A Colourful fine linen garment...

Proverbs 31:19-22

She stretches out her hands to the distaff,

And her hand holds the spindle.

20 She extends her hand to the poor,

Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.

21 She is not afraid of snow for her household,

For all her household is clothed with scarlet.

22 She makes tapestry for herself;

Her clothing is fine linen and purple.

In verse 19-22 we see how the bride, as represented by the Proverbs 31 woman, makes beautiful woven, colorful, durable and luxurious garments.  We see how she starts with making the cloth, once again from the raw materials that the Lord provided for her.  She spins the wool or linen herself into yarn that will ultimately be used to weave cloth with.  This yarn needs to be prepared and she dyes it in beautiful colours like scarlet and purple (which were very expensive).  What really stood out for me in this passage is that she makes garments for her own household and the poor - but - that does not mean that she neglects herself.  She also makes tapestry and clothing of fine linen for herself.  She does not just look after others - she makes sure that she takes care of herself, and she does so with luxurious tapestry and linen garments in rich textures and expensive colours. In Revelation 19:8 the following is said about the bride's garments:

Revelation 19:8

It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

The linen of the bride's garment is made of her righteous acts, in addition to this we read in Isaiah  61:10 the following:  

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,

My soul shall be joyful in my God;

For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,

He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,

And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

God Himself clothes the bride in garments of salvation and righteousness.  It is His garment of righteousness that we are clothed in, and out of that flows righteous acts, and those righteous acts become the linen of the bride as mentioned in Revelation 19.  In Proverbs the two colours that are mentioned are scarlet and purple.  Scarlet is a red colour so for me it will point to the blood of Christ that is woven into the bride's garment - it is through the blood of Christ that we are saved and become righteous, and then righteous deeds can be done.  Out of our own works that would not be possible.  The purple was a kingly colour.  It indicates a change in position.  When the bride is redeemed through the blood of Christ, she is made righteous and then she can be His bride.  Her position changes from being a slave to sin, to being the bride of Christ that does righteous acts.  She now is the bride of the King. His work of redemption is completed in her. 

This is surely reason to rejoice - look what Isaiah 61:3 proclaim:

"To console those who mourn in Zion,

To give them beauty for ashes,

The oil of joy for mourning,

The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;

That they may be called trees of righteousness,

The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

This garment of the bride is also a garment of praise against a spirit of heaviness.  The King says He will give those who mourn beauty for the ashes of our broken and lost dreams, wrong choices and sinful acts.  He will take the ashes of our own frivolous works and replace them with beauty.  Give us the oil of joy in the place of our mourning - and we will be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord - so that He may be glorified!  What a precious promise.

The bride in Proverbs 31 understands this - therefore she takes the wool or flax and starts to weave with what God gives her in her hand.  Firstly the scarlet goes into the garment - the blood of Christ that gives us salvation, then the purple of a changed position in Him and then the beautiful colours of righteous acts that flow from there.

So the thoughts to ponder this week are:

• Have you accepted the garment of salvation that the King gives you?
• What am I weaving?  
• With what am I weaving?  
• For whom am I weaving?
• Do I remember and give myself permission to weave for myself?   

Garments of praise - Robin Mark

Her lamp does not go out by night...

Proverbs 31:18

"She perceives that her merchandise is good,

And her lamp does not go out by night" NKJV

"She perceives that her merchandise is good..."  

The bride, as represented by the Proverbs 31 woman, looks at her "merchandise" - the fruit of her labours for the King - and she perceives, she knows and understands that it is good because it is the fruit, or the product, of the labour of the Holy Spirit within her.  She knows the Holy Spirit produces it in and through her.  So what will be the merchandise of the bride of Christ in this sense?  The following scriptures explain much about this:

Galatians 6:7-9

7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

The bride's merchandise is therefore the harvest of that which she has sown - it is her return on the investment she made with her labours and conduct in and out of season and she perceives it is good.  

"...her lamp never goes out by night..." 

The bride's light never goes out - not even in the dark times and seasons of trials and tribulations.  When the clouds of cultural darkness assembles itself and persecution is around the corner, even then her light shines brightly.  She wraps herself with the armour of light - Romans 13:12-14 "The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." When the bride puts on the Lord Jesus Christ, she cannot help but wrap herself with the armour of light - look what is written in Ps 104, how He is dressed in light!  

Psalm 104:1-2

My soul, praise Yahweh! Lord my God, You are very great;

You are clothed with majesty and splendor.

2 He wraps Himself in light as if it were a robe, (HCSB)

We can be assured and rejoice in Christ, for in John 1:1-2 we read:

John 1:4-5 (HCSB)

Life was in Him

and that life was the light of men.5

That light shines in the darkness,

yet the darkness did not overcome it.

The bride's lamp will never go out by night for the darkness cannot overcome the light of Christ in her!

So the questions to ponder this week are:

• Rejoice in the merchandise that the Holy Spirit already produced and put in your hand - give Him the glory for it!
• Reflect on what we are sowing - thus what kind of merchandise are we expecting to harvest?
• Are you and I wrapped with Christ and therefore with the armour of light?
• Do we believe that as the night deepens and darkness prevails in the culture of our day - that our lamp will never go out for darkness cannot overcome or comprehend it?  

Let there be light - Hillsong

   

She wraps strength around her waist like a belt.

Proverbs 31:17

"She surrounds her waist with strength

And makes her arms strong"

NASB

There is a footnote in one of my Bibles that states the literal translation for this verse can read

 "She wraps strength around her waist like a belt"

... and the Amplified describes it like this:

She equips herself with strength [spiritual, mental, and physical fitness for her God-given task]

And makes her arms strong.

As I was contemplating this verse on strength, wrapping it around our waist and making our arms strong, wondering how do we do this as the bride of Christ, the following scriptures came to mind:

Nehemiah 8:10

Then Ezra said to them, “Go [your way], eat the rich festival food, drink the sweet drink, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be worried, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and your stronghold.” Ampl

Ephesians 6:14

So stand firm and hold your ground, having tightened the wide band of truth (personal integrity, moral courage) around your waist and having put on the breastplate of righteousness (an upright heart), Ampl

Ephesians 3:16-19

May He grant you out of the riches of His glory, to be strengthened and spiritually energized with power through His Spirit in your inner self, [indwelling your innermost being and personality], 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through your faith. And may you, having been [deeply] rooted and [securely] grounded in love, 18 be fully capable of comprehending with all the saints (God’s people) the width and length and height and depth of His love [fully experiencing that amazing, endless love]; 19 and [that you may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that you may be filled up [throughout your being] to all the fullness of God [so that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself]. Ampl

2 Corinthians 10:4-5

4 The weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood]. Our weapons are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ,

So how strong would we be if we wrap joy around our waist and worship God with joyful arms held high.  When we dress ourselves with the belt of truth and stand our ground, when we bring every disobedient thought into captivity and subject it to the authority of God, breaking down all lofty arguments that exalt themselves against God?  How strong are we when we are strengthened through His Spirit in our inner man so that Christ dwells in our hearts through faith, being deeply rooted and grounded in His love for us, being completely filled and flooded with God Himself? 

That I think is a pretty amazing picture of the strength of the bride of Christ - and it is by no means a complete picture.

So the question for this week is:  What does the belt around my waist look like ?  Am I surrounded by His strength?  

"She surrounds her waist with strength

And makes her arms strong"

NASB

Your Love Surrounds me

Providing food for herself and others

"She is like the merchant ships,

She brings her food from afar.

She also rises while it is yet night,

And provides food for her household,

And a portion for her maidservants.

She considers a field and buys it;

From her profits she plants a vineyard."

Proverbs 31:14-16 NKJV

In Proverbs 31:14-16 there seems to be a theme around the provision of food.  We see that these verses speak of different ways of providing food and it speaks of different groups of people the food is provided for.

The ways in which the woman of Proverbs 31 provides the food, are:  

• She brings a whole shipload of diverse kinds of foods from a far country.  
• She rises while it it is still night to provide and prepare the food.
• She buys a field and plants a vineyard.

The people she provides for are:

• Her household.
• Her employees.
• Herself.
• Her generations to come.

Looking closer at these points in the context of the analogy of the Proverbs 31 woman being the bride or body of Christ, we see that, like the merchant ships that source a rich diversity of the choicest products of far countries, she seeks far and deep with the help of the Holy Spirit in the Word for spiritual food and finds a diversity of spiritual truths and treasures in those deep and far places.  She brings all these treasures home so that she and others can enjoy the benefit thereof.  She rises while it is still night.  It is in the deep, dark and difficult night seasons where there is often a lot of pain that the products she brought from the far countries are processed and prepared, so that her whole household (her family, friends, guests and employees) will be able to enjoy and feast on the spiritual food she found, processed and now provides.  Not only does she provide for one season, but she also plans and implements a long term project to ensure provision in the seasons and for the generations to come.  With the fruit of her labours she buys a field and plants a vineyard.  A vineyard is symbolic of her own intimacy with God.  She takes care of her vineyard so that there will be a continuous harvest -  in seasons and for generations to come.  She therefore does not just focus on the immediate needs, but also has the vision and wisdom to do in this season what is necessary, so that there will be a harvest and provision in the seasons to come.  To do this she knows that she needs to look after her own intimacy with God to ensure that it will bear fruit continuously.  Her vineyard is a treasure that she passes on to the next generation as a blessing to them.  

So the questions for us this week are:

• Are we seeking and sourcing the spiritual truths God has for us in those far countries?  Are we making time to journey through His Word and in fellowship with His Spirit to ensure that we fill our our ships with these treasures to bring back home?
• What kind of food are we preparing in the night seasons when life is difficult?  Are we preparing a wholesome feast for our household and employees?
• Are we planting a vineyard?  Are we tending, guarding and keeping that vineyard of ours - for ourselves but also for the seasons and generations to come?    

The Sower's Song - Andrew Petersen