5-13-2018 Motherly Fear Proverbs 31:10-31

My wife is and always has been a wonderful woman to me and to my kids. But before my wife and I met, there was another woman who was already precious to me. She was there for my formidable days as I grew from a child to a young adult. She was always available—and especially when hard days came. When it felt like the whole world was against me—when there was no one else on my side—she welcomed me with a forgiving embrace. Of course, I am speaking about my very own… dog, Keesha! She was part keeshond, part german shepherd, and boy, was she a good dog!

Transition:

I suppose I ought to say something about my mother as well! No, all jokes aside, I have been blessed with a mother who loves our Lord and who raised her kids in the love, wisdom, and admonitions of scripture. And so as I was blessed growing up and now I and blessed to live with another God-fearing woman, I felt it appropriate to look closer at how deeply we are blessed by women of this caliber. The last chapter of Proverbs concludes the book in an interesting way:

Scripture Reading:

Proverbs 31:10–31 ESV

10 An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. 11 The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. 12 She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. 13 She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. 14 She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar. 15 She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. 16 She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. 17 She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong. 18 She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night. 19 She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. 20 She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. 21 She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet. 22 She makes bed coverings for herself; her clothing is fine linen and purple. 23 Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land. 24 She makes linen garments and sells them; she delivers sashes to the merchant. 25 Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. 26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. 27 She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. 28 Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 29 “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” 30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. 31 Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.

These 21 verses are a poetic masterpiece of divine wisdom. This is the ideal wife, or mother, or sister, or daughter! But why is this poster-child for a godly woman at the end for the closing of the book of Proverbs? Well first understand that this last chapter is written by a son of the wisdom his mother bestowed to him in order to ensure he stays being a good king. This mother is nameless and her son, King Lemuel, is unknown beyond this one chapter of Proverbs. There are reasons for this omission of background info, and perhaps the biggest reason is that we would zoom in on this virtuous women that mom describes to her son.

As a poem, Proverbs 31 is not prescriptive as a job description for all women. Its purpose is to celebrate wisdom-in-action, not to instruct women everywhere to get married, have children, and take up the loom. This poem celebrates a mother’s advice. We must focus on the Proverbs 31 woman’s character that transcends both her gender and her circumstance. This chapter really is for everyone here, not just moms lest we be guilty of reducing this scripture to womanhood as marriage, motherhood, and stay-at-home moms, when really, this passage is about virtuous character.

Transition:

So what does mama point out about the ideal wife? First,

I. Her worth (vv. 10 & 29)

After some introductory advice to abstain from alcohol and judging righteously, mama quickly moves to the perfect wife

Proverbs 31:10 ESV

An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.

The question who can find? does not suggest that such women are nonexistent but that they should be admired because they, like noble men, are rare.

These mothers, sisters, wives, daughters who devote themselves wholeheartedly to their families and to our LORD are not common! We know this first by looking around to our unsaved neighbors who celebrate Mother’s Day as just a time when there families try to atone for an entire year of neglect and disrespect, and for a lack of appreciation toward their moms.

We are living in a post-Christian era; that doesn’t mean that the Church is dead, or that Christianity is dead, what it means is that the influence that Biblical Christianity once had on our nation and our culture has nearly disappeared. And that includes morality, education, social action, and maybe, most importantly, parenting.

Secular humanistic reasoning has taken the place of Biblical truth when it comes to the home and family. By contrast; a Christian is one who sees the home, and marriage, and parenting as institutions found in God’s authoritative Word. And the truth of God’s Word should not only shape our beliefs and practices in all areas of life, but be the beliefs and practices that guide us through life. And so our opinions and beliefs are only legitimately Christian, to the degree that they line up with God’s Word. The problem is that today, our minds have been darkened by secularism and sin, and a lot of families are no longer able to identify if some advice or proverb for living is Biblical or secular.

We expect that from the world, but we’re actually seeing the same thing within the mainstream evangelical Church as well. The trend that we’re seeing in the Church is that church folks are acknowledging the sufficiency of God and the Bible, but they fail to see a need to subject their personal opinions, reasoning, and emotions to the guidelines of Scripture in all areas of life, including what happens in the home. We read something like Romans 12:2 which says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” And we think that only applies to our moral behavior, but not to things like marriage, or raising kids. Instead; we leave those tips and counsel up to pop psychologists and Doctors found on talk show hosts. And so, the woman spoke of here in Proverbs is becoming even more rare as time continues.

Any of us who live with this kind of woman are truly blessed. I know there are some of us here this morning that would say, “my mom does not measure up!” or “I love my wife, but she is nowhere near the bible, itself, let alone as godly as this Proverbs woman!” There are even some that are here with us today against the wishes of the spouse. And we must not neglect and forget them in our prayer and support those among us in any way we can. It’s hard for me to fathom the hardships some of you face as you argue with you spouse just for the privilege to worship God with the local body of believers. So those of us who are truly blessed to live with the Proverbs 31 kind of women must be thankful. Why?

Proverbs 31:29 ESV

“Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.”

this kind of woman surpasses all others!

Transition:

So the king’s mama shares with us her worth, but mama also tells us about her works:

II. Her works (vv. 13–22, 24, 27)

The things that this kind of woman does speaks volumes about her character. Her good works are proven:

1. With her family

a. She provides them with proper clothing (31:13, 21): She finds wool and flax and spins it.

b. She plans meals and her day (31:14–15): She brings food from afar and gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast.

c. She is tireless in her work (31:17–19): She is a hard worker, looking for bargains and working late into the night.

d. She cares for and watches over the entire household (31:22, 27): She makes her own clothes and bedspreads.

2. With her finances

a.She buys and sells property (31:16)

b.She plants vineyards with her earnings (31:16)

c.She makes and sells belted linen garments and sashes (31:24)

3. With the less fortunate

She extends her love and gives to the poor and needy.

The noble wife here did even more,:

She supervised a staff of workers (v. 27).

She served as buyer for her enterprises (v. 13).

She sold what her staff produced (vv. 18–24),

She invested her profits (v. 16).

Each of these is a “business” function, and while the woman’s activities were linked to her home and family, the biblical picture of the woman’s role is a far cry from the “stay-home-and-care-for-the-kids” concept of many modern hyper conservative “Christians” In Old Testament times, Hebrew women had the opportunity to use their God-given abilities. What am I saying? The creation story makes it clear that both men and women were created in the image of God and thus are equal as persons (Gen. 1–2). Paul affirms men and women are equal in value to God in Galatians 3:28.

Galatians 3:28 ESV

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

It is also clear from scripture that men and women have and were designed for different roles, but those different roles don’t translate to men’s superiority over women. The father is indeed to be the leader for the family, but leader can lead without any right or any allowance to be condescending. It is also interesting to note that scripture did allow for Deborah, a prophetess, to be a Judge/ruler over Israel due to the absence of qualified men.

Transition:

So the king’s mama shares with us this virtuous woman’s worth and her works, but mama ain’t done yet:

III. Her witness (vv.11–12, 23, 28, 31)

it is to be expected that with these kinds of works that we just saw that she performs, that this would gain attention

1. Her husband (vv. 11–12, 23)

a. He Trusts her (31:11) : “She will greatly enrich his life.”

b. He Knows she helps him (31:12) : “She will not harm him.” this harm is not physical as much as emotional. She would then be the support the husband so desperately needs as he battles life’s problems. There are countless men out there that have given up on dreams and monumental pursuits because of a wife or even girlfriend that hurled insults and denied her husband/boyfriend’s abilities and ended up harming him to the point of despair and discouragement.

c. He Is respected among the city elders (31:23):

2. Her children (v. 28)

Proverbs 31:28 ESV

Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:

They “bless her.” How many of us today can claim that our children praise us? The closest that some of us may get is, “Sure my mom is blessed, she has me doesn’t she?”

3. Her neighbors (v. 31)

She should be praised publicly. What that means for today is we might see that wherever she goes, she is receiving complements that are not just flattery, but genuine complements of people in awe over her

So What?

What makes a mother’s worth, works, and witness so great anyway?

Twofold answer:

Her wisdom (31:26) : Her words of instruction are right and kind and they must be because

Her worship (31:30) : She fears and reverences God. It is due to “motherly fear” — the fear of the LORD that anything she does counts as righteous and successful.

In the face of the adulteress’ temptations mentioned often in Proverbs, it is fitting that the book concludes by extolling a virtuous wife. Young men and others can learn from this noble woman. By fearing God, they can live wisely and righteously. That is the message of Proverbs.

The woman who finds her value in her looks will either have so much anxiety she crowds out the important things, or she will devalue her worth to the point of self-loathing, but the woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised! The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom!

The woman who fears the LORD doesn’t have to toot her own horn, and she doesn’t have to brag or boast about what she’s accomplished. Her OWN works will praise her. People will see it and know it. Her children will rise up and call her blessed and her husband will praise her.

Conclusion:

So let me just encourage all you moms out there this morning. YHWH doesn’t expect you to be perfect; He calls you to walk in His perfection. It’s not by your might, nor by your power, but by His Spirit. So take time to set at the feet of Jesus, in-other-words, take time to get into the Word of God. Read the Bible daily, study the Bible with others, memorize the Bible… when you are faithful in those things, before long you’ll realize that you’re living the Proverbs 31 life. And last; keep your eyes firmly fixed on Jesus, lay aside every weight of sin that so easily besets us, and look always to the Author and Finisher of your faith.

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