1 Chronicles 7:24 – His daughter was Sheerah, who built both Lower and Upper Beth-horon, and Uzzen-sheerah.
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The writer of 1-2 Chronicles records an obscure fact here in the midst of the genealogies. He records for us the deeds of an industrious woman, Sheerah. Sheerah, the daughter of a figure whose story you will never hear or even be concerned about, built two cities.
Why do I find that fact worthy of note? Simply put, too many evangelicals have given into the shrill rhetoric of feminist theologians who declare that the Bible was written by ungodly chauvinists who delighted in degrading women. However, in one obscure reference, we have a very simple argument against their logic. If the writer of Chronicles had intended to put women down and “keep them in their place,” he most certainly would have had no reason to record for us the deeds of Sheerah. He never would have told us that she was even born, much less that she built two cities.
Of course, there is much to be studied to understand the issue of gender roles in the scriptures. While God makes it absolutely clear that men are no more valuable than women or women than men, God has clearly defined roles for men and women to play. We must not rebel against those roles, not because either gender is unqualified to fulfill a certain role, but simply because God has set for us how things are to be in his economy and for his glory. So, by no means does this passage in the Chronicles destroy for us the notion of male headship or biblical complimentarity.
What this passage in the Chronicles does for us is make plain to us that the authors of scripture were not the women-hating monsters that many feminists declare. These authors acknowledged the accomplishments and value of women when other societies never would have done so. As evangelicals, let us be careful to recognize that we do not have to surrender this ground when discussing the scripture with someone who puts it down based on its handling of gender issues.
Pastor Travis Peterson 