7.24.25 ~ Spiritual Misogyny

Good morning!

A few days ago I asked you a question: "is it Matza or Motza"? Last night, before I went to bed (Psa. 1:2), I was reflecting on that thought, personalizing it as though I was the spouse of the husband (spiritually speaking); the bride of the Lamb (Rev. 21:9).

Based on God's creation narrative in Genesis 1, the Apostle Paul reminds us that God uses the natural to teach us the spiritual (1 Cor. 15:46). In our Matza or Motza comparison, God uses a natural reality to teach us a truth that we find woven throughout the pages of Scripture: Is our heavenly spouse content with what He has found in this 'spiritual woman' or 'is He still looking'? 

In our Ecclesiastes 7:26 passage, which I think is the only passage in all of Scripture that makes a painful comment like this... And I discovered/ani motza as more bitter/mar mimavet than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are chains. One who is pleasing to God will escape from her, but the sinner will be captured by her. (Eccl. 7:26)

At first blush, this misogynistic verse would imply that it's only dealing with one woman being a trap and snare. But, two verses later, this writer of Ecclesiastes/qoheleth says that he searched among a thousand to find one righteous person, and not a single woman could be found.  It’s hard to imagine that the preacher/qoheleth looked only among the unrighteous in his search.
which [fn]I am still seeking but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a woman among all these. (Eccl. 7:28)

These verses speak of a man who has become bitter through a painful relationship with an untrustworthy wife. 99.99% of the time, marital relationships are held in high regard. However, this time the preacher, through his own experience has generalized all women in this category. Ugh!
This hyperbolic statement, similar to his 'all is vanity' statement, is trying to drive home a point. It wakes us up to a reality that the Bible does not deny.  The world just doesn’t work the way it should.
Later, this same man gives us wisdom...(Eccl. 9:9)
Enjoy life with the wife whom you love all the days of your futile life which He has given you under the sun, all the days of your futility; for this is your reward in life and in your work which you have labored under the sun. (Eccl. 9:9)

Do you see a paradox here? If every woman is a trap, how can I fully enjoy my honey bunny all the days of my life? The preacher, in his search for meaning in life, is emphasizing his personal experience of pain; while making a huge mistake on generalizing his pain towards all women.Frustrated love might turn a man away from all women, as we are well aware.

One thing I love about our Bibles, God gives us real insights to real life.  He doesn’t clean things up, smooth over the rough edges or paint a picture of holiness that isn’t true to life itself.  Koheleth expresses what many men feel.  That doesn’t mean he is right.  It only means he is hurt.  And that is where most of us start ; hurt and in pain.  One great lesson of Ecclesiastes , my dad's  favorite book (of blessed memory), is that life is full of injustices, absurdities and failures.  And with all of these, I have a choice: bitterness or grace.  There is no human relationship where this is more obvious than in a frustrated relationship between a man and a woman.  No wonder God used marriage as the ultimate symbol of our intimacy with Him.  It has all the human dynamics anyone could ask for.

On this 5th day of counting towards the first fruit of the oil, I ask myself the question: "Am I Ecclesiastes 7:26,28  in the mind of our Bridegroom King"? Or, "Am I one who He will enjoy for ever and ever"? "Am I allowing one. painful experience to generalize how I treat all"?

Shalom,
Alan