Proverbs 31:11; is the church even trustworthy?

11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.

Now, here’s an interesting turn of phrase in the use of the word; spoil. Spoil is a word that refers to that which is taken from someone you’ve conquered or robbed. So, why is it used here?

This is one of those verses that you have to allegorize to make it fitting for the Christian young man seeking out a virtuous wife who would have no need of envying those who have taken much in life from others by virtue of her hard work. But, for the church there are some interesting parallels that are worth thinking about.

Can Christ trust in His church to be the virtuous woman she is called to be? As Christ is the husband of the church notice what He is said to do. Understand that the “strong man” in the following is Satan.

Matthew 12:28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. 29 Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.

The Pharisees, the religious right wing, the fundamentalists of His day, accused Jesus of having cast out devils by the power of Satan. Jesus said that Satan is the strong man and questions how his goods can be spoiled in showing that Satan is not going to cast out his own devils. Jesus was capable of binding the strong man and making spoil of his goods, which are all humans who are by nature taken captive of him at his will. See the entire interplay between Jesus and the Pharisees in Matthew 12:22-37 and make note of the word; spoil. In this passage as well the sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit, which was to say that Jesus was working in conjunction with Satan while here on the earth in human form, is laid out.

Remember, Satan is the god of this world. This is his house, so to speak. See 2 Corinthians 4:4 and his offer to Christ in Luke 4:5-7.

The church, the bride of Christ, when doing His will, draws men to Him. They come of their own free will and at the urging of the Holy Spirit through the ministrations of the church. This process of drawing men to Christ continues until His violent and forceful return to assume control over the kingdoms of the earth as per Revelation 11:15.

How does the church draw men to Christ? Is it by political shenanigans, paranoia, a lust for worldly power and control, cultish behavior? No, it is by doing what is clearly laid out in the New Testament as to how the church should function in the world displaying the fruit of the Spirit, being true to Christ’s word and name, helping the helpless, feeding the poor, and ministering to the sorrowful and grieving; particularly in the church but also to all men as any surface reading of the New Testament letters written to Gentile churches by Paul will reveal.

I don’t know but perhaps, after reading much of what is said in the New Testament, as long as the church is doing the part of the virtuous woman, the end will be delayed. But, as the church grows cold and has lost its devotion to Christ and becomes purely a social organization, a cultural entity, and the religious wing of whichever government party is in power, a sort of self righteous bunch of do nothings, preening and prating like a colorful peacock, strutting about as if it was “all that and a bag of chips” then it will be time to take the spoil. Perhaps some want the end of the world to come so badly that they’ll pump up their Cadillac Christianity until;

Luke 18:8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?