Proverbs 31 – The Virtuous Wife. A Picture of the Church Pt3

The NKJV title of this part of Proverbs 31 is ‘The Virtuous Wife’, and while many a new wife has been terrified by the long list of virtues expected of her according to this portion of Scripture, I would like to look at her as another picture of the church. The ‘wife’ corresponds to the ‘Bride’ which is the church. I would love to go through every verse but instead I will pick out some of the main ones and deal briefly with each metaphor. Hopefully not too long a post this time ;)

v.10 ‘Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.’

Who can find a church that is virtuous in character? There are many churches nowadays that are far from virtuous but the true bride of Christ that depends solely upon the Lord for everything is worth far more than precious jewels.

v.11 ‘The heart of her husband safely trusts her; so he will have no lack of gain.

Jesus is the husband of the Bride. When it is truly His church He trusts her. He knows who she is and on whom she depends and He knows that the church that depends on Him will lack no good thing and will increase in number and depth.

v.15 ‘She also rises while it is yet night,’

The word for ‘rises’ can also mean ‘to stand’.  Though it may be a time of darkness in the world, the church is still working and increasing. The church is not lazy, slumbering through the darkness, but knows the urgency of the time and works diligently for the Lord. The church will stand in the time of darkness because the Lord is her strength!

v.16 ‘She considers a field and buys it; from her profits she plants a vineyard.’

The church invests in sowing and harvesting and out of this harvest comes a vineyard.  As the church reaches out to those who are lost, there is fruit for their labour. The fruit are the men and women who turn to the Lord and become part of the church.

Jn.15 Jesus is the true vine and we are the branches. The church is a picture of a vineyard having its origins in the true vine.

v.17 ‘She girds herself with strength, and strengthens her arms.’

The strength of the church is the Lord. The church girds herself with the strength of the Lord. Out of His strength we work (1Peter 4:11). Working from any other source of strength is fruitless. Jesus Himself said ‘apart from me you can do nothing’ Jn. 15:5

v.20 ‘She extends her hand to the poor, yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.’

Is this not the calling of the Body of Christ?  The poor and the needy are the business of the church. Jesus came to save those who recognise their spiritual poverty and their need of a Saviour. The church carries on that message in His name and whosoever will, can still find rest and forgiveness in Him. One of the primary functions of the church is to show the compassion of God for the poor and needy.

v.21 ‘She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household is clothed with scarlet.’

The church is not afraid of the standard of perfection (white as snow) because God’s standard of perfection is satisfied by the scarlet blood of Christ. The church is not afraid of falling short of perfection, she is trusting in the blood of Jesus.  Is.1:18

v.22 ‘She makes tapestry for herself; her clothing is fine linen and purple.’

Fine linen was for the priesthood and purple was the colour of royalty. The church is now the royal priesthood which ministers before the Lord. 1Peter 2:9

The church is clothed with the robes of righteousness and garments of praise that the Lord has bestowed upon her.

v.23 ‘Her husband is known in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land.’

The Lord is the husband of the church. The gates signify the meeting place of the town. The elders are a picture of those with authority or the leaders. Therefore we can see from this verse that the Lord is seen in the meeting places (local churches) when the leaders and those in authority allow Him to be seated/to dwell in the place of authority. Jesus alone is to be preached from the pulpits of the local churches and then His name will be glorified in the land.

v.24 ‘Strength and honour are her clothing; she shall rejoice in time to come.’

The church is clothed with power and strength. The Hebrew for ‘honour’ also means splendour and majesty. The church displays the power, strength, and splendour  of the Lord.

Because the church belongs to the Lord she has no fear of the future. Even though the Bible tells us that there is a time of tribulation coming on the world, the church need not fear. She rejoices that her Lord has already overcome the world. Jn.16:33

The church will eventually overcome the world and be eternally united with Christ in heaven. Therefore there is no fear of any time to come.

v.27 ‘She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.’

The church is to be watchful and prayerful, waiting for the Lord’s return to the earth. 1Peter 4:7

The church cannot afford to be apathetic in these last days. We must not be idle, nor found sleeping before the coming of the Lord. Mat.25:1-10

Also the church must be busy about the work of the Lord. There is no room for idleness since the ‘harvest truly is plentiful, but the labourers are few’ Mat. 9:37.

v.28 ‘Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:’

The children of the church are those who have been raised within the church, those who have been saved and nurtured to maturity in the local church. Those who have been saved and understand the plan of the Lord for the church will call the church blessed. The church is the plan of God and is good. Many have experiences within church life that make them wary of ‘church’ but the plan of God revealed in the Body of Christ is good and we are blessed to belong to it!

Jesus is pleased with the church because it is His. He is able to boast in her because His Holy Spirit abides with her, His strength keeps her and ultimately He will welcome her as His Bride and be joined to her forever! The church is indeed blessed!

v.29 “Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all.”

This is what the husband says when he praises her. The Lord is pleased with the individual ‘daughters’ (or local churches) but the Body of Christ which encompasses all the believers far surpasses any individual church/group. The total Body greatly excels in its goal of demonstrating the glory of God on the earth than any individual group of believers.

v.30 ‘Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.’

This is a warning to the church to remember not to chase the things of the world. Charm and beauty are valued in the world but the church is not to focus on temporary things or worldly values but to focus on the Lord. Reverence (fear) of the Lord is not highly valued in our society but it is to be the permanent attitude of the church. The Lord will praise and bless the church that continues in a humble reverence before Him.

I have loved looking through this proverb and seeing a deeper level of revelation than just the surface application for Christian wives. Many a wife has hidden from this passage of scripture but I believe that there has never been a wife that could satisfy these characteristics. I believe the passage is deeper than that. It is not about individuals satisfying these virtues, however in the Lord, the Church can and does satisfy every one!
Glory to God!!

Blessings xx