Have you ever heard of Wonder Woman? I remember the television show in the 1970's. There was this tall, strong woman who dressed in a ridiculous costume and carried the Golden Lasso. Anyone who was caught in the lasso's incredible pull would be forced to tell the truth.
If you have followed comic books at all you would know that Wonder Woman has been around a long time. She is part of the great team of super heroes that restrain evil, fight injustice, right wrongs and generally look out for the common good guy. She is the female counterpart to Superman. She saves all those in distress, comforting the broken hearted, and keeps looking astonishingly unblemished as she picks herself up after tackling a bad guy in a dumpster behind a greasy-spoon restaurant.
These kinds of ideals exist because we long for some power that is far beyond our limitations. We seek perfection. We put images up and talk with great enthusiasm about feats performed on behalf of the downtrodden. We long for powers that overcome evil. And so into our American consciousness come figures like Wonder Woman.
I think that we long for these kinds of superheroes for two reasons. 1) We know that we live in a troubled world. 2) We were created in the image of the most powerful force in the universe—God. We bear that reflection and so we know that somehow, someway there must be a way to be superhuman if only . . .
Proverbs 31 describes a kind of superwoman that seems beyond actual reality. She seems to be the kind of role model that describes womanly perfection in all ways. For years there have been disputes over the idea whether or not the woman in Proverbs 31 was an actual woman or just a grand image of what a woman, wife and mother should be.
Should is a very big word. When we women look at this passage and measure ourselves against it we all know that we fall very short of that grand picture. If we just look at this passage we can make a list as long as this passage of how we have failed to be a wife, woman or mother of noble character—a Wonder Woman.
Although Proverbs was written in a very philosophical mode, presenting ideas of wisdom, warnings of moral failures, and advising toward correct behavior and godly values, it still remains the thoughts of God represented within that we hold most valuable. If God did not think that we could be these things, he would not have permitted them to be part of his Word to us now handed down for centuries.
Where did this Wonder Woman's power come from? Where do women (and men) of God get their power? It comes from the same place the people of the book of Acts and the Old Testament knew about. It was the infilling power and presence of God through the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit who walked with the ancient heroes of faith is the same Spirit who helps each one of us today if we live by that same Spirit. The stories we read about in the Old Testament of Godly people are more than just stories—they are the reality T.V. of their day. These people lived and survived by the Spirit of God and were able to do incredible things, despite their weaknesses and circumstances.
Let's say that the woman in Proverbs 31 was a real woman. At first glance we might think it is impossible to meet this kind of mark, if it were not for some very special words found in one particular verse. What is that verse that proves it is possible? Verse 30. Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
To fear the Lord, in the biblical sense, means that there is an awareness of his power, a respect for his strength, a humility in approaching him with confidence. It means that there is some fundamental understanding of who God is, what he has done for her in grace and mercy, and a giving of herself back to him. When anyone does this— man, woman or child—they can then be filled with the power of the Spirit of God and go far beyond what they could imagine in improving their world, making the lives of their spouses more wonderful, giving to their children in deeply moving and remarkable ways, as well as taking care of those in need outside of her immediate family.
Clearly from the context in Proverbs 31 this is a wealthy and influential woman. She has got many material advantages. She has resources many women and mothers do not have. And yet she is represented as a woman who has humbled herself before God, respecting her Creator and giving out so much of what she has been given.
We will look at three wonder women in the Old Testament. Two were humble midwives and one was a desperate mother. All three women lived in Egypt in the time of the Pharaohs. Many years earlier their grandparents had moved to Egypt from Israel because there had been a terrible famine. Joseph, an Israelite, had helped save their grandparents by providing food and shelter for them. Then they had lived congenially within Egyptian culture for a long time, worshipping the One, True, Living God. And as all peoples who have what they need, they began to grow in numbers. And that is where we enter the story.
Exodus 1:6-2:10
Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.
Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. "Look," he said to his people, "the Israelites have become much too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country." So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.
The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, "When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live." The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, 'Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?"
The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive."
So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: "Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live."
Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch.
Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
Then Pharaoh's daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. "This is one of the Hebrew babies," she said.
Then his sister asked Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?"
"Yes, go," she answered. And the girl went and got the baby's mother. Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you." So the woman took the baby and nursed him. When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, "I drew him out of the water."
It is important to acknowledge the first two incredible wonder women in the passage. Their names were Shiphrah and Puah. These courageous midwives stood against a mighty and powerful government. The phrase “because the midwives feared God” is the evidence of their source of power. And their blessing for defending all the infants of Israel was to have families of their own. Make no mistake, if we live in the fear and respect of the Lord, we will receive blessing. It may not be children of our own, but there is so much in store for those who respect the Lord above any forces that come against us—even governments or military might.
The mother of Moses was Jochebed (Exodus 6:20 and Numbers 26:59) and she could quite simply be considered a true wonder woman. A mother of noble character will do what she can to help her children—in good times and in bad. We do not know Jochebed’s character faults or her past sins, but we do learn of her desire to preserve the life of the child God had given to her. The Spirit of God guided her to a shrewd solution in keeping her son from certain death. Jesus taught us to be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16), and that she was!
But little did Jochebed know that God would orchestrate a wonder before her very eyes. Anyone below the Pharaoh's daughter may have turned that baby in to the authorities to be destroyed. But God had other plans. Pharaoh's daughter was captivated by this child and then even paid his birth-mother to care for the infant. I cannot even imagine the joy in Jochebed’s heart that day! God rewarded her courage with being paid to nurse her very own son. And that set the stage for incredible delivery of God's people from their cruel slave masters many years later.
I look at this woman and think, "What a great Wonder Woman she was!" If you know anything of Biblical history, you recognize that Moses became one of the most outstanding leaders in our spiritual history. The Bible even describes him as talking with God as one speaks with a friend. (Exodus 33:11) Because of his mother Moses was able to become what God had in mind. Here was a woman who used to have the wealth and freedom of the woman in Proverbs 31, but lost it through political disruption. She had become a slave. But that did not break her spirit. She did not live in fear of the Egyptians, but lived in the respect and reverence of God. She is a shining example of grace and unselfishness under duress—a truly biblical Wonder Woman.
There is one more wonder woman, among many, that we can see in the Bible. In 2 Kings 4:1-7 we find a woman of remarkable character who had reverence and respect for God and his commands.
This woman was at the very bottom of society. She was a helpless widow. In Old Testament times a widow was completely dependent upon her sons and their families for support. There was no Social Security, no MediCare to pick up the tab. If she lost her sons she would either turn to the temple/church for support and help or go out begging.
Also in those days there was no such thing as bankruptcy. You could not just declare yourself insolvent and then start over. If you owed money and did not have it, the authorities started taking everything—your home, your land, and even your children as slaves.
This is the story of the most unlikely of wonder women living in Israel during the time of God's great miracle-working prophet named Elisha.
2 Kings 4:1-7
The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves." Elisha replied to her, "How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?"
"Your servant has nothing there at all," she said, "except a little oil." Elisha said, "Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side."
She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another one." But he replied, "There is not a jar left." Then the oil stopped flowing.
She went and told the man of God, and he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left."
This is a miraculous and wonderful scene. A humble and nearly broken woman cried out for help. God heard her cry, as he hears all cries for help, and provided for her in a most remarkable way. Through God's prophet she received some very specific directions which she acted upon immediately.
Imagine this scene with me. It's a hot afternoon and you get a knock on your door. There before you stands that widow you know from your neighborhood. She's got a panicked look on her face and she asks you for however many empty jars you might have in your home. You might take a minute to think where some might be and then you ask her to wait while you go get them. Upon your return there stands on your step a boy with a basket. You look out your door for the woman and you see her speaking as urgently to your next-door neighbor as she was to you only moments ago. The boy thanks you for the jars and runs toward his mother being careful not to trip and break the jars. It's an odd little moment in your life. But you figure there is little harm in giving away a few empty jars.
A few days later, the same woman is at your door again. She's smiling this time. She asks you quite sweetly if you would like to buy some oil—some of the best oil she's tasted for some time. It occurs to you that you just ran out, and since oil is essential for all cooking and baking, you think that it is a relief that you don't have to go to the market today. You buy two jars of oil and smile as you close the door because her demeanor was so lovely and sweet—so full of joy.
God honored this woman who was desperate to keep her children, desperate to survive a horrible time in her life. Her faith and obedience in our wonderful God inspired her to become a wonder woman extraordinaire— not afraid to trust and not afraid to work hard.
All of God's Wonder Women performed mighty deeds with what they had been for the sake of their children, their husbands and their world. They were real wonder women because they relied on God for what they needed, and they respected and adored him.
Some of us have never been wives or mothers, but God has given us spiritual children and brothers to mentor and encourage. Some of us have not been good mothers in the past or maybe there was one moment of grievous failure. But God has given us new life in Jesus Christ and that makes us able to redeem the past with good deeds and grace-filled words for the present.
Whatever your status today, you can become a wonder woman of biblical proportions because you call out to God for salvation, strength, wisdom, courage and help.
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Copyright M.R.Hyde 2011
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