“For three things the earth is disquieted [shaken] and for four which it cannot bear…for an odious [unloved] woman when she is married” (v.21-23). Our focus is upon The Unloved Married Woman. Her husband does not show love which is required by the Lord as commanded in Scripture. Ephesians 5:22ff is a passage that contains both the command to the wife to submit unto her own husband and the command to the husband to show active love to his wife, in the same way that Christ loves the church. This sacrificial love is necessary for the relationship to function properly and the onus in reality is written to men who are responsible for the leadership of the home, the community, the church and the country!
If this agape love is missing, if the husband does not fulfill his obligation to love his wife as his own flesh, then the relationship will fail. However, if the wife does not submit to his leadership the relationship will fail. It takes two, one flesh is how God describes this mysterious oneness as Paul calls it a mega-mystery that even he did not completely understand as he was not married, not involved in this one flesh mystery, but those who are can see the intimacy that brings about the spiritual and physical interaction when both husband and wife are saved fellowshipping in the Spirit!
So, this unloved wife in Proverb 30:23 is our topic for the day. Her condition ‘shakes the earth’ spiritually because it puts her in a very undesirable situation according to the Word of God. She is commanded to submit to a man who does not show the love that makes the relationship work the way God designed, and she does not enjoy the one flesh oneness which should give her the joy of being married to a husband that loves her unconditionally. But, she still must obey the command to submit to her husband in all things knowing that the Lord will bless her regardless of her husband’s response to her love for him, for she is not only commanded to submit to his authority, but she is also commanded to love him.
This is exactly what my wife did for ten years, for she was saved for ten years before the Lord saved me in March 1980. Even though I lived the life of Jekyll and Hyde, a successful engineer by day and a wild Harley riding madman by night, she continued to pray for me knowing that the Lord told her I would be saved one day. Her submission and prayers for me brought about my salvation after living the life of a drug-abusing alcoholic husband and father for fifteen years.
So, Drivers, the Lord is speaking to each and every one of us to make sure that our families are in order so that we can be blessed of the Lord according to His precious Word! Husbands must be exercising agape love for their wives as is taught in Ephesians 5:22-31 which includes loving her as his own flesh, just as the Lord Jesus Christ loves the Church and gave Himself for it on the Cross of Calvary. His great love brought about our so great salvation and all the spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1-3) we enjoy as children of the King of kings and Lord of lords! That is how we must love our wives. It is only as we allow the Lord to love our wives through us that this can be accomplished for it is supernatural!
And, although wives are also commanded to love their husbands on numerous occasions in the New Testament, the one-flesh union is the ultimate goal for both husband and wife in order that the family can enjoy the battle-ready position that the Lord desires. This puts the husband/wife into place for becoming the Spiritual force for propagating the Gospel! The husband as the leader of the family must take full responsibility for the Spiritual success of the family as he utilizes the weapons of our warfare in the ongoing battle for “Souls for Jesus” which is our continuing “Battle Cry”!
Let us band together as we look forward to serving the Lord as we witness to those the Lord sends our way and as we pray for the Lord’s will to be fulfilled in our marriages! Husbands, love your wives…wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands…this combination is the Lord’s will for a successful marriage relationship and without this working as God designed we will have nothing but problems and issues we cannot resolve until we surrender to the Lord’s plan and then we can watch our marriages and families prosper just as He intended according to His precious Word! Proverbs 31-The Virtuous Woman is tomorrow’s topic! This message was given 12.30.13 and is being repeated because of its importance to the success of the family. The Psalm for the Day will begin 2.1.14.