The virtuous woman, the church of Christ, will bring her food from afar. She will search the Scriptures diligently so that she may feed her family, friends, and strangers with food fit for the human heart.

Just like when we eat food and are nourished from the inside out, when we eat of the Word of God we are nourished from the inside out. And the Lord speaks as much in regard to consuming the Word.

Ezekiel 3:1-3 “Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.”

“Roll” = Scroll

Revelation 10:8-10 “And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.”

In prophecy, to eat the Word of God means to take it deep within us, becoming transformed by the truth contained within. The servant of God should not merely carry the Word; the Word should become part of him.

Hebrews 6:4-5 “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,”

It isn’t just eating the Word; the Lord also tells us that the taste is good! In the Word you begin to understand how much better it is to have your affections changed. Living a more pure life based on what the Lord teaches ends up with us becoming healthier, happier, and more fruitful. All-in-all, life has a sweeter taste.

1 Peter 2:1-3 “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”

The reason milk is being used here is to signify the ease of understanding when it comes to the Bible. Yes, there are more meaty truths in the Word which we can only understand when we become more mature in our faith. Babies drink their mother’s milk because it is easy to digest. Only later do they become capable of digesting more solid food. In like manner, we must begin as babes in Christ and grow in our faith before we can ever understand the meatier things in the Word. And the Lord says as much when it comes to understanding doctrine.

Isaiah 28:9-10 “Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:”

In consuming the Word, we also taste the goodness of God.

John 4:10-11 “Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?”

The food we receive and give to others includes the good water that goes along with it. The Living Water is a deep study since water has so powerful of a symbolic meaning. Not only does it quench our thirst, but it also washes us clean. The craving for righteousness and the craving for God Himself is likened to thirst.

Psalm 42:2 “My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?”

Psalm 63:1 “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;”

Psalm 143:6 “I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.”

Isaiah 55:1 “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”

Isaiah is speaking of the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ … that is why he mentions these things being without price for all, even those that have no money.

As a side note, this is why studying in the manner which the Lord commands can be so incredibly deep. You go into it thinking that you will just be studying water … then you get into thirst, then quenching that thirst, then the dry and parched land, then the literal and spiritual satisfaction of drinking clean, cold water when thirsty, and so on and so forth. But this is also why studying as the Lord commands is so satisfying! You begin to see how God connects one thing to another all throughout Scripture and you develop a true sense of awe at His magnificence!

John 6:33-35 “For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me SHALL NEVER HUNGER; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”

John 6:47-48, 51 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

As we already know, the bread is symbolic for the body of Christ which was broken for us so that we may have life everlasting. The bread is not the literal body of Jesus Christ like the Catholic church teaches through the blasphemy of transubstantiation.

But when we eat of the Word of God and believe, when we take into ourselves the Living Bread, which is Christ … when we spiritually ingest the Living Water, which is Christ … we are given a new nature which craves Christ only … and in the end, we will see eternal life with Him!

Revelation 7:17 “For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”

The Lamb is simultaneously the One who feeds and the One who leads His people to the water.

That gives verse 14 a very fitting spiritual conclusion: the virtuous woman searches far and wide for nourishment, but everything she ultimately brings back to her household points to the same source—Jesus Christ.

It can go even further than this, however. There is a clear link between eating the shewbread in the Sanctuary and eating the Word of God. And just like the shewbread had frankincense sprinkled on it, we must always remember to go into prayer before consuming the Bible. There are many connections throughout Scripture to help us understand how to eat the Word as well as how to eat real food. Our loving Father is very concerned with our health, both physically and spiritually … that is why He has instructed us on how and what to eat.

The Bride of Christ, the virtuous woman, desires to be transformed. What she eats determines what she hungers for. And what she hungers for determines what she seeks.

So verse 14 connects remarkably well with verse 13:

Verse 13: She seeks wool and flax.
Verse 14: She brings food from afar.

She’s a woman characterized by seeking and bringing—searching for what is good and then bringing that good to others.

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