Proverbs 31:10 The Warrior

An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels.

I get the feeling that Bathsheba suspected her son had some problems. She talks to him about womanizing (31:3) knowing that one woman is his strength, but many woman would destroy him. He also seems to have a problem with excess drinking (31:4-5). Her solution? She knew her son, King Solomon, needed a powerful woman. When God offered him whatever he might want in this world, Solomon had chosen wisdom over wealth, so she appeals to what he wants, something worth more then a precious jewel. But what could that be?

First, a short Hebrew word study. Proverbs 31:10-31 is an acrostic (written in order with words that start with the letters in order of the Hebrew alphabet) Hebrew letters do not just represent sounds, but also concepts that are usually described as a pictograph.

‘ESHET-CHAYIL “Woman of Valor” The first letter of the Hebrew aleph-bet is ALEPH (pictured at the top of this post) is always silent. It represents the power of God (the unseen leader that must show in our life). Words that begin with aleph start with a apostrophe (‘) when transliterated to English. The next letter of “woman” is the Hebrew letter shin, representing an eternal-flame, a consuming fire in words that have the letter. The final letter of “woman” in Hebrew is hey which pictures fruitfulness when used as a suffix. A woman is created to be a lamp for the Almighty’s eternal flame, setting His fire (her fruitfulness) in others. …but wait, there is more! Bathsheba has used the Hebrew letter tav as the suffix instead of hey, tav is the cross, the “sign” of God our Savior, our Y’shua. The woman her son needs is marked by her love of God, putting him first in her life.

‘eshet (woman) is a hyphenated word. It is connected to “chayil“ Chayil describes a virtuous warrior, but the sword this woman fights with is the Word of God. Her battles are fought from her prayer-closet.

Bathsheba knows that the value of this daughter-in-law is far above jewels. All of Solomon’s wealth could not buy her as if she was a hot date. What is worth more then a perfect jewel? Here is where the verse gets exciting!

The jewel is not the ruby, as it is often translated in English; rather it is a pearl. That shocked me when I first realized what the jewel is. I had to do a word study on pearl (H6443 paw-neen’). Pearls are developed from pain and harvested by the death of the creature they grew in.

Women are not born CHAYIL, it is not even something she becomes when she is born again, even so, Y’shua-Jesus must live in her heart before she can be chayil. The virtue of the Warrior of God starts with a heart that thanks the Almighty “in all things and for all things” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Thanksgiving is a testimony of trusting God, acknowledging Him in my life. Something that comes into my life and causes pain is what can develop the priceless beauty of the pearl in my life.

and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.  Matthew 13:46

One pearl of great value, when found (and they must be searched for) will cause a man to give up everything else to obtain it. But Bathsheba tells her son that this woman is worth more then everything he has. What can be worth more then everything?

And the acquisition of wisdom is above that of pearls. Job 28:18

How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding.
For her profit is better than the profit of silver and her gain better than fine gold.
She is more precious than jewels; and nothing you desire compares with her.
Proverbs 3:13-15

“For wisdom is better than jewels; and all desirable things cannot compare with her. Proverbs 8:11

Solomon had chosen wisdom over wealth.  (2 Chronicles 1:7-12) He had already chosen what was best and the Almighty blessed him for his choice. Now his mother urges him to desire a woman who is his equal, worth more then precious pearls! But what is wisdom? Can we pay for an education that will make us wise? If you have met many collage graduates, you know that education does not make you wise. Does age make you wise? Experience is not wisdom. What is wisdom?

1 Samuel 16:6-7 When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’S anointed is before Him.” But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Wisdom is in the heart. The throne of Y’shua is our heart. When we give thanks to the Almighty in Y’shua-Jesus name for every circumstance, we acknowledge Him in our life. We ask for His direction as we walk through the dark valleys, prayer is our connection. To see life from God’s perspective instead of from an emotional or logical perspective is wisdom. In the parable of the Ten Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) the first two slaves knew they were entrusted with the masters wealth. They knew his Way and used His money, His Talents, His Way to bring increase to His kingdom. The third slave lived by emotion. Fear ruled him instead of thanksgiving in the prayer-closet. His angry master rebuked him, he lost everything because he did not…

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge (thanksgiving) Him, and He will make your paths straight.
Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil.  Proverbs 3:5-7

Debs in Everett, Washington

Is there pain in your life? I challenge you, Woman of God, to offer a sacrifice of Thanksgiving to God (Psalm 116:17). I know from experience that thanksgiving is not always given in joy. It truly can be a sacrifice! Cry your tears, they are precious to the Almighty (Psalm 56:8). You may not be able to go forward until you have released your tears. Y’shua cried drops of blood for the pain he was about to go through at the cross, but committed himself to “not my will but thine be done” Trust your pain to the Abba-Father who adopts you as His own because of what Y’shua did. (** Revelation 21:4) Be the warrior of greater value then any prize earth has to offer!

Morning Devotions: Psalm 10

I wanted to learn how to ski. My boyfriend (Forty years later he is still my husband) was good at the sport, he made it look easy, he made it sound like the most amazing sport in the world. Besides that, the clothes were cute. Wearing a ski jacket with a lift-pass on the zipper pull put you into the kewl category. Honestly, it was the most painful, difficult, humbling thing that I’ve ever learned to do.

Ray did a good job teaching me how to stay upright on the kiddy slope, even when he really wanted was to challenge himself on the advanced runs. Cute and needy will only take you just so far on a ski date. Eventually the moguls would seduce him more then I could. He would assure me that he would just be gone a minute or 20, then he would be back to help me. This usually happened just after I would have a temper tantrum because skiing my very best, not falling down for 80 yards, and feeling accomplished would suddenly be squashed with the realization that Ray had been skiing backwards the whole way so he could keep an eye on me while calling out encouragement.

BACKWARDS! He could ski better going backwards then I could going forwards! All his praise would suddenly sound like teasing because of my pride. Sports usually came easy to me, but the first couple of years of skiing did not. Off he would go to hit the challenging slopes (as if the well groomed kiddy slope was not challenging at all). Later I would discover that he had gone somewhere where I could not see him. He would watch me, he would see me struggle and watch me fall, not rushing to my rescue, but instead letting me struggle to get back up on those randy skis. I got stronger, I got better, I even started looking forward to his instruction. He was never far away, always there if I REALLY needed help, but he knew I would get strong only if I had to work through the difficult times without constant rescue, becoming more dependent on skill then my ability to flirt or get grumpy.

Psalm 10:1 Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?

I really have my husband to thank for my understanding of this week’s psalm. Like my beloved husband teaching this stubborn Norwegian to ski, the Almighty is never gone, just not in my view. He shows me what to do, how to live, then seems to leave me on my own to learn the skills he has given me to live. Ever close if I am really in trouble, but not there to whine at. He knows what I need to be strong and skillful on The Way.

At first glance, Psalm 10 seems to be a Psalm of defeat. Most of it seems to be about the wicked and their success. To me Psalm 10 is a poem for the chayil, the valiant warriors of the Almighty. We learned in our study of Joshua that the Almighty calls us to be strong, meaning to cling to him and His Way, even when our eyes see no evidence of him (Joshua 1:6, 7, 9 and 18) The wicked are like wolves. They crouch and drool when one of us is weak, coming in to hurt, to destroy us when we are down. We must be chayil because we are warriors of the Almighty. We are to defend the helpless and the weak. The Almighty is there for us to call upon, but he has shown us how to live, he gives us opportunity to live righteously and to defend our beloved sisters and brothers in the faith. We are not alone, but like the chord (the hope) of three strands, ourselves, our sisters and brothers in the Almighty, and the Spirit of Y’shua-Jesus (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12) we are not quickly broken. We are not alone. Y’shua did the most powerful thing possible when we could not do it for ourselves. He gave his blood to buy us out of slavery. The Almighty restored his life. Life in Y’shua and Y’shua in us is true strength. Giving up EVERYTHING because we trust the Almighty as Abraham did when he lifted the knife to Isaac’s throat (Genesis 22) He calls us to do what he has done, to follow him. Love your sisters when they are weak, when they are grumpy and say mean things. Love doesn’t take the abuse, but it does love the one who is thrashing about trying to be strong in this world instead of clinging to the Almighty. Cling for them. The Almighty is near.

Romans 15:1 Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. nasu

No one wants to hug a porcupine, it hurts! But I am here to tell you, when I have been the most prickly, the Almighty has sent people to love me, people who get their strength from the Almighty and shared it with me. He has also called me to do the same for others. I have nothing within myself to love the unlovable except for the Messiah who loved me when I was not worth anything. He loved me and strengthened me to stand up and walk The Way.

1 Corinthians 1:27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,

The wicked, the wolves of this world are always watching for weakness. They can capture and rip up the weak. We are only weak when we live as if the Almighty does not care about us. We are weak when we are angry at our sisters, our brothers, who maybe disrespect us or ignore us. Feeling that way should be your clue, your red flag to pray, to pour out your heart to the Almighty, to exchanged your ashes for beauty! To refocus on the hope we have in Salvation.

Hebrews 6:18 so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.

Be chayil! Warriors who have the strength of the Almighty and have each others back!

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.

Mrs. Hagerty, November 10, 2015

Morning Devotions: 2 Peter chapter 1

To my internet readers, remember that the Bible is more powerful then anything that I write. Bless yourself, bless me. Get your Bible and prayerfully read today’s passage, 2 Peter 1 before you read my devotion. MsH

having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 2 Peter 1:4b

We who have a “faith of the same kind” as Peter, with Power that comes from the Almighty through the indwelling Spirit; live in this world but are not subject to the lust of the world. Our focus is on the Almighty, not the things we could have, the comfort of stuff or the deadly power of boasting about having the best of everything (1 John 2:16) When we were slaves of darkness, we were kept under control by lust. The devil teases our eyes with what we could have if the Almighty really loved us (remember Chava-Eve? Genesis 3:1). The devil tempts our flesh with the comfort and goodness that we could have if YHVH did not withhold things from us (remember the complaints about manna from YHVH in the Wilderness? Numbers 11:6). We can fall to the idea that our value comes from our “stuff” and the boastful pride of life (we do love having the latest and best instead of being content and thankful)

But we have been set free from slavery to the world. This does not mean that the slave master, the devil, will not try to control us with all the old tricks that used to always work on us (lust). We are no longer captive to sin and the devil, we are free! But how do we escape what once controlled us? By the Word of the Almighty.

• Be quick (Peter’s word for diligence in Greek means speed),
• be chayil (the Hebrew word for moral excellence—a virtuous warrior)
•  gain knowledge The Hebrew pictograph for knowledge is “a door (dalet) to see what comes (ayin–hey)” Knowledge starts with Y’shua-Jesus (the author, Hebrews 12) and he completes it (Hebrews 12).
• Self-control starts with keeping your eyes on Y’shua-Jesus,
• perseverance is the idea of not giving up (running with patience the race set before us (Hebrews 12)
• Being Godly (living the life described in Scripture),
• being kind to your fellow believers (who are still learning what you may already know, who also stumble just like you do), and
• loving the way the Almighty loves you, a love that does not expect anything in return but keeps looking to Jesus.

Be diligent to know Him, this is how we run the race that has eternal life at the finish line.
Mrs. Hagerty, October 30, 2015

Every year the Almighty surprises me with something. One of this season’s surprises was bright red snapdragons… I did not plant any snapdragons. I feel so loved!

The Valiant Warrior, Proverbs 31:10

No school today either. November 13, 2015, Instead of a morning devotion I updated lesson one of the Valiant Warrior, also known as the Proverbs 31 woman. Click on over to my other blog. I would be thrilled if you gave me some feedback.

The Valiant Warrior, Proverbs 31, Lesson 1

Click on the image to jump to the lesson.

The Valiant Warrior, an introduction

There is no school today, (November 12, 2015) so I am not writing a morning devotion. Instead I have updated the introduction to last years study of the Proverbs 31 woman, the valiant warrior, and am giving you the link. I hope you enjoy the study. In fact, I hope you learn something about who we were created to be and that you want to be like her. Surprise! She is not some Victorian door mat, She is a Warrior!

The Valiant Warrior

Click to read my Proverbs 31  introduction.

You will absolutely thrill me if you leave a comment that lets me know you were there.

Mrs. Hagerty, November 12, 2015