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The Forgotten Responsibility of The Wife And Mother: To Be Keepers At Home And Guide The House

December 14, 2008

Forgotten defined

To neglect somebody or something: to fail to give due attention to somebody or something; To treat with thoughtless inattention; neglect; to cease to have in mind; not to think of; also, to lose the power of; to cease from doing; no longer know – lost. Disregarded, unnoticed. Like “a forgotten or lost art.”

Keepers at home

Titus 2:3-5 The aged [or older] women [in the church] likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

Homemakers NKJ; workers at home NAS; to be busy at home NIV; domestic RSV; working in their houses BBE; keepers of {their own} houses YLT; to take care of their homes NLT; good homemakers NAB

The Greek word

The Greek word translated in KJV “keepers at home” is oikourous (oy-koo-ros)

This word comes from two Greek words:

· The first, oikos, means a house, a dwelling, or, a household or family.

· The second, ouros, refers to a keeper, watcher or guardian, i.e., one who has the oversight and responsibility for something.

Therefore, the basic meaning of oikourous is that of a “housekeeper,” that is, one who watches over a household and family, seeing to it that all members are cared for, and all things maintained in good order.

In the Classical Greek this word was used in bad way to describe a man who refused to go out to war, designating him a “stay-at-home” man.

The husband is to provided

Genesis 3:17-19 And unto Adam [the husband] he [God] said, …19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

The wife - bear children, desire thy husband, submit to his authority

Genesis 3:16 Unto the woman [Eve – the wife] he [God] said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

The strange woman does not abide in her home

Proverbs 7:10-12 And, behold, there met him a woman [strange woman v.5] with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. 11 (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house: 12 Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)

Man’s work place was the garden

Genesis 2:8-9 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:15-17 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Eve’s first mistake was to go to man’s work place

Genesis 3:1Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

11 practical reasons why married women should be “keepers at home”

and not workers outside the home

1) If a woman works outside the home – there will be a multitude of dangerous influences which seek to prey upon her (it is a mans world out there) – the husband (the God ordained head of the wife) will not be able to protect and guide her properly as her head. How can the husband fulfill his role to "lead and protect" his wife when she is out working as hard (if not harder) than he is?

2) If a mother is working outside the home then she will not be there for her children when they need her nurturing care, love, gentleness, guidance, encouragement, and discipline. And when she finally does get home to be with the children she will be way too tired and mentally drained to offer them the best!

3) The working wife will be way overworked and double tired since she is trying to work TWO JOBS--one inside and one outside the home. The normal physical constitution of a woman is that she is weaker in comparison to the man. This will put a tremendous strain on her physical makeup. It will inevitably cause health problems in the woman.

4) When the wife tries to perform a balancing act between her job and family--it does not work. Something must go undone. The wife will usually end up feeling frustrated because she is often too mentally or physically exhausted to take care of her house and family the way she ought too!

5) The wife will struggle between her dedication to her family and dedication to her job. Her job will most certainly attempt to create and feed ambition in her soul, by offering more pay or more benefits in return for more of her time and reasonability. The couple will be dependent on these benefits and addicted to them.

6) The wife will be under an authority other than her husband for the much of her "waking" life

7) Both wife and husband come home “stressed out” over issues at the work place, which may lead to arguments, irritability, and other marital difficulties.

8) A Christian woman cannot be the keeper at home or guide the house if all she does is sleep there and wash clothes on her day off. A woman cannot be an effective keeper at home and "guide of the house" when she spends much of her time outside of the home.

9) It will be difficult to harmonize the two working schedules so the couple will get quality time together.

10) When wives work outside the home they start earning their own money or their own keep (sometimes more than the husband), this may cause pride, independence and unwillingness to submit or respect their husbands opinions or requests.

11) Leaving your child with domestic help whether a baby sitter, maid, a family relative, or a day care provider cannot offer the child with the same level of care and protection, which the mother can give. The child will be left exposed to harmful influences and possibly the dangers of physical and sexual abuse, which is now at epidemic proportions in all societies. Remember, your child is your responsibility not someone else’s – they are depending on you.

GUIDE THE HOUSE

1 Timothy 5:14 I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.

1 Timothy 5:10 Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints’ feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.

1 Timothy 2:15 Notwithstanding she [the woman] shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

Proverbs 14:1 Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.

“Guide” defined

The word "Guide” - implies the showing of the way by one who is thoroughly familiar with the course, and implies one’s continuous presence or direction along the way.