The Currency of God's Kingdom Text: Proverbs 11:16
Introduction: Two Economies
The book of Proverbs is intensely practical. It does not float in the ethereal mists of abstract piety; it gets its hands dirty with the grit of everyday life. It deals with money, speech, work, sex, and power. And in doing so, it constantly sets before us two competing ways of life, two economies, two value systems. One is the economy of man, built on brute force, short term gains, and what can be seized with a clenched fist. The other is the economy of God, which operates on a different set of principles entirely, principles like grace, honor, and covenantal faithfulness.
Our text today sets up a sharp, almost jarring, contrast between these two economies. It places a particular kind of woman on one side of the scale and a particular kind of man on the other. It shows us two different kinds of strength, leading to two different kinds of treasure. And in this contrast, we learn a fundamental truth about the nature of God's world. We learn that certain virtues are the appointed means to obtaining certain kinds of wealth. And we learn that the wealth God values most cannot be seized; it must be received.
We live in a culture that is tone deaf to this reality. Our age celebrates the ruthless. It makes celebrities out of the cutthroat, the shameless, and the tyrannical. It measures success in dollars, in market share, and in political power. And at the same time, it despises and mocks the grace-filled strength of godly femininity, dismissing it as weakness, as antiquated, as oppressive. But Scripture turns our modern value system on its head. God tells us here that the treasure a gracious woman obtains is more lasting and more glorious than all the riches that ruthless men can hoard.
The Text
"A gracious woman holds fast to glory, But ruthless men hold fast to riches."
(Proverbs 11:16 LSB)
The Strength of Grace
Let us first consider the woman. The text uses a single, potent adjective to describe her: she is gracious.
"A gracious woman holds fast to glory..." (Proverbs 11:16a)
The Hebrew word for gracious here is chen. It speaks of charm, favor, and elegance. But this is not the superficial charm of the world, which is often a manipulative veneer. This is a charm that flows from a heart that has received grace from God. It is a loveliness of character, a kindness in demeanor, a gentleness that is not weakness but rather strength under control. This is the woman of Proverbs 31, on whose tongue is the law of kindness (Prov. 31:26). This is the woman Peter describes, whose adornment is the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious (1 Peter 3:4).
Now, what does this grace-filled character enable her to do? The text says she "holds fast" to glory. The verb is the same in both halves of the verse. It means to obtain, to retain, to lay hold of. This graciousness is her strength. It is the means by which she obtains and keeps her true treasure. And what is that treasure? It is glory, or honor. This is her wealth. This is her currency in the kingdom of God.
This tells us something essential about the created order. What brute strength is to a man, graciousness is to a woman. A man might use his physical power or his aggressive drive to build a business and retain riches. A woman, functioning according to her created design, uses her grace-filled character to obtain and retain honor. This honor is a crown that she wears. It is the respect given to her by her husband, her children, and her community. It is a reputation for wisdom, kindness, and godliness.
The apostle Paul tells us that while man is the glory of God, the woman is the glory of man (1 Cor. 11:7). Is this some kind of second-class glory? Not in the slightest. Man reflects God's glory, and she, in turn, reflects the glory of that glory. She is, in this sense, a double reflection of the divine. Her graciousness is the very thing that makes her glorious. When a woman forsakes this strength and tries to operate in the economy of the ruthless, by being crass, or demanding, or manipulative, she is trading her glory for a handful of gravel. She is throwing her true wealth away.
The Poverty of Ruthlessness
The proverb then pivots to the other side of the scale, showing us the opposite economy in action.
"...But ruthless men hold fast to riches." (Proverbs 11:16b LSB)
The contrast is stark. Instead of a gracious woman, we have ruthless men. The word for ruthless here means terrible, tyrannical, and violent. These are the men who get ahead by intimidation, by exploitation, by having no regard for the law of God or the good of their neighbor. They are strong, but their strength is untethered from righteousness. It is a brutish strength.
And what do they gain with this strength? They hold fast to riches. They accumulate wealth. They build their little empires of cash and assets. The world looks at them and calls them successful. They are the winners in the world's economy. They have what everyone is chasing. But the proverb, by placing them in contrast to the gracious woman, is passing a devastating judgment on them.
Their riches are presented as a lesser treasure than her glory. Why? Because their riches are temporary. They are subject to moths, rust, and thieves. They cannot buy a clean conscience. They cannot purchase honor before God. Their wealth is purely horizontal. The ruthless man may die with a large bank account, but he stands before God as a spiritual pauper. He has gained the world and forfeited his soul.
Notice the parallel. The woman's graciousness is her strength to get glory. The man's ruthlessness is his strength to get riches. Both are using their inherent powers to obtain a treasure. But one treasure is eternal, and the other is fleeting. One is a crown of glory, and the other is a pile of rust. The ruthless man thinks he is winning, but he has made a fool's bargain. He has traded away honor for mere mammon.
Conclusion: The Great Exchange
This proverb, then, is a call to examine our portfolios. It forces us to ask what currency we are trading in. Are we operating in the economy of God or the economy of this fallen world? Are we seeking to obtain the glory that comes from God, or the riches that come from ruthlessness?
For women, the application is a call to cultivate the strength of graciousness. Do not buy the world's lie that you must become hard, cynical, and ruthless to get ahead. Your true strength, your God-given power, lies in a gentle and quiet spirit, in a character adorned with the unfading beauty of grace. This is how you obtain and hold fast to a treasure that is of infinite worth in the sight of God: honor. This is how you become a pillar of glory in your home and in the church.
For men, the application is a warning against the temptation of ruthlessness. The world will tell you that you must be a shark to succeed. It will tell you to cut corners, to crush your rivals, to make profit your only god. But Scripture warns that this path, while it may lead to riches, leads away from God. True masculine strength is not ruthlessness; it is righteous dominion. It is strength used to protect, to provide, and to build up, not to tear down and exploit. It is the strength that seeks first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, trusting that all these other things will be added besides.
Ultimately, this proverb points us to Christ. He is the ultimate embodiment of grace and the ultimate source of all true glory. He did not operate by the world's rules. He had all power, yet He did not use it ruthlessly. He was gracious, full of truth and kindness. And what did He obtain? He held fast to glory, the glory He had with the Father before the world began. And through His cross, He offers us a place in His economy. He invites us to exchange our filthy rags of self-effort and ruthlessness for His robes of righteousness. He calls us to trade the fleeting riches of this world for the eternal weight of glory that He has secured for all who trust in Him.