10 An excellent wife, who can find?
For her worth is far above jewels.
11 The heart of her husband trusts in her,
And he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.
13 She looks for wool and flax
And works with her hands in delight.
14 She is like merchant ships;
She brings her food from afar.
15 She rises also while it is still night
And gives food to all her household.
And portions to her maidens.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
From her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She girds herself with strength
And makes her arms strong.
18 She senses that her gain is good;
Her lamp does not go out at night.
19 She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
And her hands grasp the spindle.
20 She extends her hand to the poor,
And she stretches her hand out to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household,
For all her household are clothed with scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sits among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
And supplies belts to the tradesmen.
25 Strength and dignity are her clothing,
And she smiles at the future.
26 She opens her mouth in wisdom,
And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
27 She looks well into the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and bless her;
Her husband also, and he praises her, saying;
29 "Many daughters have done nobly,
But you excel them all."
30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain,
But a woman who fears the LORD, she is to be praised.
31 Give her the product of her hands,
And let her works praise her in the gates.
(emphasis added)
This is my bible passage for this morning since I do a proverb a day, and then I went on to Genesis... notice how in Genesis it was Eve who took the first bite of disobedience, and God slaughtered the animal to make coverings to cover their nakedness...
--Genesis 2:16-17--
16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, "from any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die,"
--Genesis 3:6-7--
6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and it was a desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.
--Genesis 3:21--
21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.
I thought it's interesting how it's generally women/wives who enjoy making clothes or are usually the ones who are interested in shopping for clothing, and in our fallen state, we even pervert this gift of covering our sinfulness by dressing immodestly for our own vices. By nature, woman sinfully use their nakedness or immodest dress to try to gain attention, power and control over men, but a Proverbs 31 woman is praised for making coverings for her family, to cover their nakedness. Dressing modestly, and a willingness to submit to her husband and the will of the Lord doesn't come naturally, it stems from the new desires of her heart, placed there by the Spirit of God. When a Proverbs 31 does all these things for her household, she is doing them not as an independent woman who is wanting to over-power her husband, but as a helpmate to her husband who is willing to submit herself under his leadership and come alongside him as she ministers to the needs of their household. She is someone he "trusts in" and "praises her" for them as "She does him good and not evil all the days of her life."
