A Proverbs 31 Woman, Midwives, and Jochebed
Loyal, works hard, plans, researches, strong, up late preparing, generous, prepares for future seasons, beautiful, brings income, wise, kind, not lazy, praised by her family, God-fearing.
-Attributes of a Proverbs 31 woman
It takes a long time to become a good woman, just like it takes a long time to become a good man. That older woman in your life that you see, admire and that’s oozing with wisdom, well, it took years for her to be that way. It took years of mistakes, trial and error, painful experiences, sinful errors, and even good life experiences for her to be the woman that you see now. It took years for that woman to exude some of the attributes of a Proverbs 31 woman.
God has made women, and men in His image (Genesis 1: 27). And we woman are similar to men in a lot of ways, but we are quite different in many others. And, I would just like to point out, for a woman to try and be a man, compete with men, or hate them is a waste of a woman. Sadly, the fall of man resulted in struggle between the sexes (Genesis 3:16), but if a woman will surrender herself, turn her face toward Almighty God, and seek Him He will reveal to her His plan for her life. It's only when we surrender ourselves to God's plan that He can exalt us.
In this list of attributes of a Godly woman, Solomon ends with “God-fearing.” God doesn’t want us to be scared of Him, but He does want us women to have a holy reverence for Him and trust His plans. Yes, it can be hard to trust His plan when you’re in life’s wildernesses.
Let's look at an example of some women with Proverbs 31 attributes and humility:
Just this week I was sitting in the early part of the Book of Exodus. It was long after Israel [Jacob]and his 12 sons died, and a new Pharaoh rose up that did not know Israel’s family. Pharaoh had become scared of the burgeoning Israelite race and he, like so many scared rulers in history punished them by making them slaves. Then he ruled with an intent to kill the Hebrew people, like so many rulers throughout history, and ordered that their baby boys be killed right after their births by the Hebrew midwives. But Scripture tells us:
The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?” The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.” So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous.
(Genesis 1: 15-20, NIV)
And because the midwives feared God, and did not kill the Hebrew babies, He blessed them, and the Hebrews increased in population. But then Pharaoh decreed that all male babies be thrown into the Nile River. But, this leads back to what I mentioned earlier: we must trust God’s plan in life’s wildernesses. God used this decree to free His people.
God had a plan for Jochebed, her son Moses, and her people. God intended for Moses to be hidden in a basket and discovered and wanted by the Pharaoh’s daughter. He intended for Moses to grow up in the Pharaoh’s household and learn the Egyptian language and culture because it would be Moses that would deliver the Hebrews out of Egypt, and he would need to know the Egyptian culture. But God knew that the obedient women- the midwives and Jochebed would be the right people to propel His people [the Israelites] to be delivered out of bondage 70-80 years later.
So as women, let us strive to be like the attributes of a Proverbs 31 woman, and let us be God fearing like the midwives and Jochebed, and we will surely be blessed and counted as righteous.
Happy Friday! xx
