honor

Proverbs 31 Women [Explained]

8:30 AM

You can read Proverbs 31 here:


 "An excellent woman [one who is spiritual, capable, intelligent, and virtuous], who is he who can find her? Her value is more precious than jewels and her worth is far above rubies or pearls." v.10

I think most women deem the Proverbs 31 Woman as an unattainable goal. I know I did until The Holy Spirit prompted me to stop looking at these verses literally and begin to find the deeper meaning, and it's my prayer that when we're through today you'll find her secret is one that's open and attainable to each of us.  

Let's begin in verse 29, "Many daughters have done virtuously and well, but you excel them all." WoW! That's quite a statement when you consider Miriam, who led the Israelite nation's women to praise God (Ex. 15:20-21), or Ruth, the epitome of faithfulness (Ruth 1:16), or Hannah, the ideal mother (1 Sam. 1:20) .... Imagine for a moment that you, yes you, possess the ability to out shine all the women mentioned in the Bible! 

You absolutely can if you possess her secret.  

BUT, before I let you in on her secret to outshining all women, let's look at all her qualities, or virtues that together make her so special. 

_ She's a Faithful Bride
1"The heart of her husband trusts in her [with secure confidence],
And he will have no lack of gain.
12 She comforts, encourages, and does him only good and not evil
All the days of her life." - Proverbs 31:11-12
Her children rise up and call her blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired);
Her husband also, and he praises her... Proverbs 31:28

(For those of you who are single, remember you are first and foremost Jesus' bride.)

_ She is  Faithful to Use the Gifts God has Given Her Wisely
"She looks for wool and flax
And works with willing hands in delight." - Proverbs 31:13
She is made out to be a wealthy woman and could afford to hire others I believe, but she chooses to work diligently applying the gifts God has given her and not leaving her tasks to others.

"She is like the merchant ships [abounding with treasure];
She brings her [household’s] food from far away." - Pr. 31:14
She is like the merchant ships in that she goes beyond her own immediate neighborhood, and bring her food from afar, buying in the best markets and finding the best deals. She is on the lookout for God's BEST.

"She considers a field before she buys or accepts it ;
With her profits she plants fruitful vines in her vineyard." - Pr. 31:15
We may not all be in the market to purchase fields, but what if the writer was using a metaphor very similar to what Jesus did when He was teaching? What if the "field" was a new ministry? And she was careful to consider all aspects of this new ministry before she accepted the challenge? She sought God's wisdom and will in order for it to become profitable. 

_ She is Faithful to Rise Early to Find and Share "Spiritual Food" for Those Under her Authority.
"She rises also while it is still night and gives food to her household and assigns tasks to her maids." -Pr. 31:16
Call me crazy, but I believe here is another metaphor in this chapter. I believe this verse is speaking about rising early and spending time with Jesus before the rest of the household wakes to find spiritual food from The Bread of Life to share with all those under her authority along with skillful guidance.  

_She Takes Care of her Physical, Mental and Spiritual Health
"She equips herself with strength [spiritual, mental, and physical fitness for her God-given task] and makes her arms strong." -Pr. 31:17

She takes care of herself. I know that seems pretty simple, but often much easier said than done, however we all would do well to make time in our day to keep physically, mentally and spiritually fit. 

_ She is Busy About Her Father's Business
"She sees that her gain is good;
Her lamp does not go out, but it burns continually through the night [she is prepared for whatever lies ahead]." -Pr. 31:18

19 Many think this pour woman never sleeps, but Jesus told His followers that they were the "light of the world" (Matthew 5:14-16). She keep close accounts with her Lord and her light (her witness) burns brightly in the darkness and she ready for what is to come. 

"She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
And her hands hold the spindle [as she spins wool into thread for clothing]." Pr. 31:19

2"She does not fear the snow for her household,
For all in her household are clothed in [expensive] scarlet [wool]." Pr. 31:21

Here again, we need to look beyond what is written to see the true meaning, for snow and wool are: pure, bright white. White represents purity. When Isaiah says that the Lord can change our sins from scarlet to snow or wool, he is saying that the Lord can do something that is impossible for us to do on our own.

Therefore, what verses 19 and 21 are speaking of is that she does not fear for the future of her household (both the physical and spiritual condition of those in her authority), for she's worked to clothe them in God's finest.   

22 "She makes for herself coverlets, cushions, and rugs of tapestry.
Her clothing is linen, pure and fine, and purple [wool]." - Pr. 31:22

Purple we know to be the color of royalty and pure fine linen is what the saints in heaven will be dressed in according to Revelations.  Her household is heaven bound. 

"She looks well to how things go in her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness." Pr. 31:27

_She Gives to Those in Need
"She opens and extends her hand to the poor,
And she reaches out her filled hands to the needy." Pr. 31:20

_ She is Strong and Confident Standing on Her Rock
"Strength and dignity are her clothing and her position is strong and secure;
And she smiles at the future [knowing that she and her family are prepared]." -Pr. 31:25

She not wishy-washy or wringing her hands. She is strong, confident and free from doubts, not in her own abilities, but in her Lord's!
26 
"She opens her mouth in [skillful and godly] wisdom,
And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue [giving counsel and instruction]." -Pr. 31:26

And she leads other to do the same!

_ And She is Praised by Those Who Know Hew Best
27 
Her children rise up and call her blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired);
Her husband also, and he praises her, saying,
29 “Many daughters have done nobly, and well [with the strength of character that is steadfast in goodness], But you excel them all.” -Pr. 31:28-29

Her Secret is found in verse 30, Charm and grace are deceptive, and [superficial] beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord [reverently worshiping, obeying, serving, and trusting Him with awe-filled respect], she shall be praised.

Did you catch it? The "reverent worshipful fear of the Lord", which is the beginning of all Wisdom (Proverbs 9:10) is the key to a life which is valued by God, her husband and those who come after her. That life is far more valuable than rubies or pearls (Pr. 31:10) AND it's ours if we choose to take hold of it! 

Blessings, 

sue

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Thank you for joining us on this journey this fall, studying the lives of some of the most popular Old Testament women! I pray you have lots to take with you and meditate on. Have a wonderful Holiday season celebrating our Savior this year!!  

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Giving Back What’s Already His {Judges 9-11}

12:00 AM





Did it surprise you that Jephthah kept his vow to God?

“At that time the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he went throughout the land of Gilead and Manasseh, including Mizpah in Gilead, and from there he led an army against the Ammonites.  And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord. He said, “If you give me victory over the Ammonites,  I will give to the Lord whatever comes out of my house to meet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.” Judges 11: 29-31

What, or who did he expect to come out of his house to greet him after his victory? An animal, a servant? Surely not his daughter! Only, "When Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, his daughter came out to meet him, playing on a tambourine and dancing for joy. She was his one and only child; he had no other sons or daughters.  When he saw her, he tore his clothes in anguish. “Oh, my daughter!” he cried out. “You have completely destroyed me! You’ve brought disaster on me! For I have made a vow to the Lord, and I cannot take it back.” Judges 11:34-35

Surely Jephthah hadn’t expected his daughter to be the first one to greet him, but God knew! He could see that day as clearly as he saw into Jephthah’s heart and knew him to be a great man of honor and integrity. He knew Jephthah would keep his vow even if it meant giving God his most prized procession.

We all know the Lord’s enemy well enough to believe he had to have come and whispered in Japhthah ear, “What if your wife comes first? What if it’s your daughter? What if…? We can be confident he was doing all he could to keep Jephthah from keeping him from being the honorable man he was and keeping his vow to God during those days on the battle field and even after the victory.

The writer of Judges is careful to let us know that this was his only child.  He also allowed us to see Jephthah anguish when he sees his daughter come out celebrating, but he doesn’t permit us to see further into all Japhthah endured fulfilling his promise to God. We can only speculate what Jephthah felt that fateful day as he had to sacrifice his daughter and how he felt everyday afterwards until this life was over for him.

All parents have gained a bit of a glimpse of how that day must have been every time,

  • We have  to hand our infant or toddler over to a caregiver to go back to work outside our home
  • We’ve had to entrust them to a doctor or surgeon in hopes they will return them to us whole and healed
  • We send them off to school for the first time. It gets easier over time until we hear of another school shooting.
  • We wave and watch our child drive away in a car, on their own, for the first time.
  • We sit them on a plane to visit relatives and pray the plane reaches its destination safely.
  • We send them off to college or the military when there are always threats of war. 

Some of us may know exactly how Japhthah felt to have to bury his child and try to figure out how he’ll manage to live life without her, for that’s just not suppose to happen. All of these are known as release points, and I’m sure you can probably think of others you’ve had to live through.

When my children were little, I prayed for them each day; I’d pray for their day, their health, walk, etc. I even prayed for their future spouses and children! And often The Lord would come as I was praying for “my" children, and whisper, “Whose children, Sue?” and I’d answer back, “Mine”. He knew my heart; therefore I figured there was no point in compounding my sin by lying. Sure, I was very thankful to Him for giving them to me, but for now they were mine!

I even discovered a cleaver way to get around having these constant discussions with Him. I decided I could avoid saying, “mine” or “yours”, by simply praying for them by name. I honestly thought I had cleverly outsmarted God! (Can you imagine?)  

That was until one day, I had to board a plane that would take me thousands of miles away from “my children” to live. They were both adults according to the law, but they were still my babies and children were supposed to leave home, not the other way around. The walk to the plane was the longest, hardest steps I’ve ever had to take. It felt like I had cinder-blocks tied to my feet and I was walking through at least a foot of wet cement! The Lord was right there, “Keep going, don’t look back, one more step and then another.”   I managed to keep it all together until we walked into our new home; where I no longer had to try to be strong and the tears just burst forth, and kept coming.
Last photo taken before our move to TN in '99

I went through about a nine month period of mourning. Every day I’d put on my happy face and tried my best to make it through each day without letting on that my heart was broken on the inside. That was, until finally one day, the revelation hit me that an entire year would go by before we could all be under one roof as a family once more, and then for only one week.

I sank down to the floor in my sitting room and the "Martha" in me came out! “Lord, don’t you care!?” (Luke 10:40) How could He make me suffer so? Wasn’t He supposed to be a loving God? (It was NOT one of my proudest moments) BUT, The Lord answered back immediately, “This is why I was asking you to give your children back to Me all those times, so many years ago. I knew this day was coming, and I was trying to spare you this pain.”

I learned two very important lessons that day, actually three:

1.)    Our children are His! In truth everything we’ve been given is simply on loan for a time. We would do well to constantly be mindful of this fact, and be good stewards of all we’ve been given.
2.)    He truly loves us and always has our very best interests at heart, even when things don’t make any sense at the moment. He can be trusted.
3.)    He can walk with us through hardships because He knows the blessings that lie ahead. Both of my children are married to their best friends today! The Lord has given us  seven grandchildren (#8 arrives in August) and all of us now live only 10 minutes from one another in the same county! Our home is our grand’s second home!

That day, I realized that I had trusted God for my salvation, but I had never made Him Lord of my life, for I was still trying to be in charge. That day I trusted Him not only with the children He had given me, but with my life as well.

I’m sure The Lord helped Japhthah walk through those days and years afterwards. And I’m sure both he and his daughter are worshiping The Lord together today. I loved how the author mentions that a custom came about because of the two of them, (This became a custom in Israel—That the daughters of Israel went yearly to mourn the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.) for I’ll bet as the daughters remembered the daughter of Jephthah, their fathers were remembering his integrity.

God's faithfulness 19 years later!