A biblical view of domestic violence

Let me begin today by saying that I in no way believe that most women in our society are the victims of violence. Just as there are alarmists who tout statistics about how many people are sexually abused as children, I doubt that those who tell us about violence against women are being completely honest.

Again, when it comes to public funding, there are plenty of people out there willing to “massage the numbers” in order to get it, the means justifying their ends.

But this is not to say that there is no violence against women out there, or even that a large percentage doesn’t exist. One could even make the argument that even 1 percent would be too large. And this is not to say that the Bible condones such conduct; it surely does not. In Peter’s first epistle, we find these words in chapter three: “Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.”

Simply put, God is against violence toward women. Any Christian husband who does not honor his wife is a man to whom God will turn his back and will not listen to his prayers. But this is only for the Christian husband. God already doesn’t listen to those who are lost, unless it is to turn in repentance of their sins to Jesus Christ for the salvation of their souls.

The truth is that those who are crusading against such violence are fighting an uphill battle, and not because of increasing numbers, though numbers must increase as our society turns away from Christ, but because they are fighting against something they are powerless to change — human nature, and a sinful one at that.

Back in Genesis chapter three, Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in direct disobedience to God. While the devil had promised Eve that in doing so they would gain extra knowledge and be “as gods,” the only thing she really gained was a sinful nature. When God joined the fallen couple that evening, in addition to cursing the snake and the ground, he told them where their sinful nature would take them. And in doing so, he told Eve that the natural course of this sinful nature would lead to violence against women.

In verse 16, God says, “… and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” What God designed had now been thwarted. When he created man and made male and female, he intended for them to live in a loving, perfect relationship toward one another. But with sin now in the mix, this would all change. On woman’s part, sin would cause her to move to rule over her husband, but because God had made her the weaker of the pair, this would not be allowed.

Though it is unlikely that violence erupted immediately, we see this ruling over women begin to take effect in chapter four only six generations later with the casting aside of God’s one man for one woman marriage policy and the appearance of polygamy. Little by little, the woman’s position began to erode from the state of companion to her husband to that of his subordinate.

Though our society currently prohibits polygamy, courtesy of Christianity’s impact on Western civilization for the last almost 2,000 years, it is not hard to see how violence can become a part of the equation. Violence is the natural conclusion of sin in the contest of who is going to rule whom, and as God created the male to be bigger and stronger on average than the female, there is generally not much of a contest.

Truthfully, women asserting themselves as equal to men is where the problem began, so it surely is not the answer. Neither is it in another government-sponsored program that is destined for failure, nor the use of correctional facilities.

The true answer to the equation is for both genders to repent of their part in this violence cycle and turn to Jesus Christ, who not only can save their souls, but can give them a new heart with the capacity to love each other as God originally intended, way back in the Garden of Eden.

Ron Hamman is pastor of Independent Baptist Church of Wasilla. Contact him at 357-4229 or ron.hamman@gci.net.