Does God prefer men?
Recently I had a woman write me who was troubled by some Bible texts that seemed to indicate that God preferred men. I felt that the questions she posed and the answers I provided would be good to put on line in case there are other women out there who also have been troubled by these same questions.
Question: I have been struggling with a question for the past several weeks. Do I as a woman, have less worth in God’s eyes than a man does? Given that Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill the law…I was (and still am) struggling with several scriptures where women are concerned and the seemingly “double-standard.” I could not fathom why in Leviticus there is a law that states that women who give birth to male children would only be unclean for 33 days, but if they give birth to female children they would be unclean for 66 days.
Answer: Regarding the seemingly “double-standard” of the unclean period for a woman when she bears a girl which is double the period of the unclean period for a boy, it is not altogether clear why God created a different time period, but because of His character revealed throughout the Scriptures showing His love and justice, we can know that He will not be unjust towards women. Romans 2:11 tells us this clearly.
Romans 2:11 For there is no partiality with God.
So why is there a difference with baby girls? The Bible isn’t clear why the extra time period for uncleanness for the mother after the birth of a daughter, but there have been some suggestions by commentaries:
The reason she was unclean for a longer period for a girl is not stated, but perhaps a postnatal discharge lasted longer in the case of a girl…
The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures. Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary.
(3) the fact that the blood discharges after the birth of a female last longer or have greater toxicity than they do after the birth of a male
Vol. 3A: Leviticus The New American Commentary (183). Rooker, M. F. (2001)
Why the more extended time of uncleanness after the birth of the female child? Given the obsession with seeking male offspring, the regulation may have been to protect the wife from an overzealous husband. He might be inclined to resume marital relations too soon after the birth of a female to the physical discomfort and possible jeopardy of the wife.
The Pentateuch (2nd ed.) Smith, J. E. (1993)
The important thing that we should note is that the child was not considered unclean, it was only the mother. So while we do not know the biological influences on the mother’s body that resulted in her needing extra time for healing and for being considered “clean” from her discharge, we do know that God has promised us that He is not partial with people. Because of this promise we can know that He is not discriminating against female babies.
Question: Also, the issue of rape in the law. If a woman was raped, all the man need do was pay her bride price and marry her. What woman in what world would want to marry her rapist???
Answer: It is important to understand the culture of that day. The culture was based on shame and honor just as the Muslim nations carry that same culture of shame and honor today. A woman was required to be a virgin at her marriage so if she had been raped no man would want her because she was no longer a virgin. God’s law about rape protected the woman. It required the man who raped her to take her as his wife and provide for her as well as for the child that may be a result from that rape. The biggest stipulation was that although divorce was allowed in marriages, the man who was forced to marry the woman that he had violated was required to support her for the rest of his life because he could not divorce her. This would have been a deterrent to rape and it provided for the woman who would not have been able to be married as a virgin bride. The Bible Knowledge commentary puts it well by saying:
A man who raped an unbetrothed virgin was forced to marry her (after paying the bride-price of 50 shekels to her father) and had to forfeit the right of divorce. This protected, to a degree, the girl’s honor and assured her (and her child if she became pregnant from the rape) permanent support. This stipulation may also have served as a deterrent against rape since the man would have to live with that woman for the rest of his life. The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary
Question: Another issue that irks me: why was David silent when Tamar was raped by her brother?
Answer: Amnon was Davd’s first born son. David favored his sons even though they did evil things but this was not the only issue. The law said that Amnon was to be forced to marry Tamar and provide for her the rest of her life without any possibility of divorce but there is another law that conflicts with this one. Tamar states that Amnon’s rejection of her after the rape is worse than the rape itself since his rejection means that she will never be able to be married. The issue of David’s lack of forcing the issue is said to be a lack of responsibility:
David … was very angry. Fury and indignation were David’s reactions to the report of the rape (Gen. 34:7). Because he did not punish Amnon for his crime, he abdicated his responsibility both as king and as father. The lack of justice in the land would come back to haunt David in a future day (15:4).
The MacArthur Study Bible, MacArthur, J. J. (1997).
David somehow heard what had happened, and though he was furious he did not invoke the penalty prescribed by the Law. Perhaps this was because Amnon was his oldest son. But Absalom … hated Amnon.
The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures. Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary.
There is another serious issue that caused quite a dilemma. While the law was to be used to force the man who raped a woman to marry her, there was also a law that forbade a brother and sister to marry.
Absalom and Tamar were children of David by his wife Maacah. Polygamy was an accepted social arrangement in those days, but its evil consequences revealed it not to be the will of God for his people. Children of the same father were not supposed to marry (Lev. 18:9). This and other of God’s laws were often broken, always with serious consequences. The teacher’s Bible commentary, Paschall, F. H., & Hobbs, H. H. (1972)
So it seemed that the law conflicted here in this situation. David would have been in a quandary because the law both required the marriage and forbade the marriage because they were sibblings. As you can see from the culture, the woman’s virginity was of great value and a rape changed a woman’s life forever. In the middle east countries even now, if a Muslim girl is raped she may be killed by her family for the shame that this brought on them and some girls have been put into jail.
In the Old Testament law, God made sure that the woman who has been raped was taken care of which is a very kind thing to do for women. God’s concern was for the welfare of the woman. How did the law treat the rapist? The life of the rapist depended on the status and welfare of the woman. The law was that if a man raped a woman who was a virgin but who was engaged to a man, the rapist had to die. But if a man raped a woman who was a virgin but who not engaged (technically belonged to another man), the who who sinned against the woman must provide for her for the rest of her life.
It is obvious to me that God is looking out for the welfare of the woman who would be left without the possibility of a husband and without the ability to provide for herself. The law made sure that rapists understood the seriousness of raping and knowing that they would be stuck with her for life would be a deterrent . In this case the woman was always provided for because of God’s law.
29 thoughts on “Does God prefer men?”
When I read Buddhist texts I see sexism.
When I read Islam texts I see sexism
When I read Jewish texts I see sexism
When I read Christian texts I see …
I read the Bible everyday and live by it, but I still must ask the question, “Can we honestly say there is no sexism in it?
Hi Jay,
Welcome to my blog!
As far as the Bible goes, it does record sexism just as it also records murder, rape and adultery. The question is not whether there is a record of man’s sexism, but whether God demands it. It is my opinion that God does not. What I see instead is God’s law limiting the extent of sexism allowed in a very sexist culture. It wasn’t until Jesus broke down the barriers through His death and resurrection that the death of sexism was fully dealt with by the indwelling Holy Spirit. Is there still sexism in the church? You bet! But God is changing all of us as we grow in Christ and the wickedness of our hearts are being softened and changed as we allow the work of the Holy Spirit to form us into the image of Christ. I speak here to include myself since I too felt that women were somehow inferior. There was a time that I looked with suspicion at women who used their gifts in public. God has done a miracle in my own heart and for that I give Him all the glory and praise.
What are you thoughts on the story of Jephthah, and the sacrifice of his daughter?
Hannah,
The story of Jephthat’s daughter is a very tragic story of a rash promise used as a bargaining tool to get what Jephthat needed. It is actually an example of the ultimate abuse. The righteous person in the story turns out to be Jephthat’s daughter who not wanting her father to suffer for having a failed vow to the Lord, willingly offers herself to be killed by her father.
What is quite amazing is that after making a rash vow to the Lord and understanding the stupidity of having made his rash promise, he actually blames his daughter for bringing him trouble. It is an unfortunate event and one that should never have happened. However it is not a command by God for human sacrifice and there is provision in the law for the redemption of a sacrifice.
If a dog would have come out of Jephthah’s house first, the dog would not be considered a proper sacrifice as it was unclean.
The entire story is very unfortunate and a lesson regarding making hasty vows.
Concerning the extra time given for uncleaness for a female baby as opposed to a male baby I’ve had a couple friends who didn’t know each other come to the same conclusion. This is NOT based on the words of the Bible but on the inner prayer closet of a couple of women who also wrestled with wondering if God loved them less as women. So it should not be put forth as Bible fact, but as women wrestling with God and the conclusions they have felt impressed with in deep, sincere, earnest prayer.
Both these friends, independently, felt as though the extra time given daughters was an extra long bonding time that the mother and daughter needed in a culture that favored sons. It, as mentioned above, kept the father out of the picture to make impatient demands on his wife. It also kept out older brothers who might be favored over the daughter. Basically it set up a time for mother and daughter to just be who they were and bond as such outside the boundary of overwhelmingly male influence, in a little world of their own. Hopefully the bonding time would help and support them both as they worked to figure out how to navigate the sometimes choppy waters of a male-dominated culture.
AFA Jephthah. I don’t know if that has anything to do with gender. His daughter was simply the first one out to greet him and he was an idiot for making such a rash vow. Others most likely have a better idea of it than me.
What about Lot being called righteous by Peter even though he offered up his virgin daughters to the men demanding he hand over his guests for sex? How could he have been righteous?
Mara: I heard that story told one time to show that how a ‘male’ child was spared (Isaac) when he was to be killed, and the sacrifice was stopped. They compared it to the story of this poor girl, and I thought WOW people will twist all kinds of things to show their points.
The bible to me seems quite clear there is no favored gender no matter how much people wish to attempt to prove it. People are the ones that are sexist, and it sad that they don’t see it at times.
Your are right, Hannah.
That was way off the wall.
God asked for Isaac (then provided a lamb in his place). God never asked for Jephthah’s daughter, ever. That was all Jephthah idiocracy.
Who the heck said that? A Patriarch? Atheist? Feminist?
Who? And what was the point? Just curious since I have NEVER heard that comparison before.
That one is right up there with saying that Abigail was acting in an “independent spirit” (i.e. not submitted to her husband). Therefore the blood of her husband was on HER head. In other words, that teacher held Abigail responsible for the death of her husband because she wasn’t properly submitted.
(Forgive spelling errors, typos. Son is pressuring me off the computer. He has a paper to write.)
Lin,
David was called “a man after God’s own heart” yet he committed adultery and murder. Lot’s failure in offering up his virgin daughters was not what made him righteous. Lot failed in many ways just like all of the great men and women of faith did. However the Bible does not sugar coat the account to make them look better than they were. He was still a sinner who failed God and man at times.
Hannah,
This is the really sad part and that so many blame God for the sexism instead of humanity.
Mara,
Someone dear to my own heart told me that he believed God told him why a woman had a period each month and he said that it was to give a woman rest from the demands of her husband for a period of time. I never thought of it that way before. I guess we will have to ask God these kinds of questions when we get to Heaven.
Mara,
I agree. What on earth was he thinking???!!!
“Someone dear to my own heart told me that he believed God told him why a woman had a period each month and he said that it was to give a woman rest from the demands of her husband for a period of time. I never thought of it that way before. ”
If true, it would mean there was likely no menustration before the fall.
I agree about Lot. I also think it illustrates how living in a culture of sin affects us all and how we have to be vigilant in prayer and study. Lot hated all the sin around him yet was tempted to compromise with it.
I also think it illustrates how God worked through sin for His own Glory.
Lin,
I believe that God changed the woman’s conception after the fall so who knows what the original plan really looked like. Another question that we can ask God when we get to Heaven.
To answer the question of your post – NO
A friend of a friend had one of those brought back from the dead experiences a few years ago and reported that the people she saw in what she was pretty sure was heaven were genderless. What would be the purpose of gender in heaven? Perhaps we make way too much of it here and try to base our opinions on Scriptures which can be understood in a number of ways.
Thanks Sam for the comment. It is a good question regarding what gender differences (physical sexual differences) would have for their purpose in heaven.
By the way your comment was stuck in my spam box as there appeared to be a typo in your email address and the software assumed you were someone new.
Hi everyone. I’ve really enjoyed reading through your blog Cheryl, and hats off to you. I think you do a great job. I guess you can say that I’m in the middle of the road. I have very “old-fashioned” beliefs as far as being a Christian is concerned. I believe the Bible is the perfect, inspired Word of God and I do believe that Jesus is the one and *only* way to the Father in Heaven and that you can only be saved and have eternal life through Him alone. A lot of my other beliefs tend to be strongly “conservative” I guess you can say. I’m strongly anti-abortion and I believe that marriage is between one man and one woman, etc. *But,* I also tend to be a real outsider in a way because even though I do have these strong beliefs, I do *not* have a lot of the traditionally comp beliefs that most others with these same beliefs tend to have. I do believe that Phoebe was very likely a deaconess in the early church and I do believe that Priscilla was a pastor of a home church, facts that a lot of comps like to try and sweep under the rug and overlook to suit their own purposes (which of course is what they accuse egals of doing, but I think the comps are a lot guiltier of it than they realize. I think that Deborah is a very strong example of God putting a woman in a position of spiritual authority over His people, and if God would do that in the stricter Old Testament days then why wouldn’t He do it in the New Testament days and the Age of Grace, right? I personally think that the thought of women being able to think and do things like earning degrees and having careers and being doctors or microbiologists or — gasp!– even ministers of churches, in *addition* to the fact that we have the ability to carry and give birth to children and bring forth new life, really intimidates the heck out of men, so they want to try to take our mental capabilities away from us and restrict them to crocheting and learning new recipes (*rolleyes*). If only more of them would remember that God made them physical protectors and gave them more physical strength than women and the fact that they have their unique gifts from God as well so there’s no reason for intimidation, but…oh well, we do live in a fallen world, *sigh.*
Anyway, I just wanted to introduce myself. I’ve been a lurker here for quite some time and I really love your blog, Cheryl. It’s a great place for someone “in the middle of the road,” I guess you can say, whose opinions of theology don’t seem to fit in too many places in the Church nowadays. It seems that the churches who do hold to truer Biblical beliefs are chauvinistic as heck when it comes to women being in positions of leadership, especially within the church, and the churches who *do* treat women as equals are apostate as heck and ridiculously liberal in their beliefs! *Facepalm!* So yeah, it’s really hard for somebody like me to find a place in the Church where she feels like she belongs. So thanks so much for this blog!
Okay, now that I’ve made proper introductions, I have a couple of issues about God supposedly preferring males over females that I really want to ask you guys about and find out your opinions, if you all can help me with this. As a woman, I’ve struggled with questions about these two things for a while now and have sort of wondered if God didn’t prefer males to females. The two things I want to ask about are:
1.) Whenever angels appeared in human form on earth, they always assumed male form. A certain minister I like to listen to (even though he’s strictly comp) does like to harp on this sometimes, I think when he’s speaking out against homosexuality. I think he says that Satan has had a lot to do with how “effeminate” pictures of angels have become nowadays and that that’s because Satan is trying to take away masculinity from men or something like that. It’s always bothered me that angels have always taken male form in the Bible when they’ve appeared to human beings. If females really *are* equal to God in His sight, why are there no female angels? When God talks about the angels appearing before Him in Job, why are they “the sons of God”? If God loves women equally to men, why can there not be angelic “sons AND daughters of God”? That kind of suggests to me that women are second-class citizens in God’s eyes, but I know that cannot be the case, so somebody please help me there!
2.) Whenever there were births announced by angels, why is it always the birth of *males*??? Why didn’t God ever send angels to announce to Mary’s parents, for example, that they would have a daughter who would be that one special woman that *every* Jewish woman wanted to be, who would be the mother of the foretold Messiah? John the Baptist’s birth was foretold. Most importantly, Jesus’s birth was foretold. Why couldn’t Mary’s birth have been foretold? Why was it always male babies that got to be foretold? That, too, kind of suggests that God doesn’t consider female babies to be as important as male babies.
Many thanks for your patience with the lengthy post!
Rose (BTW, “Rose” isn’t my real name; I’m just uncomfortable sharing my real name over the Internet and I love roses so I chose the nickname “Rose” is that’s okay.)
Much love to all my brothers and sisters in Christ here! 🙂
Cheryl, about women having to marry their rapists: I think to be cared for is half the answer. But some other points probably are:
Compare to Exodus 22:16-17: A girl’s family could also decide not to force him to marriage, but to pay money for providing for her. (Some commenter’s say this money was the price of a house.)
He may not divorce, nothing said of what she may and may not do. Does this imply that even if she chooses to live somewhere else, he still has to provide and keep up all his responsibilities?
The original Hebrew word tabas is not the term for rape used in :25, and not all believe it refers to rape.
http://www.mandm.org.nz/2009/07/sunday-study-does-the-bible-teach-that-a-rape-victim-has-to-marry-her-rapist.html
About double as long uncleanness for female babies: Mara, that is also the impression my heart got when I asked that question of the Lord, with no influence from books or other Christians – double as much bonding time in a patriarchal culture.
Rose, welcome to my blog. I am sorry that I am slow in getting back to your original post.
You said:
If that is old-fashioned, then I too am old-fashioned.
Praise the Lord!
It seems unthinkable that the Old Testament women of God would have more freedom than the New Testament women.
Thank you for coming out and introducing yourself! It is SO enjoyable for me to “meet” the people that visit my blog, especially those who regularly come here. My other DVD projects do prevent me from being as fast to post and/or comment as I would like to, but I do love the community that this blog provides.
Rose, I hope you and others like you who are “middle of the road” feel warmly welcomed and feel free to contribute your own thoughts.
This is the one thing that frustrates me too and one of the reasons why I want to have my voice heard as a conservative, God-loving, believer in “every Word of God as inspired” Christian. I do not want the issue of women in ministry to draw people to liberalism nor do I believe that it is necessary. I do believe that this is what sometimes happens only because there hasn’t been more churches open to the gifts of God’s women believers. I find this truly sad.
Now to your questions. I will answer right away in my next comment here.
Rose, (and I do understand your hesitancy to use your real name), here are my thoughts on your questions:
Spirits do not have body parts to they are not named as “male” and “female”. Yet they do appear as “male” when they come to earth. I believe that this is on purpose for a couple of reasons. The first reason would be that angels are seen as all in one category, so seeing them as “male” and “female” would divide them rather than keep them as one. Secondly those who are “of God” are ALL called “sons” so that even women are God’s “sons” and joint heirs with God. The image then is “sons” and not divisions between “sons” and “daughters”. Perhaps another reason would be that seeing angels as women might be too distracting to men.
Any thoughts about these reasons?
You also said:
I do not think that this suggests that women are second-class citizens, but rather that we are all in one class. All of us as “sons” of God is a position of equality, not lifting the male as better than the female.
You asked:
I believe that John the Baptist’s birth was foretold because there was to be one forerunner of Christ who would be filled with the Spirit from conception. But Mary’s birth was not special. She was not filled with the Spirit from conception, nor was her birth anything of the ordinary. Her life lived out in humility was what brought her into the place of giving her consent to be the mother of the Lord Jesus.
Another thing to look at, regarding women as having equal importance with the male, is to look at Sarah. It wasn’t Abraham’s seed that was important except through her. God indicated that only the son born through Sarah would be the child of promise.
I hope this helps a bit for your questions. Please feel free to post whatever questions you have. Please excuse me whenever I am slow. I try my best to fit my time here on my blog, within all my other ministry responsibilities and sometimes I am much faster than at other times.
#17 Retha,
As far as the term for rape, the same word is used in Lamentations 5:11 and 2 Sam 13:32.
The problem with rape in the Old Testament times is that the woman who is raped is no longer wanted for marriage as she no longer has her proof of virginity. In the case of Tamar, Tamar was raped by her brother, but after the rape she should have been given to her brother for marriage and his rejection of her for marriage was considered a greater wrong then the original rape.
>blockquote>2 Samuel 13:16 (NASB95)
16 But she said to him, “No, because this wrong in sending me away is greater than the other that you have done to me!” Yet he would not listen to her.
When Amnon refused Tamar after violating her, she then lived in a desolate or destroyed, ruined and abandoned state in her other brother’s home.
So it appears that giving the woman to the man so that she was his responsibility to care for and looked after for her whole life, is a more compassionate thing to do rather than leaving her in the state of a victim ineligible for marriage.
What may seem irrational in our time, did have purpose in a strong patriarchal system of that time.
On the time length of uncleaness being longer after birth of a girl than after a boy, I recently read a very enlightening info on another sight that said that it is because that there are documented cases where, because of access estrogene in the some mother’s milk for a while after childbirth, the girl-childs body is tricked into believing it was time to menstrate!!! So, there is a very reasonable physical reason for the extended ‘unclean’ time. On Deuteronomy 22:25-22:29- if you would look up John Gill’s exposition of the Bible you will see that he explains that the original words used for the two different cases are totally different. Only the first means he used force, thus he raped her, while the word in the other case indicated that she willingly had sex with him. So, the 22:28 is NOT dealing with a rape case, but rather with two people being caught doing the naughty.
Oh, I totally do not believe that it is ‘compassionate’ to be raped again and again until death do us part by my rapist-force-by-order-to-call “husband”!!! I, personally, would prefer to forever live singly with my relatives or be homeless than live in such a domestic hell!!! So, that ‘compassionate’ interpretation is NOT compassionate at all. It is a hell-ordained mis-interpretation!!!!
I have read interpretations were it is strongly indicated that Jephthah gave his dauther to serve God all her life rather than killing her. This makes sense to me since God views giving killing humans for ‘sacrificial’ purposes as murder. If Jephthah had killed his daughter as a sacrifice, then he would be committiing the sin of murder, as well as desicrating the holiness of the alter! Murdering his daughter, weither she was willing or not, would be sacriligious and sinful, totally displeasing to God.
I don’t want to love a God that is capricious and unworthy-what is the difference between him and Satan? A border dispute? Really torn at this point in life. Will love Jesus-for he was pure
Love this blog and glad I found you Cheryl! I have another question for you. I too have been very disturbed about the seeming favoritism for men in the Bible. I see only men chosen as apostles, when both women and men laid down their lives for Jesus. I see women being tested for unfaithfulness “while under her husbands’ authority”, but why wasn’t the man tested too? I am referring to Numbers 5:11-31 here. Verse 31 says “moreover the man shall be free from his guilt but the woman shall bear her guilt? WHY?!!!! I am also sick up to my eyeballs of hearing men/pastors say that women go second because “Eve was deceived, but Adam sinned on purpose”. HOW IS THAT BETTER, I ask you? How is it better that a man sins on purpose (look all around you) but the woman is second because she was deceived? I look around at the world past, present and future and I am NOT IMPRESSED with how men have handled their authority. I am struggling to find peace in this area, because I have authority figures over me who seem to also favor men. GAG!
I also have a request for another post from you on the exact meaning of Biblical submission. Far too many people (men) seem to think it is absolute authority they have over their wives, and they get to treat their wives as though they were children. More gagging here! Just exactly what does it require of a woman to submit to her husband and pastor? I am hearing far too much about the rights of authority figures to “command” something from their ‘underlings’, and that just freaks me out. Are we required to be “yes” people? Are we free to stand up to them when they do wrong? Are we free to be free even though under their authority?
D. Marie,
I am so sorry that your comments were stuck in my blog comment box and I did not get a notification so that I could release the comments. I am going to have to figure out how this glitch happened.
Your comments/questions on submission and men-only apostles are good ones. I can put this on my agenda to do new articles on these questions. My blog has moved, though, and I will post on the new address. The new blog is hosted at http://mmoutreach.org/wim The new blog is the exact same content but it is the only one that will get new posts. The link to this article and comments is here http://www.mmoutreach.org/wim/2009/11/14/does-god-prefer-men/ I will post your comments for you there.
Why did God make women have to suffer more than men(childbirth, endless periods, then this hell called menopause, and SO much more. I’ve heard because Eve ate the fruit first but how is this my fault? I feel this is very unjust. Also in the OT a father could sell his daughter into slavery. Said male servant to be free in 50 yrs but not female. Also that if women were taken as spoil that if the woman didn’t please him to let her go but that he could not prostitute her. That part is good but the man should should have had to take care of her since probably no man would want her. Especially if a child was conceived. I’ve hated being a woman so bad I pray for God to let me die. Sorry so lengthy. Thanks for any help. Appreciate you for dealing with these difficult questions s. God bless.
Tamara,
Welcome to my blog.
You asked why women suffer more than men. After sin entered the world, God greatly increased women’s conception. Genesis 3:16 “I will greatly multiply your pain in child birth” literally means greatly increase your conception and hard work. Up to that time (perhaps more than 100 years) Eve had not had children and there was no hurry. But when they began the process of dying, her conception had to be greatly increased to have humans survive and flourish. Can you imagine the hard work that Eve had to endure as she had child after child after child and lived hundreds of years? It was tough living outside of paradise but God made women strong. We have mothered the world even though it is tough to live in a sin-stained world. Yet God blessed all of us by promising that the Messiah would come through the woman alone.
God also protected women from starvation and death by allowing them to be looked after. What would have happened if a female slave would be free after 50 years? Where would she make a living in a male dominated world? If you look at the laws about women, you will see that God was protecting them in that time and that culture. I see that you do understand that should have to take care of her since no other would marry a woman that old. It is preservation of women that God was protecting.
It can be very hard to live in a male world, but in God’s eyes were are equal. God gifts us and give us opportunities to use our gifts. He opens the doors and He works out patience in us as we produce the fruit of the Spirit.
Lastly, my husband thinks that God gave women periods in order for them to have rest from their husbands. There are many things that we may not fully understand in this life, but we can understand God’s character of goodness and know that He is able to work all things out for our good. There was a time that I wished I had been born male, but I no longer have those feelings. I trust God that He made me just the way that is best for me and for those who are touched by my work. We are each uniquely made and I would never give up being a mother just to have been made a male. Women are far better off because God has made us relational. We have strengths given by God that men can not even understand.
As an end note, my blog and this post has moved to https://mmoutreach.org/wim/2009/11/14/does-god-prefer-men/ If you would like to post any further comments there as eventually, these comments at this old site will close.