While a handful of verses have been used throughout the years to relegate women to particular roles within the church and in life, the Bible as a whole gives no such picture. The movement throughout the text is toward what the prophet Joel declared, and what Peter echoed on Pentecost: the new reality that the Spirit of God is poured out on all flesh, old and young, male and female alike (Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:17-21).
