A Woman that Feareth the Lord

Hi ladies! It's Sara!

I am so excited to introduce the very first published article by my sister, Joanna, here on Continue! Joanna graduated in 2020 and is currently pursuing a career in proofreading. She enjoys reading, playing her instruments ( including the violin and cello), and folding laundry. :) Joanna is one of my very best friends and someone I look up to. Her article was a huge blessing and challenge to me, and I am sure it will be to you as well.

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"Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised." ~ Proverbs 31:30

First of all, I'd like to take a moment to think about what fearing God really means. Of course, we hear all manner of sermons preached and Sunday School lessons taught on the subject, but have we ever really stopped to consider what it means, or how one is to go about it?

We can probably all quote Proverbs 1:7, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. And of course everyone has heard Proverbs 9:10 - "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding."

But what is fearing God, really? Well, let's allow God to use his Word to define it for us, shall we?

Psalm 34:11-14 says, "Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD. What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it."

"Depart from evil and do good". Pretty straightforward. Let's see what else God has to say about fearing him.

"The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate." ~ Proverbs 8:13

So not only are we to depart from evil, we are also to hate evil. Alright, so we hate evil and depart from it.

But now what? What's to keep us from going right back to that evil that our flesh naturally loves? How are we supposed to win that constant battle between our born-again spirit and our very unsaved flesh? Well, we need to replace the evil with good.

First of all, let's focus on our delight. Take a look at Psalm 112:1. "Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments." So not only do we need to hate the evil, we need to make sure that we delight in his commandments. The best way to combat those evil tendencies is to love God's Word. Make it your reason to get out of bed in the morning, that one daily ritual you can't live without.

Now let's look at our direction. If we're departing from evil, walking away from it, what are we walking towards?

Psalm 128:1 says, "Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways."

Now look at Proverbs 14:2. "He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the LORD: but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him."

To not walk in the "evil way" we read about in Proverbs 8:13 is to walk in God's way. Uprightness, Proverbs 14:2 calls it.

Alright, now that we've had a quick refresher's course on what it means to fear God, let's take a look at a Biblical example to help bring the lesson home.

There are many different women in the Bible who could be described as "a woman that feareth the Lord". If we set a timer and tried to list as many as we could, I'm sure we would all come up with several similar answers.

Ruth, Esther, Mary. Maybe some would even think of Deborah, Abigail, or Lydia.

But the woman I want to talk about probably wouldn't end up on anyone's list.

Today, I want to talk about Rahab.

Now, I'm sure most of you are wondering just what Proverbs 31:30 has to do with Rahab. Everyone knows Rahab was a harlot, not the picture-perfect "Proverbs Thirty-One Lady" we've all read about and aspired to be.

"Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised."

The only part of that that sounds like Rahab is the beginning. Without going into too much detail, we can see how Rahab's very livelihood hinged on favor and beauty, which are described in this verse as being deceitful and vain. But let's take a look at a portion of Rahab's story in Joshua 2:1-15.

"And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there.

And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country.

And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country.

And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were:

And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them.

But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.

And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate.

And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof;

And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.

For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.

And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token:

And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.

And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.

Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall."

Rahab did fear God. In fact, she uses strong words to portray her fear of God. Terror falling upon her; her heart melting.

Sounds a lot like conviction.

Why was Rahab so afraid of God? Because she knew she was wrong. But she desperately wanted to get right. Why else would she have hidden the Hebrew spies from the king and lied to his men? Rahab feared God, whom she had never seen, more than she feared the king of Jericho. And God had mercy on her for that fear.

Proverbs 10:27 tells us that "The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened." Because Rahab feared God, her life was preserved. Rahab pictures each one of us. We were sinners once, but Jesus offered us a scarlet cord of salvation when he gave up his life on Calvary. The moment we accepted that salvation, we became his children. Gone are the sins of the past. We have been washed in his sinless blood and presented to him spotless and white.

One more thing I'd like to point out about Rahab. Again, Proverbs 31:30 reads, "Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised."

She shall be praised. Not simply forgiven. Praised. Given a place of special honor.

Let's check out Proverbs 22:4 real quick. "By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life."

Rahab received a special honor in Matthew chapter one when it lists the genealogy of Christ. She is one of only three women named in the passage. Rahab, a harlot, got to be a part of the lineage of Jesus Christ! What a wonderful testimony of redemption and grace! And all because Rahab was a woman that feared the Lord.

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Let's Chat

Did you enjoy this post? What other women would you say have displayed the fear of the Lord? Let us know by sending us an email at

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God bless!