The Accomplished Woman – #01

The Accomplished Woman is a tribute of praise to a righteous woman.

Proverbs 31:1 The words of king Lemuel, (Solomon) the prophecy that his mother taught him.

Many scholars have said this was written by King Solomon in honor of his mother Bathsheba. However, Jewish Rabbis say this was actually the eulogy Abraham spoke over Sarah at her funeral. Whoever wrote it, it was a prophecy handed down containing the teaching and tribute to this godly mother, wife and woman.

Proverbs 31, beginning in verse 10 follows the letters of the Hebrew alphabet with each line corresponding to one letter. The alphabet format is Solomon’s way of comparing the virtues of the righteous woman to the completeness of the entire alphabet.

The Hebrew alphabet represents building blocks of a language. We know God built or created the world with words.Through the “alphabet” structure of these verses, Solomon establishes a connection between the creative power of the Hebrew alphabet and the woman who, like the letters is also a builder. Her edifice or building, so to speak; being her family, which can, when built on the principles of God, affect the world

Proverbs 14:1 Every wise woman builds her house…the word house here can be translated family.

Family is the building block for all humanity of the earth.

The accomplished woman, who is represented here as a wise builder, is the one who establishes the home. She appears to be the key to the success of her husband and children. The ability she uses to build her family then makes her a blessing to the world outside the home.

The Jewish Rabbis illustrate the priority Sarah placed on her family with this story. Abraham and Sarah were sojourners, which means they traveled extensively in following God. They journeyed with the accompaniment of many people, so when they stopped on their trips they would set up their tents.

Ancient Jewish history tells us that Abraham liked to set up the tents at a crossroads. This would mean there would be many travelors that would be passing by. The reason he did that is because he wanted to tell people about his God. You could say that Abraham was an evangelist and heralded the goodness of his God to those he came in contact with.

When they would set the tents up there would be a public tent that Abraham would invite guests into. They called this Abraham’s tent. He would offer people food and talk to them about God. It was a place of hospitality.

But Sarah’s tent was different. It was more private. This tent was for their family only. It was a place of refuge to keep them safe from the influence of the culture. It was an example of how we need to protect our families from the outside influences and establish our homes as a refuge from the world.

As women of God this should be our goal as well. God says to Abraham in Genesis 12: 2 AMP…

“And I will make of you a great nation, (family) and I will bless you [with abundant increase of favors] and make your name famous and distinguished, and (you and your family) will be a blessing [dispensing good to others].”

We can see that Sarah and her role in Abrahams’s life had so much to do with God’s covenant plan for humanity coming to pass. What a courageous and faithful woman Sarah was.