Heroic Consequences
Her husband is known in the gates, when he sits with the elders of the land. Proverbs 31:23
The Gates – In God’s world, there is a wife behind the scenes. The husband cannot fulfill his role in the politics of the community unless there is a valiant wife fulfilling her role in the marriage, family and community. Why? Because as ‘ezer, she is the one who enables her husband to give his attention to the things God asks of him. The roles are perfectly complementary, not competitive.
If you are going to understand Paul’s remarks about the role of women, you cannot divorce his comments from the Hebrew background. Yes, Paul talks about submission, but not outside the context of a deep relationship to the Lord. Yes, Paul talks about hierarchical order, but not outside the context of God’s design. Husbands and wives are not in competition with each other, vying to see who will be leader or who will call the shots. The roles are complementary. No husband can be all that God asks him to be unless and until he honors the role that his wife plays in order for him to be God’s man. No wife can be all that God asks her to be unless and until she finds enjoyment in nurturing, protecting and enabling her husband under God’s direction.
The valiant women (do you remember ‘eshet khayil – November 4?) provides the structure and organization that allows her husband to engage in community responsibility. How could it be otherwise? Is he able to be God’s spokesperson in society if his life is consumed with other needs? No. Does his role mean that those needs are of less importance? Of course not. He can’t be what he should be without a wife who is what she should be. It is only the culture that attaches more value to one role than the other. God certainly did not rank one above the other. They are both necessary in order for human beings to perform the God-given assignment of stewarding the earth. God made them equal!
God never changed His mind about the arrangement. Adam’s task was to work the garden, to manage God’s creation. It is still the same today. Men are called to bring identity and organization to this world (that is what naming is all about) on God’s behalf. Women are called to provide the foundation needed for men to complete that task. That foundation includes an heroic stance toward social relationships, economic enterprise, family dynamics and creative development. But the purpose is not self-aggrandizement. The purpose is to make another’s role possible. The ‘ezer understands self-sacrifice. Maybe that’s why God calls Himself an ‘ezer. Superwoman’s cape stays in the closet. Her power is without the show.
Basharim – the gates – is the ancient seat of civil power and social authority. A man may debate or vote, but there is a woman behind the scenes, making it possible for him to do God’s will. The godly role of the wife is tied directly to the assignment of the husband. One without the other is impossible. Thank God He created them male and female.
