Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Proverbs 31, we will pray, and then we'll do just a bit of review from proverbs 31.
[00:00:10] So let's pray together. Our Lord, thank you for the chance to be in Sunday school, to hear, to learn, to be, to receive instruction from your word. Lord, your word is so important to us. Lord, before we knew you, your word had little value to us.
[00:00:27] We did not feel the need of the sustaining power of your word in our lives. It just didn't matter.
[00:00:35] We were spiritually dead. And now that we're spiritually alive and you have saved us, Lord, we need your word. Every day we need your instruction, and we need you to teach us and instruct us. And, Lord, today we ask that you would please give us wisdom and instruction from your word. Open our eyes that we might behold wondrous things out of thy law.
[00:01:01] And, Lord, we pray that you would bless Sister Pam and Sister Beverly and Abby as they teach the kids downstairs that that would be profitable for those kids and they would learn and grow in the word. And, Lord, would you bless our service as well after this, as we look into your word and we, and are challenged by it, to know you better, to love you better. Lord, please help us.
[00:01:25] And so, Lord, we commit this time to you, and we ask your blessing upon your people.
[00:01:30] In Jesus name. Amen.
[00:01:33] Now, last week we talked about. We're in the subject of the major themes of proverbs, and we're in. We have. We've turned now to the major theme of women in proverbs. So last week we talked about the theme under that kind of subtheme is the Mother. So the woman, as she is known in her relationship to her children. And then we moved on from there. We did not cover the wife because we covered the wife previously when we were looking at family issues out of proverbs. But now we turned into the subject of the virtuous woman. There are many kinds of women in proverbs, wise women and foolish women and strange women and adulterous women and women that fear the Lord, and virtuous women. And there's all kinds of women in the scripture, and we're on the kind of the first one, which was the virtuous woman. And so obviously, the most obvious place to go is in proverbs 31. This is not the only time a virtuous woman is mentioned, but we have started to walk through it a little bit. So let's do this first. Let's start reading from verse ten to verse 31. I'll read it. And I ask you to kind of follow along and to make some mental notes as you go. And then we'll kind of pick up where we left off. Verse ten of proverbs 31 says this. Who can find a virtuous woman?
[00:03:06] For her price is far above rubies? The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her so that he shall have no need of spoil.
[00:03:17] She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
[00:03:23] She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
[00:03:29] She is like the merchants ships. She bringeth her food from afar.
[00:03:35] She riseth also, while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household and a portion to her maidens.
[00:03:43] She considereth a field and buyeth it with the fruit of her hands. She planteth a vineyard.
[00:03:49] She girdeth her loins with strength and strengtheneth her arms.
[00:03:54] She perceiveth that her merchandise is good. Her candle goeth not out by night. She layeth her hands to the spindle and her hands hold the distaff. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor, yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of the snow for her household, for all her household are clothed with scarlet.
[00:04:19] She maketh herself coverings of tapestry. Her clothing is silk and purple.
[00:04:25] Her husband is known in the gates when he sitteth among the elders of the land. She maketh the fine linen and selleth it. She delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
[00:04:35] Strength and honor are her clothing, and she shall rejoice in time to come.
[00:04:41] She openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up and call her blessed. Her husband also, and he praiseth her.
[00:04:58] Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain. But a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands and let her own works praise her in the gates.
[00:05:18] Now, we considered what a virtuous woman is. What does the word virtuous mean? It just means a woman who possesses or shows virtue in life and conduct and acts with moral rectitude or in conformity with moral principles. It is a woman who is free from vice, immorality or wickedness. That's what a virtuous woman is. And so what we were doing and what I want to pick up on is what we see. What are the MajOr kind of categories or characteristics of a virtuous woman. That is found in proverbs 31. All right. And so the first one that we looked at, and I want to kind of reiterate this a little bit, is in this chapter, there is a, with a virtuous woman, there is a repeated association of this virtuous Woman with her home.
[00:06:15] Over and over and over. The woman is associated, her virtue, in particular. Her virtue is associated, and the characteristics of this woman is associated with her family. Family and her house. Her home. You can see this in verse number eleven, the heart of her husband. You can see it in verse 15. It says, she riseth also, while it is yet night, giveth meat to her household. The word household is mentioned several times. Verse 21, it mentions not being afraid of snow for her household. Her household are clothed with scarlet. Verse 23, her husband is mentioned being known in the gates. Verse 27, she looketh well to the ways of her household. Verse 28, her children arise up and call her blessed. Her husband also, in other words, her family. So in all of these things, one of the key characteristics and one of the key virtues of a virtuous woman is the way that her focus is toward her home. Her focus and even all of these other things, whether it be other things we mentioned, strength and issues of money and all these other things, those all kind of flow into benefiting her husband and her children, because those, and I think what's kind of implied here, and we could go to a lot of other verses in the New Testament and in the Old Testament to see this, but what is implied here is the, the place of priority that this woman's home and family has in her, in her life. It is very important to her, her husband and her children. And of course, you go to the New Testament. Sister Judy knows, I'm sure she's taught on that many times, is what the aged women are to teach the younger women. And one of those two things is to love their husbands and to love their children. Again, home focused. Home focused. Now, I'm gonna pause here a second.
[00:08:16] The idea of a woman being home focused is an offense to many women in our time. That's just the bottom line. It is an offense not to all, because some people still have their priorities in order, but it does offend many people and many ladies. Many women feel like their worth is if they do that, if they focus all of their attention. Now, I want to pause here a second.
[00:08:52] You think about a woman focusing her time and attention and energy into serving and benefiting her husband and her children right now. That's a biblical idea. That is totally biblical. It's right.
[00:09:06] But some women have a hard time doing that because their husbands.
[00:09:11] There's a question as to whether their husband is going to be the kind of man that is worthy of that kind of attention and energy, or will that all be expended in vain?
[00:09:26] Here's the thing we have to remember is when a woman who is virtuous expends her energy and time toward her husband and her children, she was doing right in the sight of God. And ultimately, that is all that matters. That is the primary concern.
[00:09:42] One day, when we all stand before the Lord, the women as well as the men.
[00:09:48] Ladies, you will give an account in the same way that a man will give an account to how he leads his family in the things of God and in the practical matters of life. So the ladies will give an account to their responsibility and their duty toward their husbands and their children, whether or not their husband was upright or a believer or not, or did right, or answered them with the goodness and kindness and righteousness that they put into it.
[00:10:23] Remember, everything we do, we do for the Lord. For the Lord. And here's the thing.
[00:10:31] If ladies have a certain, you know, in a situation where the husband is not following the Lord or something in that kind of category, oftentimes the energy and the effort she puts into that relationship can actually benefit to the effect of.
[00:10:51] Of bringing that man to the Lord and helping him to come to know Christ. In fact, the New Testament directly says that, that by upright conduct of a lady with. The Bible uses the term behavior with that kind of upright conduct before a husband who does not know God, that that can be what brings him to God.
[00:11:14] And so it is not in vain. It is not in vain even with the children. It's also not in vain with the children. There are many, many, many kids that came up in a family where dad was not present, was not doing right. And it was the influence of mom and sometimes grandmother that was the anchor in that family. That was the anchor in that family. In my wife's family, one of the anchors in my wife's life was her grandmother. Was her grandmother. Her grandfather died, you know, before she was born. But the grandmother, there was a righteous and upright influence in my wife's life, and that was one of the anchors that held her.
[00:11:52] And that's all someone focusing, focusing on the family. So there is a philosophy in which women are taught that their worth, if their worth is attached to their husband and kids, they can't make their mark in the world.
[00:12:11] But what we have to remember is that a woman in her family has an irreplaceable role.
[00:12:22] In other words, what you are to your children and to your husband is a role that nobody else can fill. Only you and I know, of course, there's always extreme examples where, you know, the mother, you know, dies tragically or something like that, and God gives grace for those things. But speaking generally, that is not a role that a man can fill. You know, the idea of a man being a stay at home dad. And so mom can go make her mark on the world, and he, look, he doesn't, he doesn't do it the way it should be done. That's the bottom line. He doesn't do it the way it should be done. Only mom knows how to do that. And only, only the benefit of mom can pouring her life into that, into the husband and the kids can bring about that thing that the benefits to the family. And so, and the Bible speaks of the role of.
[00:13:16] And the mark on the world that the woman has is a mark that a man can't put there. It's a mark that only a woman can put. No caregiver can replace that role. And the mark that the woman leaves on the world is primarily what she does in her family.
[00:13:32] And that is not something small. See, here's the thing. The reality is when women have this idea that they want to put their mark on the world, going into the corporate world and giving their 60 hours, 80 hours a week to their job and all that, at the end of it, it's just smoke and mirrors. There is no fulfillment in that. There is no fulfillment in that. They think there is, but there's not.
[00:14:00] And truth is, that's true for a man, too.
[00:14:03] That's why a man must give himself to spiritual and eternal things while he's supporting his family. But if that's the whole thing we're living for, it's smoke and mirrors.
[00:14:13] But if a lady focuses her heart and life and energy upon her family, let me tell you something. Those kids are what that mother puts in them, and that lasts. That goes to their children and grandchildren. That is a true mark. That is a true mark. That is not. That's not something to be just brushed aside casually. That is significant. That is significant.
[00:14:39] And so look at proverbs 14 real quick, and then we'll move on to our next point. Proverbs 14, verse number one.
[00:14:53] It says this every just in the context of that being focused and the energy being invested into the family, into the husband, into the home, into the children. Every wise woman. Notice that every wise woman buildeth her house. See that? Every wise woman buildeth her house.
[00:15:19] And again, I say this because this is a world in which we live. Not every family situation is ideal, but the exceptions do not negate the rule.
[00:15:30] And even if you're in a less than ideal situation, you can still take the things that can be applied and apply them with all your heart and do that for your husband. You know, some ladies can't have children and they can't adopt for whatever reason. And so they. But they can put their energy into their. Into their husband.
[00:15:52] And some ladies don't have a husband for whatever reason. They can put their energy into their children. You see what I'm saying? You take what you can do, and you do it with all your heart, and.
[00:16:03] And the Lord will reward you and your children, and your family will benefit greatly.
[00:16:10] Again, this is not something to be looked lightly upon.
[00:16:14] All right, going back to proverbs 31. Excuse me, you see, another thing, and this is kind of where we left off.
[00:16:23] The virtuous woman in proverbs 31 is a lady who is wise with money. Money is mentioned in the fact that verse eleven, her husband trusts in her. So there's not this, you know, where she's running up the credit card debt. Like I, like I, you know, is kind of. Kind of the stereotype.
[00:16:41] Verse number 13.
[00:16:43] She seeketh wool and flax.
[00:16:46] Verse number 14.
[00:16:49] She is like the merchant ship. She bring. Bringeth her food from afar. She's paying attention to the deal. She's going to get, what, the best food or whatever. Well, you know, whatever she's doing. In other words, she's. She's the one paying attention, getting what's needed, spending the money for the family. That's what's happening. And I gotta be honest, I am so glad that I don't have to go to the grocery store and my wife takes care of that. That is like one of my least favorite things to do.
[00:17:14] How many of you men could say amen to that?
[00:17:20] And then they invented instacart.
[00:17:28] Verse number 14.
[00:17:30] Oh, we already read that. Verse 16. Notice she considereth a field and buyeth it. She's spending money using money.
[00:17:39] Verse number 18. She perceiveth that her merchandise is good again, handling money. Verse number 24.
[00:17:46] Yeah. Verse number 24. She maketh fine linen and selleth it, delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
[00:17:52] So this is a lady who is wise with money. You know, the principle of money in scripture is he that is faithful in that which is least is faithful. Also in that which is much. Right. And the least in the context when the Lord said, that is what money.
[00:18:09] The least in that context is money.
[00:18:13] And so, of course, I mean, it goes without saying. I just say this because, you know, this is something that's talked about in society. But, you know, a lady should be a lady who is wise with money. That doesn't mean she doesn't spend money, but she should be someone who applies biblical principles to her money. Right? This is what the virtuous woman does.
[00:18:35] But this doesn't mean. This doesn't mean that she dresses in rags.
[00:18:41] How do you know that? Well, because verse number 22, she maketh herself coverings of tapestry. Her clothing is silk and purple. Now, that's valuable. That's expensive, right? And I know maybe you don't make tapestry and wear purple and silk, but the principle there, though, is that it's not that she's good with money. So she never goes to a nice store to get. Or she only buys from the discount rack at goodwill.
[00:19:12] No, if you buy goodwill, don't get offended. Don't get offended. That's fine. I'm talking to the Yorks.
[00:19:18] He said, watch it now. There are some things you buy in goodwill. I don't have no respect for that. But. No, but there's nothing wrong with that.
[00:19:30] There's this idea that floats around christian circles that ladies aren't supposed to take care of themselves and they're supposed to dress in rags and husbands promote that kind of stuff. That is not biblical. That is not biblical. That is not right.
[00:19:45] Men. Look, and I know another thing is, who controls the money? I know when I was a missionary in Cambodia, the women always control the money. And the men, they don't know nothing. They're considered to be just drunkards and gamblers. That's it. So the women hold the money. Otherwise they'd be in the poorhouse all the time. So the women take care of the money. So the question is not that. The question is this. If, man, if you are the one who oversees the money, you ought to give your wife the ability to go out and spend money when she wants to. I mean, as long as you have money to do it. Obviously, there's nothing virtuous or righteous about a woman intentionally having to, you know, not take care of those kinds of things. Because, I mean, this is an aspect of her, aspect of the virtuous one. What we also see is not only is she wise with money, there is a repeated association with this woman with her family and her home, but she's also a woman of industry. And these verses that we just read, 13 1416. 1824.
[00:20:56] She runs a business, she's self employed. Basically, you see it in 13. She's seeking woolen flax. In other words, she's getting the raw materials needed to do what's mentioned in down in verse number.
[00:21:14] Let's see, is it 19? Yes, verse number 19, she layeth her hands to the spindle and her hands hold the distaff. That means she's. She's.
[00:21:25] What do they call that? It just slipped my mind.
[00:21:28] Spinning. There we go. She's spinning thread. Thread which is used to make clothing. So I know we don't all do that. We have modern equivalents to that. Thankfully, we don't have to spin our own thread. But the idea is that she's getting the raw materials needed so that she can produce clothing. Not only that benefits her family, but she's taking that stuff and she is selling it as well. Verse 24, she maketh fine linen and selleth it and delivereth girdles unto the merchant. Now, this is not the girdle we think of as a girdle. This is essentially like a decorative belt, right? It's, you know, when you live in a time where colored clothing, like bright colored clothing, is super expensive because, you know, all the dyes are made from natural materials. So the idea of your whole, you know, like this, like this fantastic tie right here, the idea that. Why are you laughing, brother?
[00:22:18] The idea that someone would have a bright. That just wasn't a thing unless you were extremely wealthy. So what they would do is they'd wear the regular clothing and then they would have a decorative girdle or belt which accentuated their clothing and they would spend money on that. And this is the lady who made them.
[00:22:39] She bought the materials, she worked with it, she knew how to do it, she had skill, she taught herself. Whatever. Point is, she's a lady of industry and as a result, she has money, right?
[00:22:53] And as a result, she can materially contribute to her family's well being.
[00:23:00] That's perfectly fine. You know what I just said that. You know what I said about how the ladies, the virtuous woman, her energy was toward her husband and children. And I said that sometimes offends women.
[00:23:12] This is often what offends men.
[00:23:15] Some men are uncomfortable with their woman, with their wife, with their woman.
[00:23:23] Some men are uncomfortable with their wife making money and not depending on them for every last red cent that they spend.
[00:23:33] That bothers some men in their insecurity.
[00:23:37] Somehow men think that if their wife has a source of income, that they feel like they're less necessary. And ladies, you got to be careful of that, because men's. The way they value themselves is being dependent upon one of the ways they value themselves. Being dependent on being dependent upon. So when a wife says, you know, I don't need you, that can be very hurtful to a man who is by nature a provider, right? So you gotta be careful of that. I mean, not to, but the other extreme is also not good, which is, you know, he's gonna make her beg for every last, you know, greenback that she gets so that she can buy, you know, a few grains of rice. That's ridiculous.
[00:24:22] But see, this woman, she is helping her family materially.
[00:24:29] And she is a lady who has the wisdom, the skill, the wisdom with money to employ herself in a way that is. That is beneficial to her family. And again, it's family centered. It's not about buying an island.
[00:24:46] There's an inside joke, you know, saying, island. What are you talking about? One of my wife, somebody my wife knows, she had a business, and her goals. Her stated goal was she wanted to buy an island.
[00:24:58] So it's not about that, though. It's about helping your family. That's what it's about. Verse 17. Verse number 25. Both of these. Notice what it says. She girdeth her loins with strength and strengtheneth her arms. Verse 25. Strength and honor are her clothing, and she shall rejoice in time to come. A virtuous. One of the characteristics of a virtuous woman is that she is strong. Now, here's a. Here's a biological fact. Here's a biological fact. Women physically, generally, are not as strong as men. They have. They have less muscle mass.
[00:25:34] And this is the whole problem with what's going on with the trans athletes and all that stuff, is, you notice it never goes the other way. It's never the girls wanting to compete with the boys, because most of the time when that happens, it. It's. I mean, it's a route, but it's always the men wanting to compete against the girls, the cowards.
[00:25:57] And the reason why is because they naturally, even if they're on hormones, have a lot greater body muscle mass, and they're stronger and faster. That's just a biological fact. And anybody who argues with that is extremely dishonest. It's just a biological fact.
[00:26:22] But this says she's strong. There's a strength here that has nothing to do with the physical strength. And notice proverbs 24, since we're close to it, proverbs 24 ten, notice the effect of strength, because I've observed this, and you have, too. Proverbs 24 ten says this, if thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.
[00:26:54] How many women, rather, how many men have wilted spiritually, emotionally, maybe, in the face of adversity and their wives stood strong?
[00:27:15] You see, this is a strength that characterizes the virtuous woman she is. You know, and listen, all you have to do is, all you need to do is be around a virtuous woman, and you will come to figure out, when you see a, when you see a lady go through very difficult time and come out of that successfully, victoriously, she comes through it. You can't look at a lady like that and say she's weak. She's not. She's strong. In fact, many of those times, us men, we men who, you know, pride ourselves on our strength, we look at that and we wonder, I don't know if I'd be able to get through that lake, that.
[00:28:03] But of course, inner strength comes is really a spiritual question.
[00:28:08] The next thing I want to point out, we're getting near the end of our list. Here is diligence. Notice in verse number 13, seeketh woolen flax, worketh willingly with her hands. Verse 15, she riseth also, while it is yet night, giveth meat that's food to her household and apportioned to her maidens. You see, she's getting up early. See it, verse number 18, she perceiveth that her merchandise is good. Her candle goeth not out by night, she stays up late. Now, some women have put this, you know, women who really have a heart for the Lord. I've seen them. I've heard them.
[00:28:47] When you combine these two things, her, well, there's a couple of things you got to keep in mind. So here's the way it's taught.
[00:28:57] If you want to be a virtuous woman, then you have to get up before dawn and you have to stay up way past everybody else goes to bed. That's the way it's taught.
[00:29:08] Well, if you do that, you're going to be getting up at four or five in the morning, and you'll be going to bed about midnight or one. That gives you about three or 4 hours of sleep.
[00:29:19] Now, most people can't survive on three or 4 hours of sleep. Now, let me reorient that, orientate that, these principles.
[00:29:30] There was no electricity, so when the sun went down, you had to have a candle to have light to work.
[00:29:43] Well, so if this dear lady, she gets up at five in the morning before the sun is up, like we read, that's fine, that's fine. I know people that get up before dawn and that's fine.
[00:29:53] But come six, seven, well, in our time now, it's like, you know, it's like 830, it's starting to get dark, right? But in every other time, you know, 607:00 people were winding down. You know what, she's doing the candles up. It doesn't mean she's getting 3 hours of sleep. It just means that, you know, it's 809:00 maybe, maybe even ten, she's still getting her sleep. Listen, we put ladies especially who have a heart for God, sometimes put these crazy requirements on them that God's not saying you're supposed to get 3 hours of sleep. He's just, the principle is she is diligent.
[00:30:30] She is diligent.
[00:30:32] She is not afraid of work. She's not afraid to put time into it. She's diligent.
[00:30:40] Verse, we already saw. Verse number 19, she's spinning thread and those kinds of things. Verse number 27, she looketh well to the ways of her household. That means she's paying attention and she's doing what is necessary to care for the needs of her family. Next, she's wise and kind. Verse 16.
[00:31:05] She considereth a field and buyeth it. Verse 18. She perceiveth that her merchandise is good. Notice her wisdom and also foresight.
[00:31:16] Verse number 20.
[00:31:19] Verse number 21. She is not afraid of the snow for her household, for all her household are clothed with scarlet. In other words, she thought ahead, she knew what would be needed. She was using wisdom. But also there's kindness.
[00:31:31] Kindness. In verse number 20, she stretcheth out her hand to the poor. She reacheth forth her hands to the need. She cares, she has compassion.
[00:31:40] Verse number 27, she.
[00:31:44] I'm sorry. Verse number 26, she openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness. In other words, wisdom and kindness both exist in the same verse. There.
[00:31:55] Now note all of these things. We kind of all put it together into kind of one picture of this lady.
[00:32:03] And listen, I want to tell you something. As you read this, as we looked at the different aspects of this, this is set forth as the ideal. How do we know that? Well, because it says, verse 29, many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. In other words, the lady that is the writers in the writer's mind is a lady who is the ideal virtuous woman, okay?
[00:32:32] But just like in every other spiritual endeavor, we are, all of us are on the path at different points working toward that ideal, right?
[00:32:45] So what I'm saying is, don't beat yourself up. If you have gaps in your life that don't match up with this just perfectly, you just work toward it. You ask the Lord to help you, and you just kept. You just press on. You press on. I have. Listen, I have gaps in my life that I'm working toward. I have things that I feel like need to be improved on, whether it's in ministry, whether it's with my family, whatever the case might be, it's a work in progress. And that's true of you. That's true of you ladies, as you try to work toward this. But again, the danger is to say, well, I'm not there yet, so this is bad. Well, that's kind of dumb. It's bad because I don't fulfill it. Well, no, no, no. Again, that's the goal. You press toward the mark.
[00:33:32] Now, note, as a final kind of wrap up to this is, note how many times that he mentions. The writer mentions this lady's hands, verse 13, verse 16, verse 17, verse 19, verse 20, verse 31. 31 says, give her of the fruit of her hands and let her own works praise her in the gates. Notice that. Notice, it mentions in 31 her works, and it parallels her works with her hands, her hands. This speaks of her labor and her work, her works, both practically and spiritually.
[00:34:13] So I just ask you, ladies, you know, I ask you, do you employ your hands, your works, your labor, in a way that is consistent with the characteristics of the virtuous woman, because this is the ideal. And this is not my ideal. This is God's ideal. This is God's ideal. And for you, husband, look at verse 23. Her husband is known in the gates when he sitteth among the elders of the land. What does that have to do with the woman? Well, proverbs twelve four says, a virtuous woman is a crown to her husband.
[00:34:59] She makes him look good, way better than he actually is.
[00:35:05] Can you men that have godly wives, can you say, yeah, my wife has made me look good? In other words, I'm hanging out with my buddies, you know, the elders of the city, you know, and they all think, man, this guy's great. And half the reason they think that is because of his wife, because they know his wife.
[00:35:22] It's not him. He didn't do that. She has. She has feared God, she has her wisdom, she is diligent, she all these things. And that reflects upon him like a crown now. And as a result, verse 28, her children rise up and call her blessed. Her husband also. And he praiseth her. He doesn't just, he doesn't expect and demand only honor from his wife. He gives honor to his wife with public praise. And the children do that also.
[00:35:58] Now, one thing, this is to close, one thing is not. It's only mentioned one time in this passage. You know what it is? It's in verse 30.
[00:36:08] All the things we've read in proverbs 31 about the virtuous woman. Beauty is only mentioned once, and it's said to be vain.
[00:36:20] It's said to be vain.
[00:36:22] That doesn't. Of course, this lady cares about her beauty. Verse number 22. But it's not her top priority.
[00:36:29] Her virtue and her fear of God and those things are her top priority.
[00:36:35] Every other.
[00:36:37] The virtue is what's most important. And those physical things, just as the Bible says in proverbs 1122, as a jewel of gold in a swine's snout, so is a fair woman, which is without discretion. Now, most men say, I want a virtuous woman and I want her to be beautiful, right? That's what most people think. And that's fine. That's fine. But if in the case a man has to choose between one or the other, virtue, that's what that verse is teaching. Virtue is more important. Virtue is far more important.
[00:37:13] And so, ladies, in the New Testament, the Lord does tell ladies to not to concentrate their energy on the inner beauty rather than outer beauty. It does absolutely say that. That doesn't necessarily mean you neglect the outer beauty, but it says you focus on the inner beauty. That is perfectly consistent with the truth of proverbs 31 with the virtuous woman. All right, let's pray together.
