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Cancel culture has come for your Bible.
In a recent article in Time magazine, Shelley Puhak accuses biblical text of creating “a blueprint for vilifying powerful women leaders.” The Bible does so, she argues, through the story of Queen Jezebel (wife to King Ahab, who ruled over Israel in the 9th-century b.c.). Jezebel plots and executes the murder of a man in order to take his vineyard-- supports pagan worship contrary to God’s law and routinely persecutes the prophet, Elijah.
This same blueprint, Puhak says, is being used today against strong women from Queen Mary I to Vice President Kamala Harris.
Be informed, not misled.
Why the Left sees the Bible as a problem for a "progressive culture."
The Time Magazine feature story begins with, "The misogynistic logic of patriarchy is curiously circular: women cannot govern because they never have. But this big lie rests upon a bed of induced historical amnesia, the work of numberless erasures and omissions, collectively sending the message that the women who have ruled haven’t earned the right to be remembered."
And author Shelly Puhak says the Bible is in part the problem:
"There is no question of the queens’ transformation in historical chronicles from fierce powerbrokers to mere footnotes being accidental, the result of poor translations, sloppy transcriptions, or even a handful of scribes with personal axes to grind. It was a coordinated and methodical effort. And it was, in part, made possible by the biblical story of Jezebel.
Jezebel was the Phoenician queen who became the archetype of the wicked woman— promiscuous, greedy, and godless. The crimes leveled against her include forcing pagan idolatry upon the Israelites and harassing the prophet, Elijah.
Puhak says the real problem with the Bible is that the "story was written centuries after Jezebel's death and its version of events don’t match up with what scholars now know to be true. For example, Jezebel did not import a pagan god; that deity was already well-established. In fact, the kingdom already enjoyed ethnic diversity and religious pluralism. But when the fundamentalist prophet Elijah mocked and then slaughtered hundreds who did not believe as he did, Jezebel threatened to punish him. Frightened, Elijah fled and then plotted revenge. When, many years later, Elijah and his followers triumphed, Jezebel did not beg for mercy. Instead, she met her end defiantly, dressing in her finery and applying kohl to her eyes while awaiting her murderers."
Puhak's message is summed up in this statement: "After her death, Jezebel was branded a harlot. Her real crime, though, seems to have been something else entirely. In one translation of the Bible, she dares to tell the male prophet that she is his equal: 'If you are Elijah, so I am Jezebel.'”
The conclusion of this article is that the Bible has many errors, is misleading, and is misogynistic.
To further underscore her point about the Bible, Puhak brings in a couple of queens from the sixth century---Queens Brunhild and Fredegund, who were also mistreated, because of the biblical misrepresentation of Jezebel.
The problem is with Puhak's worldview---and that of Time Magazine who published it--- not the Bible.
So do I.
Carrington wrote in the National Review, " Puhak gives a more positive spin on Jezebel, noting that some of those who wish to demean or sideline women rulers have gone so far as to make female rule illegitimate. Anyone may twist a text for their own, at times nefarious, purposes. Puhak, however, seems to think this connection between the Bible’s description of Jezebel in particular — and women’s political power in general — is an accurate rendering of the text."
He says, "I will set aside both Puhak’s attempt to rehabilitate Jezebel and her questioning of the biblical narrative. Ultimately, those mistakes turn out secondary in importance. But by making Jezebel’s story the whole story, Puhak misses what the Bible truly has to say about women in political rule."
This is true. The "whole story" that he refers to, is the story of redemption that Puhak has chosen to completely ignore---redemption of both men and women equally.
Carrington says,
"The Bible does portray women rulers in a positive light. In 1 Kings 10, we read of how the Queen of Sheba treats Solomon. Yes, the text portrays Solomon’s unparalleled wisdom — one with which the queen is enthralled. That said, this female ruler is depicted as a worthy ruler in her own right. The Bible says that she comes to “test” Solomon with “hard questions.” How could she do so if she did not possess the intellectual and rhetorical skill to discourse with the man the Bible says was the wisest ever to live? Moreover, once she confirms Solomon’s unsurpassed wisdom, this queen praises him in ways that reveal her high capacity for political rule. Political rule seeks justice and the good of those ruled. The queen recognizes that Solomon’s place as a ruler means his nation — Israel — will receive the benefit of rule according to 'justice and righteousness' (10:9) and that every portion of the people will be happy. She may only say so if she, too, understood both the nature of such goods for politics and was committed to following them herself."
He also notes that the biblical story of both Deborah and Esther are examples of how God uses women in a political environment. And he reaffirms that the Bible reminds rulers that they are not God, but instead subject to God.
Takeaway.
The story of Jezebel is not intended to delegitimize her because she is a woman. It's a story that portrays yet another tyrant---a sinful, broken person.
Try as they might, the so-called progressive Left---in particular the "religious Left," cannot make God into someone He is not. Nor can they make Him say something He has not said.
God is no respecter of persons.
Author Puhak, Time Magazine--- and the rest of the Left claim the Bible is the problem, but ultimately it is the solution to human difficulties.
Scripture condemns any violation of God's biblical standards by anyone. This is why God sent His Son to die on a cross. We are hopelessly lost, broken, and flawed. We all have miserably sinned. We need a Savior. Jesus is that Savior.
And the Bible is His inspired, inerrant, infallible Word.
Jezebel's problem was sin, not gender.
Vice President Harris's problem is not gender, it's lack of ability. Her own Democrat Party rejected her politically before her home state of California even held their presidential primary.
The Left has a twisted view of God's Word---His Truth. Speaker Pelosi, President Biden, and others speak openly, publicly, and often about their devout Christian faith.
Yet their personal beliefs and the policies they advance stand in direct contradiction to God's policies and values for humanity.
I'm certain there will be more, not less of this coming in the near future.
This is why it is extremely important biblical Christians are informed, discerning, vigilant, engaged, and prayerful.
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful. Be Faithful.