The Virtuous Woman (Israel) in the City of Jerusalem
Part 3 – It is Finished!
Proverbs 31:21-31
Proverbs
31 relates to the Kingdom of God. The
instruction for the ruling of the kingdom is part one. King Lemuel figures or types King David, who
under the authority of the King-Priest, the covenant Son, will be the king of
the government of God in Jerusalem. The king’s
mother, who figures the Spirit of Wisdom, instructs the king in the Wisdom of
God.
Part
two, verses 14-20, describes the governing of the global government of the
kingdom of God. The bridegroom king has
married the people and the people have married the land (Isaiah 61, 62). The virtuous woman, in figure, is Israel, the
head nation of the nations of the earth.
King David is the spokesman for the global government and Israel is the
helper suited to run the government.
There
are two cities called “Jerusalem” in the scripture: The Jerusalem above (Revelation 21:9-21) and
the Jerusalem on earth. The Jerusalem on
earth is God’s city and is the key to understanding the difference between a
bridegroom and a husband.
God’s city is Zion the city of the King. The King is “The Son” of God’s love, the
covenant Son. Jerusalem is the
headquarters of the global government of God; Israel is the nation in
charge. Her maidens are the surrounding
cities and are the inheritance of the twelve tribes.
The
city is the city of the King, because of the marriage covenant between Israel
and “The
Son” (Genesis 15 and 17); however, the city Jerusalem “Beautiful for
situation, the joy of the whole earth” is God’s
(Psalm 48:2). The covenant Son (the
Bridegroom King of Israel) has His own city, the New Jerusalem “…That great
city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God” (Revelation
21:10).
When
Israel enters into her marriage covenant with the covenant Son, the marriage
contract is for the inheritance of the land promised Abraham because of the covenant
Son (Genesis 15, 17).
Part
three of Proverbs 31, verses 21-31, concludes the narrative by proclaiming, “It
is finished.” The kingdom of a household
of sons of God is finished; the earth is the LORD’S and the fullness thereof
(Psalm 24). These verses are an intimate
overview of the sovereignty and righteousness of Jerusalem and the nation’s
devotion to God as a kingdom of priests over the global household. These verses speak of the enormity of the
kingdom – it is a universal kingdom; heaven and all the earth is the LORD’S.
This last
section of the proverb begins with the “end,” the everlasting kingdom. The terms of God’s covenant with Himself have
been met. God has His kingdom of sons of
God – born sons of the incorruptible Seed. The Wisdom of God for the household of sons of
God in a universal kingdom is fulfilled.
God’s plan for children is
finished. Man is in God’s image. “Behold I make all things new” (Revelation
21:5).
Proverbs
31:21: “She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all
her household are clothed with scarlet.”
The
section begins “she is not afraid of the snow.” How does snow make one afraid? Snowy days are rare in Jerusalem. What is the meaning of this figurative
statement? Maybe it is the fear of being
buried beneath the snow.
The
word snow is used twenty four times in scripture; twenty of those references
are in the Old Testament. The word snow
has three meanings. Two are literal and
one figurative. The two literal meanings
differ slightly – one definition is a verb for falling snow in the wintertime;
the other is a noun referring to frozen falling crystals of water, implying ice-covered,
solid – unmoving. The figurative meaning
emphasizes the white color of snow – the bright frozen crystals are glistening.
The
word used in Proverbs is the noun referring to the frozen falling crystals of
water. Figuratively the dark days of the
dead of winter have passed. She is not
afraid of the snow; the remnant of Israel entered into the treasures of the
snow of death with her Messiah (Job 38:22).
All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hers.
The
frozen winter of death produced the water of life for spring. The Father brought forth the treasures that were
buried beneath the snow; the Seed of Life - man in His image, a creation of
sons of God, “all clothed with scarlet” in the covenant Son. The whole kingdom is holy, pure and
chaste; “all [are] clothed with
scarlet.” All is set apart and
consecrated in the covenant Son, Jesus Christ.
The
winter days of death are no more; the royal covering of the shed “scarlet” blood
has produced the household of God. Acquitted
of all charges of sin and guilt, the whole kingdom is justified freely through
faith in God’s covenant Son. It is
finished!
What
God pictured in the message of the Eternal Covenant in the stars and what He said
He would do in Genesis is accomplished.
He has a kingdom of sons of God in His image! The kingdom of righteousness and peace is
established as everlasting - finished.
Scarlet
is a picture word. The word used for
scarlet in Proverbs 31 is a masculine noun that describes a bright red color tinged
with the color of orange. Colors in the
scripture speak of Christ, the person and His work. Scarlet is the royal color red. Red is the color of the dust of the ground,
the color of the first man. Red is also
the color of the lifeblood of the dust body. And red is the color of sin (Isaiah 1:18).
Vivid
truth is conveyed in the expressive color of scarlet. The truth is that God’s second Man, in whom there
is no sin, took the execution of the death penalty appointed unto man because
of sin. The blood flowed from the
pierced side of the one who offered Himself in sacrifice to put away sin once
for all (John 19:34; Hebrews 9:22-28). In
His death and resurrection, the beloved Son finished the work His Father sent
Him to do. Without the shedding of blood
there is no forgiveness of sins; there is no Life everlasting and there is no righteousness. The red of that finished work flows into the
orange – His nation is healed of her sin-sickness, justified, made righteous
and regenerate. Orange is the color that
speaks of the Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings for His people,
Israel (Malachi 4:2).
Proverbs
31:22: “She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.”
The
word for tapestry is a masculine noun and conveys the idea of a covering
similar to an afghan or decorative blanket.
When Israel played the harlot, she was never content to stay home; she
was loud and stubborn and her feet would not abide in her house (the house of her
God, her maker, her husband, Isaiah 54:5). She would wander the streets and lie in wait
at every corner. She decked her bed with
coverings of tapestry, carved works, and the fine linen of Egypt (Proverbs 7). In type, Egypt pictures man’s enslavement to and
the oppression of the world’s system.
Israel has left Egypt and the lust thereof
and has become a kingdom of sons of God.
Her marriage bed is undefiled. No
foreign gods are in bed with Israel; her Beloved is hers and she is His, the
covering of tapestry belongs to Him.
“…her
clothing is silk and purple.” The clothing
or garments of a person indicate the status of a person. The garments of linen are made from such fine thread
that it feels like silk. In this
passage, the word purple speaks of wool that has been dyed. Royalty wears purple.
Jerusalem is the crowned Queen - the people
have married their land. She is the Queen
of the nations, Queen of many daughters who have done virtuously, but she
excels them all (Proverbs 31:29). Jerusalem
is quite literally, Queen of everything. “Thou [Jerusalem] shalt be a crown of glory in
the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God” (Isaiah 62:3).
Proverbs 31:23: “Her
husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.”
To sit
among the elders of the city was to sit among those of dignity, rank and
privilege. The elders represent the
nation. In Old Testament times,
Jerusalem had many gates, each with a name. The main entrance or gate is where the elders
met. Execution of the nation’s business
was transacted from the main city gate.
The
word known means to know relationally
and experientially. Israel’s husband,
Jehovah, is known in the gates. The coupling
of the word “gates” with “elders” implies a city. However, the verse reads gates among the
elders of the land. The word gate indicates the main entrance to a city or town, but it can
be used to stand for a city or town. One
would think the land (city or town)
to be Jerusalem, but the word used means earth
and refers to the whole earth under God’s dominion. The use of the word land refers to a kingdom
that never before existed. This kingdom
is a global kingdom, a united household of sons of God. The whole earth as a kingdom of sons of God will
have a rapport with Israel’s husband in Jerusalem. This knowing is not mere head knowledge but it
is experiential. In the understanding of
their spirit being, He is known. The
whole earth will be a kingdom of sons of God.
Proverbs
31:24: “She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the
merchant.”
The “making” of fine linen is the execution of
righteousness; the linen types righteousness. Jerusalem “does” righteousness even as He [her
husband] is righteous (1John 3:7). The
word linen refers to the garment wrapped or enfolded around a person. The girdle is what keeps the garment on the
person.
Wrapped
in the raiment of righteousness and belted or held together in love, Jerusalem
is a kingdom of priests unto God. The
economy, “the family budget” of the entire kingdom, is under the authority of
the priesthood – the theocracy of Jehovah God (Numbers 18:6, 21, 24; Leviticus
27:30; Malachi 3:10, 17).
The
heart and hands of this world government are truly for the people. The commerce of righteousness is doing righteousness,
living by the royal law of love. The
delivering of the girdles - the belts or cords of love among the merchants is
the expression of a government for the people.
Proverbs
31:25, 26: “Strength and honor are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to
come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom;
and in her tongue is the law of kindness.”
Because
she is no longer termed “forsaken” and her land is no more “desolate” (Isaiah
62:4), the clothing of the city is the glory, splendor and majesty of God. He is her strength; He is her honor. The words of her mouth are wisdom; skilled in understanding,
the law of kindness rules her tongue. Kindness
is a masculine noun indicating loving kindness, mercy, goodness and faithfulness;
these attributes of God in the kingdom are the evidence that this kingdom is a kingdom
of sons of God.
Proverbs 31:27: “She looketh well to the ways of her
household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.”
The
righteous city of Jerusalem keeps watch or keeps guard over the ways – the
activity and lifestyle of the household of the family of God. As the heart of the kingdom, she guards the
heart with all diligence and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her diet is the Word of God, His wisdom, His
law.
Proverbs 31:28: “Her children arise up, and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praiseth her.”
Fed on a steady diet
of truth, her children rise up - stand in a position of reverence and together
with her husband call her blessed. Mutually
they pronounce her happy! Why? Why is she happy? She has found wisdom and has gained understanding;
mankind must be born again! The end of
such searching is blessedness - another meaning for the word happy.
The praise and admiration
of her husband is the highest compliment.
Proverbs 31:29: “Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou
excellest them all.”
Daughters refer to cities in general and Jerusalem figuratively
refers to the one daughter of Zion who excels all others. She alone is worthy to be praised.
This daughter –
Jerusalem:
Is not afraid of the
snow – her household is clothed in scarlet [vs.21].
Her
tapestry is undefiled – her clothing is royal [vs.22].
Her
husband is known in the gates [vs.23].
Her
works are righteousness through love [vs.24].
Glory,
splendor and majesty are her strength and honor [vs. 25].
Wisdom
and kindness are the royal law of love on her lips [vs.26].
She keeps watch over her
household – her diet is God’s word [vs.27].
Her
children call her blessed – Her husband praises her [vs.28].
Many daughters have
done virtuously – She excels them all [vs.29].
Proverbs
31: 30, 31: “Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain:
but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let
her own works praise her in the gates.”
Verses
thirty and thirty-one are coupled. These
two verses contrast two different women. They contrast the virtual with what is real,
which is the eternal. Each woman types a
city and each is a figure of the true. One
entices with the deceitful intentions of her vain beauty and the other fears
the LORD.
The first
represents the deceitful and vain beauty of the city mystery Babylon - the
world system whose offers are an empty allurement of pleasures, the “substance”
of that city - virtual (Revelation 17).
The woman who "fears" the LORD is Jerusalem above. Galatians 4:6 says "But Jerusalem which
is above is free, which is the mother of us all." The Jerusalem above is the throne of Jesus,
the covenant Son who through his obedience made it possible for everyone to
become a son of God. Verses 30 and 31
point us to the Jerusalem above. The
inhabitants of both the Jerusalem below and the Jerusalem above have a
reverential awe of God. The industrious
loving works of the Jerusalem below praise her - the Jerusalem above -
"the throne of God and of the Lamb" (Revelation 22:1, 5). Her own works praise her as the Jerusalem
below manifests.
In
conclusion: Proverbs 31:25 “…. she shall rejoice in time to come.”
The
word “rejoice” in verse 25 means to laugh and celebrate in the
sense of a strong expression of joy.
Established
as everlasting - the kingdom of righteousness and peace is finished! The time has come for a party; God has His
universal kingdom of sons. Let the
celebrations begin; the heavens above and the earth beneath are filled with the
glory of God – man in God’s image.
Hallelujah!!
“For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and
as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the
Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the
nations”
(Isaiah 61:11).
Glossary for the Virtuous Woman (Israel) in the City of
Jerusalem
Part 3 – Proverbs 31:21-31
Types and Figures of the True
Daughters – type cities.
Egypt – types the enslavement and oppression of the
world system that holds men in bondage.
Gates – type the execution of a nation’s business.
Land – types the whole earth that is under God’s
dominion.
Orange – types the Sun of Righteousness with
healing in His wings.
Scarlet – types the blood that flowed to put away
sin and death.
Snow – types the dark days of the dead of winter
that have passed.
Tapestry – types a covering for a marriage bed and the
faithfulness of that union.
Proverbs 31:30: “Favor
is deceitful and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall
be praised.”
Two
women:
The
city, mystery Babylon – the world system is deceitful and vain – virtual.
The city, Jerusalem
above, is the mother of all the sons
of God – eternal – reality.
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