I have in front of me an unpopular book with feminists, authored by Dr. John R. Rice (1895-1980), called, “Bobbed Hair, Bossy Wives And Women Preachers,” in which Dr. Rice states in chapter III on pages16-18:
Wives To Submit Themselves To, Be Subject To, Obedient To Their Husbands
We have just read in I Corinthians 11:3 that “the head of the woman is the man” and in verse 7 that man is “the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of the man,” and in verse 9 that “neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.” Here the Holy Bible states a plain doctrine, that there is and has been a fundamental difference in men and women ever since creation, because God made man to be the head of the woman.
Let us study some other Scriptures prayerfully that there may be no mistake about what God means here.
The first time this question of the authority of man over his wife comes up in the Bible is in Genesis 3 after we are told how sin brought ruin into the Garden of Eden. Before that, Genesis 2:18 plainly tells us that the woman was made after Adam and as a helpmeet for him. But as long as there was no sin, there was no need for laws. Adam and Eve perfectly loved each other, both agreed on every detail, an so there could never be any clash. But when sin came in, there were bound to be differences of opinion, and the rulership of man must be made plain.
In Genesis 3:16 the Scripture gives us the words of God unto Eve:
“Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”
Notice God's statement of the curse upon Eve and upon womankind: (1) woman was to have greatly increased sorrow and more frequent times of conception; (2) woman was to have pain or sorrow in childbirth; (3) woman must ask things she desired from her husband, and ask permission to do what she desired; (4) the husband was to rule over the wife.
“Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee!” How that would irk Dorothy Dix or Elsie Robinson, or other lady columnists, or feminists of the day! How shocked are they at the thought that a wife must sometimes ask her husband for money! How humiliating! So unspiritual women sometimes think! And yet that is exactly the position that God says that all womankind must take. Wives must make their desires known to their husbands and the husbands are to rule over their wives.
Some woman answers back, “Well, I'll never have any man bossing me around!” I know exactly how she feels. In fact I have felt the same way many a time. I would rather have my own way than to take orders. SO would all the world. Every child sometimes feels the same way about his parents. Every pupil sometimes feels the same way about his teachers. Every citizen, I suppose, feels the same way about the laws that he does not want to observe. It always did make me feel bad as I drove along the highway to hear behind me the scream of a highway police siren, and a harsh, brittle voice commanding me, “Pull over there and stop! Where is the fire? Didn't you see that sign that says, 'Speed limit 30 miles an hour'?” When I build a house, I would rather build it as I want to build it, instead of having to build it according to the city building code. And if I am going to live in America, I would rather be president, and since I live in Wheaton, Illinois, I would rather be mayor, and if I am to be a member of a church, I would rather be pastor. Of course there are complications that make that impossible, but what I mean is that every human spirit desires independence, does not want to be bossed, does not want a ruler. But we cannot have 131 million presidents, and every citizen in town cannot be mayor, and every person in a county cannot be sheriff! Not every member of a church can be pastor, not every workman can be general manager of the company, and not every member of the family can be head of the home. Yet God says there must be a head.
“Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” Wives must be subject to the rule of their husbands if they fit into God's order of things. Does some wife who reads this find her heart rebellious against her husband? You do not want him to rule you? You do not want to obey? Then you feel just like all the criminals in the penitentiaries and jails feel. They, too, are rebels against God-given authority. They, too, want to be independent and have their own way. The very heart of the crime question is rebellion against authority. And most criminals were first allowed to get away with rebellion against the rule of parents in their own homes. Not being disciplined and controlled and conquered as children, they were not willing to be subject to the next authority God put over them, the authority of government. Criminals are simply rebels against authority and every rebellious wife has the same attitude of heart. You who read this do not want to have that attitude, and I trust you will carefully search your heart and ask God to take away and rebellion against His will or against those to whom He commands you to give obedience.
Even sinners who reject Christ do so primarily because they want their own way and are not willing to surrender their will to Him. Isaiah 53:6 says: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.” And Satan himself was once Lucifer, the son of the morning, evidently an archangel. He fell and became Satan by rebellion against God as you see from Isaiah 14:12-15. Rebellion against authority is the very heart of all sin.
SOURCE: Evangelist John R. Rice, “Bobbed Hair, Bossy Wives And Women Preachers,” pp. 16-18; ©1941.
What Brother Rice just taught is critically important. I could write a book to elaborate on what I have just shared with you. Dr. Rice is absolutely correct about “surrendering” to God's authority to be saved. Please understand that Dr. Rice does not mean to surrender for service, what is what adherents of the Lordship Salvation heresy teach. Rather, Dr. Rice means submitting to God's righteousness for salvation. Romans 10:3, “For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” As long as a person is going about to establish “THEIR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS,” which is what Roman Catholics foolishly do, they cannot be saved. Mark 7:9, “And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.” Billions of foolish people today are blindly following wicked religious men, whether they be Catholic priests or Hindu gurus, following them right into the abyss of darkness in the Lake of Fire forever. Don't be a fool, submit to the inspired and infallible Word of God!!!
I receive some letters from feminist women (many who would deny being a feminist), who are upset about my strong articles refuting feminism and wifely rebellion. I am telling you the truth, the reason why there are so many divorces today is because woman refuse to obey their husbands. I have read countless tragic news stories of men who were pushed over-the-edge by a rebellious and troublesome wife. If the shoe fits, wear it! As Dr. Rice wisely says, nobody likes to be subject to authority, because it goes against our sinful nature to submit. Today's American mindset behind the legal system is heathen! Psalms 10:4, “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.” If you read thru local legal brochures, I guarantee you that they list forms of “domestic abuse” as: “keeping track of your wife's time, censoring the friends she can have, wanting to know 'where' she is going and 'when' she will return, et cetera.” Folks, if you have a problem with these things, then you HAVE A PROBLEM! I don't expect a worldly woman to agree with God's Word.
The first thing that rebellious women do is magnify their restrictions. They'll say stupid things like, “Oh, you think women should be slaves!” That is exactly what the serpent (Satan - Revelation 20:2) did to Eve, inserting thoughts of oppression into her mind. Genesis 2:16-17, “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” So here we just read that Eve was allowed to eat of EVERY TREE in the Garden, except just ONE. God told her not to eat from only ONE tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; but carefully take notice what the subtle serpent said in Genesis 3:1a, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” Wow! Did you get that? Satan turned the truth around, convincing Eve that she was a victim, a slave, not allowed to eat from any of the trees! This is the horrible ungodly attitude that we hear from wicked feminist women, making exaggerated claims and magnifying their restrictions, to facilitate their rebellion.
A legally married man has every God-given right to protect his marriage and family, and if he perceives anyone as a threat to his wife (whether physically, spiritually or mentally), he has every God-given right to shelter her. Our ungodly legal system is controlled by kooks, quacks and queers today, who permit sodomites to get married and adopt children. To stick a defenseless child in the hands of two queers is the ultimate child abuse. These are SICK people! Husbands have very little “rights” in today's feminized courts. A husband's right to leadership in the home is NOT recognized by the courts. Since 1988, women have been legally permitted to abort the father's child, completely against the biological father's will. I am so glad that there is a righteous God in Heaven Who WILL have the final say in all matters! What a sweet day of true justice that will be!!! (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).
