In God's Word, we find the following (forgive me for preaching to the choir):
¶ complete absence of any example of – much less, support for – military combat as a vocation, role, or kingdom of the left responsibility for women, an absence given positive confirmation by the
¶ exclusive use of men (of Israel and even Israel's foes) in military combat throughout the Old Testament. Judges 4-5 is particularly relevant. Deborah must "mother" a man, Barak, to bolster him for the battle against Sisera's army. It is to Barak's shame that he needs a woman to give him spine for fighting and assure him of God's presence. Deborah does NOT participate in the battle. Such actions and examples in the absence of exceptions teach as clearly as any commandment or verbal proscription.
¶ scornful references to men fighting like women in Jeremiah 50:37, 51:30, an unmistakable prophetic sign that the battlefield – a painful reminder of our sinful condition – is exclusively a male domain.
¶ absence of any reference to or debate about women as soldiers in the New Testament. The witness of the Old Testament had settled the matter (I Cor. 10; Rom. 15:4.) The question is not worthy of being raised. The field of battle is no place for a woman.
¶ the Old Testament image of God (the Maker) as husband of Israel and Lord of hosts (armies) – note the link (Isa 54:5) – and the New Testament image of Christ (the Bridegroom) and the Church (His bride) (2 Cor 2:11, Eph 5:22ff., Rev 21:9). These images have meaning only in the context of a man's role in caring for and protecting a woman. When a government employs women to protect men, it turns the created order upside down and renders meaningless the scriptural images of YHWH as husband and protector of Israel and the marriage of Christ with, and protector of, His Church. As a friend has observed, the Bride of the last Adam is under assault by the same enemy who enticed the bride of the first Adam.

Natural law and women in military combat:
All the pragmatic issues, i.e., the physical, physiological, social, and moral problems and special considerations and exceptions related to the use of women in military combat – physical strength (lack of), female hygiene, sexual harassment, pregnancy, lactation rooms, child care, adapting men's apparel to women – demonstrate the consequences of disregarding male/female distinctions, i.e., the consequences of violating natural law, the law of God written in our hearts.

We are well aware of the complications resulting from the Synod’s 15-year delay in giving serious attention to the issue – from pulpits to Bible classes to conventions – and from having betrayed our women by allowing cultural forces to take and maintain the lead. Culture is like wallpaper. We know it's there, take it for granted, and often pay too little attention to the ramifications of trends and agendas. Who would have thought as recently as the turn of the century that people openly attracted to the same sex would be welcomed into the military, that five justices of the Supreme Court would redefine marriage and declare a right for people of the same sex to "marry," that people confused about their sexual identity should be allowed – by federal regulation – to enter the lavatory of their choice, and that young women would face the prospect of mandatory registration, and even conscription, for military service? All of these changes, driven by activist agendas, reflect sexual disorder on a grand, national scale. Such neo-Gnosticism, to give it a label, denies physical (sexual) reality in deference to subjective feelings.

In this regard, John Chrysostom's plea below is notable for its prescience and relevance in linking homosexual behavior and the use of women in war. Under the current administration, the sexual confusion and disorder in our culture has come home to roost also in the Armed Forces, notably in policies set by civilian managers.

"...Woman was not made for this, O man, to be prostituted as common. O you subverters of all decency, who use men, as if they were women, and lead out women to war, as if they were men! This is the work of the devil, to subvert and confound all things, to overleap the boundaries that have been appointed from the beginning, and remove those which God has set to nature. ..."
John Chrysostom, Homily 5 on Titus

I am also sadly aware that, for many Christians, it has taken the prospect of drafting women for military service to awaken them to the momentous shift in military policy regarding the use of women in combat. N. B. Serious consideration is now given to drafting women for military service only because the restriction against using women in combat has been lifted. That restriction had been the reason for exempting women from registering for military service. Why was it lifted?* A key factor was that certain advancements in rank were not available to service members without combat training and experience. Thus, for women, as for men, the price of advancement in rank is linked to training for and service in combat – not a problem for those with an unshakeable belief in the interchangeability of male and female. The time is late. Our church body must take a prophetic stand against a government action that would "lead women out to war, as if they were men" so that consciences are properly and scripturally formed.