donors and others who found a way to intimidate them. If they are passive about intimidation and do not resist it they could find that their ministry gift will go dormant and when that happens they will be judged by God for not fulfilling their calling.
Woe to them if they do not fulfill their calling because it would have been better if they had not be born than to have a ministry gift and not fulfill it because they were passive with sin or passive in using their authority or passive in dealing with intimidation.
Passivity is the number one sin of men and the first man Adam was also passive when his wife was roaming about the garden and doing her own thing without her husband’s consent. Eve was deceived and she ate the fruit and she took leadership over her husband in perverted manner that brought a curse to the entire earth! Passivity with a wife is a great sin as well and many men of God have lost their ministry when they allowed their wives to usurp authority in the home and even take over their ministry and that passivity is one more way for a Fivefold minister to go to hell because it will keep him from fulfilling his calling.
Joshua 24:15 (NIV)
15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
Joshua had the opposite spirit of that which Eli possessed. Joshua declared boldly that as for himself and his own household they would serve the Lord. When the man Achan sinned against God and brought a curse on Israel, Joshua did not hesitate to put this man to death! There is no doubt that Joshua would not have tolerated sin within his own family either. If Joshua had any family members sin against God then he would not hesitate to put them to death. It was mandatory that those who were under his roof would serve the Lord. Joshua exercised his authority over those under his sphere of influence and did not tolerate any behavior that was displeasing to God. This is in great contrast to Eli who was passive with his wicked sons and his passivity showed that he honored his sons more than he honored God.
Silence Equals Endorsement
There exists a biblical principle that silence and passivity is the same as endorsement in the sight of God.
Jeremiah 44:18-19 (NIV)
18 But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine.”
19 The women added, “When we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did not our husbands know that we were making cakes like her image and pouring out drink offerings to her?”
There were (in the time of the prophet Jeremiah) some Israeli women who were worshiping a false idol that they called the Queen of Heaven. It was apparently a female deity that they had invented out of their own minds and their way of worshiping this idol was to burn incense to her, pour out drink offerings to her, and to make cakes in her image. Jeremiah rebuked them for this idolatry and pointed out that this idolatry angered the jealous God and this is what caused war and famine and cursing that came upon the nation as judgment. But these arrogant women were “brazen” in their sin and had the forehead of a harlot who no longer is ashamed of her sin. They contradicted what the Prophet Jeremiah said and told him that the reason that they had war and famine was because they were not worshiping the Queen of Heaven enough and she was displeased! These brazen women then justified themselves further by telling the Prophet Jeremiah that their husbands knew about them making cakes in the image of this female idol and their husbands knew about their wives pouring out drink offerings to this false god.
The fact that the husbands knew about this sin but they did not say anything and they did not rebuke it was the same as endorsement. These brazen women idolaters told Jeremiah that they had the approval of their husbands and this approval came in the form of silence. If the men are silent about it then it is the same as if they endorsed it because they are the head of the home. These passive men who allowed the wives to engage in idol worship and did not rebuke them were doing the exact same sin as Eli who knew about his son’s wicked behavior in the tabernacle but he did nothing to put a stop to it. God requires the men to take leadership in the home and put a stop to that which is evil. If a man does nothing with disorder and evil under his own roof then he will be judged by God.
There exists a biblical principle that the man is to be the head of his own household just as Joshua was and he is to determine that his household will serve the Lord and enforce that behavior which is righteous in God’s sight. This includes behavior of his wife as well.
Numbers 30:3-8 (NIV)
3 “When a young woman still living in her father’s house makes a vow to the LORD or obligates herself by a pledge
4 and her father hears about her vow or pledge but says nothing to her, then all her vows and every pledge by which she obligated herself will stand.
5 But if her father forbids her when he hears about it, none of her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand; the LORD will release her because her father has forbidden her.
6 “If she marries after she makes a vow or after her lips utter a rash promise by which she obligates herself
7 and her husband hears about it but says nothing to her, then her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand.
8 But if her husband forbids her when he hears about it, he nullifies the vow that obligates her or the rash promise by which she obligates herself, and the LORD will release her.
In the case of a young unmarried woman who is still living in her father’s house, if this woman makes a vow to the Lord and her father hears it but says nothing to her then all of her vows and every pledge by which she obligated herself will stand. It is evident that silence of the man in authority is equal to endorsement in the sight of God! If the man is silent then this young woman is obligated before God to keep and live by everything that she has uttered before God.
If the young woman becomes married then the same authority is transferred from her father to that of her husband. This is why it is a godly tradition for a father to lead his daughter down the aisle and hand her over to the groom prior to the wedding ceremony. This is a symbolic act stating that the authority over the young woman has been transferred from the father to the new husband at the moment they are married. From that time on the young woman is to be under the authority of her husband.
Again, it is evident that the silence of a man in authority is equal to endorsement in the sight of God. But if the father or the husband in charge over a woman should rebuke her vow and forbid her rash promise then the Lord will release her from the vow because the man in authority has nullified what she has uttered from her mouth.
The principle that can be seen here is that God has placed women under male authority of either a father (over an unmarried woman) or a husband (over a married woman). If that male authority is passive and says nothing (like Eli did) then that silence is endorsement in the sight of God. It was for this reason that Eli was judged, removed from the priesthood, and his descendants were rejected after him. The sin of Eli was passivity and silence when his children were sinning in grievous manner before the Lord. Eli did nothing about it and that is why God was enraged at him and Eli and his wicked sons all died on the same day!
The same was true of the Israeli men in the time of Jeremiah who knew that their wives were engaged in idol worship and this provoked the God of Israel to anger. These men were judged by God for their passivity with the sin that was occurring under their own roofs. All of them were destroyed by sword and famine and pestilence together with their wicked wives who were doing their own thing and were not reprimanded by their passive husbands.
1 Kings 21:24-25 (NIV)
24 “Dogs will eat those belonging to Ahab who die in the city, and the birds of the air will feed on those who die in the country.”
25 (There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, urged on by Jezebel his wife.
Ahab was completely passive and he married a pagan woman named Jezebel whose name is now notorious and symbolic of a woman who usurps authority from a passive man. Ahab sold himself completely to do evil in the sight of the Lord because his wife Jezebel incited him to do so. This man was passive with his wife and let her run the country. She would even write letters in the name of Ahab and seal them with his signet ring and have people killed under his authority (which was authority that she had usurped for herself). But the judgment came upon Ahab first because he was the man of the house and God held him accountable for what was happening under his roof. If a woman is manipulating and controlling her husband (as Jezebel did with her husband Ahab) then God will hold that man accountable.
This also has direct application to the New Testament Levites of the Fivefold ministry because if a minister is manipulated and controlled by his wife then God will judge that man for it. If a man is silent about disorder under his roof then this is the same as endorsement in the sight of God. Such a passive man will be judged the same as Eli and Ahab who were both passive men that allowed sin to exist under their authority and did nothing to stop it or rebuke it.
I have seen Fivefold ministers lose their ministry because they had a wife who pushed them to endorse her into the ministry. One man had a ministry website in his name but his wife continued to push him to promote her until finally he closed down his website and placed his ministry under the name of his wife and a website which was established in her name. Little by little this man yielded to his wife until today he is serving her so-called ministry and his own ministry is closed down. He had a powerful ministry gift but even this gift went dormant after he submitted to his wife and allowed her to control him and his ministry. He became just like Ahab who only existed to endorse Jezebel and give her something to control and manipulate. Jezebel (the pagan woman) was running the nation of Israel through her passive husband Ahab. She even sought to put to death all Levitical ministers and replace them with her own pagan priests of Baal. This disorder existed because of the passivity of a man who allowed his wife to manipulate him and said nothing about it.
The ways of the world have crept into the carnal church and the same Jezebel spirit is also working in the wives of many of those called to the full-time ministry of a New Testament Levite. These women usurp authority away from their husbands and even promote themselves as ministers under his name. Some women have even placed their own names on the church sign as “pastors” together with their husbands. Yet the biblical requirement to be a pastor is that he be the husband of one wife. Only a man can be a husband of a wife so this means that only men can be a pastor and it is unscriptural for women to insert themselves as pastors together with their husbands.
I know of several women who were so bold as to cast off their husband’s names from the church signs totally and with brazen attitude put their own name as the sole pastor of the church! One Pastor (who has a large church) had several daughters who attended bible school and when they came back, they wanted a role of leadership in the church and had their father promote them as pastors as well. It seems that these types of women will try to outdo each other in seizing authority to run the church and taking a place of leadership for themselves. But this is all unscriptural and exists only because the men allowed it and were passive. The judgment will come upon them first because they are the head. These men have allowed their gifts to go dormant as they become passive like Ahab as their wives (and even daughters) run their ministry in place of them. Those who are passive like this will be judged the same as Eli or Ahab who knew about the disorder within their own households but did nothing about it. Again, the biblical principle that can be seen here is that silence is equal to endorsement in the sight of God.
Concerning Levite Women
I have coined the name “Levite woman” to describe those women who are created by God to be a helpmeet to a Levite man. This is a much-simplified term compared to saying she is a helpmeet created for a Fivefold ministry gift. The OT Levites are the Old Testament counterpart to the New Testament Fivefold ministry so when I speak of Levites under the New Testament, I am speaking of those called to the Fivefold ministry.
See the link “Levite Women” for more details.
The biblical principle that can be seen from the book of Genesis is that the woman is created to be a helpmeet to the man.
Genesis 2:18 (NIV)
18 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
The fact of the matter is that the woman was created by God to be a helper who was suitable for man. It is in the role of a helpmeet to a man that a woman finds her destiny and purpose on earth. The same is also true of those women who are created to be a helpmeet to a New Testament Levite.
Genesis 2:20-22 (NIV)
20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.
21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh.
22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
Out of all of the creatures God had made not one of them was suitable for Adam because they were of a different species and there was no common understanding between them and Adam. These creatures could not meet the need in the heart of man and cause his loneliness to be relieved. So, God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep and God took one of the ribs of the man and closed up the place with flesh. Out of this rib God had taken out of Adam He made a woman. The woman was not only formed from the flesh and bone of Adam but she had all of the missing parts that were removed from Adam. All that was feminine within Adam was taken from him and placed into the woman. If God had created Eve as a separate individual from the dust of the earth then there would have been two separate created beings but God did not do it this way. By taking parts of Adam (including the feminine side of Adam) and placing them into a woman this created a situation where the man needed the woman and the woman needed the man. When a man is married to a woman then all that is missing in him is restored and he is made complete again. This is done in the wisdom of God because God wants a man and his wife to become “one-person” or one-flesh together.
Genesis 2:23-24 (NIV)
23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”
24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
Adam was no longer alone and had another person to share his life with but it was much more than that because everything that was missing in Adam was restored to him when he was joined to his wife. He was complete in marriage and for this reason a man is to leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and they will become one-flesh or “one-person” together. The woman also is incomplete until she is joined to a man in marriage and she finds her purpose in life by being married to a man and being his helpmeet.
The biblical principle that can be seen here is that God does not believe in feminine equality because God never created the woman to be equal with a man. If the woman was to be an equal, she would have been created out of the dust of the earth like Adam was rather than being created from his bone and flesh. The way in which God created the woman causes it to be natural for her to submit to her husband and become one-flesh together with him as they both find their fulfillment in being married to one another. Male and female go together naturally and that is the way God created them to be.
1 Timothy 2:12-14 (NIV)
12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.
13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve.
14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.
It is evident from the scriptures that Adam was first created then Eve was created to be his helpmeet and she was even created out of his bone and flesh. It was the plan of God that the man be the head of his home and the woman should submit to his leadership. But Adam was passive and Eve began to do her own thing in the Garden of Eden and she began to visit the forbidden tree where she was deceived. Eve then took leadership and ate the fruit of her own accord and she was the one to bring the fruit and give it to her husband to eat. She was clearly taking leadership over her husband and assuming a role of teacher over him. God makes it clear that a woman is not to teach or have authority over a man but she must be silent. Adam was not deceived so this means he must have “willfully” eaten the fruit because he did not want to be separated from his wife who already ate of the tree and was spiritually dead. Eve was deceived by the devil and brought a curse upon the entire earth. The fact that Adam was created first and then Eve was created out of his bone and flesh (for the purpose of being a helpmeet to him) was enough to show that Adam was to be the one in a leadership position in the home (not his wife).
Part Four
Genesis 3:16 (NIV)
16 To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
After the fall of mankind God made His intention clear again that the man was to be in leadership and his wife was to submit to him. God said clearly that the desire of the woman would be for her husband and he would rule over her. That removes all doubt as to who was placed in a position of leadership in the marriage by God! The fact that the woman’s desire would be toward her husband speaks of the fact that a woman will find no fulfillment on earth apart from being a helpmeet to her husband. All women are created by God for this purpose and those who are fighting against this purpose will not find any fulfillment on earth in feminine equality and female independence. For a woman to be independent she is fighting against everything that God has created her to be.
Again, I say that God does not believe in feminine equality but God wants oneness! God created the woman to become one-flesh or “one-person” together with her own husband and if she fights against this role there will be nothing but turmoil and chaos in the marriage.
Under the New Testament the same principle can be seen that God views a married couple as “one-complete” person not as separate individuals.
Matthew 14:21 (NASB)
21 There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.
When Jesus fed the multitude, it was noted that he fed five thousand men and this figure did not include the women and children. The reason that the women and children were not included in the total was because God sees the women as part of the man as “one-person” together with him and their children as their offspring also come under his authority. Just as the household of Joshua came under his authority and he determined that they would all serve the Lord and it was mandatory because he was the head of his own home.
So when there were five-thousand men that were fed (besides women and children) this means that the women and children were included under the men who were heads of their households. That is why the women and children were not counted because they are considered as part or “one” under the household of the man.
Matthew 15:38 (NASB)
38 And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.
On another occasion there were four-thousand men who were fed besides the women and children who were not counted. This does not imply that the women and children were not worthy to be counted or considered but rather when God sees a married man, he sees that man as “one-complete” person together with his wife and his offspring are included under his covering of authority. So, if God counts a man, He is automatically including the wife and his children who are part of his household.
Matthew 16:9-10 (NIV)
9 Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?
10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?
It is evident that there were two separate occasions where five-thousand men were fed and on another occasion four-thousand men were fed and on both occasions the women and children were considered as part of the household of the man. So, in the point of view of God the man is the head and he is “one-complete” person with his wife and his children are under his authority and so it is the head of the household that is counted and the wife and children are included automatically under him.
1 Corinthians 11:3 (NIV)
3 Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
There exists a divine “chain-of-command” in God and it is clear that the head of Christ is God and the head of man is Christ and the head of the woman is the man. If the woman is unmarried then her father is in authority over her and if she is married then her husband is in authority over her.
Galatians 3:28 (NIV)
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
There are some who have taken this scripture to mean that there is neither male nor female in Christ and thought this would support the feminine equality that is promoted by the world’s system. But this scripture taken in context is clearly speaking about salvation. This means as far as salvation is concerned the men and the women both are saved by coming to Christ by faith. Also, the Jew and the Greek also are saved by faith in Christ and the slave and the freed man also come to salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus is rich to all who call upon Him and whoever calls upon the Lord will be saved (regardless of gender). So, this scripture refers to salvation only and coming to Jesus to be justified by faith.
1 Corinthians 11:3 (NIV)
3 Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
But this scripture in no way negates the divine “chain-of-command” of God in which the head of Christ is God and the head of man is Christ and the head of the woman is the man. Only in salvation is the woman equal just as the Jews and Greeks and slaves and free are also equal in their coming to Christ for free salvation. But when God speaks to household and gives direction to that family this direction will always come through the man of the house because he is the head. God will not violate His own chain of command.
I know of a New Testament Levite man who was called into the full-time ministry as a Fivefold minister. He received a prophetic word of the Lord from a man who was a Prophet and who operated with the gift of Word of Knowledge and Word of Wisdom. He spoke out accurate things about this man that only God could have known and the prophetic word was a great encouragement to him and provided confirmation and direction for his ministry.
See the link “Spiritual Gifts” for more details.
But the wife of the man who received the prophetic word became indignant and said, “Why would God speak to my husband and not speak to me?!” But the fact of the matter is that all direction for the family will always come through the head of the home and it will not be given to the wife because she is not the head in God’s sight. God may speak to the wife about needs of the children and she may know some things in the spirit realm related to being a mother but she most certainly will not be receiving the direction for the family herself. God will not violate his own “chain-of-command” and skip over the head of the home and give the direction to the wife! This is unscriptural and unbiblical and there was a good reason why the prophetic word came only to the husband rather than the wife because that word was related to direction for his ministry and that direction would have affect on the family that followed this man as he obeyed God and did what God had told him to do through this prophetic word.
1 Corinthians 11:7-10 (NIV)
7 A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.
8 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man;
9 neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.
10 For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head.
Regarding a “head-covering” this is something that is symbolic of a woman being under the covering or authority of her husband. To prophesy does not mean the gift of a prophet but this is speaking of the simple gift of exhortation and comfort and often women will give such utterances in church. But God commanded that if a woman does pray or give a simple prophesy of edification and comfort, she is to do so with her head covered. This means that she is to be under submission to her husband (as represented by the covering of her head). To cover the head speaks of the woman finding her headship under the authority of her husband. So, a woman is not to give an utterance in a church unless her husband is sitting next to her to judge what she is saying. If she is carried away in emotions and is in the flesh then the husband can tell her to stop and she must obey him.
[See my teaching lesson called “Head Covering and Submission” for more details]
The scripture continues to say that man was created in the image of God but the woman was created for the glory of man. Man did not come from the woman but the woman came from the man so this is enough to establish the fact that she is to be submitted to her husband because she was created for him and out of his body parts. The woman was also created for man and that is why she should be under submission to him (unlike Eve who was doing her own thing and making her own decisions and acting independently of her man).
The scripture further states that the woman should have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels. Angels are divine beings who are servants to those who are heirs of salvation and they play an important part in the answering of prayers.
Hebrews 1:14 (NIV)
14 Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
Angels are ministering spirit-beings that serve those who have inherited salvation. Angels were involved with the prayers given by Daniel and so angels have a part in answered prayers of a married couple also. But God’s angels also recognize God’s divine “chain-of-command” and that means they recognize the husband as the head of the home. If the wife is doing all of the praying for direction in the family and will not let her husband speak a word in prayer then that is confusion. The prayers of that married couple will be hindered because the man is not taking his rightful place as head of the home but is passively allowing his wife to usurp this role when he allows her to do all of the praying. A woman may pray for wisdom in being a mother and wife and for things that pertain to her personally but she is not to be doing the praying for the family when it concerns prayer for direction for the family which is reserved for the role of the head of the home.
The angels honor divine “chain-of-command” and it is expected that the wife be under submission to her husband spiritually and allow him to be the spiritual head of the home and allow him to do the praying for the family and praying for the direction he receives as the head of the home. If the wife is doing the praying instead for everything then there will be confusion in the spiritual realm because the angels will be bewildered as to why this man is allowing his helpmeet to be his head and assume leadership. This is the same passivity displayed in Ahab who allowed his wife to rule the nation by usurping his authority to do so. Women who run the homes and refuse to allow their husbands to pray or even read the bible without correcting them-are those who are operating in the Jezebel spirit which is a spirit of manipulation and control. Men who are passive and allow their wives to do this will be judged the same as Ahab was judged for allowing his wife to dominate him. Adam was cursed when he allowed his wife to take leadership and so were the men in the time of Jeremiah who allowed their wives to worship idols and they were all destroyed by the judgment of God. Passivity of men will allow women to rule and control and that will bring judgment on themselves because God has given the leadership to the men as part of God’s divine “chain-of-command.”
1 Corinthians 11:11-12 (NIV)
11 In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.
12 For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.
This scripture is teaching that God does not see women as independent individuals but rather they are “one-person” together with their husbands. The woman is not independent of the man and the man is not independent of the woman because both of them are completed in marriage to one another. Two men cannot complete each other because they do not have the parts that are missing in the other person. Only a man and a woman can find completeness as they become “one-flesh” or “one-person” together in Christ. Some married couples never become “one-person” together because the wife is constantly fighting the man and resisting his leadership and trying to exalt her own independence. Such women are fighting against nature and fighting against what God has created them to be. Men and women need each other and they are to become one-flesh together in marriage. God has determined who would be the head of that marriage and it is the man who is to lead the family with his masculine logic not the woman leading with her feminine thinking.
The Levite Woman
The Levite woman is a woman who is created to be a helpmeet to a Levite man. It is evident that all women ever born on the earth are created to be a helpmeet to a man because this is the original purpose for which God created the first woman Eve and this same purpose applies to all generations of women who have ever been born on the earth. Some women for instance may be created to be a helpmeet to a rancher and for this reason they love riding horses and working cattle and they are perfectly suited to a man whose occupation is ranching. Some women may be good in business and they are therefore gifted to be a helpmeet to a man who is a businessman. There is someone for everyone and no matter what occupation a man has there is a woman that can be found who is perfectly suited to that man and his occupation. The same can also be said of those called into the Fivefold ministry (which we will refer to as New Testament Levites). For every Levite man that is called by God there is a Levite woman who is perfectly suited to be his helpmeet. All women are created to be a helpmeet to a man but a Levite woman is created specifically to be a helpmeet to a Levite in the full-time ministry.
I know of a Levite man who operated in the gifts of healing and he was blessed to have a Levite wife to help him in the ministry. When he would pray for the sick there would often be those in the group who would fail to receive their healing. His wife would take all those who failed to receive their healing and bring them into a private place and she would operate in the Word of Knowledge and she would expose to each of them secret sins that they needed to repent of before they could receive their healing. When the people repented of these things then they were able to be healed after this hindrance was removed. This Levite woman was not called into the ministry as many would suppose but rather she was created to be a helpmeet to a Levite man and the gift of Word of Knowledge only operated in conjunction with her husband’s healing ministry. It did not operate for this woman to go out and start her own ministry and be on her own independently.
Many Levite women have got into a ditch in this regard because they assumed that they were called to the ministry when in fact they were created to be a helpmeet to a Levite man and the spiritual resources that they possessed were for this purpose of being a spiritual helpmeet.
It is an Old Testament principle from the book of Genesis that Eve was created by God for the purpose of being a helpmeet to her husband. Every woman who has ever been born on the earth since the time of Eve has been born with the same purpose as Eve. They are all created by God to be a helpmeet to a man and that includes Levite women who are created to be a helpmeet to a Levite husband. Much misunderstanding of this matter has caused Levite woman to mistakenly assume God has called them into the ministry and they have intruded into a holy office for which they were not called because of their misplaced purpose of being a helpmeet to a Levite man.
I know of a Levite woman who was a great inspiration to her Levite husband and he considered her to be the greatest asset of his life. But a change started to occur in his Levite wife and she no longer was content in being his helpmeet but she wanted to have her own ministry instead. The man was so blessed by her spiritually that he falsely presumed she must be called into the ministry. So, when she began to push him to promote her into the pulpit then he started to do so. This was a mistake and the man began to drift farther from his God-given purpose and calling and was serving his wife instead. A change took place in his ministry over time because he no longer had the spiritual substance that his wife once provided for him because she was pouring his spiritual substance that belonged to him on the ground, in her own “self-invented” ministry. His gift went dormant as he left his calling and the husband and wife roles were reversed and today, he is serving as a helpmeet to his wife. The body of Christ lost a great man of God and today he looks dark and the anointing he once had is gone. This can happen if a Levite man does not have a helpmeet to support him and if he loses his wife because she left her role of being a helpmeet and went off in seeking her own independent ministry.
All of this occurred because this Levite woman confused her created purpose of being a helpmeet to a Levite man and she presumed to intrude into the holy office for which she was not called by God to do. The only time that a woman is allowed to minister is if she is speaking to other women.
Titus 2:3-5 (NIV)
3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.
4 Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children,
5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.
The older women are to teach the younger women how to love their husbands and their children. This is specifically a role where a Levite woman can shine because women must be taught how to minister to the greatness of their men and how to inspire their children as well. It is the woman who makes the house into a home and a place of strength and refuge for the man and the children and without this role being accomplished men will never have their life in order and they cannot rise up to their full potential.
When this scripture speaks of older women it does not necessarily mean “age” but rather maturity because a woman can be old and not have spiritual maturity. But it is the Levite woman who has the most spiritual maturity of all women because of the spiritual perception God has given her to become the helpmeet to a Levite husband. She can really shine in instructing other women about spiritual things and it flows together with her calling to be a Levite woman for a Levite man.
In the case of the Levite woman who forsook her role as a helpmeet and pushed her husband to promote her into her own ministry, she lost everything rather than gaining the limelight that she was seeking. She did not realize that if she would use her spiritual resources to energize her man then he would be empowered to success because she would act like wind in his sails! But instead she abandoned God’s created role for herself and sought after her own ministry. The result was that her husband went down and had no more spiritual strength to excel because she was pouring out the spiritual strength that belonged to him on the ground by pursuing her own ministry. But her ministry was worthless and only served to divert her from her God-given purpose as a helpmeet and the end result was the failure of her own husband in the ministry as he lost his anointing and his calling went dormant. He receives no more new revelation and is just “faking-it-in-the-flesh” today and the same is true of his wife as she also “fakes-it in-the-flesh” as she tries to suck up the limelight without having anything worthwhile to say to the people.
Women like this do not understand the principle that God sees the husband and wife as “one-person” together and when the husband finds success because of his wife’s help to him then she will share equally in all the rewards and blessings that come to him. But many Christian women have become independent and self-serving as they follow the ways of the world and the “feminine-equality” that comes from Satan. Instead of serving as a helpmeet to their husbands they seek to have their own independence and fame. So the man goes down without the spiritual strength and support of his wife and she goes down with him because she is not called to be independent of her husband and will not have success on her own.
Women who try to use men to endorse their own ministry are fighting against the plan of God because God created a woman to be a helpmeet not to have her own independence and self-serving as the worldly women do.
I know of several Levite women who intentionally married the most passive men that they could find so that they could control them and use them to endorse their own “self-invented” ministry. This sort of independence is sin and fights against God’s command for women to submit to their husbands.
When a Levite man is not supported by his wife spiritually, he will go down because he cannot fulfill his calling without the spiritual energy and resources that a Levite wife can provide. Those Levite women who leave their role of a helpmeet to pursue their own independence will end up losing everything when their husbands never find success. These independent Levite women will not find any success in their own “self-invented” ministry because that is not their created purpose.
God created the husband and wife to be one-flesh together and this means they are to be “one-person” and they will share in the rewards and blessings that God brings to them as a married couple. But if the woman resists the one-flesh relationship and fights for her own independence then she is a foolish woman who is tearing down her own house.
Proverbs 14:1 (NIV)
1 The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.
A wise woman builds her own house and we have seen from the scriptures that the head covering speaks of the spiritual covering of a man over his wife. This is like the house that has a roof as a covering for the woman and if she is wise, she will build up her man because her man is her spiritual covering. A wise woman will learn how to energize her husband the way that Abigail knew how to energize a man and minister to his greatness. In doing so she will propel her man to success and she will enjoy an equal share in all of the blessings that the man receives from God in his promotion.
But a foolish woman will tear down her own house with her own hands. This is not speaking about a woman climbing onto the roof of a natural house and tearing a hole in the roof with a crowbar and hammer. This is speaking of a woman who does not minister to the greatness of her own husband but instead seeks her own self-promotion and independence and lets her man flounder. She is tearing him down by not being a helpmeet to him and a source of encouragement. If she withholds this spiritual strength from her man there is no way that he can reach his full potential. Many Levite men have lost their ministries and their gifts have gone dormant because they allowed wives to take their spiritual substance that belongs to them and pour it on the ground in a futile “self-made” woman invented ministry that God never called these women to start.
There are biblical principles found in the Old Testament that would have stopped all of these problems if women would have learned them and applied them to their lives.
One of these principles can be seen in the requirements God gave to Levite Priests for choosing a wife.
Leviticus 21:13-14 (NIV)
13 “‘The woman he marries must be a virgin.
14 He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people,
Above are the requirements for a Levite Priest for the qualifications for his wife. He was to marry a virgin and she was not to be a widow or divorced woman or a woman that was defiled by prostitution. The Levite was to marry a virgin of his own people.
This can be seen in the case of the parents of Moses because both of them were Levites.
Exodus 2:1 (NIV)
1 Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman,
The father of Moses was a Levite man and he also married a Levite woman and so Moses and his brother Aaron were of pure Levite-stock. This has direct application under the New Testament because those who are called into the Fivefold ministry are New Testament Levites and they should follow God’s prescribed qualifications in choosing a wife.
The scripture says that the Levite priest was to marry a virgin of his own people. This can be compared to the fact that the bible says that a believer is not to be unequally yoked to an unbeliever so believers are not to marry unbelievers. An Old Testament application of this is that the Israelites were not to marry pagan people who were not of the nation of Israel. But in the case of the Levitical Priest the separation goes much further. Not only was he not supposed to marry a pagan outside the nation of Israel but the Levitical Priest was not to marry an Israelite of any of the other eleven tribes but he was to only marry a Levite woman of his own people of the tribe of Levi. This has direct application to the New Testament Fivefold ministry (that I refer to as the New Testament Levites) because a man can actually be unequally yoked even if he marries a Christian if she is not a fellow Levite.
I know of a New Testament Levite man who has an awesome prophetic gift and he delivered the most accurate prophetic word that I have ever received. But this same man married a secular school teacher rather than a Levite woman and she is totally unable to provide him with any spiritual support for his ministry. She is a nice person and a sweet lady but she has absolutely no spiritual perception that a Levite woman has. This Levite man was the loneliest man that I have ever met. He is actually a stranger in his own house because his wife is unable to provide any spiritual fellowship or understanding for him.
In the Garden of Eden, Adam was created first and he named all of the animals but not one of them was suited to be a helpmeet for Adam because animals do not have a common understanding with mankind because they are a different creature. Adam cannot sit down and have a deep and understanding communication with a chimpanzee because they are different creatures and there is little understanding between them! In the same way, a man who is called by God as a Levite (having a Fivefold ministry gift) cannot have a common understanding with a woman who is not created by God to be a Levite woman. A laywoman will lack the spiritual understanding needed to communicate on a spiritual plane with a Levite man. So this Levite man I know is the loneliest man I ever met because he has no spiritual fellowship or understanding with the laywoman that he had married. Communicating spiritual things to her would be like Adam trying to discuss calculus with a chimpanzee! There is just no connection between them spiritually because she lacks that spiritual dimension that only a Levite woman possesses.
Some Levite women assume their spiritual understanding means they are called to the ministry but in fact it means that they are called to be a helpmeet to a Levite man. If they do not marry a Levite man these women will forever find no outlet for their spiritual resources.
Leviticus 21:13-14 (NIV)
13 “‘The woman he marries must be a virgin.
14 He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people,
Again we read that the Levitical Priest is to marry a virgin of his own people and this has direct New Testament fulfillment in that a Levite man must marry a Levite woman or he will forever be lonely and lack the spiritual understanding that only a Levite woman can provide for him.
The same is true for Levite women and they need to have a Levite man. I have seen many Levite women marry ordinary Christians or layman and it has always been a mistake.
I know of one Levite woman who married a Christian business administrator. She was vastly spiritual and would pray in tongues all of the time and meditate in the word of God and was full of spiritual energy (that substance and spiritual energy is what a Levite man cannot be a success without). But her husband by comparison was the most natural minded man I have ever met! He is about as spiritual as a block of wood! This woman found no outlet for herself as a Levite woman because her husband had no need for and saw no value in the spiritual resources that she could provide. After their kids were all raised this Levite woman began to seek for a ministry outlet and was often traveling by herself to various countries trying to be a missionary or looking for an opportunity to teach in a bible school but she never really found her ordained place as a helpmeet to energize a Levite man because she married the wrong one.
Women often panic if they are getting older and have no prospects for marriage and they will often marry the wrong one for fear of being single all of the lives. So, they marry the first guy that proposes to them even if it means they will forever have no outlet for themselves as a Levite woman. A Levite woman should not compromise but she should exercise her faith and wait for God’s best and not settle for anything less than marrying a Levite man.
I heard of a guy who went overseas as a missionary and he realized that he needed a wife and wrote back home to his church and asked them to send him a wife. The pastor announced it in the bible school of his church and one of the girls accepted and went over to the mission field overseas and met and married this man. Some may think it is a big gamble to do such a thing to go over overseas to marry a man they have not previously met but this Levite woman knew she had an opportunity to obtain. Without a Levite man she would have no outlet for her ministry. So, when such an opportunity came, she seized that opportunity because if she missed it she may not have such a chance ever again. It is really important for a woman to have a Levite man (called into the Fivefold ministry) or they will not have any outlet for themselves as a Levite woman.
I know of another Levite woman who married a Christian businessman. Again, she found no outlet to energize a Levite husband or be a helpmeet to his ministry because her businessman husband had no need or appreciation for the spiritual resources that she possessed. Again, she was as lonely as if Eve would have married a chimpanzee because no Levite woman will find common spiritual understanding with a layman. They will forever be stuck on the most basic natural level and will have no common understanding beyond simple natural things. This Levite woman was burning within to find an outlet for her spiritual resources. She ended up starting her own church and pulling her layman husband into it. At first she used him to endorse her own ministry but later she was so bold as to remove his name from the church sign altogether and now she promotes herself brazenly as the sole pastor of the church. This is another case of a Levite woman marrying a layman and inventing her own ministry trying to find an outlet for her spiritual resources. It is just as important for a Levite woman to marry a Levite man as it is for a Levite man to marry a Levite woman. Both of them need each other and will not find fulfillment in marrying a layman. The same principle is found in the Old Testament when the Levitical priests were required to marry only a Levite woman of their own tribe.
Leviticus 21:13-14 (NIV)
13 “‘The woman he marries must be a virgin.
14 He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people,
This scripture also says that a Levitical Priest is not to marry a widow or divorced woman or a woman defiled by prostitution. He was to marry only a virgin of his own people.
I know of a Levite man who married a widow but this grieving widow actually despised his gentle character as she compared him to her strong-willed and dominant deceased husband. She constantly despised this gentle man until he finally rejected himself and his ministry gift went dormant. He was nothing of the powerful man of God that he once had been prior to marrying this widow woman. He lost his ministry because of marrying the wrong woman who was not a virgin but was a widow and as such a Levitical priest is forbidden to marry her. Grieving widows can bring negative things into a marriage and she may never get over the loss of her first love and she may forever compare her new husband to the first deceased man. This can produce a lot of rejection for the man who marries a widow especially if she is malicious in her rejection of her new husband.
Being rejected by a wife can be seen in the life of Moses. Moses was a Levite man born to Levite parents but he ran off into exile into the land of Midian and married a pagan woman named Zipporah.
Exodus 2:21 (NIV)
21 Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage.
Exodus 4:24-25 (NIV)
24 At a lodging place on the way, the LORD met [Moses] and was about to kill him.
25 But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched [Moses’] feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said.
It is obvious that this pagan woman despised Moses and despised the God of Moses and despised the religion of Moses. It is evident that Zipporah resisted Moses in circumcising their second son apparently because she saw the circumcision of the first boy and refused to allow this to be done to the second child. God did not take this area of disobedience lightly and Moses was about to be put to death because of it. The Lord met Moses and sought to kill him over this sin of omission and Zipporah knew well the reason that she was about to be made into a widow. So Zipporah took a flint and cut off the foreskin of the uncircumcised boy and she threw that foreskin at the feet of Moses (probably as he was lying near death on the ground). Zipporah expressed her great disdain for Moses and his God and his religion by saying, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me!” After the boy was circumcised then Moses was spared from judgment and did not die. This principle shows that if a woman is resisting and manipulating a husband and throwing a fit and keeping that man from doing what is right in God’s sight then the judgment will come to the man because he is the head of the home. It was Moses that God sought to kill “not Zipporah” who was resisting him from circumcising their son. Moses first disobeyed the word of the Lord concerning marriage when he should have married a Levite woman of his own people rather than marrying a pagan woman like Zipporah. It nearly cost him is life because she was constantly resisting Moses from obeying God.
Exodus 18:2 (NIV)
2 After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro received her
This scripture says here the Moses had sent Zipporah away and this possibly occurred when he was nearly killed on the route to Egypt because of this pagan woman refusing to allow him to circumcise their second son.
Exodus 18:5 (NIV)
5 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, together with Moses’ sons and wife, came to him in the desert, where he was camped near the mountain of God.
It was when Moses had brought out the over 600,000 families from Egypt and they were camped at Mount Sinai that Jethro brought Zipporah and the two boys to see Moses. So she must have been sent back to her father again when Moses continued alone to Egypt. Moses had to send this pagan woman away because she was a hindrance and was fighting him and resisting him from obeying God. It is for this reason that a Levite man was to only marry a fellow Levite woman because if she has no spiritual understanding, she will be a hindrance rather than a helpmeet. In the time of Nehemiah, the Israeli men even sent away the pagan wives and their children because they were required to keep their separation to God.
This teaching is not indicating that men have to get rid of wives that are a hindrance like Zipporah but it is saying that if the Levite man is not yet married they better sober up and be careful who they choose as a wife and follow God’s prescribed manner and only marry a virgin Levite woman as God has said. Following God’s prescribed qualifications and marrying the right woman in the first place can save them from a world of trouble. There is a higher standard for a Levite man in the woman he is to marry compared with a layman who can marry any woman who is a believer.
Leviticus 21:13-14 (NIV)
13 “‘The woman he marries must be a virgin.
14 He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people,
A divorced woman can carry damage from her previous marriage and that can cause a lot of trouble in the new marriage. A widow woman may never get over her first love and compare new husband to her deceased husband constantly and expect him to be the same. A woman defiled by prostitution may not understand about the principles of holiness and separation that a Levite man is required to live by. Being defiled can be a normal lifestyle to a woman of prostitution. A Levite man needs to marry a virgin who is pure and undefiled and does not carry any excess baggage from her past. This virgin woman should be created by God to be a helpmeet to a Levite man and so she should have the spiritual perception and understanding required to be a helpmeet to a Levite man. She is to have the spiritual resources within her to energize her man to success in the ministry. It is a simple fact that a Levite woman will never be able to help a rancher or a businessman or any other natural occupation of a layman Christian. She is created only as a helpmeet to a Levite man if she does not marry a Levite man she will find no fulfillment for what she is created for.
Male Leadership Under the New Testament
In the beginning the greatest sin of man was passivity. The first man Adam was passive in the Garden of Eden and did not use his dominion given to him by God and did not take his proper place as a leader of his home.
Genesis 1:26 (NIV)
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
God created man in His own image and God gave man dominion over all of His creation. Adam was to exercise his dominion and take his leadership as a man. But Adam did not do this and it is evident that his wife Eve was roaming about the garden and doing her own thing. She assumed leadership because of the passivity of Adam. It is evident that from the beginning God wanted the man to take leadership. It was the man who was created first and it was from the man’s body parts that the woman was created to be his helpmeet. All of this speaks of the principle that God intended men to take leadership and the women were created to serve as their helpmeets.
Mankind fell in sin when the woman took leadership over her man and he followed her and ate of the forbidden fruit which she gave to him. God again reinstituted His will that the man was to be the leader and said clearly that the man was to rule over the wife.
Genesis 3:16 (NIV)
16 To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
Until present times the plan and purpose of God has not changed and God has created women to be a helpmeet to their husbands and the husband should rule over her. This means God requires leadership of the man and whatever disorder that exists in the family is the direct responsibility of the man who allowed it to happen.
We have seen in the case of Moses and his pagan wife Zipporah that God sought to kill Moses because he did not obey the Lord’s command to circumcise his second son. Zipporah saw the first boy circumcised and said that she would never permit that to be done to her second son. So, Moses was passive and did not obey God because his wife was throwing a fit and resisting him and manipulating him until he just gave up on the idea and tried to keep peace by compromise. Women have often manipulated their husbands by removing peace from the home until their husbands gave into their wishes. This no doubt was the case of Zipporah who was able to manipulate Moses and cause him to disobey God. But again, we see that it was Moses whom God sought to put to death, not Zipporah. This means that God still expects the man to be the leader of the home and if he does not obey then God will judge him.
The same principle is also seen in the life of Eli because Eli was passive and did not put a stop to the disorder in his home caused by his wicked sons. God judged Eli and even removed his entire family line from the priesthood forever because he was passive with disciplining his sons. His passivity was the same as approval and Eli honored his sons more than God by not taking action as a man.
In the time of Judges, the men did what was right in their own sight meaning it was a time of lawlessness and anarchy. This is an example of what happens when men are passive and do not do what is right.
Judges 17:6 (NASB)
6 In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.
In the time of judges there was no king in Israel so there was no civil authority and every man did whatever they wanted to do. If they wanted your wife, they would kill you and take her. If they wanted anything that belonged to you, they would just kill you and take it. Men were passive and self-indulgent and there was no male leadership and it was a time of great darkness and apostasy in the land of Israel. This was the time in Israeli history when they experienced the “dark ages.”
Judges 4:4-5 (NIV)
4 Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time.
5 She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided.
At this time of male passivity and when there was no king to guide the people and no men of God who did what was right, a woman named Deborah rose up and she was leading Israel at that time. The fact that a woman was leading the nation shows how far all of the men had fallen into passivity. There was not one man who took leadership and so a woman was forced to fill in the void of leadership left by these passive men. God used Deborah as a prophetess at this time because even the male prophets were nowhere to be found as every man had dropped their leadership and had become self-indulgent.
Judges 4:8-9 (NIV)
8 Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.”
9 “Very well,” Deborah said, “I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the LORD will hand Sisera over to a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh,
In the lack of male leadership that existed in Israel during the time of the Judges, Deborah called Barak to come to battle against Sisera. But even Barak displayed his passivity in leadership and behaved like a little boy saying that he would not go to battle unless this woman went with him. Barak was not honored with the victory over Sisera but instead a woman put him to death. This shows how passive these men were in Israel in not taking leadership as God had meant for them to do.
Judges 5:9-10 (NIV)
9 My heart is with Israel’s princes, with the willing volunteers among the people. Praise the LORD!
10 “You who ride on white donkeys, sitting on your saddle blankets, and you who walk along the road, consider
When the battle was won Deborah sang a song and she rejoiced when the Princes of Israel became willing volunteers. She spoke of these leaders riding on white donkeys which were the distinguished mark of a prince and leader among the people. Deborah did not have the same attitude as the pagan Jezebel woman who tried to usurp authority away from a man to rule herself. Deborah was only taking leadership because it was forced upon her by the passivity of men who did nothing. But when the men took leadership Deborah rejoiced and this shows a principle here that women are only leaders if something is wrong with the men who do not take action. It was for this reason that a prophetess (female form of prophet) is found in the Old Testament because when men were not doing their job God had to use the women as a second choice. It would be as if a man and woman are in a boat together (that is sinking) and the man is doing nothing and if the woman does not start bailing out the water then she is going to sink together with the passive man. Such were the conditions under much of the Old Testament era of the Judges when men refused to take leadership and they did nothing. This is the circumstance under which female prophetesses arose under the Old Testament like Deborah who led the nation of Israel during the time of the Judges.
When women would try to seize authority from a man they would be judged by God as in the case of Miriam.
Exodus 15:20 (NIV)
20 Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing.
Miriam was also referred to as a prophetess (feminine form of prophet) but she was only leading the other woman with tambourines and dancing when they rejoiced over God’s deliverance in drowning the army of Pharaoh.
Numbers 12:1-2 (NIV)
1 Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite.
2 “Has the LORD spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the LORD heard this.
In the case of Miriam she found no harm from God when she was just leading the other women in rejoicing but later she became arrogant and thought she could find fault with her younger brother Moses. She was too familiar with him so she dared to come against him. Here Miriam even led her passive brother Aaron to agree with her but she was obviously the ringleader and her name was mentioned first. Miriam wanted to usurp the authority away from Moses and she wanted to have the people follow her instead. She boldly said, “Has God only spoken through Moses and has God not also spoken through us?” Miriam tried to endorse herself using a passive man like Aaron who agrees with anyone around him just as he did when he made a golden calf for the people. But the Lord heard this and Miriam was judged for this rebellion in trying to use Aaron to endorse herself to be the new leader of the congregation.
Part Five
Numbers 12:5-10 (NIV)
5 Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the Tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them stepped forward,
6 he said, “Listen to my words: “When a prophet of the LORD is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams.
7 But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house.
8 With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”
9 The anger of the LORD burned against them, and he left them.
10 When the cloud lifted from above the Tent, there stood Miriam–leprous, like snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had leprosy;
Miriam was judged by God and struck with leprosy and defiled because she had spoken out against Moses, the leader whom God had chosen. Aaron was just a passive follower so all of the judgment came upon Miriam. The principle to be seen here is that when God has a man in leadership then there is no need for a woman to fill in the void. Miriam was trying to usurp authority away from her brother Moses so she could take it over for herself. This is why she was judged for it.
In the time of Judges Deborah did not try to usurp authority away from any man and she even rejoiced when men took the leadership and took action. She was not judged by God because she did not try to usurp authority away from any man the way that Miriam did. Miriam went down in history as a woman judged by God for usurping authority away from the man God had chosen for leadership. The principle to be seen is that God has called men to be the leaders and this is the way it has been since the time of Adam.
The Old Testament was marked by the passivity of man and men doing were doing nothing while their wives worshiped idols and brought a curse on the nation in the time of Jeremiah. There were only a few men like Moses and Joshua who took leadership and were real man and did what was right under the Old Testament. After Joshua passed away then the men reverted to passivity again.
Judges 2:7 (NIV)
7 The people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel.
When there was a strong leader like Joshua then the people served the Lord and did what was right. The elders who were under Joshua also followed the same policies but when they all passed away the people again reverted to paganism and passivity with sin.
Judges 2:10-13 (NIV)
10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel.
11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals.
12 They forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the LORD to anger
13 because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.
Passivity with sin and not doing what is right results in people falling away from God. After Joshua and his elders passed away the following generation became total heathens and reverted to sin and idolatry. It takes a real man to study God’s word and do what is right and enforce God’s laws in his own household. Those who are passive will slip back into idolatry and breaking of God’s laws and disorder will reign.
This passivity with wickedness characterized the time of Judges when Deborah was forced to lead the people. The entire history of Israel was like this as people would sin and be judged, then God would raise up a deliverer and when peace and prosperity came they would again revert to sin. Throughout the Old Testament we seen cycles of sin, judgment and repentance and then the cycle would start over again when people would again revert back to sin and idolatry when they had peace. The Old Testament was characterized by weak leadership of men and only a few men like Moses, Joshua, Hezekiah and a few others would take authority and lead the people according to God’s laws. It is under the Old Testament that we find the feminine from of a prophet called a “prophetess.” God had to use women when the men were passive so that is why there were “prophetesses” that existed under the Old Testament. The Old Testament was characterized by the weak leadership of men who were passive, self-indulgent and followed sin whenever there was not a strong leader present.
But under the New Testament God did a new thing! God had enough of the passivity of men and God expected men to be godly leaders like Joshua. God intended men to be leaders since the time of Adam but most of them failed and threw their leadership to women by default. That is the reason for the existence of the feminine form of the prophet called the “prophetess” under the Old Testament. But under the New Testament we find that there is no such thing as a prophetess any longer. A prophetess was only used in the face of the passivity of OT men but God expected men to put away their passivity under the New Testament era and stand up and be godly leaders as God had originally intended.
The Last Prophetess
Luke 2:36-38 (NIV)
36 There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,
37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.
38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
The very last prophetess under the Old Testament era was Anna the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. She was very old when she was in the temple in Jerusalem when the parents of Jesus brought him into the temple to present the child to the Lord to be consecrated as the firstborn son.
This scripture says that Anna was married for seven years but her husband then died after her seventh year of marriage and left her a widow. This scripture is referring to Anna after she had already passed away because it says that she was a widow until age eighty-four (meaning that she was a widow until she died at age eighty-four). It is not likely that she was a widow until age eighty-four (when her status was then changed to that of a married woman and she got married at age eighty-four). So it is evident that she was a widow until her death at age eighty-four. She stayed in the temple as an intercessor and Anna was the very last prophetess under the Old Testament era. It was probably toward the end of her life (before she died at age eighty-four) when the parents of Jesus brought their infant son into the temple to present him to the Lord.
Luke 2:21-23 (NIV)
21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived.
22 When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord
23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”),
Jesus was just an infant at this time that Anna the prophetess was eighty-four years old. She was the last living prophetess spoken of in the bible.
Matthew 11:12-13 (NIV)
12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.
The Old Testament era came to an end upon the preaching of John the Baptist and Jesus said that the Old Testament prophets and the Old Testament Law were in effect until the time of John. When John began his preaching, this marked the end of the Old Testament era and the beginning of the New Testament era.
Matthew 3:1-3 (NIV)
1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea
2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
John the Baptist came preaching in the desert of Judea and his message was to repent and he was a voice calling to prepare the way for the Lord. When he began preaching this marked the end of the Old Testament era and the beginning of the New Testament era. John prepared the way for Jesus and salvation by faith.
Matthew 4:12-13 (NIV)
12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee.
13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali–
When John was taken into custody then Jesus came to the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.
Matthew 4:17 (NIV)
17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
It was at this time that Jesus became to preach and tell the people that the kingdom of heaven was at hand.
Luke 3:23 (NIV)
23 Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli,
Jesus was about thirty years of age when he began His ministry. He was only eight days old when Anna the prophetess saw him in the temple so it is not likely that Anna could still be alive when the New Testament era began as she was already of great age when Jesus was born. People did not live much past 70-80 by this time because God had shortened the lifespan of humans considerably since the time of Adam. The longer people lived the more they became sinners so a short-life put pressure on them to get right with God.
So Anna was the last living prophetess of the Old Testament era and she would have died off before the New Testament era began with the preaching of John and the beginning of the ministry of Jesus.
This is significant because it shows that there were no more prophetesses living under the New Testament era after the New Testament period began.
Acts 21:8-9 (NIV)
8 Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven.
9 He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.
Philip the evangelist had four unmarried daughters who prophesied but it must be made clear that this does not make these women prophetesses because this is referring to the simple gift of exhortation and comfort not the ministry gift of being a prophet.
See the link “Spiritual Gifts” for more details.
1 Corinthians 14:3 (NIV)
3 But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort.
The simple gift of prophesy is that which is spoken for strengthening and encouragement and comfort. It will typically be a simple message like, “Thus says the Lord, I love you with an everlasting love!” This is a great encouragement to baby Christians and causes them to be strengthened and encouraged.
1 Corinthians 11:5 (NIV)
5 And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head–it is just as though her head were shaved.
It is typically a gift that is exercised by women in the church if they pray or prophesy but they should only do so if their husband or father is sitting next to them and they should be submissive to male authority if they tell them to stop.
It is this simple gift of prophesy that is referred to with the four virgin daughters of Philip. These girls were not prophetesses (the feminine form of a prophet) because there was no more prophetesses found anywhere under the New Testament era. The last prophetess died before the New Testament era began (marked by the beginning of the preaching of John). There were no more prophetesses under the New Testament era and the simple gift of prophesy for edification and comfort and exhortation is not the same as the Fivefold ministry gift of a Prophet.
God has done a new thing under the New Testament era when He has restored the church to 100% male leadership. The need for a prophetess was done away with under the New Testament because men were expected by God assume their roles as godly leaders and their wives were expected to serve as helpmeets to them.
It is evident that the New Testament era is to be completely run by masculine leadership. Consider the following questions about masculine leaders under the New Testament:
1. How many of the 12-Apostles that Jesus chose were women?
2. How many Apostles can be found in the New Testament which were women?
3. How many Evangelists can be found in the New Testament that were women?
4. How many Pastors can be found in the New Testament that were women?
5. How many Bible Teachers can be found in the New Testament that were women?
6. If the simple gift of prophecy for edification and exhortation is distinguished from that of a true Prophet, then how many women are listed in the New Testament are Prophets?
A study of the masculine leadership reinstated by God under the New Testament will show that there are no women called into the Fivefold ministry of Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor or Teacher.
We have already seen that there were no more prophetesses called by God under the New Testament era because the last living Prophetess was Anna and she died prior to the beginning of the New Testament era (which was marked by the preaching of John).
If we consider the ministry gift of Apostle, there are no women who have ever held this ministry gift under the New Testament era. The office of Apostle was something new that was introduced by God in the New Testament era because there were no Apostles under the Old Testament era. Jesus chose twelve Apostles for Himself and all twelve of these were men. Since that time other men were born with these gifts (such as the Apostle Paul) but in no case has there ever been a woman born with the gift of Apostle.
The gift of Prophet was carried over from the Old Testament era and this office continues under the New Testament era. The only difference is that the female form of “prophetess” was dropped under the New Testament era and no more “prophetesses” can be found anywhere under the New Testament era.
The Evangelist was also a new gift that was instituted under the New Testament era because this ministry gift did not previously exist under the Old Testament era. But in no case has there ever been a woman who was gifted in this area because all Evangelists are men under the New Testament era.
The Pastor is carried over from the Old Testament as this same gift is mentioned under the Old Testament and is referred to as a shepherd and the word is derived from the word pasture where a flock of sheep will graze. So, a man who pastures some sheep is called a Pastor.
Jeremiah 23:1 (KJV)
1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
The word “pastor” is used interchangeably with the word “shepherd” just as the word “car” can be used interchangeably with the word “automobile.”
Jeremiah 3:15 (KJV)
15 And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
Here the word “pastor” is again used in place of the word “shepherd” but it is obvious this scripture is not referring to natural four-legged sheep because it speaks of feeding them with knowledge and understanding and natural sheep have no capacity to receive such things.
The fact that the office of Pastor is exclusively all-male under the New Testament is evident in the qualifications for a Pastor.
Titus 1:5-9 (NIV)
5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.
6 An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.
7 Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless–not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.
8 Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.
9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
Other words for “Pastor” are “Elder” or “Bishop” which both mean the same thing as Pastor. Just as a shepherd watches over natural sheep and guides them so a Pastor watches over human sheep and guides them. The words Pastor, Elder and Bishop are all synonymous just as the words car, automobile or vehicle are all synonymous and mean the same thing.
One of the requirements of being a Shepherd, Pastor, Elder or Bishop is that they must be the husband of one wife. Only a man can be a husband so it is evident that the Fivefold ministry gift of “Pastor” is for men only. A Pastor may have a Levite woman for a wife but she is not called to be a Pastor but instead she is created by God to be a helpmeet to her husband just as every woman who has ever been born since the time of Eve is also created to do. It is unscriptural therefore for the wives of a Pastor to list themselves on the church sign as a fellow Pastor together with their husbands. It is also unscriptural for a woman to remove her husband’s name from the church sign and give herself the title of “Pastor” of the church. No woman can be a Pastor because this is an all-exclusive “male” office given by God to men only. The Pastor must be a husband of one wife and that excludes any women from this office.
1 Timothy 3:2 (KJV)
2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
The term “Bishop” means “overseer” and that is also used interchangeably with the word Pastor. Again, it is obvious that this is an all-male office because the Bishop must be the husband of one wife and no woman can be a husband because only men can be husbands. The term husband is masculine in gender.
Finally the last Fivefold ministry gift listed is that of a Bible Teacher. It is evident that this excludes women from this ministry gift because it is not permitted that women can teach men.
1 Timothy 2:11-13 (NIV)
11 A woman should learn in quietness and full submission.
12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.
13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve.
A woman cannot teach nor have authority over a man because the teacher is always greater than the student and a woman teaching a man would be perversion of God’s divine order. God created Adam first and then Eve was made out of the body parts of Adam in order to serve him as a helpmeet. She was never equal with him but rather she was to become one-flesh or “one-person” together with him. It is therefore not permitted by God that any women teach or have authority over a man. No woman therefore can have a pulpit ministry where she is addressing a congregation when there are men present because she would be breaking God’s divine order. This principle alone excludes all women from every one of the Fivefold ministry offices because no women can hold a pulpit ministry and teach men in any way.
Titus 2:3-4 (NIV)
3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.
4 Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children,
The only time that a woman can do any teaching is if an older woman will teach the younger women how to love their husbands and their children and fulfill their role as a helpmeet and a mother. This is where the Levite woman really shines because she can take the teaching materials written by her husband and teach these biblical principles to the laywomen.
But under no circumstances is a woman to teach a man and that excludes her not only from the Fivefold office of Teacher but also from all of the Fivefold ministry offices of Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, and Pastor. A woman could not hold any of these offices without teaching men in the congregation. It is evident by biblical precedent that there has never been one woman under the New Testament era that has ever held any of the Fivefold ministry gifts. Yes, one time Deborah was used as a woman leader in Israel but that does not make it a biblical precedent any more than God using a donkey to speak to a man one-time creates a biblical precedent that we should put donkeys in the pulpit!
A study of the New Testament church reveals it was exclusively run by all masculine leadership with all of the Fivefold ministry gifts being exclusively male and all of the Elders also being exclusively male. This is the general principle that can be seen under the New Testament that God desires to restore male leadership as He had intended to have since the time of Adam. The Old Testament was largely marked by the passivity of man and that is why there were prophetesses in operation under the Old Testament era to make up for the void left by dropped male leadership. But under the New Testament this is not so and no females have held any leadership under the New Testament era as God intended to restore masculine leadership and so all ministry gifts and elders leading the church have all been “male.”
If there is any female leadership found in the church under this New Testament era it is a sign that something is amiss with the male leadership and there are some men who are not standing up and taking their leadership roles in the church as God intended. Any woman who is like Deborah will rejoice when men take their rightful place as leaders and godly women are happy to submit to men who are fulfilling their leadership roles.
Only manipulative women like Jezebel-types seek to usurp authority from passive men so that they can control but this is not characteristic of woman who profess godliness and who seek to be pleasing to the Lord by their submission to male authority.
I have seen Levite woman who have assisted their husband so that he can have some rest and they helped to bear the burden of the ministry. But a good-hearted Deborah-type of woman does not have evil motives to usurping authority to gain limelight or fame for herself. Such a woman does not use her Levite husband trying to endorse herself into her own ministry. The service that a good Levite woman does for their husband is truly to support him as a helpmeet. This good attitude of service is pleasing in the sight of God and this is how a good Levite woman fulfills her God-created role of being a helpmeet to a Levite man.