The Valiant Warrior, Proverbs 31:10, Lesson 1

 A good wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. Proverbs 31:10  rsv

Note: Proverbs 31: 10-31, commonly referred to as “The Proverbs 31 Woman” are presented as an acrostic in Hebrew. Therefore each lesson begins with a brief and simplistic lesson on the Hebrew letter that begins the verses. I hope this blesses you as it has me. MsH

1. The Hebrew letter Aleph
2. Review of the Prologue 
3. The Hebrew word Chayil (excellence)
4. Her worth is more then Rubies 
5. What is wisdom?
6. Conclusion

(1) Aleph is the first letter of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet (alphabet). Unlike our English letters, which only represent a sound, Hebrew letters suggest an image, known as a pictograph, and a numeric value as well as a sound.

The letter Aleph is the first Hebrew letter. It is silent. The pictograph for Aleph is an ox head. Aleph pictures strength and leadership. It represents the Almighty, Elohim, as the master and leader. 

The letter Aleph has the numeric value (gematria) of both 1 and 1000. It is first in everything and it adds great value to all it is connected to. Y'shua--Jesus taught us that the first and the greatest commandment is “Love God with all your heart.” As believers, our first passion is to love God!

An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels. Proverbs 31:10 nasu

(2) In the Prologue I talked about “One woman, one man, for one life” as a source of strength for men. We saw that Solomon’s mother rebuked him for his many women because that destroys his virtue, his strength.  Walking “The Way” (the spiritual path of life) requires us to have the strength known as virtue, It is what makes us chayil - valiant.

We saw that Adam’s ministry was to keep the garden, meaning to guard or protect it and to make it fruitful. Chavvah-Eve was created to protect and aid Adam. THEY are created in God’s image.  When the two become one in marriage, something supernatural happens. We become strong for the ministry God created us for.

This week we will look at Proverbs 31:10 the excellent wife who is far more valuable then the rock she wheres on her finger.

(3) Chayil (pronounced khah’-yil) is from a root word that means “to dance” or “to twist or whirl in pain” (many subjects in Hebrew have both a positive meaning and a negative one.) Chayil describes a force which can be used to describe an individual or an army. The attributes of virtue, valor and strength describe chayil.

Proverbs 12:4 A chayil- excellent wife is the crown of her husband,
But she who shames him is like rottenness in his bones.

A women of strength and virtue is not a door mat! She is actually the crown on a man's head. Not to be walked on, not even equal. A woman of valor is the glory of a man, polished and well cared for. She isn't about gold or pretty stones, she is his helmet, his protection. More then a pretty helmet, her power is supernatural. Many husbands say that their wives "intuition" has protected them from foolish mistakes. She is the crown. The opposite is a woman who is all about herself instead of all about us.

 1 Samuel 10:26 Saul also went to his house at Gibeah; and the chayil-valiant men whose hearts God had touched went with him.

Chayil is not just about being a good woman. It is a person whose life has been touched by the Almighty. They have responded to his touch. The hand of discipline is harsh. The person who is chayil, men and women, need only a touch to respond.

 Exodus 18:21"Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people chayil-able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens.

Out of all the choices you have available to you, "select" a spouse (don't settle for a life-partner the way the world does) who is chayil.  

 Psalm 18:32 The God who girds me with chayil-strength  And makes my Way blameless?

The chayil person is supernatural, touched by the Almighty, born from on high. Chayil is not a character trait that a person is born with. It is who a person is because they submit their will to the Almighty.

 Psalms 60:12 and 108:13 Through God we shall do chayil-valiantly,
And it is He who will tread down our adversaries. 

 My personal life verse is Micah 6:8. It teaches that Elohim-God shows us what good is. Y'shua-Jesus is our visual aid for living a good life. The Almighty has told us what he requires of us in the Torah (the first 5 books of the English Bible). We are to live a life of truth and justice while loving mercy. That is what it means to "walk humbly" with our Elohim-God. The key that unlocks a chayil-excellent life in the eyes of Elohim-God is being born again. Only when we are reborn from on high can the Ruwach-Spirit of God live in our hearts. Did you know that the Hebrew word for heart is a pictograph for Shepherds House? According to the Prophet Jeremiah, we have a "change of heart" from stone to flesh and the Torah-the Word of God is written right on our heart of flesh. A stone heart can be all about justice (usually for others). The opposite kind of person can be all about no justice and believe they are showing mercy. Only the Almighty can make a person chayil- born again, able to live the truth in justice while loving mercy.

(4)…Her worth is far above rubies

The chayil woman has great value to God. She brings this virtue into her relationships. There is no greater worth in marriage then chayil from the man or woman. With the attribute of chayil; they (the two as one) have great value as a godly couple.

Solomon’s mother mentions the great value of this woman as being more then rubies, but what has greater worth than rubies?

The word translated “rubies” should have been translated “pearl.” (strongs #6443 Paniyn pronounced paw-neen’) People say that rubies, or diamonds and emeralds are costly, but God does not see the world the way people see the world. Gemstones are rare and that makes them valuable, but they are  just pretty rocks. A pearl is something beautiful that has been created from pain (a painful irritant in the soft flesh of an oyster).

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

Being chayil is not an automatic attribute of a person who has been born again. Salvation begins the process but it takes time to become a person of valor and excellence. It is an attitude of contentment and thanksgiving in all things. 

Revelation 21:21  And the twelve gates (of the new Jerusalem of God, the Bride of Messiah) were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold (gold must be refined in fire to be pure), like transparent glass.

Isaiah 61:1-3 The Spirit of the Almighty YHVH is upon me,
Because YHVH has anointed me
To bring good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to captives  And freedom to prisoners;

To proclaim the favorable year of YHVH
And the day of vengeance of the Almighty;
To comfort all who mourn,

To grant those who mourn in Zion,
Giving them a garland instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.
So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
The planting of YHVH, that He may be glorified.
 

(a garland is a necklace and something as tiny as ashes are irritants in an oyster)

What is it that is worth more than pearls to God?

Job 28:12-18 "But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?  " Man does not know its value, Nor is it found in the land of the living (the physical world).  "The deep says, 'It is not in me'; And the sea says, 'It is not with me.'  Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it, Nor can silver be weighed as its price. It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, In precious onyx, or sapphire.  Gold or glass cannot equal it, Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold. Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned; And the acquisition of wisdom is above that of pearls.

 Proverbs 3:13-15  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 8:11  "For wisdom is better than jewels; And all desirable things cannot compare with her.

(4) What is wisdom?

 1 Samuel 16:6-7 When the prophet Samuel came to the house of Jessie to anoint one of his sons the king of Israel without knowing which one God had chosen.

When they (Jessie’s oldest sons) entered, he (Samuel) looked at Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD'S anointed is before Him." (apparently Eliab is handsome and tall)  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 YHVH looks at the heart."

Wisdom is “seeing" from God’s perspective”

Beauty when all we see is filthy ashes

Joy (our chayil-strength) when the world brings mourning

Praise when circumstances are heavy.

(5) The reason the chayil woman has great value is because she does not fake her attitude. God is her strength and her life. She is human, so, like Samuel when he saw Eliab, she may think that the beautiful things and people of the world are chosen by the Almighty. But just as it only took a word to redirect Samuel, you could say, "a touch," she does not dwell on earths beauty, but looks for the Almighty's choice. The Bible is the light on her path. We know that heaven is our home but how we live our life until we get there is described in the Torah and powered by the indwelling Ruwach-Spirit of God for the chayil woman. The lesson of the pearl is that it is God Himself who makes us chayil-strong. That is what Matthew 25: 14-30 and the “talents” entrusted to the servants teach us. What we do with the gift of chayil- determines our worth.

Note: nothing bad about beauty, Esther spent a year perfecting it. But Esther was a Chayil woman first and beautiful second. Beauty always fades but Chayil-excellence, virtue grows stronger.

BE THE ALEPH WOMAN! (not the alpha) A woman of chayil-strength, a leader bringing others to Messiah, A woman who trusts the Almighty when life is hard.

Mrs. Hagerty, September 15, 2014
Updated November 13, 2015 MsH