Focused on the Eternal (Day 21)

I looked at that word deceitful this morning in one of my reference books, and some of the synonyms are: it’s a sham; it’s fraud; it’s worthless; it’s misleading. Charm by itself without godly character is a sham. It’s a fraud. It’s just a front. It’s a cover-up.

It reminds me of that verse in Proverbs that says, “As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman who is without discretion” (Proverbs 11:22). She’s a sham. She’s got physical charm, outward form of beauty, but it’s a fraud. It’s not the real thing.

No matter how well you succeed at this external beauty thing, if you haven’t been working at the heart—the attitudes, the spirit, the character—you’re a loser. A woman who fears the Lord—now that woman, she has something that’s lasting, something that’s true, something that’s of great value. It won’t pass away.

I think this verse, the second part of this verse, is the key to this whole chapter. “A woman who fears the Lord.”

Proverbs 1:7 tells us? “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” It’s the starting place.

Proverbs is the book about wisdom—how to live life wisely, how to look at all of life from God’s perspective, how to deal with every practical aspect of life in a wise way. Where does it start? With the fear of the Lord.

You want to know how to raise your children? You want to know how to love that difficult husband? You want to know how to order your priorities? Proverbs talks about them all. But where does it all start? With the fear of the Lord.

And some of us as Christian women are kind of like that stick in the ground with just some Christian behaviors stuck on. You see, if you don’t have a relationship with God that is a truly spiritual, vital, growing relationship; if your roots aren’t in your relationship with God and you don’t have the love of God and the reverence of God coursing through your veins, then the fruit that comes out is not going to be spiritual fruit.

Once you develop the fear of the Lord in your life, you’ll find it’s not so hard to bear fruit. It comes—well, I don’t want to say naturally; it comes supernaturally. The fruit will be there if you’re taking care of the roots in your relationship with God.

Now does that mean she’s afraid of God? Well, in a sense we should be afraid of God. But we know that according to the Proverbs, to fear the Lord means to have a reverential trust in God, to reverence God, not to take His name in vain, not to take Him lightly, but to have this reverence, this awe of God.

And with that comes a hatred of evil. A reverential trust with a hatred of evil. To love God is to hate all that God hates. So that’s what we mean by a woman who fears the Lord. This is a woman who lives in the constant, conscious awareness of God’s presence. She lives every moment of her life, every aspect of her life, with the consciousness that God is here, that the eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good.

If you want to become this woman of virtue, develop a sense of the fear of the Lord. Now you can’t develop that apart from spending time with God in His Word. His Word will help you to develop that reverence for Him, that awe for Him, that trust in Him and that hatred of evil. And then everything about your life will be ordered around that consciousness of God’s presence.

That’s what gives her life value and worth, and that’s what makes her attractive to God and to the right kinds of people. So the point here is let virtue be your primary objective, not physical beauty.

And that picks up on a theme that we read about in 1 Peter chapter 3 beginning in verse 3 where Peter says, “Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty that depends on fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry or beautiful clothes. You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. This is the way the holy women of old made themselves beautiful.” Peter says. “They trusted in God and accepted the authority of their husbands” (1 Peter 3:3–6, New Living).

And what is that beauty? It’s defined in this passage as a woman who has a gentle spirit, a quiet spirit, a woman who is holy, a woman who trusts God, and a woman who accepts the authority of her husband.

The woman who fears the Lord has a certain kind of demeanor and beauty about her. But this is now talking about a different kind of woman, women with haughty hearts. And the Scripture says, “They walk along with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, tripping along with mincing steps with ornaments jingling on their ankles. Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion. The Lord will make their scalps bald” (verses 16-17). 

What is he saying? Beauty of that external, worldly type is fading. It doesn’t last. And the Lord can take it away as quickly as you got it.

Verse 18, “In that day the Lord will snatch away their finery: the bangles and headbands and crescent necklaces, the earrings and bracelets and veils, the headdresses and ankle chains and sashes, the perfume bottles and charms, the signet rings and nose rings, the fine robes and the capes and cloaks, the purses and mirrors, and the linen garments and tiaras and shawls.”

Does that sound kind of modern? Now it’s not saying that those things are wrong, but it’s talking about women who have the kind of heart that is preoccupied with the external. And the Scripture says if that’s your focus, that’s coming out of a haughty heart rather than a heart that fears the Lord, you are going to be a loser. God is going to snatch it away. It’s not going to last.

Verse 24 (I’m still in Isaiah 3), this is a very graphic passage. “Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a sash, a rope; instead of well-dressed hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, branding.”

Now, I don’t think that’s talking about just the physical. I don’t think it’s saying that all ungodly women will one day go bald. That’s not the point. The point is if you have focused on the external and your external is influenced by a haughty or a proud heart, then one day all the things you thought were so beautiful and precious and worthwhile are going to be taken away from you. You’re going to have nothing to show for a lifetime of effort.

The lines, the hardness in their eyes, the misery in their hearts—it’s a testimony that this passage is true.

Now I know that in the immediate context God is talking about the nation of Israel. And He goes on to say in Isaiah 3:25, “Your men will fall by the sword, your warriors in battle.” And don’t we see today where we have men not being men, not being the warriors, the leaders that we need them to be?

Verse 26, “The gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute she will sit on the ground.”

So in the context here, it’s a picture of what’s going to happen to the nation of Israel. But isn’t it interesting that God chose women to personify the nation? I believe that women even more than men picture and reflect the spirit and the heart of a nation.

I hear so many women express to me what a concern and a frustration it is to them that men won’t be leaders. Men won’t be spiritual. Men won’t be men. And I’m not saying that these are not valid concerns. We ought to make this a matter of prayer rather than of criticism.

In the very next chapter in the book of Isaiah we see God’s solution, God’s plan, and how He wants to deal with the sinfulness of a nation and the sinfulness of its women. In Isaiah 4 we read about God purifying and cleansing the women of Zion.

Verse 4: “The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion.” Aren’t you glad for mercy? Don’t you thank God that there’s grace through the blood of Jesus Christ? There’s cleansing. There’s forgiveness.

“The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the blood stains from Jerusalem by spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire” (NIV). 

Listen, women, revival is costly. Cleansing can be painful. It means repenting of our haughty, selfish ways and coming back to a humble heart that fears the Lord.

But then verse 5: “The Lord will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night.”

What’s the smoke and what’s the fire? The Old Testament—it’s the presence of God. You want the presence of God over your home? You want the presence of God over your church? Some of you are so burdened for your homes, your churches, your communities as we ought to be. But how do we get that? By the women being willing to be cleansed and purified.

“Over all the glory will be a canopy. It will be a shelter and a shade from the heat of the day and a refuge and a hiding place from the storm and the rain” (Isaiah 4:4–6, NIV).

Oh, women, as we’re willing to walk in the fear of the Lord, to be cleansed from our guilt, from our filth by the fire of God’s presence, then He will send to our homes, to our churches, to our communities and to this nation a new sense of His presence, His protection, and His glory.

     O Lord I pray that You create in me a clean heart. Jesus, please help me to have a gentle and quiet spirit, one that trusts in You and doesn't give into worry, or is easily upset. Jesus cleanse me with Your fire, through the reading of Your Word, and Father, give me a hunger for Your Word. Help me to desire You through it more than life itself. Come into my life Jesus, change me and make me the woman You dreamed up: make me more like You. mmm - You are so good. Thank You God. Thank You for love me. For watching over me. Taking care of me. Giving me the absolute best. O Jesus may I give You my best as well. I'm sorry I haven't been lately, help me to change that, Jesus. I love You. I want to make You smile, I want to be fruitful and I don't want this to be all-for-not. Do a good work in me Jesus, and may I be known for my good deeds. Amen.