Proverbs 31, verses 23 and 24, her husband is known in the gates

 

Proverbs 31:23 Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.

I’ve studied “the gates” before and will re-post some of what I had said; The gate is the seat of power, it’s where the judges and elders in an ancient city sat to give judgment.

2Samuel 19:8 Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate. And all the people came before the king: for Israel had fled every man to his tent.

Amos 5:15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

The gates represent judgment and can be synonymous with that word.

This sort of gives one an idea of the true meaning of the latter part of this verse;

Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The literal woman of these verses is a woman of means and her husband sits in authority in the gates of the city where judgment takes place. He is important and sits among the elders of the land, who make decisions, who judge and rule.

As far as applying this to the church, our king is Christ, the church’s husband is Christ. He sits at the gate in judgment over all the universe. He will judge those who have trusted Him.

Romans 14:10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

2Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

He will judge the unsaved.

Revelation 20:11 ¶ And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

But while those Christian believers will have their works judged at His judgment seat they are in no danger of losing their salvation.

1 Corinthians 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

While the unsaved, those who have rejected Christ, will suffer eternal damnation because at some point, upon their rejection of their Saviour, their names were removed from the Book of Life in which all person’s names are written. (see Genesis 5:1; Exodus 32:32; Revelation 3:5.)

Revelation 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

As I’ve shown before the church is the bride of Christ and Christ is the judge of all things.

Hebrews 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

Around the throne of God sit twenty-four elders.

Revelation 4:4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

This study of the church continues……

Proverbs 31:24 She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.

When we leave the literal application as to the activities of the virtuous woman we can look at this as being the good works the church does.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Fine linen is representative of righteousness.

Revelation 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

A girdle was a type of belt or sash worn around the waist or it would be something that encircles a belt. Sometimes it was a garment that gave support and extended below the waist. It symbolized strength as in the following verse that is mentioned.

2Samuel 20:8b ….and upon it a girdle with a sword fastened upon his loins in the sheath thereof; and as he went forth it fell out.

So, here is a symbolic statement of the church’s works in righteousness and her commerce with the world represented by the merchant. Commerce, by the way, as found in the US Constitution, is a word that means more than just economic interaction. It used to mean any kind of interaction with others, not simply where money or goods changed hands.