Women Don’t Understand What Being a Keeper at Home Means
Recently, I wrote my thoughts about Allie Beth Stuckey and Candace Owens in my private Facebook group.
“God commands women to be keepers at home. Allie Beth and Candace Owens are no different than female preachers. They stand behind pulpits and preach in conferences. Allie even teaches theology, like Calvinism. She’s not biblically qualified to teach this. They travel often and must put in a lot of time and energy for their speeches, writing books, and podcasts. They both have little children.
“I have never seen any good come from this long term. Even the Proverbs 31 woman’s work was in her home for her family as ours is to be. Yes, these brilliant women are easy to want to learn from, but I measure everything to Scripture. I won’t compromise for anyone. There are plenty of godly men teaching the same things as they do.”
A few women were upset with me and felt I was judging them and gossiping, so I wrote them this.
“Let me ask you, women, are either of these young mothers role models for Christian young women? Do you believe young mothers should aspire to live lives like theirs? Are they living biblical lives focused upon their husbands, children, and homes as keepers at home?
“Women these days are too caught up listening to these popular women who are great speakers and influencers without thinking it through. Women NEED godly women actually living out biblical womanhood as God commands more than they need anything else, besides being taught these things (Titus 2:4,5).
“I’m not a fan of women in politics, Women’s Bible studies and conferences, women traveling and speaking, and things of this nature. There are no women in the Bible who did any of these except for Deborah which was an exception and Jezebel. I’m a fan of women who are quietly living lives in obedience to God’s commands to them.”
Then, some asked me how I was different than these women.
“This is for any of you who think my life is no different than the popular female preachers, influencers, book writers, speakers, and podcasters. I am home full time and always available for my family. I never travel to make speeches. I’ve never given a speech anywhere. I stopped doing interviews. I donate all the money from my books to a pro-life organization. I don’t believe God wants me to make money teaching women biblical womanhood. I just write on my blog and social media or do a short video when something comes to mind. I mentor many women privately and on my social media sites in the ways of biblical womanhood as God commands. I stay within the boundary God has given to me to teach in Titus 2:3-5. I am a keeper at home.”
It’s apparent that many women believe that God’s command to be keepers at home means women can do whatever they want. Here are the definitions given by commentaries of old:
“Home duties, cares, pleasures, sacrifices of self—these God-appointed duties ought to fill the mind and the heart of the young wife. There should be no desire, no attempt, to go round to the other houses, and so contracting idle, gossiping habits.” (Ellicot’s Commentary)
“Keepers at home—as ‘guardians of the house,’ as the Greek expresses. The oldest manuscripts read, ‘Workers at home’: active in household duties (Proverbs 7:11; 1 Timothy 5:13).” (Jamieson-Faussett-Brown Commentary)
“Keepers at home; house-wives, not spending their time in gadding abroad, but in looking to the affairs of their own families.” (Matthew Poole’s Commentary)
“Keepers at home: minding their own family affairs, not gadding abroad; and inspecting into, and busying themselves about other people’s matters. This is said in opposition to what women are prone unto. It is reckoned among the properties of women, by the Jews, that they are ‘gadders abroad’: they have some rules about women’s keeping at home; they say,
“A woman may go to her father’s house to visit him, and to the house of mourning, and to the house of feasting, to return a kindness to her friends, or to her near relations–but it is a reproach to a woman to go out daily; now she is without, now she is in the streets; and a husband ought to restrain his wife from it, and not suffer her to go abroad but about once a month, or twice a month, upon necessity; for there is nothing more beautiful for a woman, than to abide in the corner of her house; for so it is written, Psalm 45:15 ‘the king’s daughter is all glorious within.”’ (Gill’s Exposition)
“Mothers who work at home usually find it a more absorbing pleasure than ‘going about from house to house’ (1 Timothy 5:13). The practical worth of a religion is not unfairly estimated by its effects on the lives of those who profess it. If the observed effect of the Gospel were to make women worse wives, it would not commend it to the heathen; ‘for the Greeks judge not of doctrines by the doctrine itself, but they make the life and conduct the test of the doctrines.’” (Expositor’s Greek Testament)
“Keepers at home: Rather, we should read with R.V. workers at home.” (Cambridge Bible)
“But οἰκουρός, which is probably the true reading (Huther), is common in good classical Greek for ‘stayers at home.’” (Pulpit Commentary)
“The mistress of the house is to add to her thrift, energy, and strict discipline, benign, gracious, heartily kind demeanor.” (Vincent’s Word Study)
“As long as we, our country’s women, continue to be good homemakers and fulfill every aspect of our responsibility, America will continue to be good. This is where God intended us to be. This is the task for which we were created. This task is second in importance to none.” (The Art of Homemaking, 1962)
It’s only our modern day age that it has even made it possible for women to have careers and be away from their homes often. Without birth control, day care centers, public school systems, hospitals, business buildings, factories, automobiles, jets, shopping malls, and everything else, there’s just no way women would be leaving their homes all day, their children in the care of others, working for a boss and a paycheck, or even traveling to speak at conferences or Bible studies. This wasn’t even an issue in biblical times, but we can clearly see that women are to work at home, stay at home, and be keepers at home. This is God’s ordained will and work for women. There’s no denying it.
I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.
1 Timothy 5:14
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6 thoughts on “Women Don’t Understand What Being a Keeper at Home Means”
Amen!
~Mrs. Kelley Dibble
Amen. This is excellent. I often wonder, isn’t reading blogs and watching videos about another woman and her family the same as going about from house to house? It seems to me it is.
Now…I’m not speaking about TEACHING as you are doing, Mrs.Alexander. I refer to the Day in the life, what I eat, what I wear, here’s my beautiful home. We watch these..and these people are complete strangers. Odd, isn’t it?
Hi Rose, If they’re for encouragement and inspiration, I see nothing wrong with it but it shouldn’t consume one’s time.
Hola
Voy llegando al blog.
Me gustaría enseñar a mis hijas a ser amas de casa, la mayor aún es soltera y la menor en edad escolar. Saludos y bendiciones desde México 🇲🇽
Hi Ericka, I translated what you wrote:
Hello, I’m coming to the blog. I would like to teach my daughters to be housewives, the oldest is still single and the youngest is of school age. Greetings and blessings from Mexico 🇲🇽
Hey Lori! Where do you find the commentaries from preachers of old? Is it a website or app? Thank you!
Hi Madeline, I go to Biblehub.com on my phone!
I sent Candace Owen’s a copy of Created to be His Helpmeet by Debbie Pearl upon news of her wedding. I hope she will find time to read it if she has not yet.
I’m glad I found this article Lori. I’m no longer on Facebook and do miss your posts. I have been contemplating what “work” I should do to bring more income in, even though we have enough money for everything we need. I’m torn because half of the moms I know, work outside the home and leave the child rearing to others. And the others, homeschool and are homemakers. I was raised by a feminist mother and it’s hard to stay at home and be a homemaker. But, I believe this is what Jesus wants me to do. This post gives me hope and inspiration. Thanks.