The Marriage Rule

The curse of sin in a marital relationship is the desire to rule over your partner.

‘Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.’ - Genesis 3:16

Is the man supposed to ‘rule over the woman’ in marriage?

I recently joined a Facebook discussion when a friend posted this on his timeline.

Some of the commentators wrote things like this:

The wife desires her husband’s leadership. God himself established the roles of husband and wife. The husband rules over, and the wife submits. This is also why women are not allowed by the will of God to be pastors, since no woman can rule over men.

The church is supposed to obey Christ, just like the wife is supposed to obey her husband.

Women will try to take the lead. This is why the caveman had a club.

Two pastors chimed in and wrote:

I Shouldn’t Continue Being Shocked

For years, I’ve been in religious environments where those who teach others the Bible convey what they’ve been taught, rather than what the Scriptures actually teach.

I respect all my Christian brothers and sisters, even those men who wrongly say, ‘It’s the man’s job to rule over the wife, the family, the church, and society,’ as well as those women who wrongly say, ‘A godly woman always submits to male leadership.’

But never forget this axiom of truth:

Christian men, and especially evangelical pastors, who teach ‘inherent male authority over others’ are promoting a curse from God on sinners, NOT the grace of God on believers.

Here’s my response to the aforementioned Facebook post regarding Genesis 3:16.