THE WOMAN OF WORTH
Impressions of a reading with W. Dickson
The woman of worth is a very full type of the assembly. Her many activities are an epitome of the instruction in the book of Proverbs, the teaching finding a substantial answer in her so that she reflects her husband, as the assembly reflects Christ. There were two great lights,
“the great light to rule the day, and the small light to rule the night”, Genesis 1: 16. The Lord is absent and the assembly is to reflect Him. We should see the positive and constructive character of this woman’s activities. The passage is full of assembly characteristics in relation to, (i) cultivation and growth for the enhancement of the service of God (Proverbs 31: 16) and (ii) testimony among men (Proverbs 31: 23). There is constant reference to her hands. “Of the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard”; “She putteth her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. She stretcheth out her hand to the afflicted, and she reacheth forth her hands to the needy”. In these days, when there is so much to be done, are our activities together of this character?
In the gospels there are frequent references to the Lord Jesus using His hands. Those hands were always used for blessing, and to impart help and healing where it was needed. What we contemplate in Christ is to become formative in the saints, resulting in diligent care in relation to
His interests. Thus we are to be a means of blessing, like the sons of Levi, who were to bless in the name of Jehovah (Deuteronomy 10: 8). Paul, too, laboured. He was not reluctant to use his hands to gather sticks and lay them on the fire (Acts 28: 3). Then the viper appeared, hanging on his hand. The enemy seeks to destroy hands used in blessing. All this involves service, in which the levitical spirit should mark us. The service of the woman of worth flows out of committal to the interests of her husband, and her affection for him—“She doeth him good … all the days of her life”. Her heart’s desire is to fill out what has been entrusted to her. So the woman of worth is to find expression in each locality. No vessel is entrusted with so much as the assembly.
The first activity of this woman is that “She seeketh wool and flax”. The wool suggests the teaching of John’s epistles, leading up to love amongst ourselves. You generate the warmth of love. The flax would relate to righteousness and the teaching of Romans, leading up to the reference to the one body in Christ (Romans 12: 5). The wool and flax might not be in abundant supply—it was not abundant at Corinth, hence it had to be sought. “She putteth her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle”, showing the diligence with which she works with the materials she has acquired. There is the thought here of matters being worked out to completion. So “she maketh body linen and selleth it, and delivereth girdles unto the merchant”—giving an impression of priestly clothing, the saints being clothed suitably for the service of God and for testimony. We are so set up in grace that we can supply that which will clothe and enrich the saints. There is a divine pattern, so we are to have a positive aim and object in what we do.
There is what relates to gift, but there is also the great matter of the acceptance of responsibility, and this can, and should, begin when we are young. We can take on the levitical spirit in prayer for the saints, beginning with our local brethren. Paul speaks of Timothy as caring “with genuine feeling how ye get on”, Philippians.2: 20. That was not a matter of gift, but of concern for the welfare of the saints. We should all desire a levitical spirit. The Levites numbered about 22,000. Those actively engaged, referring to the principle of gift, were about 8,500, but all should express the levitical spirit as responsible for the Lord’s interests.
There is divine wisdom in putting us together collectively. In 2 Corinthians 1: 19 and in 1
Thessalonians 1: 1 we have Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus mentioned together. It is so important that we learn to work together, having the same affections, outlook, and objective.
You look at the pattern and labour for an answer to the divine thought. In writing to the Galatians Paul links himself with “all the brethren with me” (Galatians 1: 2), giving an impression of the affections and feelings among the brethren in support of his service to Galatia. In that epistle Paul speaks of himself as a mother, again travailing in birth for the saints, whilst in 1 Thessalonians 2, Silvanus and Timotheus thus being linked with him, Paul says, ‘ We … have been gentle in the midst of you, as a nurse would cherish her own children’
(1 Thessalonians 2: 7) and then adds, ‘ye know how, as a father his own children, we used to exhort each one of you’ (verse 11), showing that those three men were united in maternal and fatherly affections and feelings in their service to the saints. All this shows the value of coordinated work in the assembly.
Another feature in the woman of worth is that “she bringeth her food from afar”. She is global, universal, in her outlook, not parochial. Localities should not be self-contained but the truth of the one body is to govern us. That truth has been attacked in many divisions. So we have the advantage of ministry given in many parts, and all is to be valued, labour entering into its being made available to us.
It says, “She considereth a field”, that is, she considers its potentialities and would work in relation to them. Then “She perceiveth that her earning is good”; she is conscious of blessing and prosperity. As we are thus conscious of confirmation and blessing, the earning being good, there will be that which we can make available to the saints for their profit.
The assembly is the place of administration of divine blessing. A prime feature would be the gospel flowing out. The ministry meeting is another aspect of administration—what the saints may need in the way of prophetic speaking. A young brother may have an impression as to a word. Let him get to the Lord as to it, as to how it relates to what is being wrought out by Him among the saints. One should have an objective in relation to the brethren in service to them. The intent, purport, and aim of the word should be weighed up. “Her husband is known in the gates”, that is, Christ is to be expressed in all that is done.
We need to lay hold more definitely of the way the Lord manifests Himself to us at the Supper so that it may be developed and expanded among us. You would be concerned to have the substance and the spirit of what has been imparted, and to enquire as to the Lord’s mind in giving such an impression and how it can be most effectively used.
Strength and dignity are her clothing (Proverbs 31: 25). The care meeting is to be held in its own dignity as an occasion in which the interests of the Lord are faithfully cared for. Mr. Taylor stressed the dignity of the assembly and the necessity of maintaining it in the reading ‘Let not the Assembly be Charged’ (N.S. Vol. 59, p.233). The administration of the bounty of the saints is a very dignified matter.
Then it is said that “She surveyeth the ways of her household”. This is a sobering consideration relating to the fellowship. Matters should come under constant scrutiny. The woman of worth would let nothing pass, and no one would be missed out in her prayers. It is not only that there is an administration of blessing and supply, care and food, but there is also control and regulation. We have to survey matters in our localities. There may be something which requires attention. Burdens are not decreasing. The more there are in fellowship, the greater the responsibility. Something may have come in which requires attention. But let us not forget Matthew 18. Firstly, “Go, reprove him between thee and him alone” (Matthew 18: 15). That is not giving a word in the ministry meeting directed to a particular person; you serve in the way Matthew 18 indicates with a view to securing the person for the assembly.
Where these activities are proceeding, where the household is normal, what we have in verse 28 will be true, “Her children rise up and call her blessed”. Then there is the Lord’s appreciation of such diligence, ‘Many daughters have done worthily, but thou excellest them all’.
Redbridge
26 November 1977