WAVE mother is a term I have coined to express the role we moms are called to play in our childrens' lives. It is based on those Bible scriptures which pertain to women that many of us know well: Proverbs 31, Titus 2, Genesis 2 and Psalm 127. Through these powerful words from God's heart, we learn that as mothers we are to be Helpers, Virtuous Women, and Keepers at Home. But what we may not realize is the real meaning of those scriptures. All of them place moms directly in the line of battle.
The Hebrew word for "Helper" in Genesis 2 is "Ezer". All females are created to be ezers, not just married women. (Thus our daughters are ezers). We will study this word below, and you will realize that it is a warring word. Likewise, the Hebrew word for "virtuous" does not mean what we think it does. When the KJV was written, virtue meant might and power, not moral character. Below you will see why virtuous is also a warring word. In the same way, Keepers at Home is not referring to cooking, cleaning, and other household tasks. To keep is yet another military term, which will also be proven. Lastly, the warring images continue with the Psalm 127 analogy of children being like arrows in the hand of a mighty warrior.
Thus, the term WAVE stands for:
Watchwomen (i.e. keepers at home)
Arrows (our children)
Valiant or Valor (i.e. virtuous)
Ezer (Hebrew word for helper)
Come explore these scriptures with me and be prepared to change the way you look at them forever!
1) W is for Watchwomen:
Titus 2:5 admonishes mothers to be keepers at home. The Greek word used in that verse is "oikourgos", which is a combination of "oikos" (meaning house/family) and "ouros" (which means a guard, be "ware"). Thus the word translated as "keepers at home" biblically has nothing to do with being a homemaker the way we think of it today. It literally means the person guarding the home and family. That is what we get when we break down keepers at home.
A keeper is someone who guards. This definition is consistent with the rest of scripture. 1 Timothy 1:5 says that we are kept by the power of God. The word translated "kept" there means: to guard, protect by a military guard; to protect by guarding, to keep; by watching and guarding to preserve one...Do you see the connection? My Bible says that "keep" is a military term picturing a sentry standing guard as protection against the enemy.
The definition above used the word "watching" to further explain what it means to keep. The OT also speaks of a mother's calling to "watch" her family. Proverbs 31:27 says that we are to watch over the ways of our household. The word for "watch" here - tsaphah - means to look out or about, spy, keep watch. It is the very word used to describe watchmen on the tower- those whose job it was to look out for the approaching enemy and sound an alarm. Thus, we are called to be watchwomen. No, most of us are not positioned atop a castle tower in body, but spiritually we are. The NT is filled with admonishments "to watch" (such as in 1 Peter 5:8).
Proverbs 15:3 says that God's eyes are everywhere, keeping watch over the evil and the good. Mothers, our eyes are to be on our family and keeping watch over our household. Actually, that is how the Message bible translates Proverbs 31:27: "She keeps an eye on everyone in her household..." It is interesting to note that in Dr. Frank Seekin’s book, Hebrew Word Pictures, he shared how the the word “ezer” (helper, the word describing woman in Genesis) is composed of two word pictures in ancient Hebrew: an eye, and a picture of someone with a hatchet representing ‘the enemy’. A literal interpretation means ‘one who sees the enemy’. Women have a certain inner eye with which to watch the ways of their household: intuition.
Just as in Isaiah 21:6 the watchman was told to declare what he sees, so this is our calling. We watch not only with our physical eyes, but our inner eyes, and we see. We see the wiles of the enemy. And so we declare. We may need to speak up or we may need to lift up our voices to God in prayer. Isaiah 52:8 reads, “Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice”. Ezekial 33:6 proclaims, “If the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned…” It is our job to be watchwomen. It is our job to declare what we see. It is our job to lift up our voice. It is our job to blow the trumpet of warning. 1 COR 14:8 says, "If the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?"
Genesis 3:24 says that God placed Cherubims at the east of the garden of Eden to “keep” the way of the tree of life. The Hebrew word for keep here is “shamar” and it means “to guard, keep, watch, protect, observe, have charge of.” In fact, “shamar” was also used to describe the man’s calling when he was put in the garden to “keep” it (Genesis 2:15). Men and women both were created to keep/watch/guard the world which we were given dominion of. A woman is no more commanded to clean and care for a home than a man is commanded to become a gardener! That is not what “keep” in “keeper at home” is about. It is about carefully guarding whatever God puts in your charge. It is about ruling the earth, fighting the enemy, and overcoming evil as the warriors we were meant to be. Men and women are to keep the world alongside one another.
That said, women are made in the image of God as females. And as females we are generally more relational and nurturing than men. These feminine attributes, along with womanly intuition, equip watchwomen to successfully guard their families. Cleaning a house, sewing, cooking, and all other household tasks are human work, not women's work. Of course if the father is working full time outside of the home and the mother is a full time stay at home mom, she will be responsible for most of the household tasks. But the point is that women are not commanded to clean and cook in the admonishment to "keep" their homes. They are commanded to watch, guard and protect their families. This is a warring word. We are Watchwomen!
2) A is for Arrows:
Psalm 127:4 says, "Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth." Mothers, we are warriors. Romans 12:21 tells us to overcome evil with good. Overcome means conquer and come out victorious. It involves fighting and winning the fight. Furthermore, we are told to fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12) and wage the good warfare. (1 Timothy 1:18) Wage means to fight, to be a soldier. 2 Timothy 2:3 confirms that we are to be “good soldiers of Jesus Christ.” Verse 4 goes on to say, “And as Christ’s soldier, do not let yourself become tied up in the affairs of this life, for then you cannot satisfy the one who has enlisted you in His army.” It is the devil that we are fighting. We are told to resist him, or set ourselves against him. He is our adversary, our enemy in this battle. (1 Peter 5:8-9) 2 Corinthians 10:4 says, “We use God’s mighty weapons…to knock down the Devil’s strongholds.” We are to put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:11a), which is the armor of light (Romans 13:12).
The scriptures above show us that mothers are also warriors in God's army. But if this fact is not clear with them alone, we see that God spoke specifically to women in the call to be warriors when He told us to be watchwomen and when He called us ezers and "virtuous" or "valiant" wives (as we will see below). Our children are our arrows. They are part of the battle. You don't fight for your arrows but with them. Children don't need to grow up before they can impact the Kingdom of God.
3) V is for Valor or Valiant:
Proverbs 31:10 speaks of the "virtuous" wife that we all desire to be like. I always took this word to mean good character, but it really means so much more than that. When the KJV of the Bible was written, virtue had a meaning that is no longer common today. We see this in Mark 5:30, where it says that "virtue had gone out of" Jesus when the woman touched him. How can virtue go out of someone? Well, back then virtue meant power and strength. So can we apply the way virtue is used in the NT for the OT word describing a wife? Is she a powerful, strong woman? Well, this is actually very interesting because the Hebrew word translated as virtuous in Prov 31:10 is only translated as such when it refers to a woman (in Proverbs 31, Proverbs 12:4 and Ruth 3:11). The rest of the time, when it refers to one man, it is usually translated as man of valor/power/might/strength or valiant man. So why, when speaking of a woman, is the word virtuous used?
The Septuagint was the Greek translation of the OT Hebrew. It was the Bible of the early Christians. In it, Ruth 3:11 is translated as "Thou art a woman of power". Today, the Douay-Rheims Bible translates Proverbs 31:10 as "Who shall find a valiant woman? far and from the uttermost coasts is the price of her." Furthermore, there is a Hebrew song about this woman in proverbs 31, called "Woman of Valor". Wikipedia says that, "Traditionally it has been translated "virtuous" or "noble." Some scholars have suggested that it rather means "forceful," "mighty," or "valiant" because the use of the word in the Tanakh is almost exclusively used regarding warfare."
The Hebrew word translated as "virtuous" was translated as "army" 56 out of 243 times (it was translated as man of valor 37 times, host 29 times, forces 14 times, valiant 13 times, etc...including the usage of the words power and might). So is there any further proof that its' meaning in Proverbs 31 is more than just noble? Indeed, the rest of the chapter is alive with military language.
Barabara J. Yoder wrote in her book God’s Bold Call To Women, "Did you know that the word “virtuous” spoken of in Proverbs 31:10 is a warring word? The virtuous woman is a warrior woman. She is strong, able, forceful and powerful; she is one who is willing to go to battle. In the Hebrew language, the word “virtuous” actually pictures her as one single woman coming with the strength of an army." After stating that this woman of valor, this strong, powerful and valiant woman is worth much more than rubies, verse 11 continues the military imagery through the use of the word spoil: "The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil." What is spoil? Those were the riches gained through war! Yes, war!!! She is a valiant woman who is spiritually as strong as an army, after all. Then verse 12 says, "She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life." His wife is his ally in this war. They fight alongside one another.
Verse 17 says that this woman of valor "girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms." The word for arms here does not merely mean physical arms. One meaning is "forces (political and military)." Even more profound is the meaning of strengthen. What does it mean to strengthen your arms? Is it working out and strength training? Well, to strengthen means "to be strong, alert, courageous, brave, stout, bold..." and "to be determined, to make oneself alert". Yes, a soldier in God's army needs to be courageous and brave and bold. And a watchwomen needs to be alert in order to properly watch, or guard her family.
Proverbs 31:21 calls a woman of valor fearless. And verse 25 says that strength and honor are her clothing, and she shall rejoice in the time to come. The word for rejoice actually carries the idea of laughing mockingly. Who is the recipient of this mocking do you think? Of course the devil! She laughs because she has victory (that's why her husband has no lack of spoil- they won the war and so won all the booty of it). Go ahead and laugh at Satan. He has already lost. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world!
4) E is for Ezer:
At the dawn of creation, God said that it was not good for man to be alone. He knew that man needed a helper, and this is where woman came in: as the helper. What does this mean to women today? Are women created to be assistants to men as they battle and subdue and rule? The Hebrew word for help in Genesis 2:18 and 20 is “ezer”. It is used 21 times in the Old Testament. Twice for the woman, three times regarding military allies and 16 times speaking of God as our helper. Yes, GOD is a helper. Surely He does not play the part of an assistant when He helps us. Nor are military allies mere assistants. Therefore, we can conclude that when the same word is used to describe a woman, the help she brings is vital, warring type help, not assisting help. Furthermore, every time ezer is used in reference to God’s help to us, it is used within the context of fighting and enemies, surrounded by words such as deliver, save, shield, rescue, protect and enemy.
Listen to what Carolyn Custis James wrote in her book When Life and Beliefs Collide, "Checking the math, in nineteen of the twenty-one times that ezer appears in the Bible, and in nearly 100 percent of the uses of the verb form, there is an overwhelming military connotation. But for some strange reason, when the same word refers to a woman, we end up talking about making babies, submission, and cleaning house." By helper, God meant that woman would be an ally to man, standing side by side with him, fighting battles and expanding God’s kingdom on earth. Carolyn also wrote, "Earth has always been a war zone. Even before people inhabited the world, the enemy was on the move. So it makes perfect sense that God used military language to mobilize Eve into action…Adam couldn’t fight these battles alone."
One of the translations of "ezer" is succour, a word that means help in time of difficulty. Taking this into consideration, along with the fact that ezer was used to describe military allies or God Himself in the context of helping by protecting, rescuing, shielding and fighting battles with our enemy, it is clear that the help of an ezer is warring help. All females were created to be ezers, not just wives and mothers. Females were created to subdue and rule the earth alongside males. We are allies. Your daughters are ezers too. Teach them what it means to be an ezer.
I think it is also interesting two ways the word "helper" is used in the NT. First, as we all know, the Holy Spirit is called "the Helper" in the Gospels. Second, Romans 16:2 speaks of Phoebe being a "helper of many". The KJV translates it as a "succourer of many" (remember that word, succour?) The Greek word describing Phoebe here actually means "a woman set over others; female guardian, protectress." I love that: protectress. You are a protectress, mom. You are a female guardian, a watchwoman, a helper! The Amplified translation says of Phoebe, "she has been a helper of many including myself [shielding us from suffering]." There's that word "shield", just as it was used in the OT in the context of how God is our Helper.
So....are you a WAVE mother? Are you watching, guarding and protecting your children? Are you keeping an eye on everyone in your household so that your motherly intuition can aid you in being the "one who sees the enemy"? Are you declaring what you see and lifting up your voice? Are you fighting with your arrows, training them how to oppose the devil? Does your family have no lack of spoil because you walk in the victory Christ won for you? Are you strengthening your arms, becoming more alert, courageous, brave and bold as the years pass? Are you allowing God to transform you into a valiant, powerful woman of valor, fighting spiritual battles with fearless determination? Are you helping your husband shield, protect and rescue your children from the wiles of the enemy?
Are you a Protectress? That's what a Watchwoman is. That's what a Woman of Valor is. That's what an Ezer is.
This blog is devoted to all my fellow WAVE Mothers who are raising ezers of the tween and teen ages; daughters who need their moms to watch them, guard them, protect them, help them and shield them. Our daughters need to look at us and see examples of brave, bold, powerful, and valiant Women of God. They need us to tell them who they are; that God created them to be Ezers. They need us to train them to fight the good fight as the arrows they are.
This transition from girlhood to womanhood is a precious, beautiful time for our daughters. We will hold their hand and walk them through the transformation with full confidence of the women they will be at the end. We rejoice in the time to come because we have the victory! As Fern Nichols wrote about the author in the book Six Ways to Keep the Little in Your Girl, "We must support one another, and Dannah issues a joint battle cry! She cries out along with me, 'Satan, you cannot have our girls!"
I love this drawing called "Queen Susan the Gentle" by Kate Jennings (from the book/movie The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe- a must read/see for your daughters (and sons). Here is a woman who is an Ezer. She is a Woman of Valor. She has her arrows and her horn (she is a Watchwoman who blows the horn when necessary).
"Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning Satan shudders and says, “Oh, No….She’s Awake!”- unknown
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