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I still
remember an incident when I was in high school. I used to borrow the family car
for the day, but to do so I had to bring my father to the train station and
then pick him up in the early evening. I kept observing that, for some strange
reason, whenever the men arrived, the wives would move over from the driver’s
seat to the passenger seat so as to allow the men to drive. I never did that,
but since it kept happening, one evening I asked my father if he wanted to
drive home. He said, with a smile, “Oh, no. You go ahead,” and then he settled
into his passenger seat, as if he were a king and I his chief chauffeur. This
was a small gesture, but, for a sedate Dutchman, it was (and still is) counter cultural.
He also showed his encouragement because he wanted me to follow in his own
footprints. Having served as a Dutch consul, he wanted me to serve as an
ambassador. I learned to be counter cultural too and have pursued the avenues
God pressed upon me to travel, even if unusual for women: to be ordained as a
minister and to teach the New Testament to potential ministers.
Fathers
can have a great impact encouraging daughters into careers different from the
average for women. We find that, as well, in the Bible. For instance, Ephraim,
a son of Joseph, was one of the twelve patriarchs (Gen. 41:50-52; Num. 1:32;
26:35). His daughter, Sheerah, was quite a building contractor and architect.
She built Lower and Upper Beth-Horon as well as Uzzen-sheerah (1 Chron. 7:24),
cities that would last thousands of years. Built during the time of the twelve
patriarchs, these cities had strategic importance and continued for many
generations.[1]
Some of their stone walls and terraces are still visible today. The cities were
built on the boundary of Ephraim’s territory (Josh. 16:3, 5; 18:13). Solomon
rebuilt them as fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars (1 Kings 9:17; 2
Chron. 8:5).[2]
When the
exiles returned from Persia, they discovered that Jerusalem lay in ruins with
its gates burned. The locals began to mock and ridicule the Jews and eventually
attack them (Neh. 2:17, 19; 4:1-3, 7-8). Thus, the urgency to build strong
walls was reinforced. Among the many builders, Shallum, son of Hallohesh, ruler
of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs together with his daughters
(Neh. 3:12). Each of the builders eventually had a sword strapped to her (or
his) side while she built in case of attack (Neh. 4:18).
One of
the marvelous ministries that King David began for temple worship was the troupes
of temple musicians, singers, and prophets (1 Chron. 6:31-33; 2 Chron. 29:30).
David, himself a composer, musician, and dancer,[3] asked the Levites to
appoint as musicians Levite families. Heman the Ezrahite, Asaph, and Ethan were
appointed to make a joyful sound with musical instruments: lyres, harps, and
cymbals (1 Chron. 15:16-17, 19-24; 16:41-42; 25:1-8). Heman was a cymbal
player. He had fourteen sons and three daughters and all of them played and
prophesied with music in the temple (1 Chron. 25:5-6; 35:15). They dressed in
fine linen (the same material as the priests had, Exod. 28:1-5) while playing
at the east side of the altar (2 Chron. 5:12-14). After the exile, the temple
assembly included 200-245 male and female singers (Ezra 2:65; Neh. 7:66-67).
We
should not be surprised women were involved in worship at the temple since, as
early as the entrance into Canaan, Miriam, Moses’s sister, a prophet and leader
of Israel, led other women in song and dance in praise of God: “Sing to the
Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously” (Exod. 15:20-21 NRSV; Micah 6:4). Women served
at the tabernacle from earliest times (Exod. 38:8; 1 Sam. 2:22). They were
involved in the music ministry and in prophecy. (See also Deborah in Judges
4:4-5:31 and Huldah in 2 Kings 22:14-20.)[4] And for some of them at
least their accomplishments were encouraged by their fathers.
May
fathers today also encourage their daughters to excel in church and secular
vocations, all to the praise of the Lord “for he is good, for his steadfast
love endures forever” (1 Chron. 16:41; 2 Chron. 5:13 NRSV).
Aida
[1]
Josh. 10:10-11; 1 Sam. 13:18; 2 Chron. 25:13.
[2]
Upper Beth-Horon was 1750 feet above sea level, while Lower Beth-Horon was 700
feet lower (W. L. Reed, “Beth-Horon,” Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible
1:393-94.
[3] 1
Sam. 16:17-23; 18:10; 19:9; 2 Sam. 6:5, 14; 1 Chron. 13:8; 15:27-29, plus many
psalms were written by David, such as Pss. 3-9; 11-32; 34-41.
[4]
See also ch. 4, Aida Besancon Spencer, Beyond the Curse: Women Called to
Ministry (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1985).
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