What does it say to us? It says to us what God had in mind all along! He wanted the woman to be honored, and not treated like a lot of the ancient countries did—as if she was nothing! He does not want her treated like a lot of the countries are doing today that do not have the Bible. The woman is to be revered and loved and honored. Our Bible shows us how we can do it. Our Lord certainly did it. The Scriptures of the New Testament certainly bear out the same principle that we are to honor our father and mother, just like the Ten Commandments said…“That it might be well with thee, and thou might live long upon the earth,”[Exodus 20:12].

Do things go well when we try to do the Will of God? Certainly they do! He didn’t plan anything for us that would hurt us. He’s our Father! He didn’t require anything of us that would damage us, or damage others. He loves the whole human family. He wants them to get along! “Thou shall not kill…Thou shall not steal…Thou shall not bear false witness…Thou shall not commit adultery…Thou shall not covet,” [see Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5]. Those statements are so simple, but they are so far reaching in their effect.

We are thinking about mothers today, not only because our country has designated this day as “Mother’s Day,” but as Christians, as followers of the Lord, as servants of God, we think of our mothers (and our fathers) on more than one appointed day out of the year. When you analyze what is said here in these ancient terms and phrases, and you translate them into modern terms and phrases, you can see the wisdom of what was written. This is good, not only to praise a mother, but it’s good for the whole family.

I’ve divided up the verses 10 through 31…and incidentally, that’s what is called an acrostic. The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters. When an author started every little paragraph with one of those letters, like A, B, C, D, etc., in our language, it was a beautiful, narrative poem. An acrostic was a beautiful way of putting together something that people could remember! And that’s the idea. The writer wanted these people to remember all of these qualities concerning a mother.

So the first thing that he said is, “A virtuous woman, who can find…” Well, he talks about her, and her husband. He talks about her, and her children. And he talks about her and her qualities—her virtues, her nature.

Look at the first section—her and her husband. “The heart of her husband trusts in her.” You know, trust is faith, but it’s part of love. You couldn’t love someone you didn’t trust. But, you know, trust is built! You don’t just turn it on and turn it off. Trust is earned. It comes from having conversation; it comes from living together, seeing, observing and following. So he learns to trust her by the manner of her life. He learns to trust her by what she has said. She’s always truthful. She’s always kind. He knows that she is always seeking to do what is best for him. This is a good wife!

“He will have no lack of gain.” It literally means that she doesn’t spend everything. She helps with the household expenses, and it’s going to show that in the rest of what the writer has to say.

“She does him good and not harm all the days of his life.” Her husband is “known in the gates.” The gates were the common meeting place of the men of the city. As they met there, he would be honored because they knew who his wife was and what she did for him.

Well, we are looking at this woman as a wife. Of course, the idea of a virtuous woman is indicating someone of highest character. That’s really what the Bible wants to convey to us. Here’s a woman that’s not just a woman. Here’s a woman with character. She knows Who God is; she knows who her husband is; she knows who her family is; she knows what life’s all about. And she lives a life that’s characteristic of someone who knows—who has the knowledge. She’s a support to her husband. He’s known in the gates. The whole town knows who he is, and who she is. They realize that he is who he is because of the help that she’s given him.

Now, you can see how practical this is because this is how it is today. I’ve known many men that would not be anything without their wife. The wife made that man what he was. That’s the thing that the Bible is speaking about here. It says she does him good and not harm all the days of his life. Isn’t that a beautiful thing? We have seen marriages break up and both parties tried to do all the harm and meanness they could to each other. That’s really not in the Bible. It’s not God’s way. It says her husband is known in the gates. She has built an honorable character for him just like she has for herself.

Then the writer shifts to the idea of the whole household, the children as well as the husband. She’s not afraid of the snow for her household. What does that mean? She works hard no matter how cold it is, how hard or how difficult it is, for her household. She wants to make sure that they’re all right.

And so our old translation says that they “are clothed in scarlet.” Well, that would be expensive clothing. But we now think that the word in the ancient language literally meant double layers. Now, it ties in with what the idea of snow was. She clothes her family, so she has no fear of the snow. They’ve got on “double layers.” I think that’s probably what this means.

She makes herself coverings. It’s talking about outer garments, mainly—fine linen and purple. Purple, even in New Testament times, was that purple dye that came from the murex, which was a shellfish. And it was very rare! Lydia [Acts 16:14-15] was a seller of purple. It was a very expensive dye. Consequently, you only put it on the most expensive of cloth. So, anyone who was dressed in linen and purple, they were at the “top of the list”.