Kingdom Commerce (2)
She considers a field and buys it;
From her profits she plants a vineyard.
She girds herself with strength,
And strengthens her arms.
She perceives that her merchandise is good,
And her lamp does not go out by night.
She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
And her hand holds the spindle. Proverbs 31.16-19
The wise woman
The wise woman of Proverbs 31 is perhaps the quintessential Biblical model of divine principles at work in an economy. She embodies the wisdom of Proverbs and represents the intentions of God for how people ought to engage in commerce and economic activity.
This wise woman is visionary, industrious, creative, steward-like, fair, and compassionate in all her doings. She manages start-up businesses that create new goods and employ workers. She manufactures items to fill various niches in the market. She invests in real estate, and works to provide for her needs and those of her family.
She is what we would call today an entrepreneur and a small business owner, and her conduct of economic and commercial activity is such that her family is blessed, her husband is honored, and her community benefits in a wide variety of ways. She is presented as the culmination and embodiment of all the wisdom of God revealed piece-meal in the Book of Proverbs.
Here is a woman to be admired and emulated. Anyone engaging in commerce could wish to be as skilled and successful as she, and to know such satisfaction and reward from their labors.
What is her secret, we wonder? How did she come to embody such mastery of commerce and to know such success?
King Lemuel tells us: “a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates” (vv. 30, 31).
Components
Economies and the commercial activity they comprise, consist of five primary components (thinking now only in the temporal sphere). These are people, and their many talents, interests, and aspirations; resources, both natural and material; work, which provides the arena within which the energy flows that fuels an economy; some medium of exchange, such as money; and an agreed-upon system within which to coordinate the functioning of all the other components. This can include such things as laws, markets, brokers, banks, and so forth.
None of us is self-sufficient; all human beings engage in commerce. That people are able to identify, enlist, coordinate, and cause all these disparate elements to function together, albeit imperfectly, is itself a testimony to the wisdom, grace, and goodness of God Who endowed human beings with such skills.
But all commerce is not merely temporal activity; all commerce proceeds under the watchful eye of God (Ps. 33.8-15). Because the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it (Ps. 24.1), He has a natural interest in and an active concern for all commercial activity and every economic system.
Economics “under the heavens”
The wise woman of Proverbs 31 pursued the full extent of her economic interests and abilities. She understood that everything in life is to be done in the fear of the LORD, and according to His Word and plan. Living as she did, “under the heavens”—that is, with a view to honoring God in all her endeavors—she took up her work, made her investments, and distributed the fruits of her labors as an extension of her relationship to God and her Kingdom-and-glory calling as one of His people.
The Lord wants us to see the wise woman of Proverbs 31 as a model of economic genius and beauty. In her interactions with others, in all the exchange of goods and services and the ways money changes hands, she was a blessing to her family, a boon to her community, and an object of boasting by the writer of God’s Word. She embodies the wisdom of the book of Proverbs, but she also represents the teaching of all God’s Word concerning the ways people should interact with one another in the exchange of goods and services.
And we can all do the same in our own callings and mission field. The Wisdom of Proverbs—Who is Jesus our Lord—can make Himself known through each of us so that we, too, become examples of the Kingdom economy at work in our own spheres.
We must be devoted to searching the Scriptures, discerning from all its parts how we must pursue commercial activity within the Kingdom economy of the Lord. God calls us to be good stewards of the gifts He entrusts to us, to work with them for a return on His investment of glory to Him and benefit to our neighbors. Only when we see all our economic activity within an atmosphere of grace and the framework of Christ’s rule can we use the gifts God gives us according to His intention and design.
And that begins in fearing the Lord and serving Him in all we do.
For reflection
1. With which aspects of this wise woman’s economic life can you identify? Why? Do you have involvement or aspiration in any of these areas?
2. Why does the writer of Provers 31 set this woman forward as an example for us at the end of his book? Does he mean for us to show the fear of God, and to manifest His grace, in our own economic and commercial activity? Explain.
3. What are some other places in Scripture where you might discover principles to guide you in pursuing commerce “under the heavens”?
Next steps—Preparation: What specific aspects of this wise woman’s economic life speak to you? Why? How does she encourage you to think more Biblically about your own economic life? Commit your thoughts to the Lord in prayer.
T. M. Moore
We need grace for all our times of need, and all the time of our lives is time of need. How can we make sure we have the grace we need? Our book Grace for Your Time of Need, can help you develop the discipline of drawing on God’s grace for all your time. It’s also available as a free PDF.
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest this week: In our Read Moore column, we continue readings from the book, Such a Great Salvation. Our Crosfigell series on Brendan of Clonfert finds him heading out over the Atlantic again, seeking the Promised Land of the Saints. You can subscribe to Read Moore and Crosfigell and receive them in your email regularly. Use the Subscriptions box at the bottom of the page to update your subscriptions. All subscriptions are free. Click the Articles tab on the home page to see all the selections available to you.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
