The following is what I just read in my Women of Faith Study Bible.
Wife of Noble Character
If we read this detailed description of the ideal wife and mother as the point-by-point standard God expects us to live up to, we're bound to feel over-whelmed and exhausted before we even begin! The intention of this epilogue to the book of Proverbs wasn't to give women an impossible to-do list, but to spread out before them the many opportunities they have to use their gifts, talents and wisdom in fulfilling and productive ways. Rather than limiting women's roles, they are expanded endlessly. As women we are created to have a positive and profound impace on everyone around us - whether it be our husbands, children, parents, friends, clients, customers, or society in general. Being a woman is a blessing, and being a wise, strong and dignified woman blesses others in ways that can't be calculated.
Ahh, the noble wife. Busy, busy, busy. How does one women find time for so much
That's it! She is not one women. She's all of us - and none of us. In a time when most women were not taken very seriously apart from childbearing, the writer of this proverb dared to present a picture of a woman as a glorious, vibrant, competent and intelligent creation of God. The imagery is as relevant today as the day he wrote it. As we put some of the noble wife' talents into a modern context, we recognize her in ourselves and our sisters.
Some women might go after quality clothing for their families and shop at several supermarkets to find the best buys. They fill their houses with plants. Their pantries are well stocked, their bathrooms are laden with plenty of toilet paper and fresh towels.
Some women contribute clean used clothing and food to the poor. Thye give birthday parties for disadvantaged children and tutor slow learners. They rock new-born babies at the hospital, wash windows for the eldery and take in foster children. Their homes are gathering places for neighborhood kids.
There are women for whom no job is too challenging or too niggling. They chop wood for the fireplace, mow the lawn and shovel snow. They repair the toaster, put up shelving, balance the budget and debug the computer. They also dress attractively, quilt and sew and sell homemade gift items on consighment.
A godly wife may impress her workplace with her good judgment and reliability. She plans the week's activities to make sure the important things come first, both at work and at home. She prays and sets family goals with her husband. She encourages him, asks about his day and shares her insight. On special occasions she may invite friends from his or her work to dinner.
A wife of noble character weraas many faces and fills many roles - roles that can change with the seasons of her life. In essence, she draws her strength from the Lord to lay down her life for those she loves. Her creative industyr may fill her da with countless activities or only one or two to which she gives herself deeply. Her reward? Her children adore her. Her husband cherishes her company, trusts her judgment and brags about her to all his friends. She will be remembered - long after she is gone - not as a woman who beautifully knit a sweater or successfully balanced a budget but as a woman who sought the Lord first of all.
Proverbs 31:30-31 says Charm is deceptive, and beauty if fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
Not sure really how this group is going to discuss the Proverbs 31 woman and weight so I thought I would give a little breakdown of one / two verses and post questions and go from there:
Proverbs 31:10 A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.
Noble: high and great in character; showing a greatness of mind; illustrious, outstanding.
Character: the estimate formed of a person's qualities; reputation
From both of these definitions that I would say a wife of noble character would mean a wife who has a outstanding reputation. One that no fault could be found. No wonder this part of Scripture starts off by asking who can find such a woman as she would be worth a lot more than fine gems.
I came up with the following cross references for a noble woman that might help here:
Ruth 4:11 And now, my daughter, don't be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of noble character.
(guess it is time to look at the life of Ruth)
Proverbs 12:4 A wife of noble character is her husband's crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.
(being overweight - is this disgraceful in the eyes of our husband)
Proverbs 18:22 He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord.
(for a man to have a wife is good)
Any thoughts ladies on these verses and how they would / could apply to us and weight issues
I naively thought gals would just read the passage and discuss how it impacted them and what they thought.
Sprout. Thanks so much for showing up. I really appreciate your effort here.
The only thing that jumped out at me (from your selections) was the Proverbs 12:4. A disgraceful wife.... There are huge issues of example here. One of many might be the health thing. Do others see me eating a chocolate bar whole on the way home from the grocer? Do they notice that my children are lethargic, sitting in church with gameboys and a lollipop? Do my coworkers think that Christian women are content with whatever their lot ... including fat? or do they think "hmmm ... so much for that chick and her God's temple"
In this sort of way I do believe I can undermine my husbands credibility.
In my last post I mentioned Proverbs 31:10 - a woman of noble character. One of the cross references was to 'Ruth' which stated that she was a woman of noble character.
This got me thinking - how would we describe a woman of noble character - would we recognize her today. I turned to my Women of Faith Bible and found the following article on 'Ruth' who should be a good example to follow as she is called a woman of noble character. Take time to read this and see what you think:
Rejecting Rejection
The Moabite Ruth was as welcome in Bethlehem as a roach raiding the pantry. Her ancestor Moab had been born out of an act of incest between Lot and his elder daughter (Genesis 19:30-38) Moab's descendants had hired balaam to curse Israel while Israel camped in Moab during the journey from Egypt to the promised land (Numbers 22 - 24). Though Balaam cold only bless and not curse, the Israelites were seduced into worshiping the gods of the Moabites, and 24,000 Israelites died in the plague that was their judgment (Numbers 25:1-9) And after the Israelites settled in Canaan, Moab attacked and oppressed them. So Israelite hatred for Moabites ran deep.
Naomi, Ruth's mother-in-law, had tried to dissaude Ruth from following her, convinced that Ruth had a more promising future in Moab. But Ruth could never turn away from the love she'd found. She was not going to let go of Naomi or of Naomi's God.
Ruth was not naive. She likely feared the indignation of her own people when she married Mahlom, an Israelite. She was aware of te initial resentment against her in Bethlehem. But she refused to accept rejection. Instead, she placed herself in the Lord's hands as she went out to glean in the fields of any 'in whose eyes I find favor.' (Ruth 2:2) By 'chance' she chose the fields of Boaz, a relative of Naomi's late husband, by israelite law a kinsman-redeemer and one Israelite with a heart big enough to overlook her Moabite heritage.
When Ruth decided to give her lifee to the God of Israel she also decided to trust his people. And God blessed her. He laced her with trustworthy people, like Naomi and Boaz, who had her best interests at heart - and who feared God.
Ruth might have lived out her life as a victim of harsh circumstances. Instead, she focused on providing for herself and for Naomi - winning her neighbor's good opinions in the process. Even when she went to lie at Boaz's feet, as a request for marriage, she showed her willingness to follow the divine law rather than her own preferences, for Naomi's sake (Ruth 3:10). Her care for Naomi culminated in her final recorded act: She counted her first son, Obed, as Naomi's, to perpetuate the family name of Elimelech, Mahlon and Kilion.
What can we find n Ruth's character to emulate? Everything. We too can refuse to accept the rejection that the world uses to keep us from following hard after God. We have a Kinsman-Redeemer far greater than Boaz. The Lord Jesus Christ wll advise, protect and provide for us for the rest of our lives. Count on it.
Ruth 1:16 says:
But Ruth relied, 'Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.'
Think I am going to have to go now to the book of Ruth and reread it to find out more about her
Ruth is certainly a wonderful example and ya know, I haven't read her for a long time either. I thank you Sprout for offering your thoughts and insights.
Poverbs31 woman was too busy to eat.She's up at dark'works all day
for God and family, then falls into bed at night.then back up before the
sun comes up again.She is a very busy woman
God bless
mookie-bren
mookie-bren .... I think that's an interesting notion. I sort of sigh when I read all that she does with 'dignity'. I have a mental picture of her calmly going from one fruitful task to another, while I run around like a chicken with my head cut off.
I also wanted to clarify that I'm not concerned about what the 'world' thinks of me in the acceptance sort of realm. I wonder about evangelism by example. What kind of light for Christ I am for the unsaved.
Amused....it's not like Ruth had television, computers, soccer games, or whatnot to distract her from her day. Thus, I can easily see why she did each task with dignity. LOL
All kidding aside, it's an interesting perspective on what constitutes a disgraceful wife. Nowadays, we focus so much on what a husband does and doesn't do that we don't often look at what the wife does. It is a team effort, something of which I don't think our society understands anymore. Example: I watched on Oprah a while ago of a woman who got up at 5 just to get herself ready, then her kids, then breafest, by which point her husband gets up, then she goes to drop the kids off at school, goes to work, comes home to make dinner, help the kids with the homework, and so on, before finally crashing into bed around 11 or 12. Where was the husband in all this? He basically believes that his duty is just to work and everything else is the wife duty. My question is, it seems like it was much more of a team effort in the Bible than it is nowadays. Am I wrong?
My family have all been home for a few days due to the weather so I haven't had much time to study this any more but ... I did run the Oprah thing past my two men (45 & 24) They had one question that went along the lines of what did he say when she told him this wasn't working for her .... and there have been jerks (both male and female) since near the beginning.
We also debated little things like ... if she has the car and he rides a bus ... when does he get home from work .... we have a friend who is afraid of housework, he's certain he could not do things as perfectly as his wife does, would offend her by trying ....
Well, in this particular case, apparently the husband's mother did it all while he was growing up, so he didn't understand why his wife couldn't do it. Whether or not things changed in that household after the show, I really couldn't say. (they both had cars, and if I remember rightly, she gets off a bit early from work to pick up the kids and make dinner before he finally gets home to crash on the couch basically)
Just musing over the various disparities in relationships these days.
There is a lot to read here and to understand. I did some searching online with the Bible Encyclopedia and got the following information about the people mentioned in this Chapter of Ruth.
Mobite: the designaton of a tribe descended from Moab, the son of Lot ( Genesis 19:37). From Zoar,the cradle of this tribe, on the southeastern border of the Dead Sea, they gradually spread over the region on the east of Jordan. Rameses 11, the Pharaoh of the Oppression, enumerates Moab (Muab) among his conquests.
Shortly before the Exodus, the warlike Amorites crossed the Jordan under Sihon their king and drove the Moabies (Numbers 21;26-30) out of the region betweenthe Arnon and the Jabbok, and occupied it, making Heshbon their capital. They were then confined to the territory of the south of the Arnon.
On their journey the Israelites did not pass through Moab, but through the 'wilderness' to the east (Deuteronomy 2:8; Judges 11:18), at length reacaing the country to the north of the Arnon. Here they remained for some time till they had conquered Bashan. The Moabites were alarmed, and their king, Balak, sought aid from the Midianites (Numbers 22:2-4). It was while they were here that the visit of Balaam to Balak took place.
After the Conquest, the Moabites maintained hostile relations with the Israelites, and frequently harassed them in war (Judges 3:12-30; 1 Samuel 14). The story of Ruth, however, shows the existence of frendly relations between Moab and Bethlehem. By his descent from Ruth, David may be said to have had Moabite blood in his veins. Yet there was war between David and the Moabites (2 Samuel 8;2 ; 2 Samuel 23:20; 1 Chr. 18:2) from whom he took great spoil (2 Sam. 8:2, 11, 12; 1 Chr. 11:22 and 1 Chr. 18:11).
During the one hundred and fifty years which followed the defeat of the Moabites, after the death of Ahab, they regained, apparently, much of their former prosperty. At this time Isaiah (15:1) delivered his 'burdon of Moab,' predicting the coming of judgment on that land (compare 2 Kings 17:3 2 Kings 18:9 1 Chr. 5:25-26). Between the time of Isaiah and the commencement of the Babylonian captivity we have ver seldom any reference to Moab (Jeremiah 25:21 Jeremiah 27:3 Jeremiah 40:11 Zeph. 2:8-10) After the Return, it was Sanballat, a Moabite, who took chief part in seeking to preent the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Neh 2:19 Neh 4:1 Neh 6:1)
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Deuteronomy 23:3-4 says No Ammonite or Moabite or any of his descendents may enter the assembly of the Lord, even down to the tenth generation. For they did not come to meet you with bread and water on our way when you came out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of eor from Pethor in Aram naharaim to pronounce a curse on you.
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Elimelech means God is king. He is a man of the tribe of Judah,of the family of the hezronites, and kinsman of Boaz, who dwelt in Bethlehem in the days of the jduges. Elimelech, his wife Naomi and his two sons went to dwell in the land of Moab. There he and his sons died.
Naomi: (meaning the lovable; my delight) is the wife of Elimelech and the mother of Mahlon and hcilion and mother in law of Ruth. Naomi and Elimelech left the district of Bethlehem-Judah and found a new home nthe uplands of Moab. Her two sons married women of Moab and in course of time both Elimelech and his sons died.
Mahlon: (meaning sickly) is the elder of Elimelech and Naomi's two sons. He married Ruth and died childless in the land of Moab.
Chilion: (meaning the pining one) is the younger son of Elimelech and Naomi and the husband of Orpah, Ruth's sister.
Orpah: (meaning forelock or fawn) was a Moabites and the wife of Chilion. On the death of her husban she accompanied Naomi, her mother in law, part of the way to Bethlehem, and then returned to Moab.
What do I get from all of this:
(1) Elimelech and Naomi were Israelites and believers. They moved to from Bethlehem to the land of Moab
(2) People of Moab were unbelievers and from Deuteronomy 23 we see that they were not accepted into the assembly with the Israelite people for up to 10 generations.
(3) Elimelech and Naomi's 2 sons marry Moabite women - Ruth and Orpah.
(4) The three men die and Naomi decides it is time to move back to Bethlehem to be with 'family.' But according to the 'law' Ruth and Orpah would not be allowed as they are Moabites.
(5) Orpah, at Naomi's urging returns to her people but Ruth shows determination to follow Naomi and her God.
A woman of noble character - one quality I find here of Ruth is 'determination' which means the result of coming to a decision. Rut decided that it was the right thing to stay with Naomi.
So how does this apply to me with my weight issues? Have I made a decision - am I determined - to do what is right and shed the unwanted weight - God loves me and so does my husband - but would I present a better 'walk with Christ' if I took better care of myself or by letting myself go and continue with all this weight which is causing a lot of illness.
So 1 quality I see is 'determination' - I see I need to make a decision - I need to be determined - and I need to take action - so that I can correct what is wrong (my being overweight) and by doing so I will be more in tune with the Lord and will also be a better wife in the fact that I will be setting a better example to my husband and children as to eating of food.
Wow! You're right about determination there! This brings to mind the famous, oh what's it called?..... Footprints in the Sand? There's this one line towards the end that says "it was then that I carried you"....I love this line, but I must admit, every time I try to picture myself getting carried, my head always seem to be dragging on the ground. I'm weird, I know. LOL
But you're absolutely right in your conclusions. I see several other qualities too, like loyalty, love, and a firm grounding in your beliefs.
Wanted to share this with you
