Ladies, take note. (Guys, don’t leave quite yet).
A lot of us are concerned with making our faith shine through our physical relationships. Whether it’s trying to be the kind of spouse God expects us to be, or looking for a godly partner, it’s a hot topic in many Christian circles today.
If you read through Proverbs 31, you’ll see a section on a wife of noble character. A woman that makes and sells clothing, gets up while it’s dark, plants a vineyard, and whose lamp doesn’t go out at night.
She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night.
Proverbs 31:18
Ah, so this is why I still haven’t found a husband! Time to buy a lamp, keep it on all night, and then tell the world on Instagram.
Not quite.
I’m sure you can gather that this is NOT what God intended. But do you know what it’s really saying?
God’s Relationship with His People
The imagery of marriage and an ideal partner is seen all over the Bible—and rather than talking about human men and women or marriage between two people, God uses this imagery to describe his relationship with his people. To name just a few examples, In Hosea 1-3, God likens himself to the husband of His chosen people— an unfaithful wife. In Jeremiah 3:8, it says God gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce (Read more on this topic here).
With this in mind, we can see that Proverbs 31 is not talking about physical wives, but rather about the kind of person God would consider noble. Even if it’s just one thing, we should clearly understand what God is asking of us. Let’s do so using the ever-shining lamp as an example.
What’s the Lamp?
Psalm 119 describes the lamp as the word of God, the Bible.
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
Psalm 119:105
But just because you are carrying a lamp doesn’t mean it’s shining. It needs some source of energy to shine—and to do so all night—a lot of it. The Bible labels this fuel source as oil.
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
This verse in Proverbs may sound familiar if you’ve read the New Testament a few times. In Matthew 25, Jesus gives a prophecy regarding the second coming. Ten virgins go out to meet the bridegroom, Jesus, and night falls. They are all hoping to meet him; however, only those wise ones with enough oil to keep their lamps lit are able to meet the bridegroom and enter into the wedding banquet, the kingdom of heaven. In other words, those whose lamps don’t go out at night. The remaining five, the foolish ones, try to buy more oil to keep their lamps lit—but it’s too late.
But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
Matthew 25:10
The Oil
Okay, so then what is this oil that is so crucial for me to have? I’m not going to explain the meaning of the oil right now (surprise! It can be found in the Bible too), but just think about the effect of having that oil. It lights up the darkness. But what use is a lamp with no light?
You can carry the Bible all you want, but if you don’t truly know and understand, if you can’t use the Bible to navigate your way through the dark night, then what’s the point? The Bible won’t be serving its purpose if we don’t understand it.
In other words, if the Bible, the words on the page, are the lamp itself, it’s when we truly understand those words that they give off light. Understanding what God means and not just what the words say.
How Bright is Your Lamp?
Have you ever read something in the Bible, let out an exasperated sigh, and thought, “Why does God CARE? Why does God care whether or not I make and sell clothes, plant a vineyard, or if my lamp goes out at night?”
It’s these kinds of things–questions, misunderstandings, confusion, that block the light from the Bible. But God’s work is to brighten the dark and bring understanding.
The unfolding of your words gives light;
it gives understanding to the simple.
Psalms 119:130
Our understanding of the Bible now might be dull and incomplete, but that’s nothing more than the place we are starting from. One by one, the words of the Bible unfold before our eyes.
Do you have questions about the Bible? Would you like to make your lamp burn bright? Get in touch with one of our teachers or start a Bible study here.
Written by Samantha
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