The Virtuous Woman – the Nation Israel
Part 1 – Instructions to the King
Proverbs
31:1-13
Proverbs
31 is a kingdom prophecy of the nation Israel and a fitting closure to the Book
of Wisdom as it concludes with a detailed narrative of the kingdom of God governed
with the Wisdom of God – instruction in righteousness and true judgment. The definition of the word prophecy means a burden or load – a
revelation or forewarning.
Some
commentators believe Lemuel to be a pet name for Solomon. However, given Solomon’s history in governing
the kingdom of Israel, it is highly unlikely that King Lemuel is King
Solomon.
Although
Solomon asked the Lord for wisdom and received wisdom, he did not gain the
understanding of the wisdom of God pertaining to the governing of the kingdom
as described in this passage.
Proverbs
31 is divided into two halves. The first
half (verses 1-9) is the instruction of Lemuel’s mother concerning the burden
or load of governing the kingdom of God without the Wisdom of God.
The Proverb
most likely was written by Solomon near the end of his reign as King of Israel.
Finally, he has gained understanding of
the Wisdom of God. Figurative in
narration, King Lemuel, his mother and the virtuous woman type figures who
shall participate in the end of the age when the covenant Son will establish
His kingdom with Israel as the governing nation over all the earth.
God’s
covenant with Himself for a kingdom of sons of God on earth is fulfilled in the
virtuous woman who figures or types the ruling nation of Israel. Israel is one of the works of the Wisdom of
God – the virtuous woman is of the family tree of the covenant Son.
The
covenant God made with Himself calls forth a nation from the loins of Abraham, the
initiation of the family tree of the covenant Son – who is the Tree of Life of sons
of God (Genesis 17:7, 21).
In the
day of her redemption, the regenerate nation Israel will be the virgin that the
sign of Virgo declares she is.
Jesus
the Christ of God – the covenant “Son,” Israel’s Messiah – her “Longed
For” and “Desired” King will be the recognized and acknowledged
authority. He will be the universal
ruler of heaven and earth that the heavens declare He is.
The
“Heretofore” – Jesus as the “Despised One” – “Sin offering” has
become the “Hereafter” at His second coming, “Gloriously Beautiful.”
The resurrected Shepherd King Priest,
“The Most Beautiful” who is the “The Son” – “The Branch” of the
family tree Israel is the Tree of Life of sons of God. The covenant Son is the rod of God’s authority
of peace and righteousness and the staff of comfort and longsuffering.
The Tree
of Life of the family of sons of God is “rooted” in the covenant Son Jesus, “The
Branch” before the eternal ages. The first branch of the tree began with the first
man Adam, then the branch Seth for all mankind, then Noah for nations, then Abraham
for God’s nation.
God
establishes the nation with Isaac and confirms it in Jacob (Leviticus 26:42). His servant David from the tribe of Judah establishes
the branch of the kingdom of God and His throne in Israel forever (2Samuel 7:13).
The Man
planted like a tree by the rivers of water brings forth His fruit in His season
down through the ages (Psalm 1) – from Adam until the end of the age – including
the 1000 years when Israel as the head nation will bring forth sons of God.
Lemuel
means unto God or (belonging) to God. King
Lemuel in type figures King David. David
as a man after God’s own heart is the king of God’s choosing. The Lord vowed the kingdom of Israel to David (Psalm
89:20-37, Amos 9, Hosea 3:5).
King
Lemuel’s “mother” in figure is the Spirit of Wisdom, the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of Wisdom enlightens the eyes of
the understanding to the Wisdom of God. Her
instruction contrasts the worldly wisdom of the kings that is earthly, sensual,
and devilish (James 3:15) to the Wisdom of God – its value exceeds all
merchandise – it is priceless. The
instruction is to evoke a reverential awe of Jehovah and to encourage him to heed
the instruction in righteousness and true judgment. Lovingly the “mother” pleads for him not to buy the wisdom of man’s own
thinking but to trust in the Lord with all his heart and lean not to his own
understanding.
Proverbs
3:13-14: “Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth
understanding. For the merchandise of it
(wisdom) is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than
fine gold.”
The
virtuous woman is the nation Israel, the family tree of the covenant Son.
The
second half of the Proverb is the prophecy of the far fulfillment of the nation
Israel beginning with verses 10-13.
These verses refer to the nation Israel as the virtuous woman – the
helper suited to King David, a son of the covenant Son. Verses 14-20 speak of the virtuous woman’s many
hands – the outworking of the government of God through the nation. Verses 21-31 refer specifically to the running
of the household of Israel.
In
Proverbs 31:1-9, she instructs him to:
Not give his strength
to women nor give his ways to that which destroys kings. The way of
the kings was to make an allegiance using the women of that nation as a
covenant to secure the deal. This
covenant with the women brought strength to the king because it built his
kingdom – the strength of his numbers – his subjects and armies increased
because of the covenant with the women. For
King Lemuel to give his strength to women places the source of his strength on the building of armies rather than the Wisdom
of God. This of course was not God’s
way. The way of the kings ends with harems.
This perversion destroys God’s way - one man, one woman for life, a
united household.
Second,
he is not to drink wine, nor his princes strong drink – lest they forget the law and pervert judgment of any afflicted. The drinking of wine distorts the powers of
judgment and is not wise. The king was
the representative of God. He was the government
of righteousness and judgment. God’s Wisdom
must not be forgotten or perverted.
Third,
give strong drink to him that is ready to perish and wine to those that are
heavy hearted; let the heavy-hearted drink and forget his poverty, and remember
his misery no more (Proverbs 31:6-7). The
strong drink was different than wine. The
“strong” drink was used as a sedative for the one about to die. Giving wine to those who are in bitterness of
heart also carries the idea of impending death; hence, he forgets his poverty
and remembers his misery no more.
Fourth,
open his mouth for the dumb – in the cause of all appointed to destruction
(Proverbs 31:8).
Fifth,
open his mouth to judge righteously and plead the cause of the poor and needy
(Proverbs 31:9).
The
word “mouth” couples verses eight and nine.
The mouth serves two purposes – the receiving of food and the giving of
speech. There is a time to keep silent
and a time to speak. The “food for
thought” is this: for what purpose is
the king to use his mouth?
The
king is to open his mouth – speak for those who cannot speak for themselves
(the dumb). He is to uphold and affirm
the rights of those who are appointed to destruction – those who are destitute. The king is to open his mouth to judge
righteously and plead the cause of the poor and needy. This will require the Wisdom of God.
So ends
the loving instruction for the king unto God (Lemuel) from the Spirit of Wisdom
(his mother). Her exhortation encourages
him to rule the kingdom in the Wisdom of God – in righteousness and true
judgment.
Proverbs
31:10-13 addresses the far fulfillment of the nation Israel as the virtuous
woman – the helper suited to her husband Jehovah; God’s pattern or design is
repeated, first the man and then the woman – then man is of woman.
First,
the personal being of God is willing to become flesh – in the likeness of man –
male, and then the woman, the nation
Israel, female.
Then
man (the child born) is of
the woman (a daughter of Israel, the Virgin Mary) – her seed; this is the Wisdom of God. There is no man-child to rule all nations
without the woman.
The Wisdom
of God took the living flesh of the woman (Mary) and prepared a body in the
likeness of man, a seed coat that housed eternal life; the body of human flesh
of Jesus was the seed coat for the seed grain to fall into the ground and die
to bring forth much fruit.
The
body raised up out from the dead seed coat of humanity is the body of the Son
Jesus; he has become the begotten Son, the covenant Son of the kingdom of God.
The
word virtuous is a masculine
adjective that means strength, wealth, influence, and the word woman is a feminine noun. The origin of the word is first recorded in
Genesis 2:23 “…she shall be called woman, because
she was taken out of man.”
“Taken”
out of the man, the once forsaken woman, Israel, is now a kingdom of sons of
God, a virtuous Woman - a nation fit to rule the subjects of God’s kingdom. Her fear of the Lord makes her virtuous – her
reverential awe of Jehovah and her instruction in righteousness and true
judgment as the ruling nation of the government of God places her worth far
above coral. Israel, the virtuous woman,
is desired exceedingly! Why is she
desired above all things? It is through
the nation that the Seed came; Israel is one of the wisdom works of His hands.
Nothing
compares to the Otherness of God and the beauty of His Holiness.
The
Otherness of God and the beauty of His Holiness will be seen in how Israel
leads the other nations – that is the reason she is exceedingly desired – a
righteous and just rule that is incomprehensible.
Israel
is a virtuous woman because she awakes to righteousness and clothes herself in
garments of beauty and glory (Isaiah 52:1).
Her virtues of strength, wealth and influence exist because of the covenant
Son. Jerusalem is at peace; she and her
bridegroom king are reconciled.
The inheritance of the
land that God promised Abram is established.
God has a city in Jerusalem, Zion – the
city of the King. “Beautiful for
situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the
north, the city of the great King” (Psalm 48:2).
Because
the covenant Son redeems in His first coming and restores Israel at His second
coming – the salvation of Jehovah is possible for all.
Israel
is no longer forsaken and no longer barren.
She has fulfilled the purpose of her creation – children, sons of God
for her Maker, her Husband; the LORD of hosts is His name; her Redeemer is the
Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall He be called (Isaiah
54:5).
This
day, God’s day, is the day when the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth
as the waters cover the sea. This brings
peace. Peace brings righteousness. They belong together. When peace and righteousness reign, there is
freedom from fear. “The heart of her husband” – the very being of her Lord, possessor,
or owner is confident, secure, and without fear. He “safely
trusts in her so that he shall have no need of spoil” (Proverbs 31:11).
The
word spoil relates to the spoils of war. In war, the spoil is taken by force or
violence. “Mercy and truth are met
together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (Psalm 85:10). War will be no more, ever!
Zephaniah
3:14-17 says, “Sing, O daughter of Zion;
shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.
The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the
midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil
any more. In that day it shall be said
to Jerusalem, fear thou not: and to
Zion, let not thine hands be slack. The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is
mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His
love, He will joy over thee with singing.”
All the
enemies of God will have been destroyed. After the sorrow of grief is the joy of a new
beginning. The kingdom of God will have
come; His will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. To the victor belongs the spoil.
Isaiah
53:12 speaks of the spoil of God’s victory, “Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall
divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto
death: and he was numbered with the
transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the
transgressors.”
Proverbs
31:12 says, “She will do him good and not
evil all the days of her life.”
Having
received the righteousness of God as sons of God, the nation [she] has become good,
well pleasing and fruitful in her conduct to God. Righteous is her very being; her doing is
righteousness. Her conduct no longer includes
playing the harlot.
The
great persecution and devastation of the trial the nation of Israel suffers during
the great tribulation brings about the just recompense of repentance – Life everlasting.
Proverbs
31:13: “She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.” Verse 13 is the transition verse for the
next part of the proverb that speaks of the many hands of the woman – the
outworking of the government of God through the nation.
The
first part of the verse states the attitude of the heart of the nation in her
relationship to her Husband. The second half
of the verse begins the figurative narrative of Israel’s industrious government
and her overwhelming provision for those under the sovereign care of her Husband.
The
kingdom of the Shepherd – “The Most Beautiful” is an agrarian
society; in a figurative sense, the wool and flax affirm this. The shorn coat of sheep produces wool. Flax is a widely cultivated plant with long
stalks crowned with pale blue flowers. A
textile fiber known as linen is produced from the slender stalks.
The two
items she seeketh, wool and flax, are
used in the production of clothing. One
wonders why she is seeking wool and
flax when her own clothing is silk and purple and that of her household
scarlet. What is the figurative meaning?
The
word seeketh is a verb meaning to inquire of, to examine, to require, to seek
with care. Figuratively it may refer to
seeking out or inquiring about lovers.
The
purpose of the wool and flax garments was to cover nakedness. Israel, as an unregenerate nation, always
played the harlot. She was always going
after – seeking lovers to satisfy the selfishness of her own self-love, rather than
seeking the Lover of her soul.
Insistent
and willful in her rebellion she said, “…
I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my
flax, mine oil and my drink” (Hosea 2:5). She would have her own way. She thought she would find heart satisfaction
with other gods; she would not mix the truth (you must be born again) with
faith. While she played the harlot,
Israel was naked because she would not let her husband clothe her.
Speaking
of Israel in Hosea 2:9-10, the Lord says, “(I) … will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness. And now will I discover her lewdness in the
sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.”
The
word nakedness implies physical nakedness; however, a common idiom for entering
into a marriage contract is implied when combined with the word for
“cover.” Thus, we understand that now
instead of seeking her own way – she seeketh the wool and flax, the covering of
her nakedness provided through the marriage covenant of the covenant Son, her Lord
and possessor.
When
Israel enters into her marriage covenant, a new beginning will take place. All things will be new. There will be a new heaven and a new earth - a
new creation. A kingdom that never
before has been will be in power – a united household – the government of the
kingdom of God; an incorruptible government of peace and righteousness will
literally rule the earth.
Government
will no longer include civil and military authority. The Sovereign will be the loving authority of
His kingdom; God’s will will be done on earth as it is in heaven, one day very soon.
Glossary for The Virtuous Woman – the Nation Israel
Prophecy
– means
a burden or load – a revelation or forewarning.
Types – Figures of the True:
King
Lemuel –
figures King David.
King
Lemuel’s Mother
– figures the Spirit of Wisdom, the Holy Spirit.
Virtuous
Woman –
types Israel, the family tree of the covenant Son.
Virtuous Woman – Israel, the family tree of the Covenant Son – figures or types the
ruling nation of Israel after she is restored at His second coming.
Star Names in the lesson are bolded and in
quotes
Star
Names from the Constellation Virgo
“The
Son”
“The
Branch”
“Gloriously
Beautiful”
Coma, first decan in Virgo, also known as:
“Longed
For”
“Desired”
Centaurus, second decan in Virgo, also known as:
“Despised
One and Sin Offering”
Star
Names from Centaurus:
“Heretofore”
“Hereafter”
Bootes, third decan in Virgo,
also known as:
“The
Herdsman – He Who Is Coming.”
Star
Names from Bootes:
“The
Most Beautiful”
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