4/15/2019 0 Comments Sons and Daughters Sons of man. Daughters of Zion. Brothers and sisters. Children of God. How many ways can we describe our relationship to God and to each other? A few weekends ago I listened to a sermon about the Prodigal Son (Luke 15). What struck me this time as I listened was the pastor's use of "prodigal sons and daughters." In this day and age we are striving to be inclusive and politically correct so as to leave no one out. Some Bible translators have tried to do this by including "sons and daughters" instead of simply "sons." For some time, I had no problem with this. It helped to clarify that we were all included. “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” (Luke 15: 31-32, NIV) Then I was in a Bible study one morning which changed my perspective completely. In this particular study we were discussing inheritance. In the parable of the Prodigal Son, the sons will receive an inheritance or a portion of their father's wealth. Why does he receive this? He is a son. Culturally, the sons received the wealth. This is the point that my study leader brought up. She said that she does not want to be a Prodigal Daughter. Daughters, sorry, you're not as important as the sons when it comes down to dividing up the estate. You need to be a son to gain the inheritance. There is immense meaning in the terminology "Prodigal Son." It is more than a gender identifier. Yes, it is talking about a male son in the parable, and yes, "son" also refers to all of us, however "son" develops the theme of inheritance. Placing our contemporary views of gender equality in place of the original text is to cloud the message.
Am I saying Bible translators are wrong, no, not necessarily. Rather, I believe we need to be cognizant of the cultural context to more fully understand the truth that God is bringing to us through his Word. Unstoppable young women, we are sons of God--we will inherit the Kingdom of God and God's blessings so long as we trust in Him and follow his teachings. Hold fast to this truth as we live each day for the Lord.
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