God’s Redemptive Plan For Women

I remember watching the last few minutes of the 1995 Miss America competition in Atlantic City, NJ.  The atmosphere was tense.  The final five waited eagerly to hear Regis Philbin announce who had won.  When he announced the name, the crowds erupted in cheers and screams—all except for the winner, Miss Alabama.  You see, she was deaf and it took her a moment to realize she had won.

Many of you may feel as though you’ve been in a season of delay.  Perhaps you’re watching others thrive while waiting for your own breakthrough.  But I believe Father God is making bold announcements about women in this new season.  His words will excite you, bring clarity, and change your life forever.  God is restoring lost time; and He’s restoring His daughters to their rightful place in this world—where they can see His face, feel His love, experience His presence, and live in His pleasure.

An army of women who know their truest identities are rising up all over the world today.  This was always God’s intention.  He never wanted women to be oppressed after the fall of man.  In fact, one of His Son’s greatest mandates was to set women free! For more on knowing the value of your voice, listen to my podcast.

The First Women’s Liberation Movement

In the 400 years between Malachi and Matthew, another religion emerged.  During this time, the Pharisees had written hundreds of laws, and nearly 100 of them oppressed women.  When Jesus began his ministry, women were more oppressed than perhaps any point in history.  They were the property of men; they were not allowed to be educated or speak in public; they had to eat in a separate room; wear veils; and couldn’t vote since the Pharisees believed they were inherently liars.

But Jesus came to set the oppressed free! All throughout the Gospels, the authors make it a point to mention that women were in the crowds when Jesus was teaching.  It wasn’t a superfluous thing to mention.  It was to highlight that women were being taught (illegally!) for the first time in 400 years; they were being restored to their rightful place.

Jesus loved to break the rules of His day.  In John 4, He interacts with a Samaritan woman during a time when Jews were prejudiced against Samaritans and had no dealings with them.  Jesus connected with her and exposed her shame and rejection by men (not her sin, as many have taught).  He set her free, and she told the whole town about Him, and they believed—making her the first evangelist before there was even a resurrection.

What is God doing through women today?

1.  Restoring Freedom and Ending Religious Oppression. 

Look at the world today and throughout history. Every time you see Jesus and revival, women are being lifted up.  There’s freedom and equality.  Every time you see religion, women are being oppressed.  Nearly every religion seems to find a way to exalt men over women.  Religion tells a woman, “You messed up in the Garden of Eden, and that brought a curse on you.” But that’s a lie.

In Genesis 3, God issued a decree that sealed the serpent’s doom from that moment on.  He also prophesied that women would always hate the serpent and have victory over him.  This is why the enemy has been trying to oppress women—and why he’s so nervous about them.  If women are restored to their rightful place in the world, then he’s in trouble because she’s eternally angry with him.  Perhaps her heel is bruised since she’s stomping on him so hard!

It’s interesting that the first place the serpent attacked women—the Middle East—has some of the most oppressed women in the world today.  But even there, we’ve seen an acceleration of positive change in the last 10 years:

• In Saudi Arabia, women can now drive, hold places in government, vote, and compete in the Olympics.

• In the last year, Pakistan appointed its first female government leader.

• Iraq was the first Arab country to appoint a female minister, enact equal rights laws, and seek equal pay.

• One in three startups in the Arab World today is founded or led by a woman.

• Since the Arab Spring, seven of the 20 Muslim-majority countries have joined Tunisia in criminalizing domestic violence.  Tunisia is the birthplace of the pro-democracy uprisings in 2010 (the Arab Spring).

• Women today are playing a stronger role in the United Arab Emirates’ military. Its first female fighter pilot led the country’s initial airstrike against the Islamic State in Syria in 2014.

Yes, far more progress is needed.  But God is restoring the first voice the enemy stopped. You’re going to see it explode all over the Muslim world.

2.  Exposing Lies and Restoring True Liberation.

There’s a beautiful movement across America today that seeks to provide women with equal rights and restore them back to God’s original plan.  But with any great movement, the enemy seeks to pervert it by speaking lies to people—lies that conflate feminism with hatred or forced groupthink or self-denigration as empowerment.  Today—especially in America—God is starting to expose this perversion while revealing holiness in women.  He’s revealing light in the darkness; elevating women who are fighting for positive change.

Psalm 68 speaks of a powerful army; warring women of Zion who are left to gather spoils after “the conquering legions have themselves been conquered.” In this passage, women are being restored and stepping into holiness.  Kings and armies are fleeing before these women who proclaim good tidings.  This powerful army of women know who they are in Christ, and they are starting to arise.

3.  Restoring the Proper Worldview of Men and Women.

From the very beginning of time, God took a rib out of Adam’s side and created a woman.  She was always meant to walk side by side with him; in equality.  This is why it takes both male and female to represent the true nature of God.  When women are oppressed, you lose half of His nature.

The last thing God created was a woman, and the last thing God will restore is a woman.  If we have a view of women that doesn’t look like Jesus, then oppression has the power to continue.

Many men today are receiving this revelation and viewing women as God sees them—as Daddy’s little girl.  Shame from the past or present is being replaced by vulnerability and family connection.  It’s curing the pornography issue and causing men to view women in their restored state. The enemy is losing his power to blackmail them.  And this new army of men is receiving incredible favor over their lives.

4.  Restoring Families. 

Another trend we’re seeing is that sons and daughters are turning their hearts toward the Father like never before.  They’re receiving revelation of His heart and their inheritance.  This is reversing the curse.  And it’s leading to a restoration of family.  I believe the Father is about to restore children to their mothers.  He is healing family wounds that go back for generations.

Prodigal sons and daughters have had an assignment over their lives from the enemy, but it’s breaking apart now.  The serpent has been nervous about the unification of families, since women and children carry an anointing that’s a huge threat to him. This family anointing will bring unity to the nations.

Step Into this New Season

The great news is that there’s nothing you need to work at to achieve this restoration.  Just be.  Be you. Be full, be love, be joy, be peace, and then give it all away.  Be fruitful and live to your full potential.  Multiply not only physically but spiritually.  Women are creating this new environment at home, in their places of work, in the nations—and it’s restoring the Earth back to God’s original design.

The enemy is terrified for women to take dominion. You carry so much authority and power—so much that the end is coming for the serpent when the woman is restored back to her destiny.  You release what you have become, and you reproduce who you are.  So find yourself, hear His voice, and experience His presence.

You were born for such a time as this.