You have probably all heard of the Proverbs 31 woman. I have seen so many young men claim that they wish they could find a Proverbs 31 woman to marry. Or others who claim to have found a Proverbs 31 woman and just can't wait to make her their wife! Woohoo!
She is a capable wife.
She imports her food from far away.
She makes all her own clothes.
She gets up really early and cooks for her husband.
She works out.
Her husband is super popular.
She has her own business.
Her husband praises her.
She is submissive.
She lives for the will of her husband.
Oh yeah, and God too.
I don't have a huge problem with all of these things. Fearing God is cool. Owning your own business is pretty swell. But it doesn't say things like "sometimes she does things for herself because she's worth that." It doesn't say that her husband helps her cook and clean because he recognizes the fact that being a mother and wife is actually pretty difficult work. It doesn't say that she is independent and courageous.
She lives for her husband and for God. And probably her children (although they are barely mentioned).
I guess there are worse things to live for.
But I would rather be one of these women of the Bible.
Sarah... obviously Sarah has to be one of my favorite women of the Bible. I wish I had her faith, her humor, her love for Abraham. She hears what God promises and she wants to do everything she can to make that come true so that the nations might be blessed through the offspring of her husband. Even if it means she has to suck it up and give Abraham her servant Hagar. So maybe her efforts were a little misguided. She didn't give up and she loved God.
Achsah of Joshua, Judges, and 1 Chronicles... When her father promised her to a man in marriage, she told her father to up the dowry. Basically "I'm worth more than just a few acres of land." What a badass.
Deborah... the only female Judge of Israel in the Old Testament. Need I say more? People used to beg her to be a part of their battles because they were too afraid to fight on their own. She was pretty freaking cool.
Hogla of Numbers and Joshua... she was one of the five daughters of Zelophehad who fought and won the right to inhereit their deceased father's property. Back then, women were basically considered property, so the fact that she could own her father's property (it would typically go to her brothers or uncles or some distant relative) is really awesome.
Jael of Judges... she is my favorite. Jael tricked Sisera into coming to sleep in her tent and then she drove a tent spike through his head. This delivered the Israelites from the troops of king Jabin. I imagine her looking around at all the chaos and death going and and thinking, "well if all these men can't handle it, then I'm going to do this myself!" She is pretty much the coolest.
Junia... one of the outstanding woman apostles. She was a colleague of Paul and he apparently thought very highly of her. Reason #975 why I don't think Paul wrote mean things about women in his letters. Anyone who is able to hang with Paul and tolerate his incessant preaching and obsession with Jesus is worth a place on this list.
Ruth... she stayed with her mother Naomi because she knew that Naomi would need comfort and guidance after the death of all of her sons and husband. Ruth is one of the most selfless, beautiful women in the Bible. She is also the only one who has a whole book about her. Not only that, but Naomi is kind of an awesome trickster and tricked a man into marrying Ruth and giving her a life. I love cunning women. Sometimes I like to pretend I'm that clever.
Mary... I basically love all of the Marys in the Bible, but I especially like Mary, the sister of Martha. She sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to him teach while other people were probably looking at her like she was a freak. You see, she wasn't doing the social norm of that time... she should have been up hosting with her sister Martha. Martha even calls her on it! But Mary is just perfectly content being with her Savior, no matter what is going on around her.
Rebekah... a lot of people don't really like Rebekah because she had a favorite son. But she is so smart! She dresses her favorite son up and makes sure he gets the blessing from their dying father. So maybe she's not super honest, but she is killer smart.
I like women who take things into their own hands. Women who stand up for what they believe in. Women who know what they want and are out to get it. The Proverbs 31 woman sounds nice for a while, but her obedience to her husband and mundane days of making garments and planting vineyards sounds like a drag.
So here's hoping my future husband likes more of a Jael-type of girl!
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