Singing Songs That Teach & Admonish is Different Than Actual Teaching From the Bible That Men Alone are to do
YouTube comments on EBF's "Line by Line" song:
"Little girl teaching us from the Bible."
EBF reply:
Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
God allows for the whole congregation (one body mentioned in v. 15 above) to teach and admonish through singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Teaching through song is a different matter than doing Bible exposition (teaching) from the Bible.
Commenter continued:
"Perhaps these verses allow the congregation as a collective to sing, but the song in question involves a female solo, not a choir. And it is addressing very specific and serious doctrines.
The fact that a man wrote this song does not permit a woman to present the message to a mixed audience. Nowhere does the Bible make a distinction between singing and speaking in regards to teaching."
EBF reply:
A female soloist like Miriam:
Exodus 15:20 And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.
21 And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
As Colossians declares, Miriam is teaching and admonishing through song which is permitted for all to do (including women). Singing a doctrine is not the same thing as teaching through a Bible study. Exodus 15 agrees with our understanding of Colossians 3:15,16.
Commenter continued:
"Nowhere in the Old Testament is there a law that a woman is not to teach a man.
This is why Miriam was permitted her solo performance with her all female choir. This is why Deborah the prophetess was allowed to judge Israel. The law was not given until the ecclesia era, written in 1 Timothy 2:12, and emphasized more stringently in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35.
Again, when laying out serious doctrines, as this video does, whether saying it plainly, or putting one's voice to melody, there's no difference, it's still teaching."
EBF reply:
God's N.T. law forbidding a woman to teach or usurp authority over a man refers to the beginning as its basis:
1 Timothy 2:12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
The Bible uses singing (song of Moses, song of the Lamb, etc.) as a type of sending forth the Gospel. But actual singing in congregations, or now outside congregations, is not that Gospel as men have declared through teaching from the Bible. It is a type. Just as a woman is a type of the elect or bride of Christ. And the bride of Christ is both male/female. A woman singing like Miriam can picture the bride of Christ proclaiming the Gospel. But just as the woman is not the completeness of the bride but a picture; so too is the actual singing not the Gospel proclaimed by men through teaching the Word but a type of that Gospel.
A while back, a couple of people brought forth issue of women singing to EBF and at the time we were unable to answer their points of issue from the Bible so we stopped airing all women's solos for a number of months. We did a thorough Bible search on this issue. And now, by God's grace, we understand the distinction between teaching/admonishing through actual song (not the spiritual meaning of song), which is permitted for the whole congregation (both men and women) to do, and the teaching/admonishing through Bible teaching and instruction, which is to be done by men.
Commenter continued:
"As expressed above, the law forbidding women to teach men was not enacted until the New Testament."
EBF reply:
You're failing to understand the significance of the law regarding a woman's teaching. God commanding women not to teach is an eternal principle that dates back to the beginning as 1 Timothy 2:11-13 tell us. This is so because a woman can represent mankind (married to the law) or the bride of Christ (dead to law/married to another=Jesus). And the Biblical principle from the beginning is that God the Holy Spirit (the Man) does the teaching. The woman is a spiritual picture of professed Christians or true elect Christians who are not to dare teach. We fulfill the law to not teach by allowing the Spirit to teach us via comparing Scripture with Scripture. Therefore, the law does indeed apply to the Old Testament age as well as the new. As the Biblical principle in view applies to both ages or all time.
Obviously, the submission of women in the Old Testament age testifies to this subservience on the part of teaching. Deborah is a rare example that God permitted (not for Barak's honor) to teach an enormous spiritual truth concerning the Word (Deborah = feminine form of Dabar/the Word) guiding us and carrying out the judgment of God in the Day of Judgment (our present time period).
As far as Miriam, she was not violating the law concerning women not teaching/usurping authority because God makes distinction between teaching/admonishment through song and that of teaching the Bible in a pulpit or Bible study of some type – which only men are to do.