What does it look
like to be a “good” woman? Is it the waitress at the restaurant that all the
men are falling over themselves for? Is it the genius boss at the office,
looking powerful in her tight black skirt? Is it the funny, popular art teacher
at the high school whose students adore her?
Culture
and media today have created a picture of the “perfect” woman – a woman who is,
of course, visually stunning but beyond even that, she is powerful, witty,
cunning, intelligent, and, though she may have a “fatal flaw”, is categorically
fierce. Characters like Katniss Everdeen The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins),
Wonder Woman (Wonder Woman, Warner
Bro. Pictures), Black Widow (The
Avengers, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures) or even Hermione Granger (The Harry Potter Series, J.K. Rowling) teach that being a hardcore girl who can beat up anyone who
crosses her path is ideal. In a twist of irony, these characters give moldable
minds the impression that if you are not extraordinary in some way, there must
be something wrong with you. Because of this so-called “Wonder Woman” ideal,
young women are growing up pursuing an unattainable, unrealistic dream-version
of a person. That does not mean that it is wrong to meet the world head on if
that is the way your personality chooses to react to life, or even that it is
wrong to read books or watch movies with such characters, but it does mean that
something in the media needs to change (Berquist, Jon L.).
THE VIRTUOUS WOMAN
Young women who
have grown up in the faith often turn to the passage Proverbs 31:10-31 for a
more realistic insight on what it looks like to be a “good” woman. This is the
proverb that gives a picture of what an “excellent wife” (verse 10, ESV) is
according to the author, who was inspired by God. However, this often leads
women to strive for yet another unattainable image – the “Proverbs 31 woman”. That
is not the intent of this passage (Wolters, Albert M.). Instead of focusing so
much on attaining the attributes of the “Proverbs 31 Woman”, girls should
strive towards becoming women of noble character. What does a woman of noble
character look like? Who should we be emulating, then? Who better than the
great heroines of the Old Testament, who lived their lives through the strength
of God; loving, making mistakes, and being human. Eve demonstrates how to be
women of diligence. Rahab is a picture of God’s redemption, and of the faith
necessary to be a virtuous woman. Deborah shows us the importance of
preparation, and of exhibiting strength and dignity in submission. Ruth is
characteristically loyal and her obedience to those in authority over her paints
a very clear picture of God’s expectation of women. And Esther’s wisdom and
compassion show that there is more to a noble woman than merely keeping house.
The attributes of these women, as fellow females, are what we should be doing
our best to emulate (Wolters, Albert M.).
THE DILIGENCE OF A NOBLE WOMAN
Eve
is not the most notorious woman in the Old Testament, but she is one of the
most well-known. After all, her one mistake – eating the forbidden fruit and
sharing it with her husband – caused all of humanity and the earth to be
cursed. But Eve was created perfect, and she was created to be a helper for her
husband, Adam. Eve was fashioned out of man for the specific reason of being
his counterpart (Genesis 2:18-25). Eve fulfilled this position with gusto
(Nowell, Irene). Every day for as long as the two remained in the garden, Eve
helped Adam with daily tasks. It was a perfect environment, and she could not
even think of complaining. She took care of Adam, and even after the Fall and
the two were kicked out of Eden, Eve fulfilled her duties (Genesis 4:1-2).
Proverbs 31:15 says, “She rises while it is yet night and provides
food for her household and portions for her maidens.” Eve did not have
any maidens – she was the only woman on the earth for a while – but Genesis
makes it clear that she took care of her family. We women must be diligent all
across our lives. We must be diligent in our daily tasks, diligent to share the
gospel with others, and diligent to actively seek out God’s will for our lives
(Wolters, Albert M.). Diligence, the opposite of laziness, is being purposeful
in industriousness, which is an essential life skill for anyone, but especially
for the woman of noble character who desires to please God.
THE FAITH OF A NOBLE WOMAN
Both Jewish and
Christian writers have attempted to prove that Rahab in the New Testament,
mentioned in our Lord’s genealogy and by Paul as a woman of great faith, was a
different woman than who is clearly spoken of in the Old Testament. To them, it
was so abhorrent to have someone known as a “harlot” included among the lineage
of Jesus. However, I believe that she is a worthy inclusion, and a beautiful
picture of God’s grace. Rahab was the only resident of Jericho who resolved to
fear and obey the Israelite God, even before her interaction with the Israelite
spies. She had reason to help the people of Yahweh – because she had heard the
stories of His great power and believed them (Joshua 2:10-11). After Jericho’s
demise, God kept his promise to her and saved Rahab’s family, who then
continued to make their home with Israel (Liung, Inger).
Rahab was a
prostitute, the lowest of the low, until she realized faith in the God of the
Israelites – and He blessed her by not only rescuing her from death, but by
putting her in the lineage of the Messiah. This reminds me of Proverbs 31:10 –
“…
she
is far more precious than jewels.” Rahab was saved from the destruction
of Jericho because of her incredible faith in a God that had obviously revealed
Himself to her in a supernatural way. God had a reason for Rahab to live, and
she was blessed by being a woman of noble character. Rahab was precious to God,
and we are precious to Him as well. A great faith will bring about blessing –
Proverbs 31:30 says that “
a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
(Wolters, Albert M.) Rahab is one of only two women mentioned in
Hebrews 11 as examples of godly faith (the other is Sarah, Abraham’s
wife)(Hebrews 11:31). Out of Rahab’s weaknesses she was made strong in faith,
through the power of God. She focused on the godly mission of the spies and
realized that they represented the God of Israel. Not only did Rahab believe in
the existence of God, but she took literally what He had revealed to her
through faith and acted on it. In Joshua 2:9-11, Rahab affirms that she
believes the Lord and His works: “
I know that the Lord has given you the land,
and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of
the land melt away before you. For we have heard how to LORD dried up the water
of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the
two kinds of the Amorites…” Notice how the letters of the word “lord”
are all capitalized in this reference – the translators are referring to the
Jewish concept of Yahweh, which means that Rahab believed in the true,
all-powerful God of Israel. Rahab lived by faith, not by sight – she did not
see the events occur with her own eyes, but she had faith to believe that
Israel’s God was powerful enough to take care of her and her family (Davidson,
Richard M.).
Faith like Rahab’s
is demonstrated in a woman of noble character by her willingness to let God
guide her life. She always puts God first, no matter how difficult this may be.
Of course, in practical life, we women will fall short of this – still it is a
goal that we should all be striving for. All of us, men and women alike, must
show faith in the unseen in order to believe in Christ Jesus and his death and resurrection
on the cross, but, more than that, in our lives, faith must be demonstrated by
how we make decisions, who we choose to spend our time with, and how we think,
speak, and act (Wolters, Albert M.)
THE STRENGTH OF A NOBLE WOMAN
Many
things come to mind when thinking about Deborah the Judge. She was an
incredible woman of God, a military strategist, a poet, and a prophet. Some say
that she had a fiery nature, but we know for sure that she gave judgements from
under a palm tree and that she prepared to go into battle with Barak (Lindars,
Barnabus).
Proverbs
31:25 makes it clear that strength is one of the trademarks of a noble woman:“Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.” It
takes strength to get through life as a human, whatever gender you may be, but
it definitely takes the strength of the Lord to be a woman. Strength is the
ability to get done what needs to be done. Dignity is the ability to do that in
a way that is deserving of honor and respect. Dignity brings out the softer
side of being a woman (Wolters, Albert M.). According to Judges 4, Deborah
trusted God’s word for what it was, and was not afraid to go with Barak into
battle when he demanded it – nor was she afraid to call Barak out on his
weakness (“
I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are
going will not lead to your glory, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand
of a woman.” – Judges 4:9) Deborah was strong in that she took God at
His word and followed through, and she was dignified in that she respected and
supported Barak, without being afraid to challenge him (Lindars, Barnabus).
It is good for
young women to challenge men to put God first and ask how a given situation
brings glory to God, even though we as women are called to live in submission
to the men in our lives (Nowell, Irene). Submission is a hot-button topic in
the Christian world today, and the previously mentioned “Wonder Woman” trope
that has bombarded entertainment is a direct attack against this Biblical
topic.
THE LOYALTY OF A NOBLE WOMAN
Ruth
is one of the most looked to women of the Bible when it comes to role models.
She is known for her loyalty, her generosity, and her obedience to her mother-in-law,
Naomi.
The
woman of noble character is also known for her loyalty. Proverbs 31:11 says
this: “The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of
gain.” She has proven herself to be a trustworthy person, and her
husband and others around her know that they will lose nothing by trusting her,
that she will be loyal to them (Wolters, Albert M.). Ruth could not bear to
part with Naomi even though her mother-in-law had given her the choice to go
back to her family with no hard feelings. We have no way of knowing anything
more about Ruth’s background, but perhaps her choice to stay was due to a
strong love for her late husband Mahlon, or simply the strong bond that she had
formed with her mother-in-law, or that she knew Naomi was hurting and didn’t
want her to be alone in these trying times. At any rate, Ruth chose to stay,
demonstrating a faith in Naomi’s God and a loyalty unsurpassed and pure in its
form (Berquist, Jon L.).
Part
of loyalty is being obedient. This is reminiscent of the submission commanded
of women in the Bible – we are not only to be submissive to our husbands, but
also to those in authority around us. Obedience does not show a weakness, as it
is sometimes portrayed in popular culture today; rather, it shows humility and
Christlikeness. Ruth obeyed Naomi when she instructed her to go into the
fields, and also when she was told to lay at Boaz’s feet (Ruth 3:4)(Berquist,
Jon L.).
The
woman of noble character is called to live a selfless life, giving others a
reason to trust her with her loyalty and trustworthiness. She respects those in
authority over her, takes care of her elders, and does not complain even at
seemingly odd requests (Wolters, Albert M). Ruth is a great example of a woman
of noble character who has her heart in the right place.
THE WISDOM OF A NOBLE WOMAN
Proverbs
31:26 says of the noble woman: “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the
teaching of kindness is on her tongue.” This verse seems to describe
the prudence and compassion of Queen Esther perfectly.
Esther
was a young Jewish woman who was chosen by King Ahasuerus after his first
queen, Vashti, was deposed for refusing to dance pornographically in front of
the king’s officials. The King was not aware of Esther’s ethnicity, and so when
his official Haman organized a plot to destroy her uncle, Mordecai, and all of
the Jewish people, she was able to reveal this and save her people. Was Esther
brave? Certainly, that is undisputed. But a trait of Esther that hardly ever
receives the limelight is that of her God-given wisdom – she was in danger for
her life, but she still spent a few days fasting a praying in order to gain the
wisdom of God in this situation. Even through this, God was at work, and
Esther, an orphan and a slave who was serving the lust of a pagan king, became
a heroine of Israel. She is clearly a wise young woman (Nowell, Irene).
Wisdom
is not the same as intelligence. Intelligence entails being smart and having
head knowledge, while wisdom is putting into practice what you have learned
from God in every aspect of your life. The noble woman seeks God’s wisdom for
everything.
Esther
is also extremely compassionate. She extends her arms to those in need –
namely, her suffering people. She was a woman who knew what needed to be done,
and she did it, despite fearing for her life. She reached out to those in need.
Queen Esther sets an example in compassion and kindness. Even in her dealings
with Haman, she did not confront him in an antagonistic way – instead, she
invited him to two feasts with the King where she calmly “outed” his evil ways,
so to speak (Wolters, Albert M.).
Today’s
noble woman is one who reaches out to God for His wisdom. She is continually in
the Word and in prayer, communing with God daily. She never rushes her Quiet
Time - well, maybe occasionally - but she loves her time with the Lord and
cherishes it, because only through seeping herself in the truth can she be
saturated in His wisdom and live her life with it. She sets an example in
compassion to those around her, extending her hands to the needy, never
compromising when she sees someone who needs her tender loving care. Like Esther,
she is brave and knows what needs to be done, and without complaining, she
seeks God’s guidance first and then accomplishes the task in faith (Wolters,
Albert M.).
THE IGNOBLE WOMAN
In
contrast to all of these women who are great examples of a virtuous character,
Gomer (Hosea 1:2) was a woman of the opposite personality. She was called by
God a “woman of whoredom” and she continually cheated on her husband Hosea. God
used this as a picture of Israel running after other gods. In the time of Gomer
and Hosea, Israel was falling into severe moral decay. Gomer’s unfaithfulness
would serve as an example of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God – Hosea used it as
an object lesson to explain to the people of Israel how God felt about their
sin and warned of the punishment to come if Israel did not come back to their
first love, God’s love which tolerates no rivals (Davidson, Richard M.).
In
the same way, we women must remember that God must come first. Like the
Israelites, we often have a tendency to let ourselves be distracted from what
is really important. Anything can be a “god” in our lives, from our image, to
television, to boys, to our hobbies. It is so, so easy to get swept away in
this brightly colored world that moves at the instantaneous speed of
electricity. But we need to keep our head above this swift-moving stream. There
is nothing that pleases God more than our attention and desire to bring Him
glory, and when we let anything else captivate our attention, we lose the
relationship with God that we were designed to have (Liung, Inger). Remember
Proverbs 31:30: “
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord
is to be praised.”
THE WONDER WOMAN OF NOBLE CHARACTER
Emma
Watson said this about her character Hermione Granger and the Wonder Woman
trope in today’s media: “Young girls are
told you have to be the delicate princess. Hermione taught them that you can be
the warrior.” This completely
encompasses what young women are being told today – we don’t have to be the
delicate princess. We can be the warrior. Except that it’s not okay to be the
princess anymore. That has become a stereotype associated with prudes. And it’s
ironic that in a society that says, “Be whatever you want and we’ll accept
you!” no one seems to accept anyone.
God,
however, makes princesses,
and he
makes warriors. He makes the short girls with hot tempers and the tall, quiet,
graceful girls. He makes geeky blondes and sexy brunettes, and vice versus. He
makes women who like to party and women who would rather binge Netflix all day.
He makes women of all shapes and sizes and personalities and He loves them all
equally, and we are all called to be noble women. Our task is not to try to
impress a world in which impressing anyone is impossible, and our task is not to
become a warrior in a society that clearly has enough of them already. Our job
is to glorify the One who has saved us from eternal separation from Him – not
to glorify ourselves or others whose opinions of us will never be satisfied.
Some of us are called to stand up for what we believe. Like Deborah or Esther,
these are the women who speak up for the lost and who go to battle for what
they believe in. But others are simply called to honor our family members like
Ruth, to diligently serve our husbands like Eve, and to live out our faith as
an example to others, like Rahab. There is no “wonder woman”. Each is perfect,
and valued, and beautiful in their own way, as God has created them for a
purpose in this life. What the noble woman learns, over time, is that it is
better to look deeper than the surface, at the needs and hurts and loves of
others, than at the surface qualities like how a woman conducts herself. Only
when we learn to put aside our own insecurities and focus on others can we
truly be called a “woman of noble character.”
WORKS
CITED
Berquist,
Jon L. Reclaiming her story: The witness of
women in the Old Testament. Wipf and
Stock
Publishers, 2006.
Davidson,
Richard M. Flame of yahweh: Sexuality in the Old
Testament. Hendrickson
Publishers,
2007.
Lindars,
Barnabas. "Deborah's Song: Women in the Old Testament." (1983).
Ljung,
Inger. Silence or suppression: attitudes
towards women in the Old Testament.
Acta
Universitatis Upsaliensis, 1989.
Nowell,
Irene. Women in the Old Testament. Liturgical Press, 1997.
The Holy
Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016. Print.
Watson, Emma.
Wolters,
Albert M. The Song of the Valiant Woman:
Studies in the Interpretation of Proverbs 31:
10-31. Paternoster, 2001.
After I had my picture taken and I
was wheeled out of the room, I was over-thinking like crazy. “Oh, Sophie!” I
chastised myself. “Why did you say that? You probably made him feel bad! It
wasn’t awkward! What were you saying?”
