“For her price is far above rubies” (Prov. 31:10b KJV)
“She is worth far more than rubies.” (Prov. 31:10b NIV)
We take another day to look at verse 10, more specifically, the second part. I find this part of verse 10 loaded with valuable insight! Can we dive in and glean as much as we can from this text!
Yesterday, we explored the first part of verse 10. (You can find this post here in case you missed it) You agree with me that finding a noblewoman is an uphill task. Don’t you?
In this second part, we begin to get a clue as to why she is rare. Let me give an illustration:
Gold, silver, diamond, precious stones, and rubies are among the most treasured metals and or substances.
You will not find them in your next neighborhood shop. You will not expose them to every Tom, Dick, and Harry as you walk along your usual street. Such precious gems are put in special safes under lock and key. You may regret the rest of your life (if you are lucky to live to tell the story) if you go exposing such jewels.
Several years ago, I was walking along a fairly deserted main street in our capital city. I was wearing a gold-coated chain I highly valued.
It all happened in a split of a second: a slight but quick touch on my neck. The next thing I saw as my hand impulsively flew to my neck, was a street boy running across the street, my chain in his hand! That’s how precious even a little gold can be. Thank God I was safe!
Do you remember Jesus’ illustration in comparing the kingdom of God to a man who found treasure of great value in a piece of land? He went and sold everything he had and bought that field. (Matt.13:44)
Job gives a descriptive explanation of how and where gold and other precious metals are found. Men have had to dig several feet underground just to get to these precious metals.
Now, in describing the Proverbs 31 woman, the queen mother states that her worth is far above these.
I hope you are beginning to get an idea of the extent of her value. How come God has valued this woman so highly?
To answer this question, let’s take a brief but significant trip back into history. This history begins in the garden of Eden.
It began with God creating the heavens and the earth.
He creates day and night on day one. He goes ahead to create the sky, the land, vegetation, the heavenly bodies, and the seasons in subsequent days.
He then goes ahead to create all sorts of animals; birds, sea creatures, fish, and land animals.
Last, of all, He creates man on the sixth day. He uniquely creates man because He created him in His image and likeness, unlike any other creature.
I like to see it this way: God so highly valued the man that He created him last, after creating a conducive environment in which the man was to live; with all, he needed, including the animals.
Together with the woman, his suitable companion, he shows the man what to do; to work the garden; to multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. He had God-given authority over the earth. The life of the man and his wife was blissful.
To crown, this bliss was the intimate fellowship and communion they had with God.
You may already know the story of the fall; a story told in Genesis 3 of the Bible.
Satan entices the man and woman to eat the fruit of the tree of good and evil; the fruit of which God had told them categorically that if they ate of it, they would surely die.
Disobedience? Definitely! They chose to believe the enemy’s lie. Indeed, they died, spiritually, as God told them.
What now?
The man and woman were no longer under God’s covering spiritually; they were naked. They were dead spiritually. Man’s communion with God provided covering for Adam and Eve. When the fellowship broke, the man realized he was naked. They would then bear the consequences of their rebellion.
God graciously gives them a temporary solution; He offers a temporary measure by killing an animal and covering the man with skin. This is the first pointer to the coming Redeemer who would die to redeem man eternally. The lamb of God had to die for the sin of mankind. He became the perfect sacrifice to atone for all the sins of the world.
After the fall of man, the enemy now had authority over a man. They had believed and actualized Satan’s lie!
The enemy has used this authority over man to oppress and harass man, awakening in man every evil wicked desire, leading him into sin, with the ultimate intention to steal, kill and destroy mankind. (Jn. 10:10)
Genesis 3:15 though became the turning point for man:
“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Gen. 3:15 KJV)
The prophecy in that verse, fulfilled in the coming of Christ, the Seed of the woman; His ultimate death, burial, and resurrection, had huge implications for fallen man.
It meant that in Christ, man could experience life and freedom once again. Christ Jesus paid the ultimate price for man’s redemption with His precious blood shed on the cross.
You see, only a perfect being could offer a perfect sacrifice that was acceptable before a holy God, to redeem man from his sin.
God did it by giving His own Son Jesus Christ, the very God of very God very man of very man, the only perfect sacrifice, who became fully man, to represent man before God. Only Jesus could save us. No other sacrifice would ever suffice.
When you and I believe in Jesus; when we believe that His finished work on the cross was sufficient to purchase our life and freedom, God accepts us and reconciles us to himself.
God no longer sees our sin. The blood of Jesus has cleansed and covered that. We become the righteousness of God. We are God’s children!
John exuberantly breaks out and writes:
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are!” (1John 3:1a NIV)
So, how precious are you, woman of God?
You were bought at a price!
The precious blood of Jesus, the perfect Son of God, who is God, is the price tag on you! How about that?
Believe me, this is true. I know this! I have experienced it! I know it is true!
I once thought I could never be good enough. We will talk about this in the next post. When I gave my life over to God through Jesus Christ His Son, I began the steady journey of getting to know God, through fellowship with Him in His Word and prayer.
He used others as well to affirm His love and acceptance of me. I have now known freedom that is real, freedom and life that is truly life in relating with Him and His Son Jesus Christ. I have known full forgiveness of my sins in Christ.
There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
I’m sure this truth sends shivers in the enemy’s camp. He will use anything and any means to keep you from knowing this truth and living therein.
That’s why Paul writes:
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Gal. 5:1 NIV)
Can you even try to measure the value of the blood of Jesus by which God sees and values you?
The blood of Jesus is priceless; invaluable; beyond anything, we could ever measure. No wonder, the queen mother could only describe a woman; a woman bought with the precious blood of Jesus as more precious than jewels.
As I finish, I must add that for a woman who hasn’t put their faith in Jesus Christ and been reconciled to God, her reality is quite the opposite of what I am talking about.
Such a person and specifically a woman, as is our context, is still under the authority of the evil one. She is still dead in her sins and transgressions, without God and hope in this world.
God cannot forcefully, against her God-given will at creation, give her life and restore her worth in Him through the finished work of Jesus on the cross.
To experience God to the extent that she can begin to walk in His freedom, she must come back to God.
She must do so by acknowledging that she is a sinner and that apart from God and His grace, she cannot help or save herself from her fallen state.
She must then acknowledge that Jesus died on the cross to save her from sin and grant her life. she must then put her faith in Jesus as her Lord and Saviour, who alone can wholly restore her to experience life and freedom in God.
She can then begin to leave in the freedom by which Christ set her free. This is the beginning point of her getting transformed by Christ, through His Spirit, to be all He wants her to be; a beginning point is critical and pivotal in her journey of realizing her worth and value.
If you haven’t experienced the saving power of God as I have shared, would you consider surrendering your life to the lordship of Christ? Only therein lies the key to your value and self-worth.
(In case you’d like more insight into the Proverbs 31 chapter, you can buy our book based on this passage right here on Amazon.)