“…But a woman who fears the Lord,
she shall be praised.”—Proverbs 31:30
The worldly view of women paints a
picture of women as “sugar and spice and everything nice,” and includes a hue
of pastel colors to get the message of passivity across to people. However, the view that Scripture gives of
women is quiet different. In fact, God
said that He would use the seed of the woman to bruise Satan’s heel (Genesis
3:15). Throughout the Bible we can see
instance-after-instance when women were very courageous and some even went into
battle. Jeremiah wrote, “how long will you waver and hesitate [to
return], O you backsliding daughter? For the Lord has created a new thing in the
land [of Israel]: a female shall compass (woo, win, and protect) a man”
(Jeremiah 31:22 Amplified). The
new thing that Jeremiah spoke of has a direct relationship with Joel’s prophecy
of the last days. Joel prophesied that
God would pour His spirit upon all mankind, and that God’s handmaidens would be
used to speak forth prophetic revelations (Joel 2:28).
When the prophet Jeremiah stated
that “a woman shall compass a man,” he was not saying that she would rule over
(as to overtake) him (Jeremiah 31:22).
The Hebrew word for compass is
cabab, and it means to “surround or
be about on every side.” Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance gives
several action words to describe “compass”: close, come, go, stand, round,
about, remove, sit, down, turn-self-about, aside, away, back. This simply means that in every way in every
place you look, God will be using a woman.
The meaning of the three words used in the Amplified version to describe
“compass”: woo — “to solicit, to achieve, attempt to gain; to evangelize:” win — “to reach despite of difficulty
and gain the loyalty of”: protect —
“to guard and keep from being attacked, damaged or stolen.”
In the same manner that a lioness
guards her territory to ward off danger, the woman will fight for her
family. The devil hates women because he
knows that it is in a woman to confront issues that need to be dealt with and
to win the lost. Just like the woman
with the issue of blood, and the woman who would not leave the judge alone
until he ruled in her favor, today’s women are tenacious and will not give up.
Proverbs 31:10-31 is a detailed
account of a virtuous woman. The word virtuous is chayil in the Hebrew, and it means “an army that is war worthy.”
Proverbs 12:4 says a virtuous woman is the “crown” of her
husband. The meaning of the word crown means to “encircle for attach or
protection.” It also means “to compass.” This scripture refers to a woman of valor who
is bold to do battle.
As you read through Proverbs
31:10-31, keep in mind that the
Scriptures are speaking of an army that is war worthy. Use the verses in your prayer time to
decree and to declare, the virtues of the Proverbs 31 woman over your personal life or over the life of other women.
Prayer—Father
I thank you for the Virtuous Women who walk in the light of your Scriptures,
and who seek to do your will. May the
fruit of their labors provide for them and may their own works praise them in
the gates, in Jesus Name. Amen.
