What is your thought on a woman leading the country as president or prime minister?
Let me state clearly that “my thought about this matter” is only an “opinion,” and since our goal in this ministry is to present “Answers From the Book,” I will try to give you “God’s thought on a woman leading a country” from the Bible.
When God created “the man and the woman” He established the principle of Headship; that is, he put the man in a position of the “leader” over the woman. We read of this in 1st Corinthians 11:3, “But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, THE HEAD OF THE WOMAN IS MAN, and the head of Christ is God.” This does NOT mean the woman is inferior to the man PERSONALLY; it means God has put the man in a POSITION of authority over the woman. The New Testament applies this principle clearly when it comes to marriage, the church, and the family, as we see in the following scriptures:
Ephesians 5:22-23: “Wives, SUBMIT to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the HEAD OF THE WIFE, as also Christ is the head of the church.”
1st Timothy 2:11-13: “Let a woman learn in silence with all SUBMISSION. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have AUTHORITY OVER THE MAN, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve.”
Ephesians 6:4: “And you, FATHERS, do not provoke your CHILDREN to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.”
Let me emphasize that these “positions of authority” that God has given to the man in the marriage, the church, and the family are a tremendous responsibility for which the man will give an account to God one day. God will also hold the woman responsible for acknowledging these by “submitting to the man” in these various spheres. But let me say again that “this does NOT mean the woman is inferior to the man PERSONALLY. It may be that she is more intelligent than the man, and perhaps more spiritual. Yet she is to acknowledge that God has ordained the man to “take the lead” in marriage, in the church and in the family.” If the woman is a believer in Christ and bows to the authority of Scripture, she will NOT rebel against the order that God has ordained. She will also take to heart that Christ Himself took a “place of SUBMISSION” when He came into this world, for we read that “the head of Christ is God.” This clearly speaks of the POSITION the Son of God willingly took when He became a MAN and a SERVANT in order to redeem lost sinners by His death on the cross (see Philippians 2:5-8). PERSONALLY, He was (and always will be) “equal with God” (see John 1;1; 5:16-18, 22-23; and 10:30-34).
Regarding your specific question, the Bible doesn’t come right out and say that women shouldn’t be in “POSITIONS of power in government.” Some believe that the principle of HEADSHIP that we have just seen applies to these positions as well, but since Scripture doesn’t state this unequivocally, I will decline from giving you my OPINION. Having said that, we do see throughout the Bible that with the exception of one or two women, men were always the leaders of nations. Those who believe women should be allowed to lead a nation will point to Deborah in Israel in Judges 4:4, “Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time.” Surely this was “of God” but if you read on you will see that Israel was in a state of spiritual declension with men not taking their rightful place as leaders, so Deborah was the “exception to the rule.”
Let me close by quoting Romans 13:1 (with a few comments): “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.” IF a woman is elected to a position of power over a nation, God has not only “allowed it,” He has “appointed them.” Two notable examples are Golda Meir (who ruled over Israel from 1969 to 1974) and Margaret Thatcher (who was Prime Minister of the UK from 1979 to 1990). They were both outstanding leaders and Christians must acknowledge that they were “appointed by God.” Perhaps we can say they were, like Deborah, the “exception to the rule.” As believers we bow to the authority of Scripture and in those cases, we are to “be subject to the governing authorities” that God has ordained. (DO) (523.1)