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Speaker: Jerry Cisar
Let me posit a possible question on the final for a degree in pastoral ministry. “So it’s Mothers Day, your sermon series as landed you on Proverbs 6 & 7, the text about the adulterous woman, and you have to decide what you are going to preach. What do you do?” Except in this case, it is not a hypothetical question on a test, but the actual decision I had to make this week. So what did I decide?
I wisely (that’s my version of the story) decided that it would be wise to jump forward to Proverbs 31:10-31 where we find what is traditionally called the account of the virtuous woman. This text truly does describe a hero of a wife and mother. However, it is important to keep in mind that the original audience was the son (and all sons), and it is a message about what kind of wife the son is to pursue. In chapter 5 we learned a lot about what kind of wife not to pursue, in chapter 31 we discover what kind of wife he should pursue.
Ever made your list of what you wanted in a spouse and brought it to the Lord? In Proverbs 31:10-31, God is effectively answering every guy’s prayer (and even every woman’s if you listen closely) who ever brought their list to Him. He is saying, “Shred your list!” “To be sure, you need a list, but I need to write the list for you, since you can’t be trusted to write your own list!” Proverbs 31:10-31 doesn’t need an addendum. This is an A-Z List. Each line begins with one of the letters of the Hebrew Alphabet. There are no missing letters. Its structure proclaims its sufficiency!
“But, you don’t understand, I need…” To which God says, “actually, no, you don’t understand… you need this!” What is missing? What made it onto this list?