Proverbs 15:22
Without counsel purposes are disappointed:
But in the multitude of counsellors they are established.
Due to carnal pride, it is easy for a man (or a woman for that matter) to feel sufficient in himself. God, in His great wisdom, has seen to perfectly balance each of His creatures. He blessed each one of them with some sort of handicap, ballast, a weakness or oppositional force which bring them to a more humble perspective about themselves.
Without counsel purposes are disappointed:
But in the multitude of counsellors they are established.
Due to carnal pride, it is easy for a man (or a woman for that matter) to feel sufficient in himself. God, in His great wisdom, has seen to perfectly balance each of His creatures. He blessed each one of them with some sort of handicap, ballast, a weakness or oppositional force which bring them to a more humble perspective about themselves.
In the case of man, God gave him a wife.
It is easy to point out certain verses in the Bible that lead a man to become the little dictator of his household. The favorites are that it is woman who initiated sin in Eden, another one is Proverbs 31, which some use to reduce the wife status as that of a servant. All these are twisted perspective of Scriptures. The story outlined in the Bible is of a Bridegroom who rescues is beloved beautiful but at times foolish Bride from the clutches of a demonic dragon by utterly humbling Himself to the lowest of level. The story is of a man who decks his wife with all honor and glory; of a man who respects his wife too much to accept her mere servitude, and who will be satisfied with nothing less than her sincere loving devotion. This is mystery, but I speak of Messiah and His Bride. As far as Proverbs 31, it’s author’s analogy is of the same caliber as Paul’s in Ephesians 5: 21-32: he uses marriage to teach about the ideal attitude of the Church in the world (Church: the corporate body of believers).
The Hebrew wording of Genesis gives us a clue of the wife’s role. The text literally says, ‘ . . . it is not good for man to be by himself; I will make him a helper to be AGAINST him’ (emphasis mine). Here we have the ballast of a man. As a result, Jewish sages taught not to trust the counsel of a man who is not married, because he does not have a wife at home to argue with him and ‘balance’ him in his opinions. A good and wise woman will learn how to do that without ‘vexing’ the masculinity of her husband.
A man who uses his masculine position to dominate his wife is ungodly, and a woman who uses her position as counselor to divert her husband to do her bidding instead of God’s is blasphemous. A godly man wants to serve God and he does it in harmony with his wife. A godly woman helps her husband to find what it is God’s wants him to do and helps him to refine the idea.
I will end this devotional with an old Jewish legend which says that when God wanted to choose a bone from Adam to create his future wife,. He did not take it from the head so he would not dominate her; He did not take it from the foot so he would not trample her, but he took a rib, near to the heart, so he would love her.
It is easy to point out certain verses in the Bible that lead a man to become the little dictator of his household. The favorites are that it is woman who initiated sin in Eden, another one is Proverbs 31, which some use to reduce the wife status as that of a servant. All these are twisted perspective of Scriptures. The story outlined in the Bible is of a Bridegroom who rescues is beloved beautiful but at times foolish Bride from the clutches of a demonic dragon by utterly humbling Himself to the lowest of level. The story is of a man who decks his wife with all honor and glory; of a man who respects his wife too much to accept her mere servitude, and who will be satisfied with nothing less than her sincere loving devotion. This is mystery, but I speak of Messiah and His Bride. As far as Proverbs 31, it’s author’s analogy is of the same caliber as Paul’s in Ephesians 5: 21-32: he uses marriage to teach about the ideal attitude of the Church in the world (Church: the corporate body of believers).
The Hebrew wording of Genesis gives us a clue of the wife’s role. The text literally says, ‘ . . . it is not good for man to be by himself; I will make him a helper to be AGAINST him’ (emphasis mine). Here we have the ballast of a man. As a result, Jewish sages taught not to trust the counsel of a man who is not married, because he does not have a wife at home to argue with him and ‘balance’ him in his opinions. A good and wise woman will learn how to do that without ‘vexing’ the masculinity of her husband.
A man who uses his masculine position to dominate his wife is ungodly, and a woman who uses her position as counselor to divert her husband to do her bidding instead of God’s is blasphemous. A godly man wants to serve God and he does it in harmony with his wife. A godly woman helps her husband to find what it is God’s wants him to do and helps him to refine the idea.
I will end this devotional with an old Jewish legend which says that when God wanted to choose a bone from Adam to create his future wife,. He did not take it from the head so he would not dominate her; He did not take it from the foot so he would not trample her, but he took a rib, near to the heart, so he would love her.
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