She Is a Seeker

Proverbs 31 is all about God's ideal spiritual pattern for our lives.  This portion of Scripture is related to the women and as a woman we can apply the pattern to our lives.  It can also refer to the church as the Bride of Christ and the pattern for those who claim to be a child of God.  In either application, the pattern remains the same.

In order to understand the picture portrait God paints, it is necessary to place ourselves in this particular time period in order to understand the application.  We see throughout God's Word, pictures are used in order to help those to whom the word was given to understand the spiritual principle.  God always uses things around us which we can understand.  In this case, the entire weaving process described here was very familiar to this culture. 

The entire process leading up to and including the weaving required great diligence...an attribute the Proverbs 31 woman would understand.  According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, the distaff (in verse 19) was referrred to as the "wisdom" of women.  The distaff and spindle were used in making the threads for weaving.  We won't go into the whole signficance of these at this particular time (for the sake of space).

Within the Scriptures, the wool is symbolic of righteousness that comes from sacrifice; sins forgiven by the blood of the Lamb.  Returning to verse 13 where she is seeking out the wool and the flax for the making of the linen garments (which indicates garments of righteousness), we see the diligence she shows between the seeking and the "making"...the diligence to become pure and holy.  As she is diligently doing this, everything occurring in her spiritual walk becomes significant which is what we see in each of the verses between verses 13 and verse 19.
     1.  There is the laying down of her life to follow and serve her God.
     2.  There is a life of service to her family and others (she is LIKE a merchant ship).
     3.  She is continuing to feed upon the Word of God thus strengthening and maintaining her confidence in Him and His Word.
     4.  Her life in Christ is strong and when temptations and trials come (the night seasons), her foundation proves to be solid and that which is in her does not cause her "light" to go out.  Her lamp is kept lit.
     5.  Confidence is her "spiritual purse" which contains those things necessary for her confidence.

Everything transpiring (in verses 14-19) play a part in making the "threads" of her life which God needs as He has her upon His loom to weave the tapestry of her life.  Those threads create the fine linen garment God is looking for - a surrendered and obedient woman through every step.