Proverbs
Notes on Proverbs – Chapter 30
Proverbs 30:1-3
Introduction to the Words of Agur
1. In chapter 30, we enter into a new section of the book of Proverbs.
2. The author identifies himself as “Agur.”
a. Agur is unknown; there is no record in the Bible or in history.
b. And he is the son of Jakeh, about whom we also know nothing.
c. He is writing to Ithiel and Ucal: two other completely unknown men.
3. Some believed that Solomon was the author and was going by another name, Agur. (Solomon did go by the name Jedediah in the Scriptures. Having two names is not unusual.)
4. The ancient rabbis interpreted these names allegorically.
a. Hebrew names had meaning. Thus, some believed that Solomon wrote these chapters using an allegorical name for himself.
b. One commentator (John Philips) wrote that Agur meant “gatherer,” indicating that Solomon was a gatherer of proverbs.
c. He said that Jakeh meant “obedient or pious” and referred to David, his father.
d. Ithiel means “God is with me” and Ucal means “I shall be able.”
e. That view interprets as meaning that the author was a “gatherer or proverbs” who wrote proverbs because God was with him and thus he was able to do so.
f. That seems like a bit of a stretch and it requires using a different method of Bible interpretation.
5. It is far better to take the Scriptures at face value and acknowledge that this section of Proverbs was written by an unknown man.
a. We really don’t know for sure all the authors of Scripture.
b. Nor do we need to know the author. What Agur wrote (through inspiration) is far more important than who he was.
c. In fact, what Agur writes in the next few verses makes this very point: he is nothing; but God, the Revealer of truth is to be exalted.
1. Agur sees himself as “more brutish” than any other man.
2. Brutish:
a. Defined: Senseless; stupid; lacking understanding; stubborn; beast-like.
b. Used in Ps. 73:22 – “So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.” Asaph saw himself in the same way.
c. Ps. 92:6 – “A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.”
d. The brutish man is linked to a fool, an ignorant person, and a beast.
3. Agur is obviously using self-deprecating language concerning himself.
a. He sees himself as a man who realizes how brutish (foolish; ignorant; senseless) he really is.
b. Isaiah saw himself as being “unclean” when he stood before God and got a glimpse of God’s glory (Isa. 6:5).
c. In a sense, this is like the apostle Paul referring to himself as the “chief of sinners.” Certainly there were other men who were more sinful than the apostle, but Paul was so acutely aware of his sin, that he didn’t see it that way. To him, his sin was the worst of all—because of his sensitivity to sin.
d. Evidently, in a similar sense, Agur also saw himself as the “chief of ignorant men.” Of course, there were many other men more ignorant and brutish than he was, but that’s not how he saw himself. He was acutely aware of how far short of the glory of God he fell.
e. Some may think of these expressions as hyperbole (an exaggeration to drive home a point). In a sense, of course it was. But I think these men really believed it… because of their sensitivity to God and spiritual things.
f. The closer our communion with Christ, the more sensible we become of our failures, ignorance, and sin.
g. This is true humility.
4. Agur also stated that he had “not the understanding of a man.”
a. This is another way of saying that he was brutish – ignorant, stubborn, and foolish as a beast… an animal… less than a man.
b. He states that he is more brutish than any man; and that he has less understanding than any man.
c. He saw himself as the bottom of the barrel when it came to wisdom and understanding.
d. There may have been a twinge of irony (and sarcasm) in Agur’s words as well.
• He had probably heard many men making grandiose claims of divine wisdom and supernatural knowledge.
• False prophets claimed that all the time. So did the pagan wizards and soothsayers.
• Agur did not have the innate wisdom and knowledge that others claimed to have.
• He had less understanding than such men.
• He realized how little wisdom he really had.
e. When you stop and think of it, what Agur states here is actually a sign of wisdom and understanding.
• Fools claim to have all the answers. Ignorant men think they know it all.
• But wise men are aware of how much they DON’T know. They are sensitive to their ignorance.
• Teenagers think they know more than their parents. By the time they hit 30, they realize that there really is a lot that they don’t know… and that their parents were not so foolish as they used to think.
• I take Agur’s words as an expression of humble wisdom as opposed to arrogant folly expressed by other men.
5. It is also possible that “I have not the understanding of a man” means that he cannot know what is IN man, namely, in his heart.
a. Therefore, how much less could he know the mind and heart of God… without revelation.
b. This would be similar in meaning to the words of Paul in I Cor. 2:11 – “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” (Paul quoted Isa. 64:4)
c. In this passage, Agur clearly abases himself, and according to Prov. 11:2b: “with the lowly is wisdom.”
1. In verse three, Agur is speaking about wisdom and knowledge.
a. However, he is speaking about a particular kind of wisdom and knowledge – DIVINE wisdom and knowledge.
b. This is wisdom that comes down from above. (Jas. 3:17) This stands in contrast to wisdom from below which is earthly, sensual, and demonic. (Jas. 3:15)
c. This is a knowledge of the Holy One, namely, the knowledge of God… who He is… His Word… and His ways.
d. This kind of knowledge comes only through supernatural revelation from God Himself.
2. I take the words of verse three as a claim that Agur does not have any special knowledge or wisdom about God IN HIMSELF.
a. This is actually a claim of divine inspiration.
b. It is not that Agur has no wisdom or knowledge in the absolute sense, but rather, whatever wisdom and knowledge he has did not come through natural means.
c. He did not “learn” it in a book somewhere. No man taught him these things. He wasn’t trained in a school where he gained this knowledge of God.
d. This is Agur’s way of saying that the wisdom and knowledge he is about to share is (to use the words of James) “from above.”
e. They are “words of God” – words that came from God through divine inspiration (see verse 5).
3. Agur’s words in Prov. 30:3 are parallel in thought to what Paul wrote in I Corinthians 2:9-10a – “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit.”
a. The deep things of God that Paul recorded were not truths that originated in Paul.
b. His eyes did not observe these truths through scientific observation.
c. His ears never heard these words spoken at a conference or seminar.
d. Neither did these truths originate in his own heart or mind. They didn’t just pop into his mind.
e. Rather, they were REVEALED to Paul by the Spirit of God.
4. This seems to be parallel to what Agur was saying. The wisdom he was about to record was not anything he “learned” at a seminar put on by the wise men of his day.
a. They were not truths that he instinctively knew.
b. Agur introduced this thought by means of self-abasement.
c. He was nothing special. He was a nobody. He didn’t have any special insight into life that he learned or observed.
d. In fact, he was more brutish than other men. He wasn’t claiming to be personally brilliant.
e. Though he was the human “pen” God used to record this wisdom, he was not the source of the wisdom.
5. This thought is also parallel to the words of Peter in II Pet. 1:20-21.
a. Vs. 20 – no prophecy of Scripture (Agur referred to his words as prophecy – a burden from God) is of any “private” interpretation (unloosing).
b. In other words, no portion of Scripture was recorded as a result of the prophet’s own personal or private “interpretation” of life. Prophecy did not originate with the prophet.
c. Vs. 21 – Prophecy did not come about by the will of man (the prophet), but rather by God – who gave revelation from above for the prophet to record.
d. God’s spokesmen spoke and wrote not out of their own insight and personal observation, but they wrote as they were moved and directed by the Spirit of God.
e. Prophecy (and all Scripture) did not originate with the prophet, but came down from above – from the Spirit of God.
6. Agur introduces his writings (what he calls prophetic burden) by stating in the most emphatic way by stating that he himself was no one special.
a. The wisdom and knowledge of God he records did not originate with him, but (by implication) it originated with God.
b. His wisdom and knowledge would be worthless.
c. But “every word of (from) GOD is pure…” (vs.5)
d. This humble, self-deprecating man bends over backwards to make sure no one misses this point: what he is about to say is worth listening to because it came straight from God.
e. It doesn’t matter who the human author is.
f. In the verses following this introduction (after abasing himself) Agur exalts the Lord and lifts him up. This too is the way of wisdom.
Proverbs 30:4a
Who is Like God?
Introduction:
1. Chapter 30 (or at least the beginning of it) is attributed to “Agur” – an unknown author.
2. He introduces himself by stating that he was more brutish (dull; ignorant) than any man and that he lacked understanding.
3. He was acknowledging that he knows nothing about God or spiritual things from his own understanding. He is totally dependent upon the Lord for that. He understood that true wisdom comes down from above – from God.
4. He saw himself as the bottom of the barrel. He saw himself as nothing special.
5. At the end of verse three, he states that he does not have any special wisdom in himself, nor does he have any special knowledge of “the Holy” or “the Holy One,” namely, God.
6. This acknowledgement is actually the beginning of true wisdom: humility before God… humbling of self before the Almighty.
7. These words concerning his own personal self-abasement are followed by a natural corollary: an exaltation of God.
a. He exalts the Lord in vs. 5 by means of a series of rhetorical questions.
b. The first four all have the same answer: God.
Four Questions About the Lord
1. 4a Who hath ascended up into heaven or descended?
a. The obvious answer is God.
b. Of course, Enoch and Elijah ascended into heaven. But they did not do so on their own. They did not “will” themselves into heaven. It was the Lord who was behind that.
c. Psalm 103:20 – Angels also ascended into heaven, but they too did so at God’s command.
d. The Angel of the Lord also descended to earth and then ascended into heaven. However, that Angel was the Lord – a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ the Lord.
e. To the Old Testament saints, the answer to this question might have been a mystery. Who did Agur really mean? Who is the One who descended down from heaven and ascended back up to heaven?
f. John 3:13 – The Lord Jesus answered that question with finality. It was HE who descended and then ascended!
• No man (or angel) hath done it but He alone.
• Christ did so at His own prerogative… of His own volition.
• Elijah or the angels did so at God’s command and by God’s power.
• Christ had the ability and sovereign right to do so Himself.
• Gen. 28:12 – “And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.”
» The ladder was an illustration of the “means” angels used to get from heaven to earth and back.
» In the Old Testament, angels descended to earth on a mission for God to communicate truth or minister to men. Then they ascended back up to heaven.
» The holy angels act at God’s command.
• John 1:51 – Christ told Nathaniel that he would see angels ascending and descending upon the “Son of Man.” Jacob saw the angels ascending upon a Ladder. Later they would be seen ascending upon the Son of Man, Christ. Christ was the true “ladder” or channel of communication between heaven and earth.
• Even though angels descended to earth and ascended to heaven, they did so because of Christ – the Son of Man.
• John 3:13 – “No man (nothing – no man or angel) hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man.” Only Christ can do that on His own.
g. Agur’s question was finally and definitively answered: the Lord – and in particular, the Lord Jesus Christ.
a. The second question asks who has the power to sovereignly control the wind?
b. Again, the answer is the Lord. God, as Creator and Sovereign, controls the wind.
c. Rev. 7:1 – John speaks of four angels holding the four winds of the earth and controlling whether they blow or not.
• But as you read through the book of Revelation, it is the Lord who is in control of all events.
• He opens the seals and trumpets and pours out the bowl judgments.
• Rev. 9:13-14 – God orders these angels to act: what to do and when to do it.
• Angels act at God’s command.
d. The Lord sovereignly and providentially controls the winds.
• He controls the winds that bring a refreshing cool breeze.
• He controls the winds that result in tornados and hurricanes.
• He controls the winds that carry the rains and spread seeds and sail ships.
• The scientist will scoff at this. They see only natural causes for everything (heating and cooling of the atmosphere).
• The Christian does not deny the “natural causes” that affect the winds. However, it is the Lord who controls those “natural” causes too. He is the One who created the sun and sends out the warmth. The Creator controls and sustains every detail of His creation.
a. This question relates to the waters on the earth. It suggests that the waters are “bound.”
b. Bound: Wrapped up; tied up; fastened in place; stored up.
c. In other words, the waters (lakes, oceans, seas) have been put in place, and they have boundaries that are being “kept” or bound up… kept in their place.
d. The use of such a term (bound) indicates the author THINKS in terms of God’s providential control.
e. Agur may have had in mind a time when God had the waters above the earth “bound” up as a vapor canopy to provide mild, calm, comfortable weather worldwide.
f. Job 12:15 – “Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.” Here Job speaks of God’s sovereign control of the waters. He either sends them out or holds them back.
g. The flood in the days of Noah illustrates how God had “bound” the waters above the earth and held them there; and then He sovereignly “released” them upon the earth resulting in a worldwide flood.
h. Henry Morris noted that there is enough water on the earth today, that if the mountains were leveled and the earth’s surface was flattened, that water could cover the earth again.
i. Gen. 9:11 – Thankfully, God has promised that He will not flood the whole earth again.
j. Psalm 104:8 – “Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. 7At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away. 8They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them. 9Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.”
k. Solomon also spoke of God’s wisdom as having set the boundaries for the waters. (Prov. 8:28-29) “When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: 29When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth.”
l. Agur’s question was “Who hath bound the waters?” The answer is the LORD.
a. Once again, the obvious answer is the LORD.
b. Agur’s questions implied so far that God sovereignly controls the winds and the waters. Now he implies that God controls the land masses as well.
c. Established: To make firm; to cause to stand; to lift up; to establish.
d. In other words, who put the all the land masses in their place?
e. You don’t have to read very far in the Bible to find out the answer to this question.
f. Gen. 1:1 – “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
g. Isa. 48:13 – “Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.” God answers this one Himself. “My hand did it!”
h. God set the bounds of the waters; He set the bounds of the land masses (continents) too.
5. These questions force his readers to think about the greatness, sovereignty, and omnipotence of God.
a. It forces us to think of Him as being exalted above all… Sovereign Lord of the universe and every detail in the universe.
b. In verses 2-3 Agur acknowledged his ignorance and weakness. Now he acknowledges God’s wisdom and sovereign power.
c. And what an incredible contrast between our ignorance and weakness and God’s omniscience and omnipotence!
d. For the believer, abasing self and exalting God go together—always.
e. His questions are reminiscent of the questions in Job 38-39, only in Job, it was the Lord asking the questions… forcing Job to think about how infinite in power and wisdom God really is.
f. The rhetorical questions God asked Job focused on who God is—and put Job in his place.
g. Job 38:4-6 – “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. 5Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? 6Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof…?”
h. Agur’s questions are also similar to those raised by the prophet in Isa. 40:12-21.
i. The point in each instance is that when we really focus on who God is, and it sinks in, then it puts us in our place. We all would have to say with Agur, “Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.”
j. The complaints end. The questions end.
k. We can put all of our worries aside and realize that God is in control. Our troubles and tribulations don’t seem so big and insurmountable after all.
l. And therefore we don’t have to worry. We can rest in Him and trust in Him. After all, He’s God. Nothing is too hard for the Lord.
Proverbs 30:4b
What Is His Son’s Name?
Introduction:
1. This is a fascinating section in Proverbs. Agur introduces his writings by acknowledging how little he really knows about God. He recognizes apart from God’s revelation he is like a beast with no wisdom and no knowledge of the Holy One.
2. In verse four, Agur asks six questions. We looked at the first four rhetorical questions last week. They all pertained to the knowledge of who God is. They all imply God’s greatness.
3. The last two questions also deal with the knowledge of who God is. What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?
1. Here Agur asks “What is God’s name?”
a. Ex. 3:13-15 – It’s a good question. Abraham asked the same thing.
b. By asking what God’s name is, Agur was in effect asking for information concerning God’s character.
c. In the Old Testament, one’s name spoke of one’s reputation, character, status, his nature.
d. For example, Christ has a name that is above every name.
e. Agur wanted to know more about who God is… about His nature, His Person, His attributes, and His character.
2. God’s names reveal who He is and what He is like.
a. Thou God seest me (Gen. 16:13) Hagar understood God as the One who sees her, her needs, and her situation.
b. The Eternal God (Deut. 33:27)
c. Rock (Psalm 18:2)
d. Abba Father (Rom. 8:15)
e. A Consuming Fire (Heb. 12:29)
f. El Shaddai (Gen. 17:1) He is the Almighty God
g. Jehovah (Gen. 2:4) The Self-Existent One
h. Jehovah Jireh (Gen. 22:14) The Lord provides
i. Jehovah Shalom (Judges 6:24) The Lord is Peace
j. Jehovah Tsidkenu (Jer. 23:6) The Lord our Righteousness
k. Jehovah Raah (Ps. 23) The Lord My Shepherd
l. El Elyon (Gen. 14:18) The Most High God
3. There are many other names of God in the Scriptures as well. Each one reveals a little more about His Person and about His attributes.
a. It is no wonder that the Lord Jesus taught the disciples to pray, “Hallowed be thy Name.”
b. His name(s) was how man came to know God.
c. Agur’s question, “What is His Name?” implies much more than we might think.
d. Remember that he began this chapter by acknowledging that on his own (apart from supernatural revelation) he has no “knowledge of the Holy” One, namely, God.
e. He acknowledges what we all ought to acknowledge – unless God reveals Himself to mankind, we could NEVER know Him.
f. He asked the first four rhetorical questions to cause his readers to consider the greatness of this God.
g. Now he asks, “What is His name?” meaning, what more can we know of Him? Has He given us any more names that reveal His attributes?
h. Agur seemed a little embarrassed and perhaps a bit frustrated that he knew so little about God; yet he had a healthy hunger and a thirst to know much more.
i. Obviously, Agur was a believer. He knew the Lord in a saving way. But he (like Paul) had an inner desire to know more. (That I may know Him!)
j. Agur also knew God’s name, Jehovah. That was revealed many years before him through Moses. He knew many other names of God as well.
k. But there was another name that He did not know: the Lord Jesus Christ who was given a name above all names.
l. His question implies that there is more to know about God and His name… and he was right on target. The progress of revelation was not over. God had much more to reveal about Himself and would reveal it in His time.
1. In the Old Testament, the term “son” was often used as a Hebrew idiom meaning, “having the same character or nature as.”
a. “Sons of valor” was an idiom for “valiant men.”
b. “Sons of thunder” was an idiom meaning men with a thunderous nature.
c. “Sons of the prophets” were men who were trained as prophets.
d. This usage of the term “son” was well known to every Jew reading this passage.
e. This Hebrew idiom would be the first thing to pop into their minds as they read this proverb.
f. But remember, that proverbs were designed to cause a man to stop and think.
g. Proverbs were designed to cause a man to ponder something that might seem simple and obvious at first, but upon deeper contemplation its meaning seems to become richer and more profound.
h. We know God’s name, but what is the name of His Son? Has God given any of His attributes to another?
i. The first questions implied that there is NONE like God. No one hath ascended into heaven on his own. No one would gather the winds in his fists. Only God established the ends of the earth. There is no one like Him.
j. What is His Son’s name? Does God have a son? Is there another who has the same nature and attributes as God?
k. This question raises more questions.
l. Every Jew knew that there was only one God and there was NONE like Him.
• Deut. 6:4 – “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.”
• Isa. 45:5 – “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me.”
• The concept of a Triune God was totally foreign to every Old Testament saint.
2. What is His Son’s name?
a. Nevertheless, Agur raises the question.
b. This is not to say that Agur understood the concept of the Trinity. He did not.
c. However, he had a curious mind. He sought to know all he could about God and His character.
d. Agur knew the Scriptures. And like you and me, he found some things in Scripture “hard to be understood”… as Peter found some of Paul’s writings to be difficult to understand. This is common among God’s people.
e. Psalm 2:7 – “I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.”
f. Evidently this passage was perplexing to Agur. What did David mean by the expression, God’s Son? How could God have a Son? And if He has a Son, what is His name?
g. Psalm 2:12 – “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.” What could this possibly mean?
h. The Old Testament does have several “hints” concerning God’s Son, but there was simply not enough information given for a Jew to be able to put it all together and conclude that God exists in three Persons.
i. But the few “hints” that were given in the Old Testament were enigmatic for those godly Jews studying Scripture.
j. They raised questions that seemed impossible to answer.
3. “What is His name, and His Son’s name if thou canst tell?”
a. This question almost seems a bit taunting. It was as if he ended his questions by challenging his readers to come up with a suitable answer, though not really expecting that anyone would be able to do so.
b. Agur did not pretend to know the answer to this question.
c. It is as if he is setting forth a riddle before his readers that he had often thought about but was unable to unravel.
d. He probably wracked his brain thinking about what David meant by God’s “son” but could not come up with a suitable answer.
4. Many years later (after Agur was long gone), the Lord did begin to reveal a little more about what He meant by His “Son.”
a. Isa. 7:14 – “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
b. Here Isaiah revealed (in the form of another riddle) that there would be a “Son” born of a virgin. And what is His Son’s name? Immanuel, meaning GOD with us.
c. God’s Son would be a man (born of a virgin) but He would also be divine (Immanuel).
d. What is His name? The Son would have many other names as well: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isa. 9:6)
e. Judges 13:17-18 – “And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour? And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?”
• This is the account of a pre-incarnate appearance of the Son of God… the Second Person of the Godhead.
• When He appeared, Manoah’s natural question was, “What is thy name?”
• But the Lord (the Son) replied, why ask? My name is “Secret.”
• This word is the same Hebrew word as is translated “Wonderful” in Isaiah 9:6.
• Agur DID have the book of Judges. However, he would not have been able to see what we see in Judges 13. And he did not have Isa. 9:6 which would have identified the name “Secret” with God’s Son.
• But both he and Manoah were curious and thirsted to know more about the greatness of who God is.
• And as a side note for us all, to use the words of the songwriter, we should NEVER lose the wonder of it all!
f. Agur did not have this revelation concerning the name of God’s Son; but he longed to know these things.
g. Today, we have MANY more names for the One we now know as the “Son of God.” We have in our hands (the Bible) what Old Testament saints longed for – a fuller revelation of who God is.
h. What we don’t always have is the hunger and thirst to know Him that many Old Testament saints often had.
i. God gave to His Son a name that is above every name.
5. We could learn a lesson from Agur.
a. Agur had a humble concept of himself and his own understanding. He acknowledged that he knew very little about our magnificent God. God is immense beyond our ability to comprehend Him fully. Wisdom recognizes that.
b. We would do well to humble ourselves before Him—to be still and KNOW that He is God. That is enough.
c. Paul put it this way: “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33)
d. Strive to know Him more and more—but ultimately, we all have to acknowledge that His ways are far above ours.
e. Just as we are to pray that we might “know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge” (Eph. 3:19), we should also keep on searching to know more of the unsearchable ways and attributes of God.
Proverbs 30:5a
Every Word of God is Pure
Introduction:
1. This proverb speaks of the purity of the Word of God and of the security of those who trust in God.
2. There is also a context to this proverb—something that is not true of most of the proverbs in this book. Most are independent statements of a truth—usually unrelated to what precedes or follows.
3. But this proverb is to be read in light of what precedes it.
1. Context:
a. Chapter 30 was written by a man named Agur.
b. He introduced himself by stating that when it comes to the knowledge of God and spiritual things, he is like a beast; he has less knowledge than most men (vs.2)… or what men claim.
c. He acknowledges that in his life in the world, he has not learned any wisdom from above—nor has he learned the knowledge of the Holy One, God. (vs.3)
d. Then (vs.4), he asked a series of rhetorical questions designed to demonstrate that God is infinitely above us.
• There is no one like God; His ways are above our ways. His thoughts are above our thoughts.
• And unless He reveals truth to us, we don’t even know His name—or His Son’s name.
e. Creation (natural revelation) tells us a few things about Him (i.e., His existence and His power), but it does not and cannot enable us to KNOW Him in a personal way.
• In fact, with natural revelation of the creation alone one might easily make some wrong conclusions about God.
• In the natural world we live in today (and in Agur’s day), apart from divine revelation one might conclude that God created the world as it presently is.
• And what is the world like? It is violent – animals eat other animals; people kill people. It is full of immorality in the sphere of human life. The creation seems to be working against mankind—with its thorns and thistles, storms, droughts, etc. It is full of suffering and death.
• Apart from divine revelation concerning how the world came to be as it is, fallen men could easily misread and misinterpret what they see in the world and wrongly attribute it to God.
• Some of the pagan deities were considered to be evil and cruel and could only be satisfied by human sacrifices to appease their wrath.
2. Then in verse 5, Agur states (in contrast to what he just said) “Every word of God is pure.”
a. Agur did not know much of anything about God on his own. And even when he tried to think of what God must be like, his thoughts were seen through the lens of a fallen creature and were not always accurate.
b. Note that it was not just the concepts or thoughts that were pure, but the very words. (“all Scripture [writings] are given by inspiration…”)
c. However, in contrast to that, EVERY word of God is pure!
d. He has found the answer to all his questions in God’s pure Word.
e. If EVERY word of God is pure, then don’t skip over certain portions of Scripture. Don’t read only the gospels and Psalms. If EVERY word of God is pure, then pay attention to every word and every portion of His word.
f. Yes that even means Leviticus, Ezekiel, and Revelation!
g. II Tim.3:16-17 – “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
3. God has given mankind His WORD.
a. Agur had something more than the natural revelation of creation.
b. He had the supernatural revelation of God’s Word.
c. God revealed Himself through His Word.
d. And apart from God’s revelation of Himself, we would never be able to know for sure what He is like.
e. Through His Word, He can be known.
f. His word reveals His NAME to us.
g. His word reveals His WORKS to us.
h. His word reveals His SALVATION to us.
i. His word reveals everything we need to know about God and spiritual things. It’s “all we need for life and godliness.”
4. Every word of God is PURE.
a. Pure: it means that which has been tested by fire, refined, and thus pure; proven to be pure; perfect; flawless; without blemish;
b. This concept of the Word of God as being tested by fire, refined, and purified is found elsewhere in Scripture.
• Psalm12:6 – “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.”
• II Sam. 22:31a – “As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried…”
c. The term PURE described:
• These passages use the same Hebrew word (translated pure or tried).
• The term for pure (metals purified by fire – the fire removes the dross and what survives the fires is completely pure – the dross is removed.)
• This does not mean that God’s Word had dross that needed to be removed. Rather, it is a term that speaks of the end product: that which is absolutely pure – free from anything that defiles or corrupts.
d. Every word of God is pure in that it is absolutely pure from any form of corruption.
• The thoughts Agur and others had about God—thoughts that arose in the heart of man are susceptible to corruption.
• Sometimes men think things about God that are partially true—but not entirely. There is still some “dross” in their concept of who God is and how He operates.
• They didn’t get that dross (impurity) from the Scriptures rightly divided. The dross comes from within our own hearts either through (1) a faulty interpretation of Scripture, (2) a faulty application of Scripture, or (3) a wrong assumption based on something read in the Scriptures.
• But none of that dross had its origin in God’s Word.
• Any impurity, anything that is not true, anything that is contradictory did not arise from God’s Word rightly divided, but it came from the distorted imagination of a fallen man.
• God’s word is pure—EVERY word of God is pure.
e. Over the years, in counseling with believers (especially new or untaught believers) I have had to deal with the “dross” in their thinking.
• Believers are often disturbed and perplexed by dross in their thinking.
• They may have an element of truth in their thoughts, but it is corrupted by dross.
• For example, it is not uncommon for folks to come to a pastor and ask, “Why is God doing this to me?”
» There is an element of truth: they understand that God is sovereign.
» But there is dross – an underlying assumption that God is not being loving; He doesn’t care; or He is punishing me for my sins.
» What that believer needs is to have the dross removed from his thinking so that his concept of God is corrected and he no longer views the sovereignty of God as being cruel, heartless, and detached… but instead as an expression of God’s love and care for you and that His overall plan for the ages is good… and that all things are working together for good. (Rom. 8:28)
» On other occasions, all the bad things the believer assumed God was “doing to him or her” were in fact just the natural consequences of their own sin or of their own poor choices in life.
f. It is liberating to learn and believe that every word of God is pure. It can deliver us from wrong thinking… wrong assumptions… and will cause us to study deeply what the Word actually says.
5. Consider the message of Agur to his students:
a. I your teacher am like a beast. I know nothing about God on my own. His ways are beyond me. I don’t even know His name unless He reveals it.
b. But His Word is pure. Go to the Scriptures yourself if you want to know God… if you want to know what He is like.
c. His Word is pure and true and it will never lead you down a wrong pathway.
d. His Word contains no errors; no mixture of truth and falsehood.
e. Therefore, don’t speculate on God and spiritual things; don’t imagine what He is like; go to the Book—His Word is pure.
f. Psalm 119:140 – “Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.”
• Once God’s Word is seen for what it really is, the believer will love it!
• You will discover it is just what your heart had been longing for… searching for [truth] in all the wrong places.
• Once you taste and see that the Lord is good, you will keep coming back to the Word.
Proverbs 30:5b
He is a Shield
Introduction:
1. Chapter 30 was written by a man named Agur, who introduced himself by stating that when it comes to the knowledge of God and spiritual things, on his own, he does not have any wisdom or knowledge of the Holy One, God. (vs. 3)
2. Then (vs .4), he asked a series of rhetorical questions designed to demonstrate that God is infinitely above us. And unless God reveals truth to us, we cannot know Him.
3. Then in verse 5, Agur states (in contrast to what he just said) “Every word of God is pure.”
4. Next (also in vs.5) Agur states that not only is God’s Word pure (tested and reliable), but God Himself is a shield.
God is a Shield
1. Ancient soldiers used two different kinds of shields.
a. There was a large shield which looked very much like a large wooden door.
• The large shields were used almost like a moving wall.
• The soldiers in the front line would connect their “doors” together and form a long line before an advancing army.
• When clipped together, the large shields became a wall for the front line as the soldiers advanced upon their enemy.
• This “moving wall” was a shield for the whole army.
• This wall of shields would stop the arrows and fiery darts that were shot at the army—especially when advancing upon a fortress of some type.
• It was the first line of defense and protected all the soldiers in the front lines.
b. There was also a smaller shield called a buckler.
• The buckler was much smaller and was attached to the arm…usually round.
• The small buckler would be used to protect against the blow of a sword from an enemy in hand to hand combat.
• This was a personal shield for the individual soldier.
• The term translated “shield” in Proverbs 30:5 is the word for the small, personal shield—not the large door shaped shields.
2. The concept of a shield was used in both a literal and a figurative sense in the Scriptures.
a. Clearly, it is used in a figurative sense in Proverbs 30:5.
b. Note that while Agur was speaking about God’s Word, the pronoun changes to “he”, not “it.”
• He switches from talking about the Word of God to talking about the God of the Word.
• The Proverb states that HE (God) is a shield.
c. This is a metaphor. God is not literally a round piece of wood and metal to be strapped around one’s arm.
• But God does provide protection—AS a shield does.
• The main point of this figure of speech is to demonstrate the fact that God protects His people.
• In that sense, God is like a shield.
• God provides protection, safety, and a defense for His people.
• He shelters His people from spiritual danger and from our spiritual foes as a literal shield shelters from physical danger.
God is a Personal Shield
1. The term Agur uses for shield is not the large door-shaped shield that protected the front lines of the army.
a. It is the term for the small, round shield, worn on the arm that protected the individual soldier – called the buckler.
b. The small shield protected the soldier in his own personal battle – in hand to hand combat.
c. The small buckler shield protected the individual soldier from blows of a sword, a battle ax, or an arrow that was aimed at him personally. Every soldier had his own buckler.
d. Yes God protects His people in general; but He also protects each one personally.
God is a Protective Shield by Faith
1. God is a shield to His people; but not to ALL of His people.
a. He is only a Shield to those who trust in Him.
b. God’s protection is offered to all of His people; but this protection is not experienced by all of His people.
2. God is a shield—but only “unto them that put their trust in Him.”
a. God is omnipotent and omnipresent. He is able to function as a shield and a protector at all times to all of His people.
b. But He Himself has limited this offer of protection to those who are consciously trusting in Him.
c. And God knows the heart of each one of us.
d. Prov. 3:5 – “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” We are not to trust in our own wisdom.
e. Jer. 9:23-24 – “Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: 24But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.”
f. The fact that someone glories in something indicates that he is trusting in it. People glory in and trust in their own wisdom, might, and riches. They trust in those things for their security and protection.
g. Isa. 31:1-3 – “Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD! 2Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity. 3Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.”
h. It is folly to trust in anyone or anything other than the LORD; yet it is ingrained in our fallen nature to do so.
i. God is a shield—but only to those who trust in Him. There is no protection offered to those who trust in other things: self, our own wisdom, might, riches, other men, earthly things, etc.
3. Think of how obvious this truth ought to be.
a. God is a shield. If you believe that… if you are trusting in that fact, then you will stand and remain very close to that Shield and you won’t step out on your own. You would realize that once you step out from under the protective Shield, you are in a vulnerable and dangerous place.
b. The protection God provides for us is available to us at all times, BUT there is a personal responsibility: TRUST.
c. And if you trust in a shield, you will stand behind it. You won’t leave it at home. You won’t cast it aside. You will wear it—religiously!
d. But once we start getting puffed up and begin to think we can handle the battle on our own, we will tend to wander away from the Shield… but we do so at our own peril.
4. Our adversary is just waiting for that moment when we let down our guard and wander out from the protective shield.
a. THEN his fiery darts can harm us. Behind the shield we are safe.
b. Eph. 6:16 – “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”
c. Note how Paul describes faith in God as a “shield” that protects us from the darts of the wicked one.
d. That shield of faith is able to quench ALL the fiery darts.
e. But when we are not walking by faith – but are trusting in our own resources, we are vulnerable to those darts and attacks of the Devil.
f. He seeks to devour us but cannot harm us when we walk by faith… unless the Lord gives him permission to do for the purpose of bringing us forth as gold—as with Job.
g. Who knows how many times the devil wanted to sift us as wheat… and because we were close to the Lord… trusting in Him, God did not permit that attack.
h. God’s protective shield is not always recognized by us because we fight against invisible foes… principalities and powers.
i. But it constantly DOES protect us whether we are aware of it or not. God says so.
j. Living a life of faith is like living under a protective shield.
5. Proverbs 30:5 – Note the connection between the Word of God and the God of the Word.
a. It is because God is the Author of and stands behind His Word that every word of God is pure, it can be TRUSTED.
b. There are no errors in anything the Bible says on any subject about which it speaks: promises, history, science, origins, psychology, anthropology, salvation, and prophecy—when rightly divided.
c. When God makes a promise to us we can trust HIM by believing what He says in His Word it—and acting upon it… trusting that God will always honor His Word.
d. No one who trusts in God’s pure word is ever disappointed. God never fails; He always keeps His Word. He always holds up those who take a step of faith based on His Word.
e. Trusting God and trusting His Word is essentially the same thing.
f. When we trust what God says in His Word and act upon it, GOD Himself will be our shield, protector, and shelter.
g. Ps. 91:4 – “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.” He is our total defense in our spiritual battles.
Proverbs 30:6
Add Not Thou unto His Words
Introduction:
1. So far in this chapter, we have the words of Agur, who described himself in humble terms, as one who (on his own) had no special knowledge of God. He then listed several rhetorical questions which indicate that God is above us. He can only be known by supernatural revelation.
2. And He has revealed Himself in His Word… and His word is pure—tried, tested, and true. It can be relied upon.
3. And all those who trust in the God of the Word are safe—as one protected by a shield.
4. Agur continues the thought of God’s Word in verse six.
1. The first command Agur gives is “add not thou unto His Words.”
a. It should go without saying, but evidently God knows that it needs to be said. God knows human nature.
b. Adding unto God’s Word was part of the original temptation in the Garden of Eden. Satan added to what God said.
• God said: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it.” (Gen.2:17)
• Satan said: “Ye shall not eat of it neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” (Gen.3:3)
• Gen. 3:5 – Clearly Satan’s purpose was to confuse Eve into adding to God’s Word and to cause her to think ill of God. (He’s too restrictive! He doesn’t want me to know good and evil; He doesn’t want me to become a god like Him.”
c. Satan’s ministers (false teachers) have been adding to and subtracting from God’s Word ever since.
d. The Jews added the Talmud – doctrines and commandments of men!
e. Then there are the pseudo-gospels added to the New Testament.
f. The Mormons added the Book of Mormon and the Pearl of Great Price.
g. The Catholics added the 15 books of the Apocrypha to the Scriptures between the Testaments.
h. The 7th Day Adventists have added the writings of Ellen White.
i. The cults love to add to God’s Word.
j. Even the charismatics today add to God’s Word by asserting that God is still revealing truth to modern-day prophets.
2. This command does not forbid any future GENUINE revelation from God.
a. At the time of the writing of Proverbs, the canon of Scripture was not yet complete.
b. There were more books to be added.
c. There were many more prophets and prophetesses who would receive additional revelation from the Lord.
d. There was a whole New Testament to be written.
e. The command is for the readers not to add to the revelation God has already given.
f. In other words, no one was to add to the writings of Moses or to David’s Psalms. They were part of the Word of God and were not to be altered.
g. But in the future, God would reveal new truth to other prophets and apostles as part of the progress of revelation.
h. But once God’s Word is recorded—it is pure – perfect—and it is not to be tampered with.
i. Man’s responsibility is not to fix God’s word or to try to improve it. Our job is to teach it as is and to obey it!
3. This command has been repeated in Old and New Testaments.
a. Deut. 4:2 – “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.”
b. Deut. 12:32 – “What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.”
c. Rev. 22:18-19 – “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”
4. Agur just stated that every word of God is PURE. (vs. 5)
a. Pure means that every word of God is flawless – free from anything that defiles. His Word is perfect.
b. When you take something that is absolutely perfect and make any change whatsoever (add or subtract) you have not improved it; you have corrupted it. It would be like me taking a paint brush and trying to improve the Mona Lisa.
c. You can’t improve on perfection.
d. His point in this section is that while he himself has no knowledge of God, there IS revelation from God in His Word. That Word is pure and flawless. Therefore, don’t tinker with it!
e. It demands acceptance as/is… without any meddling or alterations.
5. Today the danger is manifold:
a. We tend to add our own opinions and speculations and treat them as gospel truth. This has always been the tendency in fallen man.
b. We tend to alter the Word to fit modern science. (Theistic evolution)
c. The Word is altered and adjusted to fit with modern culture. (Gender neutral Bible; Queen James Bible; cultural adaptations—changing Paul’s views on women; etc.)
d. Mark 7:7-13 – The Word is added to when equal authority is given to manmade traditions.
• It takes away from the absolute authority of God’s Word.
• Adding to it actually subtracts from it.
e. If we really want to know God and His ways, then we should consult His Word—not our own ideas or popular theories.
1. God reproves those who think their views are comparable to His.
a. Reprove: To argue against; lodge a legal case against; convict of a crime or offense; accuse.
2. Isa. 55:8-9 – God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. He is omniscient.
a. What total arrogance for a mere man to put his own thoughts on par with God’s Word.
b. It is a form of treason against the absolute authority of the Lord of all, the Sovereign of the universe.
c. Don’t add to the Word of the Sovereign, lest He reprove thee.
3. Ezek. 13:5-8 – God has always been AGAINST those who add to His Word. And no one should ever want God to be against them. It’s not a very even fight. Don’t expect to win.
1. Those arrogant men who dare to put their thoughts on par with God’s thoughts (by adding to His Word) are called “liars” by God Himself.
2. Those who attempt to add to God’s Word with new thoughts, new visions, new revelations, or new and fresh ideas also open the door to endless error.
3. They are guilty of forgery and counterfeiting the Word of God; they are cheaters—liars!
4. Gal. 6:7 – “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Don’t allow yourself to be deceived by liars and cheaters. God is not deceived by them; nor is He mocked. They shall one day reap what they have sown.
5. The Apocryphal books, the pseudo-gospels, and the book of Mormon, and all other such additions to God’s Word are lies written by liars. God uses strong language—but His words are pure… true.
6. Joseph Smith (Book of Mormon) and Ellen White (7th Day Adventist) are liars. And so is every charismatic today who says that God spoke to them and gave them new revelation.
Proverbs 30:7-9
Two Things have I Required of Thee
7 Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: 8 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: 9 Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.
Introduction to the Requests (vs. 7)
1. This verse begins by mentioning “two things” the author requested.
a. In fact, the rest of the chapter is divided into proverbial sayings that are arranged in numbers.
b. Vs. 7-9 – the two requests
c. Vs. 15b-16 – two daughters; three things never satisfied
d. Vs. 18-19 – three things which are too wonderful
e. Vs. 21-23 – Four things the earth cannot bear
f. Vs. 24-28 – Four things which are little but wise
g. Vs. 29-31 – Four things that are comely in going
2. In this section the author makes two requests.
a. “Required” is a verb that means to ask (this is its usual translation – 94 times): To beg; to earnestly ask; to demand.
b. It is translated “required,” which is similar to demand, but might lean a little too heavily on the “demand” side of this verb. It is basically a request. Agur is not putting any requirements on the Lord. He is not arrogantly making demands of God.
c. But the author is earnestly requesting (with great emotion and zeal) that God answer him in these two areas.
d. Jonah 4:8 – “The sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die.” The verb translated “wished” is the same verb. You can sense Jonah’s intensity in this request. It is an attitude of longing for an experience.
e. Agur was also longing for an experience – an experience of victory.
f. The requests came as prayer requests to the Lord because he was genuinely concerned about his spiritual life.
g. He made TWO requests because he had two besetting sins over which he longed for victory.
3. “Deny me not!”
a. To make his requests even more earnest, he pleas, “Deny me not!”
b. I take this request to have been made with the utmost reverence and respect for God.
c. It is also a request that comes because of his intense awareness of his own frailty and weakness.
d. These two things go hand in hand: (1) reverence for a holy, Sovereign God and (2) awareness of our own weakness and sin.
e. It is as if he refuses to take no for an answer.
f. This may well be based on his understanding of Scriptural promises concerning prayer.
• Ps. 86:7 – “In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.”
• Ps. 1-2:1-2 – “Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee. 2Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily.”
4. “Before I die.”
a. This seems to imply that the two requests he made reflected his two most spiritually damaging besetting sins.
b. It sounds like the plea of a man who desperately wants to experience victory over these sins before he dies.
c. He doesn’t want to go to the grave with these sins as his slave master.
d. Once this life is over, opportunity to win spiritual battles and to demonstrate victory over sin has ended.
e. Life on earth is short. Life on earth is God’s university for us. Now is the time to learn the lessons He wants us to learn. Now is the time to demonstrate faith and thus gain the victory.
f. It’s not a bad idea to think of the brevity of life – how little time we have here – and incorporate that into our prayers.
g. Pray in light of the fact that our lives are but a vapor.
h. Therefore, “Oh Lord, we need victory—now!”
Negative Request: Remove far from me vanity and lies: (vs .8)
1. This is a negative request. He is praying for God to take away something negative in his life – the sin of vanity and lying.
2. Vanity defined:
a. This Hebrew word can mean devastation or ruin.
b. It also has the meaning of “emptiness; nothing; falseness; idol.” This seems to be the way it was used in our proverb.
c. In Ex. 23:1 the term is translated “false” report.
d. The term was also used of idols in that they were empty… nothing. They were therefore false.
e. The world system is a lie. It is a falsehood. It offers false hope… false joy… false meaning to life.
f. John Bunyan spoke of the world as “Vanity Fair” – empty and void of anything spiritually substantive.
g. Agur, the author of our proverb evidently had a problem with this kind of vanity – falsehoods…
h. Anyone can get caught up in the vanities of this world.
3. Lies defined:
a. The term translated “lies” differs from vanity (falsehood) in that it speaks to falsehoods that are spoken.
b. The verb means to speak or to say that which is a lie or a falsehood or purposeful deception.
c. Prov. 14:5 – “A faithful witness will not lie…”
4. Both of the terms used imply something that is false and untrue.
a. The term vanity speaks of falsehood in general. It is possible to live a lie. It is possible to think lies, imagine lies, even love lies—all without speaking.
b. The term lies speaks of words spoken to convey a falsehood.
c. By using these two terms, Agur is describing the vanity of falsehood and the sinfulness of lies. Lies can be lived or spoken; they can even be a way of life.
d. False prophets and false teachers lived a lie AND they promoted lies through their preaching.
e. Their words were empty and void of truth. But worse than being empty, they were evil. They were lies.
5. Agur asked the Lord to REMOVE far from him, vanity and lies.
a. Remove: To become far or distant; removed far away; to send far away; to put away off into the distance.
b. This was a personal request to God from the author of this proverb. It indicates that Agur himself had a problem with falsehood and lying.
c. His request was that God would take away his tendency to lie… to stretch the truth… to be dishonest… to embellish… to exaggerate… to leave out important details in a story on purpose… to manipulate… to deceive…
d. Psalm 119:29 – “Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously.”
• This is the virtually same prayer request.
• Evidently, the psalmist also had a problem with lying… dishonesty… falsehood.
• Note the way of victory over lies: “thy law” = truth. Fill your mind and heart with truth and learn to love it.
e. Psalm 119:37 – “Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.”
• Evidently the psalmist also had a problem with looking unto (with delight) vanity – the empty air bubbles the world offers… which in themselves are deceptive.
• This too was a request for God to enable him to stop beholding vanity… the “things” of the world… and the philosophies of the world.
f. This might be a little discouraging to hear. Godly men who wrote the Bible (which is the Truth we have staked our lives upon) tell us that they have a problem with falsehood and vanity?
g. Can we trust them?
• Prov. 30:5 – Agur just told us that “every word of God is pure.” We can trust in God.
• But what about the people God used to write the Bible? We have two authors of Scripture that admit they had a problem with lying. Can we trust them?
• I would have a problem trusting them if they said that they NEVER had a problem with lying, or exaggerating, or embellishing the truth. These sins are common to man.
• The fact that they admit it tells me that they were honest men who acknowledged that they had a sin nature that was bent towards sinning—like every other human being ever to walk this planet apart from the Lord Jesus.
• These men were wise enough to acknowledge the depth of the depravity of their own heart—and they understood the power of the allurement of the vanities of life in this world.
h. The fact that they admit it tells me something else about these men. They were sensitive to sin: which in itself is a sign of spiritual health and maturity.
i. Hardened liars don’t care that they lie. They love it. It’s a game to them.
j. Prov. 10:23 – “It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom.”
k. The fact that these men asked God to remove lying from them reveals a tender heart – sensitive to sin… and desirous to remove it from their lives.
l. This does not mean that they were false teachers; or that they had ever gone about town spreading lies about this and that. It doesn’t mean that others could not trust them or that they were known in the community as liars.
m. Rather, it means that they themselves were painfully aware of their inner struggle with dishonesty.
n. They may have been inwardly tempted to lie or deceive and it pained them.
o. They may have found themselves stretching the truth or embellishing a story—and later it grieved them so they had to run to the Lord weeping in prayer and repentance… seeking for His forgiveness and deliverance.
p. A hardened liar doesn’t do that. A hardened liar doesn’t even care. It’s a sport to him.
q. If we were all honest, we too could make Agur’s prayer request our own: “Lord, remove far from me vanity and lies!”
6. Let’s not judge Agur or the psalmist too harshly.
a. The fact that a hardened liar tells the truth on occasion does not mean he isn’t a liar. He is a liar. An occasional truth doesn’t change the fact that he is a liar.
b. And the fact that an honest man tells an occasion lie does not mean that he is not an honest man overall.
c. He is an honest person… IF he deals with his sin before God—like Agur did… and the psalmist did.
d. Agur hated the sins of vanity and lies and desperately wanted victory over those besetting sins before he died.
e. And in a respectful way (because he loved righteousness and hated iniquity) he wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Deny me not!”
f. This was a man who hated lying… and wanted no trace of it in his heart or on his tongue. That is an honest and a very godly attitude.
Positive Request: Feed me with food convenient for me:
A. Feed me with food convenient for me
B. Give me neither poverty nor riches
C. Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD?
D. Or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.
Proverbs 30:8
Neither Poverty nor Riches
Introduction:
1. Verses 8-9 are part of a prayer request that began in verse 7.
2. In this section the author makes two requests.
a. The first request was that God would remove vanity (falsehood) and lies from him. Evidently the author had a problem in this area.
b. The second request we are going to consider tonight: that God would keep him from temptations associated with material goods.
3. These were extremely urgent and earnest pleas.
a. His earnestness is seen in the words, “Deny me not!”
b. It is also seen in the words, “Before I die.”
c. This seems to imply that the two requests he made reflected his two most spiritually damaging besetting sins.
d. It sounds like the plea of a man who desperately wants to experience victory over these sins before he dies.
e. He doesn’t want to go to the grave with these sins as his slave master.
f. He did not want to die with lies and falsehood as his master. Nor did he want to die with material temptations as his master.
What He Didn’t Want: Poverty or Riches
A. Poverty
1. Agur pleas that God would not give him poverty.
a. Nobody wants to be poor. Nobody would choose to have no money to pay the bills or buy life’s necessities.
b. When you get behind financially, it can become an obsession. It’s all you can think about. It dominates your mind and heart—and that is not good spiritually.
c. Agur is no different than anyone else. He does not want to be poor and asks God to prevent that from happening.
2. This request is made with the assumption that Agur is doing his part.
a. He is not asking God to provide for him as he sits on the couch and eats snacks all day long.
b. He is asking God to provide for him AS he is diligent in his work.
c. Prov. 6:6-11 – His request assumes that he was not being lazy; for then he had no right to ask God for help. God already stated the outcome of laziness, “so shall thy poverty come.” He shouldn’t expect anything other than poverty.
d. Prov. 23:21 – His request also assumes that he is not wasting his money on excess: drinking and gluttony. That man should expect poverty. (eating, drinking, shopping, spending lavishly)
e. Prov. 28:19 – His request also assumes that he is not following vanity—empty, foolish people or empty, foolish pursuits instead of working every day. (playing video games; hanging out downtown or at the pool hall; etc.)
3. But even when a man IS doing his part (willing to work; diligently looking for work; willing to take whatever work he can get)… poverty can still come his way.
a. Farmers are dependent upon the weather for their crops.
b. Fishermen are dependent upon the amount of fish in the sea.
c. Businessmen are dependent upon the overall economy.
d. Kings are dependent upon the economy and world events—relationships with other nations.
e. And everyone’s welfare is affected by natural disasters.
f. Hence, praying is a very good idea—for God is sovereign over all of these things that affect every one of us.
B. Riches
1. Everyone knows that poverty is a trial and a burden.
2. Agur was wise enough to understand that riches can also be a trial and a burden—and a temptation.
3. Though he did not have a copy of I Timothy, he did seem to understand an important truth found in I Tim. 6:9-11a: “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 11But thou, O man of God, flee these things…”
4. There have been many stories of individuals who have won the lottery and become instantly wealthy. They assumed that all their troubles were over… but discovered a Pandora’s Box of troubles they never imagined before!
5. Agur understood the pitfalls of poverty and prayed for God to deliver him from them. He also understood the pitfalls of riches and asked God to deliver him from that as well.
6. This is an exceptionally wise prayer request.
a. It speaks of a man who is aware of his own weakness… the frailty of the flesh to earthly temptations.
b. It speaks of a man who really knows what is best for him spiritually and seeks after it.
c. It speaks of a man who is concerned with his relationship to God and would rather have God as his treasure than any earthly treasure.
d. It speaks of a man who has probably observed the evil affect that money has had on others and doesn’t want it for himself.
7. All of us would certainly pray for God to deliver us from poverty… but would we pray for God to deliver us from riches?
a. The tendency in us all is to assume that we could handle that kind of a trial!
b. Maybe it would cause others to go astray, but not me… I can handle it. It won’t affect me.
c. Those are famous last words of many a man who has pierced himself through with many sorrows because of his desire for riches.
What He Did Want: Food Convenient for Me
1. Agur prayed for “food convenient.”
a. Convenient defined: An appointment; a measure; a share; a portion; an allotment; a quota.
b. The idea behind Agur’s request was that he wanted God to appoint him just what he needed.
c. He didn’t want poverty; nor did he want riches.
d. He wanted “just enough.”
e. This was a prayer for God’s providential allotment. God “assigns” such things as He deems best.
2. Ex. 16:15, 18, 35 – God provided an “allotment” of food for the Israelites when they left Egypt and wandered in the wilderness.
a. They got only what they needed each day.
b. And God provided it every day.
c. They couldn’t hoard it—for it would melt or be covered with maggots.
d. Each person was allotted a portion each day.
3. Matt. 6:11 – Jesus taught His Jewish disciples to pray along these lines: “Give us this day our daily bread.”
a. Daily implies an allotment… a daily allotment.
b. Nothing is hoarded or stockpiled.
c. Today’s needs are met and that should be enough.
4. In today’s world, this would be the equivalent of living “paycheck to paycheck” and being happy to do so.
a. Most of us live that way, but how many of us would pray for that to continue?
b. Isn’t it true that what we really wish is to have an abundance?
c. Having “just enough” doesn’t seem to satisfy today.
d. I Tim. 6:6-8 – “But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.”
• We need to learn to be content with food—even if there is no gravy.
• We need to learn to be content with raiment—even without the ornaments and extras.
e. Phil. 4:11-13 – “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. 12I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
f. This is the crying need for all of us – to LEARN to be content.
5. Prov. 15:16 – “Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.” This is a great lesson to learn: that little is better. Not too little; not too much; but a little—for today. Agur seemed to understand this.
Proverbs 30:9
The Danger of Both Wealth and Poverty
Introduction:
1. In this section, Agur asked the Lord for two things:
a. To remove from him vanities and lies
b. To preserve him from two extremes: great riches or great poverty.
c. Instead he asked the Lord to give him “just enough” – food convenient for him.
2. In verse nine Agur states his reasons why he wants to avoid either riches or poverty.
The Danger of Wealth
1. Agur realized the danger of riches. The danger was that once he had riches, he would no longer see his need for God.
2. “Lest I be full”
a. Agur did NOT want to have an abundance: to be full of possessions, property, food, money, etc.
b. It wasn’t because it is sinful or evil to be rich.
c. Many of God’s saints have been wealthy – Adam, Abraham, King David, King Solomon, etc.
d. Agur was not saying that wealth is evil; but he did acknowledge that it came with temptations.
e. He was also aware of his own sinful nature and how easily he could succumb to temptation.
3. “Lest I deny thee.”
a. Deny can mean to “no longer be in association with; to be unfaithful to.”
b. The fear of riches is that it causes even believers to live like unbelievers… even denying their need for God… denying their association with Him.
4. “Who is the Lord?”
a. Associated with the thought of denying God comes this kind of arrogance: “Who is the Lord?”
b. It sounds like Pharaoh saying, “Who is the Lord that I should obey Him?
c. In other words, WHY should I obey God? I don’t need Him any more. I have everything I need.
d. What a pitiful concept of God that is! God is much more than a Provider. He ought to be our all in all.
e. Riches tend to emphasize the importance of the temporal “things that are seen” and deemphasize eternal and invisible things—even God Himself.
f. It is a miserable blindness.
g. The Laodiceans were afflicted with this kind of blindness.
h. Rev. 3:17 – “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”
i. Riches cause the believer to think that he has no need for God—and therefore does nothing for God. He becomes self centered.
5. Deut. 6:10-12 – This is exactly what God warned the children of Israel about when they went into the Promised Land.
a. Vs. 10-11 – The stage is set: riches in the Promised Land!
b. Vs. 12 – The warning is that our nature is to forget the Lord who delivered us from bondage and provided us with material goods.
6. Deut. 8:10-14 – And extended warning is given—again!
a. Vs. 11 – Beware lest you forget God and disobey His Word.
b. Vs. 14 – Pride sets in.
c. Vs. 17b – “My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.”
d. Vs. 19 – The tendency is to walk after other gods. In other words, our affection is no longer given to the Lord, but to other “entities” – vanities… idols… material things… entertaining things… They become our gods.
7. History tells us that that is exactly what DID happen to Israel when they went into the land and experienced its wealth.
a. Hosea 13:6 – “According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me.”
b. Deut.32:15 – “Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked.”
• Jeshurun is used here as a name for Israel. It means “the upright one.” (irony)
• They became fat (rich) and kicked (became rebellious against God.)
8. Agur’s fear of riches was not that he would have so much that he would become burdened with anxiety and fear and lose his friends.
a. His concern was not for himself and all the problems and trouble wealth might bring to him and his family.
b. His fear was that he might sin against God.
c. His fear was that riches would ruin his relationship with God.
d. These are the concerns of a very godly man.
e. This should be our fear too. We have so much in this country—compared to most people in the world.
f. It is harder to trust God for our daily bread when we have a refrigerator full of food and a paycheck coming every week.
g. It’s not impossible—but it is harder. May God teach us all to learn to be content… and to trust God for our daily needs.
h. Godly men fear God. Part of fearing God involves fearing displeasing Him through sin.
i. The believer who is sensitive to spiritual things and who is aware of his own heart will fear sinning because he knows it is a very real possibility in his own life.
The Danger of Poverty
1. The other danger Agur feared was poverty. Like riches, poverty also comes with its own unique set of temptations.
2. “Lest I be poor and steal”
a. The first temptation associated with poverty is the temptation to steal.
b. Agur is acknowledging that this is something that could become a problem for him. He was aware of the vileness of his own fallen nature.
c. Pride would lead a man to believe that stealing is “beneath” him. That is something he would never do… especially if he is saved.
d. I Cor. 10:12 – “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”
e. Agur was wise enough and humble enough to know that the potential for stealing resided in his old nature. (And it resides in ours too!)
f. We noted last time that Agur had a problem with lying and admitted it. So did the psalmist.
g. He was not too proud to acknowledge that stealing could also be a real temptation under certain circumstances—like poverty!
h. Prov. 6:30 – Men do not hate a man who steals because he and his family are hungry.
• Solomon is speaking about a man who steals just enough to eat and cause the hunger pains to go away… and perhaps some for his family to eat.
• Men do not despise such a person.
» His actions are understandable…
» We can easily forgive such a man…
» A judge in court would probably be quite lenient on such a man.
» This is not the kind of crime that would cause a public outcry of rage against the man.
» People might despise a bank robber who steals their hard earned money… but most people wouldn’t despise a hungry man who stole a loaf of bread.
• However, Solomon is not condoning such behavior! (vs.31)
» It is still sin. This is not a matter of situational ethics. Stealing a loaf of bread is sin whether we are hungry or not.
» There is no such thing as a set of circumstances in which it is OK to sin… to break God’s commandment.
» Solomon states that this man is to restore sevenfold.
» Ex.22:1, 3, 4 – The law was quite strict about such crimes. If the man had nothing to restore, he could be sold into slavery.
• Prov. 6:32-33 – Solomon was not being lenient with respect to the sin of stealing a loaf of bread by stating that men will not hate such a man. His real point was to discuss the sin of adultery: men WILL hate a person who commits adultery, ruins a marriage and breaks up a family. His reproach will NOT be wiped away.
i. It is understandable how a man could be reduced to begging for bread or even stealing bread.
j. This is what Agur feared. He knew that given the right set of circumstances (hungry, crying children) he might be tempted to steal bread. He feared it.
k. Again notice the integrity of Agur. His concern was not that he would steal and get caught… and be sent to prison or sold into slavery. His fear was not for himself.
l. His fear was that he might sin against God.
m. Pray: Lead us not into temptation!
3. “Lest I take the name of my God in vain”
a. A man who was so poor he felt he had to steal in order to feed his crying, hungry children could easily grow angry and bitter against God and curse Him.
• When Job fell into hard times Satan’s temptation through his wife was to encourage him to “curse God and die!”
b. It is also possible that taking the name of the Lord in vain in this context may refer to swearing in a court of law.
• If he stole and was caught, he would have to go to a court of law.
• In other words, the sin of stealing may lead to the sin of using God’s name in court in a vain (empty) manner.
• Sin often spirals downward… one leads to another.
c. Either way, Agur was concerned about God’s name. He did not want to be poor – because he feared using God’s name in an inappropriate manner. He feared that.
d. Agur’s fear of poverty was not that he would get caught stealing. It was that he feared the temptation of poverty that might lead him to offend his Lord. That attitude is commendable.
Proverbs 30:10
Accuse Not a Servant unto His Master
Introduction:
1. Verse 10 begins a section in which Agur gives advice to Ithiel and Ucal. (vs.1)
2. The advice in verse 10 is against slandering a household servant.
3. This verse also serves as an introduction to verses 11-14.
The Exhortation:
1. Accuse Defined:
a. The term “accused” here literally means “the tongue” and often is used of a misuse of the tongue.
b. Psalm 52:2, 4 – mischief, like a razor, deceit, etc.
c. Prov. 6:17 – God hates a lying tongue.
d. It sometimes means “to hurt with the tongue.”
e. To slander; to accuse; insult; evil speaking.
f. As used in Prov. 30:10, the term implies an accusation, slander, or evil speaking against the servant in one way or another.
2. The servant
a. The term can mean “slave.”
b. However, the Hebrew concept was different from what we might think of as a slave.
c. The Hebrew servant was a domestic servant or an indentured servant – almost like a hired hand.
d. Ex. 21:2 – His time of service was limited to six years.
e. Ex. 21:20 – The Law of Moses also provided protection for the Hebrew servant.
f. Some servants could rise to position of power and honor – as Joseph did in Egypt. He was a “steward” of all his master’s goods.
g. The Hebrew servant was more like a domestic servant. He was considered part of the household.
3. Accusing a servant to his master
a. The accusation against the servant in this proverb is a false accusation. We know this because the man is in danger of being found guilty.
b. Agur is not speaking about a legitimate accusation against a servant. (For example: stealing from his master or committing some other crime.)
c. The proverb exhorts readers not to falsely accuse a servant.
d. Don’t make up a story about him and report it to his master.
4. The passage is an exhortation not to stick your nose into the domestic affairs of some else’s household.
a. The servant was considered to be a part of the household.
b. Falsely accusing him before his master was like driving a wedge between them.
c. This is an act of sabotage against a family… against their household—which included their servants.
d. Because it was a false accusation, it was obviously coming from a trouble maker. He was making up stories to drive wedges and to pit one person against another in a household.
e. This accusation is coming from a meddler… an evil busybody… someone trying to stir up evil feelings.
f. The accuser here is a liar with evil motives; he or she is a home-wrecker.
5. The exhortation: don’t do this!
a. Don’t falsely accuse a servant to his master.
b. It might seem like an easy thing to do… to slander a lowly servant. A servant might seem like an easy target. He is lowly and unable to defend himself. Who’s going to believe a servant?
c. It might be fun to watch all the trouble that gets stirred up.
d. Solomon wrote that it is “as sport to a fool to do mischief.” (Prov. 10:23)
e. But Agur says, “Don’t do it!”
f. Don’t falsely accuse someone in a lower position than yourself; don’t lie about them; don’t slander; don’t speak evil of someone… just because they are in a lowly position and you think you can get away with it.
The Reason:
1. The exhortation is followed by a warning: If you DO slander a servant, he may curse you and you might be found guilty.
2. Consider the terms used:
a. Curse: To slight; to trifle; to appear insignificant; to be lightly esteemed; to make despicable; to bring contempt; to dishonor; to curse; etc.
b. Guilty: Faulty; offend; declared guilty; exposed for wrongdoing.
3. The point here is that the slanderer may be exposed for what he really is.
a. He may find that he only stirred up trouble for himself.
b. He may discover that his little “sport” backfired on him.
4. The lowly servant who is falsely accused may come upon an opportunity to “curse” his accuser.
a. The slanderer who tried to curse (cause people to despise) the servant may himself be despised in the end.
b. The tables could be turned and the servant may end up having the upper hand.
c. In the end, the servant may prove himself to be innocent and end up causing the slanderer to be lightly esteemed in the eyes of all… to be dishonored… to be held in contempt.
d. By throwing out that false accusation, the slanderer may have hoped to hurt the servant. He may have hoped to make trouble for him… to cause his master not to trust him anymore.
e. He may have hoped to cause trouble for the whole family.
f. The slanderer may have expected that he would cause the servant to be despised and held in contempt by all.
g. But in the end, the tables might be turned. It may be that the slanderer is the one held in contempt by all… and dishonored.
5. It only takes a minute to spew out a thoughtless slander or to lie against someone.
a. But if discovered, YOU might be the one who ends up hated and scorned.
b. YOU may be the one who is held in contempt.
c. And in that setting and culture, it would be especially embarrassing, humiliating, and dishonorable to be cursed and shamed by someone from an inferior station in life.
d. And while it only takes a minute to gossip about someone and slander them, if exposed as a liar and a slanderer, it could take years to earn a good reputation again.
e. It is quick and easy to destroy a testimony. It takes a long time with much effort to rebuild it.
f. Prov. 25:8-10 – “Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame. 9Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself; and discover not a secret to another: 10Lest he that heareth it put thee to shame, and thine infamy turn not away.”
g. It is not easy to UN-DO your reputation once you establish yourself as a slanderer, a gossip, a liar, or a trouble maker.
h. Rebuilding one’s testimony can be done—but how much better not to have to!
6. Agur speaks here about a kind of poetic justice: in the end, the guilty slanderer is exposed, and the innocent servant is exonerated.
a. This kind of justice is “proverbial.”
b. We have seen this truth repeated many times in proverbs in all kinds of settings: in the end, you reap what you sow!
c. Prov. 6:12-15: 12 “A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth. 13 He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers; 14 Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord. 15 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.”
d. Be sure your sin will find you out! (Num. 32:23)
Proverbs 30:11
A Generation of Disrespectful Rebels
Introduction:
1. In verses 11-14, Agur lists four things that are deadly to any nation or society.
a. Vs. 11 – They curse their parents.
b. Vs. 12 – They are pure in their own eyes.
c. Vs. 13 – They are proud.
d. Vs. 14 – They devour the poor.
2. The author simply notes the FACT that such things exist.
a. He does say what to do about it.
b. He doesn’t offer advice or counsel.
c. He doesn’t give any commands.
d. He doesn’t even really denounce it.
e. He simply states “what is.”
f. Of course there is an implied denunciation of these things, though not stated.
3. He repeats the expression, “there is a generation.”
a. He uses this expression to denote the fact that such a class of people exist. Such a segment of society exists.
b. He doesn’t seem to be speaking about any particular generation in time (like the 1960’s generation, generation X, or the Millennials).
c. Rather he uses the expression to identify the fact that at any given period in history, there has always been such a class or category of people.
d. That is because the things he describes are part of human nature. It has been repeated generation after generation.
e. The evil traits Agur describes have existed ever since the fall. It is nothing new. He simply wants us all to know that it exists: it was true of my generation and of many generations before that. And it still exists. Even today, “there is a generation” like this.
f. Ecc. 1:9 – “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”
g. What Agur states in this proverb doesn’t apply to every young person—but there is a segment of society that fits the bill.
Vs. 11 – There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.
The first negative trait that Agur describes is that which might be called “parent abuse” today.
They Curse Their Father
1. Curse:
a. There is a connection between vs. 10 and 11 by the usage of this term “curse.”
• In vs. 10 it was a servant cursing.
• Here it is an ungrateful child cursing.
b. Curse defined: Despise; bring into contempt; make light of; lightly esteem; slight; dishonor; revile.
c. I Sam. 17:43 – Used to show great contempt for and anger against someone. “And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. 43And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed (same term) David by his gods.”
2. The Scriptures are pretty clear about the respect that children should give to their parents.
a. Col. 3:20 – “Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.”
b. Eph. 6:2 – “Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise.)”
c. Lev. 19:3 – “Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.”
d. Lev. 19:32 – “Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.”
e. Prov. 16:31 – “The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.”
f. These passages are not ambiguous or difficult to understand.
g. God’s plan is for children to honor their parents; for the youth to respect the elderly; for old age and wisdom to be admired.
h. And it stands as a rather blatant rebuke to our culture that in this generation, purely pagan cultures (as in Japan or even in the much less sophisticated tribal cultures of jungle regions) seem to demonstrate much more respect for parents and the elderly than our own culture—which is supposedly heavily influenced by Christianity—the truth.
i. In this respect, those pagan cultures are much closer to this important Biblical concept—God’s plan for society—than our own society. Shame on us!
j. Job 32:6-7 – In ancient times it was common knowledge among the youth that they should respect their elders. Elders were not always perfect, but they did have wisdom to share.
• “And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said, I am young, and ye are very old; wherefore I was afraid, and durst not shew you mine opinion. 7I said, Days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.”
• “The multitude of years should teach wisdom.” Everyone knew that in those days.
k. But for some strange reason, we have reversed what the Bible says.
• Instead of honoring the “hoary head” (elderly), we honor the youth. We glorify youth.
• We gear our society around trying to “connect with the youth,” trying to “understand” the youth, trying to “appeal to the youth.”
l. This is exactly backwards.
• The youth should try to understand their elders.
• The church is to be led by “elders” not the youth. That is because those with a multitude of years should teach wisdom. The youth should try to “understand” the older, more mature, and wiser men.
• The youth should try to “connect” with their elders.
» Titus 2:4 – Young Christian women should connect with older Christian women who were to “teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.”
» Titus 2:6 – The older men were to exhort the young men in all the issues of life they may face.
3. The Scriptures are pretty clear about the consequences of a lack of respect that children give to their parents.
a. Prov. 30:17 – “The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.”
b. Prov. 20:20 – “Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.”
c. Lev. 20:9 – “For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.”
d. Deut. 21:20-21 – “And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. 21And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.”
e. Deut. 27:16 – “Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.”
f. Note that the Law not only required severe penalties, but that the Law required the community to participate in the execution of it—and required the community to be in agreement with it, by saying, “Amen.”
g. “Cursing” or “demeaning” one’s parents is not treated mildly in the Scriptures. God observes everything.
They Do Not Bless Their Mother
1. Agur states that “There is a generation that… doth not bless their mother.”
a. They may not curse their mother (which evidently would be an even more depraved expression of rebellion), but they don’t bless her either.
b. The point is that they SHOULD bless their mother.
c. In Prov. 31:28 we read about what children should do with respect to their mothers: “Her children arise up, and call her blessed.”
d. Agur’s point is that there is a generation (a class of young people) who don’t bless their mothers.
e. They don’t thank her; they don’t praise her; they don’t appreciate her or her labors in the home; they don’t even seem to care about her.
f. The fact that they don’t curse her does not mean that they respect and honor her as the Law of Moses and the law of decency required.
2. Agur’s point in the proverb is that such things DO exist.
a. In a culture like his that emphasized showing respect and honor to the aged, it might seem incredible that such a thing could exist—but it does.
b. Charles Bridges quote: “Solon (a pagan ruler) was asked why he made no law concerning parricides (children who kill their parents) and he replied that he could never conceive of anyone ever being so impious or cruel.”
c. God knows human nature better. He knows exactly what our fallen natures are capable of: the heart is desperately wicked!
d. Agur, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote that such a generation exists. There is a segment of society so depraved that they do treat parents with contempt.
Proverbs 30:12
A Generation of Self-Righteous Hypocrites
Introduction:
1. We noted last time that vs. 11-14 are connected in thought. They each begin with the expression, ‘There is a generation…”
a. Agur uses this expression to denote the fact that such a class of people exist. Such a segment of society exists.
b. That is because the things he describes are part of human nature. It has been repeated generation after generation.
2. The particular segment of society Agur describes in vs.12 is a generation of self-righteous hypocrites.
a. They have always existed, and they always will—till glory.
b. Agur reminds us all that they are still out there. Be warned.
1. PURE: Clean; free from foreign particles or impurities; flawless; perfect; genuine; without defect of any kind; without error.
a. Lev. 11:36 – The term is used of that which is ceremonially pure and clean according to the Mosaic Law.
b. Ex. 25:11 – The term is used of pure gold – free from dross or impurity.
c. Ps. 12:7 – God’s Word is described as “pure” – free from any flaws or errors… true and right.
2. Agur states that “purity” is the assessment of SELF that this generation had.
a. They saw themselves as pure and clean before God’s Law.
b. They saw themselves as without fault.
c. They saw themselves as free from any impurity of any sort.
d. They saw themselves as flawless… perfect… impeccable.
e. They saw themselves as free from error – true and right.
3. We have all met folks from this category.
a. In every discussion on any subject, their opinion is always the correct one.
b. Whenever their behavior is questioned, they cannot acknowledge any fault… because they are without fault.
c. They love to let others know just how pure and righteous they are too. It is one of their favorite topics of conversation.
d. Without judging any individual’s heart (I don’t know anyone else’s heart)… I think it is safe to say that this kind of self righteous hypocrisy is also seen in one of the most influential aspects of American life: Hollywood!
• They go to acting school, get a few lucky (Providential) breaks, become a celebrity, and suddenly become experts on politics, ecology, energy, foreign policy, and virtually everything else.
• They tell us little people to ride bikes and save the environment, and then fly all over the world on their private, gas guzzling jets.
• They use their celebrity status to promote candidates who (not always but mostly) promote very liberal agendas.
• In their own eyes, their views and opinions are always correct. In fact, flawless!
• And anyone who disagrees is a knuckle dragger.
e. But this is not found exclusively in Hollywood.
f. Such people are found everywhere: in the office; in the home; in politics; in education; in business; in the marketplace.
g. Agur is giving us a heads-up: beware!
4. It is human nature to think this way.
a. Prov. 20:6 – “Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?”
b. Prov. 21:2 – “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.”
c. Prov. 12:15 – “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.”
d. Prov. 16:2 – “All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.”
e. I Sam. 15:13-14 – “13 And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD. 14 And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” Saul genuinely believed that he had obeyed God… because he did obey partially. That was enough to blind him to the truth.
f. Isa. 65:5 – “Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou.” This expression has become “proverbial” to describe this kind of self-righteous hypocrisy. Their attitude was repulsive and irritating to God—like getting smoke in your eyes.
g. Jeremiah 17:9 – “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Our own hearts deceive us into thinking this of self.
5. This self-righteous hypocrisy is especially repulsive in the religious realm.
a. God doesn’t expect unbelievers to live like believers. God has much higher standards and expectations for believers.
b. The believer has much more light, and is therefore judged even more harshly – according to the light that he has.
c. Luke 16:13 – The self righteous Pharisees derided Christ’s teachings. But the Lord said that they were men who “justified themselves.” God’s estimate was not the same as theirs.
d. Luke 18:11-12 – This attitude is perhaps best seen in the Pharisee in the Temple: “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.” In his own eyes, he was pure—flawless—perfect.
e. This is an attitude that can reside in any one of us as believers.
f. It is repulsive to the lost around us.
• Be careful when sharing the gospel. Don’t come across as one who is “holier than thou.” That will turn them off instantly. Nobody wants to listen to someone with that kind of pride oozing out of them.
• When witnessing verbally, we should put ourselves on the same level as the sinner… for we too are sinners. We are sinners saved by grace, but sinners nonetheless.
• And always emphasize that we are sinners saved by GRACE – God’s unmerited, undeserved goodness. We too are worthy of eternal condemnation.
g. And of course, this kind of self-righteousness is especially repulsive to God. He hates for flesh to glory in His presence. It is as irritating to God as smoke is to our eyes.
6. Thus, Agur has described a segment of society that is repulsive to both God and man.
a. Nobody likes a self-righteous hypocrite.
b. We should also beware lest this attitude be found in our own hearts. We are all capable of this kind of blindness.
c. And the danger of this kind of egotism usually results in opposition and resistance when others (even God’s Spirit) seek to rebuke and correct you of such errors.
d. We will never be corrected from errors and faults we refuse to acknowledge exist.
1. What a contrast!
a. In their own eyes, they are pure and flawless.
b. In God’s eyes, they are not washed from their filth. They are not pure but very impure. They are in fact filthy!
c. It is amazing how people can genuinely believe things that are so opposite reality… opposite the truth.
d. The heart is deceitful above all things. How blind is the fallen heart to perceive our own spiritual condition.
e. We always seem to have an overly-rosy opinion of ourselves.
f. That’s why we need to rely on what GOD says about us. Our own estimate of SELF is virtually never correct.
2. Matt. 23:27 – The Scribes and Pharisees were blinded by self conceit. They were deceived into believing that all was well.
a. They saw themselves as “whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward.” They saw the outward fresh coat of paint. From the outside it looked beautiful.
b. God saw them differently: full of dead men’s bones! Lifeless…filthy…
3. Rev. 3:17 – The church at Laodicea had a glowing opinion of themselves.
a. In their own eyes, they were “rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.”
b. But in God’s eyes, they were “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”
c. God’s cure for such thoughts is simple: REPENT! (Rev. 3:19).
d. Their thoughts of self were wrong. They needed to change their mind and see themselves as God saw them: “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”
e. God’s estimate is always correct.
4. In light of this truth, certain exhortations are in order:
a. Prov. 3:7 – “Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.”
5. We would do well to consider the words of the apostle John:
a. I John 1:8 – “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
b. Man’s estimate of self is very different from God’s estimate.
c. When that is the case, we need to change our minds. Repentance is in order.
Proverbs 30:13
There is a Generation that is Proud
Introduction:
1. In Proverbs 30:11-14, Agur paints a picture of one segment of society. He notes that in every generation there is a class of people who could be characterized in various ways.
a. There is a generation of disrespectful rebels. (vs. 11)
b. There is a generation of self-righteous hypocrites. (vs. 12)
c. There is a generation of proud and arrogant ones. (vs. 13)
2. Tonight we are going to consider the third aspect of human nature Agur describes – pride.
a. It is nothing new. It is not a shocking revelation to anyone. It has been around since the fall of man.
b. But Agur wants to remind us that there are segments of society in every age that are still characterized by pride and arrogance.
Pride is Seen in Their Eyes
1. Agur notes that pride (which is an inner attitude of the heart—invisible to others) CAN be seen outwardly, in a man’s eyes.
a. Their eyes are “lofty.” (Lofty: High; exalted; elevated; proud; arrogant.)
b. Their eyelids are “lifted up.” (Lifted up: Exalted; lifted up and carried away; proud; arrogant.)
c. These terms are synonyms. They both speak of that which is elevated, high, exalted, and thus in a figurative sense, both terms are used to describe pride and arrogance.
2. In our proverbs, Agur speaks of the eyes and eyelids as being high, exalted, elevated.
a. This is a description of pride that can be seen on the face—and in the eyes in particular.
b. Elevated eyes look DOWN on others because of pride.
c. Elevated eyes see self as exalted ABOVE others.
d. Agur is describing body language here. And the message this language sends out is haughtiness… superiority… self-importance… conceit.
3. There are other passages that describe the same thing: pride and arrogance that is visible on one’s face.
a. Prov. 6:16-17 – “A proud look” is an abomination to God. It represents a proud heart. In other words, the pride in the heart sometimes manifests itself outwardly – in facial expressions. It is a “proud look.” (literally – a proud eye)
b. Prov. 21:4 – “a high look” which stems from a proud heart.
c. Psalm 18:27 – God will bring DOWN the high look. God has His own ways of humbling the proud and removing their arrogant look.
d. Psalm 101:5 – In this psalm David is describing the kind of people he wants on his royal cabinet. He will not tolerate someone with an arrogant look. Humility was one of his qualifications to be a royal advisor.
e. There are times when you can tell a person is looking down upon another. Often you can actually SEE pride on their face as they respond and react to others.
f. They see themselves as superior… exalted… and others not worthy to be in their presence.
4. I suppose we could expand this expression of pride from the eyes to one’s walk.
a. Isa. 3:16-24 – Here the prophet describes the pride and arrogance of Judah as illustrated by the wealthy women of Jerusalem.
• It was seen in the way they walked… and held up their heads, etc.
• But God has a way of humbling pride and bringing low those who exalt themselves.
b. Sometimes you can actually see pride in the way a person struts around like a peacock… showing off.
• It might be a lady with all her jewels and fine clothes.
• But this kind of pride isn’t reserved for ladies only.
• It might be the guy in the gym or at the beach showing off his muscles.
• You can almost see their pride in the way they walk and strut around.
5. Pride is seen in their eyes; and God hates what He sees.
a. We saw that it is an abomination to Him. (Prov. 6:16-17)
b. Consider the words of Isaiah 2:11-17.
• In the Tribulation Period, God sends severe judgment to deal with this very thing: the haughtiness of man… the high looks of fallen flesh.
• The high looks shall be brought down very low.
• God hates fallen flesh exalting itself.
Concluding Thoughts on Pride
1. Prov. 21:4 – Pride is not simply being rude or a lack of proper manners. It is SIN.
2. Prov. 16:5 – It is sin and God will punish that sin… if not in this life, in the life to come.
3. Daniel 5:20 – Pride “hardens the mind.”
a. It is a kind of paralysis or blindness that sets in. (Harden: To prevail over; becoming overpowered by; hardened; stubborn; willfully obstinate and unyielding.
b. Obadiah 3 – “The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee.”
4. Ps. 10:4 – There is a great danger in pride. It hinders us from seeking God.
a. The proud one thinks to himself, “What do I need God for? I know all I need to know; I can handle this; I don’t need any advice or counsel. I’m pretty much all set thank you!”
5. Prov. 26:12 – A man who is so hardened, blinded, and hindered from seeking God is in a very dangerous position. There is more hope for a fool than for him. His pride will keep him in that dangerous position perpetually—until he humbles himself.
6. Prov. 13:10 – Only by pride cometh contention.
a. The proud man with a haughty look can expect to live in strife and contention with others.
b. The proud man has a hard time getting along with others. He sees himself superior to them… and it shows on his face.
c. That does not lead to good interpersonal relationships.
d. Pride will destroy a marriage; a home; a church. It is a destroyer.
7. Pride can lead to: (1) shame (Prov. 11:2) and (2) destruction (Prov. 16:18)
8. Pride is an insidious thing.
a. And we are ALL infected with it. It is our nature.
b. Thus, it needs to be resisted and rejected continually—day by day.
c. Humility isn’t something we obtain and then possess for the rest of our lives. It is a moment by moment thing.
d. Pride is part of our fallen nature; it is in our sinful heart; and we need to be on guard constantly so as not to allow pride to rear its ugly head. Pride will never stop trying to manifest itself… in our speech… attitude… even in our eyes and body language.
9. One final warning about Agur’s warning.
a. Agur was 100% correct when he said that pride is sometimes seen in the eyes and body language.
b. However, our ability to interpret body language is not 100% accurate. We can misread a look… a walk… a tone of voice… a raising of the eyebrow.
c. We should be very careful about judging others on the basis of outward appearance.
d. I have known people that I assumed were arrogant in the way they looked… holding the head up high… etc., only to discover that they were not proud, but extremely insecure… and walked in a certain way to try to compensate for their insecurity.
e. So let’s be careful about judging others on the basis of body language and outward appearance, because we really DON’T know their heart. God does; we don’t.
Proverbs 30:14
There is a Generation of Cruel, Greedy Ones
Introduction: In verses 11-14, Agur describes certain segments of society.
1. There is a generation of disrespectful rebels. (vs. 11)
2. There is a generation of self-righteous hypocrites. (vs. 12)
3. There is a generation of proud and arrogant ones. (vs. 13)
4. There is a generation of cruel, greedy ones. (vs. 14)
1. The first part of this proverb speaks of teeth and jaws.
2. Agur likens these teeth and jaws to swords and knives.
a. Obviously, this is figurative language. The use of the word “as” indicates a simile.
b. The point is that in some way the teeth and jaws are “sword-like” and “knife-like.” They cut, pierce, and destroy like a sword or a knife.
3. The mouth is that part of the body where the teeth and jaw are located.
a. For this reason, some commentators have likened the meaning of this proverb to other passages where the mouth is likened to swords and knives.
b. When used in this figurative way, the mouth is used figuratively of SPEECH.
• Prov. 12:18 – “There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword.”
• Prov. 25:18 – “A man that beareth false witness against his neighbor is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.”
• Ps. 52:2 – “Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.”
• Ps. 57:4 – “My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.”
• Ps. 59:7 – “Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords are in their lips.”
• Ps. 64:3 – “Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words.”
• It is a common figure in the poetic books to use the words “mouth, tongue, lips, etc.” to represent speech.
• Some commentators have interpreted this proverb along those lines, namely, that Agur is describing things in the area of the mouth (teeth; jaw) to represent speech.
• And thus, connecting this figure with swords and knives would refer to cruel speech (perhaps slander, gossip, lies), because this kind of speech is painful—like being pierced with a sword.
4. While that interpretation would certainly be in harmony with many other passages in the poetic books, the second part of the proverb seems to militate against that view.
5. One thing we know for sure from the first part of this proverb is that Agur is describing the teeth and jaws instruments of cruelty and destruction—weapons used against someone.
a. There is a generation that is cruel.
b. And they take out their cruelty on others—like a soldier killing his enemy with a sword or a knife.
c. The word for “knife” is defined as a butcher knife, or a large knife used in cutting up sacrifices.
d. Strong’s lists only two other usages of this term for knife:
• Abraham using a knife to kill his son Isaac.
• The man in Judges 19 who gave his concubine to the men of Belial who surrounded his house. The evil men abused her all night and she was found dead on his doorsteps. The man then got a “knife” and cut up the concubine and sent her body parts to the 12 tribes of Israel.
e. This was not a dainty little knife used for spreading jam on toast. It was a large knife used for destruction.
1. The use of teeth and jaws:
a. In the first part of the proverb, though the jaw and teeth are found in the mouth, imagery does not lend itself very well to “speech.”
b. The tongue and lips are good imagery for speech, as we saw in the passages above.
c. But the teeth and the jaw (jaw teeth) DO lend themselves well towards “devouring,” as described in the second part of the proverb.
2. DEVOUR:
a. This term means to eat; feed.
b. It is used figuratively to mean “destroy; ruin; consume; spend.”
c. Agur tells us that the teeth and jaw are used to devour – to consume… to gobble up.
3. Agur’s use of jaw and teeth is not to describe speech.
a. Rather his point is that the teeth and jaw devour—like swords and large destructive knives.
b. Whatever it is that this generation devours, it does so with great destruction and violence.
c. Cruel greedy men are often spoken of as DEVOURING the poor.
d. Ps. 14:4 – “Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.”
e. Amos 8:4 – “Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail.”
4. And we are told WHO they devour: the poor and needy.
a. POOR: this term refers to those who are poor or afflicted.
• It speaks of those who are poor and suffering.
• It is often used of those who are poor because of oppression.
b. NEEDY: This term is used as a synonym for “poor.” The two terms appear together often.
• Ps. 9:18 – “For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.”
• Ps. 40:17 – “But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.”
5. The point of our proverb is that there has always been a segment of society that is cruel and greedy.
a. Usually this refers to the wealthy land owners who take advantage of the poor.
b. They seem to have an insatiable appetite to gobble up the poor and devour them.
c. They are powerful and wealthy, but that’s not enough. They feel compelled for MORE—even if they have to devour the poor to attain more wealth.
d. And note that they obtain the wealth by sword-like teeth and knife-like jaws. They chew up the poor with their teeth and devour them with their jaws.
e. There is a generation like this. It is human nature. And if the roles were reversed, the poor would oppress the wealthy.
6. What a contrast to the way God treats the poor and needy!
a. Job 5:15 – “But he saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.”
b. Jer. 20:13 – “Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.”
c. Ps. 12:5 – “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.”
d. It’s pretty clear in the Bible that we should have a soft spot in our hearts for the poor and afflicted who are oppressed.
7. Agur gives us a sad but accurate picture of the fallen heart of man.
a. There is a generation of disrespectful rebels. (vs. 11)
b. There is a generation of self-righteous hypocrites. (vs. 12)
c. There is a generation of proud and arrogant ones. (vs. 13)
d. There is a generation of cruel, greedy ones. (vs. 14)
e. Our generation is no different. Man’s nature has not improved.
f. Nothing but regeneration can effect a cure.
Proverbs 30:15-16
Things that are Never Satisfied
Introduction:
1. In verses 11-14, Agur describes certain segments of society.
a. There is a generation of disrespectful rebels. (vs. 11)
b. There is a generation of self-righteous hypocrites. (vs. 12)
c. There is a generation of proud and arrogant ones. (vs. 13)
d. There is a generation of cruel, greedy ones. (vs. 14)
2. In vs.15-16 Agur uses a different poetic formula, but he continues to speak about yet another aspect of fallen human nature: greed.
1. The leech is defined as a worm-like parasite in water that sucks blood.
a. Freshwater leeches are parasites that feed on the blood of fish, frogs, and mammals—like us.
b. They swim well and attach on to their victims with their mouths.
c. They have sharp teeth that are able to penetrate the skin and inject an enzyme which causes the host to bleed. They then suck the blood as much as they want.
d. Freshwater leeches don’t eat often; they can go a year on one feeding.
2. The two daughters:
a. One commentator suggested that the “two daughters” refers to a leech that has a mouth on each end. (The freshwater leeches I saw online had only one mouth.)
b. Most compared the two daughters to the two points on the tongue of a leech.
c. It is also possible that Agur meant the literal daughters of a leech – meaning that they breed after their kind. Bloodsuckers breed more bloodsuckers.
d. The two daughters cry, “Give, give.” (gimme gimme).
e. This is the message of the leech to its victim: Give us blood; and when you’re done, give us more; keep on giving us blood.
3. The leech serves as a vivid and graphic picture of greed: a leech – translated, horseleech.
a. The greedy man is like a leech – a bloodsucker.
b. It picks on an innocent victim, sinks its fangs into it, and sucks out of it as much as it can get.
c. The greedy man is not the honest business man doing an honest trade or business transaction.
d. The leech illustrates a one sided transaction. The leech is a parasite on its host. The host gives and gives and gets nothing out of it.
e. The leech also illustrates one who takes without permission. The parasite robs its victim.
f. Agur may also have intended to imply the stealth of a leech. They swim up quickly and often unnoticed by the victim. They are not even always felt by the victim at first. Their blood is being sucked out unawares.
4. Agur uses the leech to illustrate greed.
a. The greedy man is like a leech.
b. He sucks out of his victims something valuable and precious to the life of his victim (blood – the life is in the blood).
c. The greedy man is like a parasite—he takes but he doesn’t give.
d. And the greedy man takes advantage of others stealthily.
• It may be robbery—a scam artist who steals your identity and sucks the money out of your bank account.
• It may be a slick salesman—who provides a service or a product that is a scam. He may sell you a cure-all elixir that takes your money but cures nothing.
• Greedy men are like blood suckers.
5. It is likely that this thought is an expansion of Prov. 30:14 – the cruel, greedy ones who have jaw teeth like knives with which they devour the poor and the needy.
a. They are greedy men who take advantage of the poor and needy.
b. They exploit the poor like a leech exploits its host.
1. Agur continues his description of greed, but he switches his poetic format.
a. He had been using a different kind of expression (“there is a generation that…”) to demonstrate a particular area of fallen human nature.
b. Now he changes the formula, and uses another familiar Old Testament poetic formula (There are three things, yea, four…) The prophets used similar language.
2. Agur plainly states that he is describing “things that are never satisfied.”
a. This is a description of insatiable desires like lust, greed, or covetousness.
b. Satisfied: Be in a state of physical contentment, due to having physical needs met in abundance or excess.
c. The greedy man, like a bloodsucker, is never satisfied. He always wants just a little more.
3. The four examples Agur gives which “never say enough.”
a. Obviously, this is figurative language. Graves, wombs, fire, and water cannot actually speak.
b. The point is that these things have one thing in common: they have insatiable desires and don’t know how to be content.
c. The greedy man is like that: he has an insatiable appetite for “more” and never seems to have enough.
4. The four insatiable things:
a. The grave
• This is a personification of a grave—as if a grave had desires.
• One would think that the grave (sheol – the place of the dead) would be satisfied.
• How many people have died and been buried? Isn’t that enough?
• The grave is never satisfied with the countless millions of occupants. It can never say “I have enough.”
• The point: a desire is never satisfied by obtaining that which it desires.
• True contentment isn’t found in getting what we desire.
b. The barren womb
• The same truth is found in this example.
• How many women were there in the Old Testament who were barren and craved a child?
• How many are there today?
• The barren womb says, “If only I could have just one child!”
• And if they finally bear a child, they cannot say, “It is enough.” Instead they say, “It would be so nice to have just one more.”
• The point is the same: a desire is never truly satisfied by obtaining that which it desires.
c. The dry earth
• Agur was not writing from Washington State’s rain forest. He was writing from a very dry and arid region.
• There the dry, parched sands craved for water. They baked in the hot sun and (figuratively speaking) lusted after rain.
• And no matter how hard it rains, the parched earth soaks up all the rain—like a bloodsucker sucking up the blood.
• And after the torrential downpour, the earth soaks up all the rain, the sun comes out, and the earth is craving for more rain.
• It can never say “enough.”
d. The fire
• The fire that rages through a dry forest does the same.
• It devours all the trees in the forest—and when it gets to the highway, the trees on one side are not enough. It sends its sparks over the road and continues to devour dry trees and brush.
• The fires out West are often the size of Rhode Island… and even then, it’s not enough. The flames seem to want to devour more and more.
5. Heaping one illustration upon another, Agur drives home his point:
a. A desire is never satisfied by obtaining that which it desires.
b. True contentment isn’t found in getting what we desire.
c. True contentment is only found in LEARNING to appreciate what we DO have and LEARNING to be content therein.
6. Phil. 4:11-13 – “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. 12I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
a. This is not a natural talent or skill that we learn.
b. Rather, this kind of contentment is only obtained THROUGH Christ in you.
c. It is a moment by moment yielding of our will to Him…
d. Desires are going to be with us forever. We always see the grass as a little greener on the other side of the fence.
e. We crave after fame, fortune, the nice house on the hill, the perfect family, the corner office, the BMW, celebrity status, etc.
f. Agur’s point is that cravings and desires never stop… like a raging out-of-control fire.
g. As soon as one desire is fulfilled, six more pop up in its place.
h. The real secret is to LEARN to enjoy the blessings God has provided and THANK Him from a pure heart of appreciation daily for your situation.
i. Consider Paul’s advice: “And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.”
7. We too can be like the grave, the barren womb, the parched soil, or the raging fire… longing to be satisfied with one thing or another.
a. Those who live according to the flesh are never satisfied.
b. Those who live according to the flesh can never say, “It is enough.”
c. The flesh continually desires more and more. It is insatiable… unquenchable.
d. One commentator likened this insatiable desire to Pharaoh’s skinny cows: when they had eaten up all the fat cows, they were still as hungry and whining as before.”
e. Since the flesh will never be satisfied, the Biblical way to deal with the flesh is the CROSS.
f. Gal. 5:24-25 – “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”
g. The one who walks in the Spirit is filled with the FRUIT of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. The Spirit filled believer will be content… satisfied. He knows how to say “Enough.”
h. He has found His all in all in Christ. He has all he needs in Christ. True contentment is found in a Person: Jesus Christ.
i. There the believer has not just enough – but exceedingly abundantly, above “enough.”
Proverbs 30:17
The Eye that Mocketh His Father
Introduction:
1. This proverb seems to point back to the thought in vs. 11: a generation of those who disrespect their parents.
2. Vs. 17 makes another statement concerning the son who curses his father, namely, the consequences of a disrespectful life and lifestyle.
3. As we consider the words of Agur, it is good for us to keep in mind that these are proverbs. They are kernels of truth – statements of generality that are not to be understood as literal truth in all situations. They are not promises or prophecies, but proverbs.
4. In essence, this is yet another “you reap what you sow” proverb with a specific application.
1. Vs. 11 – “There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.”
a. This sort of disrespect has been a perennial problem. It has existed since the fall of man. It is nothing new.
b. Children disrespect their parents—and cause much hurt to their parents. Then they have children who grow up and show disrespect to them. What goes around comes around.
2. Mocking one’s father
a. Mock: Scoff; ridicule; speaks words which disparage;.
b. Note that the mocking is with the eye.
c. They may mock verbally—but not all mocking is verbal.
d. It is possible to mock with one’s body language—and especially facial expressions (the rolling of the eyes; the raising of the eyebrows; etc.)
e. You can mock and ridicule someone without saying a word.
f. Perhaps they mock an elderly father’s feebleness or lack of strength or a lack of memory. They may mock their commands.
g. Mocking is also expressed as an attitude of heart—and that attitude can be expressed in lots of different non-verbal forms.
h. God knows the heart.
i. And of course this goes for demonstrating a lack of respect elsewhere also: teachers, kings, senators, presidents, bosses…
3. Despising one’s mother
a. Despise: To scorn, deride, to have contempt for another.
b. The term does not mean to “hate,” but to show contempt.
c. Prov. 23:9 – Fools despise wisdom. They have contempt for wisdom because wisdom calls their folly into question and exposes it for what it is.
4. The Scriptures mention this societal and sin problem often:
a. Prov. 20:20 – “Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.”
b. Lev. 20:9 – “For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.”
c. Deut. 21:20-21 – “And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. 21And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.”
d. Deut. 27:16 – “Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.”
e. This is an ancient vicious cycle… from generation to generation.
5. In Judaism, it should not have occurred, but it did.
a. Remember that Israel was a nation.
b. You became an Israelite simply by being born – the natural birth.
c. You became a son of the covenant in Israel through natural birth.
d. Thus, very few in Israel were genuinely saved. Some were—but most were not.
e. Nevertheless, their culture was so influenced by the truth of God’s Word, that there was a stigma attached to being disrespectful to one’s parents.
f. That cut down drastically on the occurrence of this kind of disrespect… but it still occurred and was addressed several times in the Old Testament.
6. However, as Christians, this cycle should not continue. The cycle should be broken because Christ is able to change the heart.
a. It is addressed in the New Testament as well.
b. Col. 3:20 – “Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.”
c. Eph. 6:2 – “Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)”
d. There should be a deep sense of respect among genuinely born again Christians.
• Children for parents (Eph. 6:2)
• Youth for their elders (Lev. 19:32)
• Wives for their husbands (Eph. 5:33c)
• Congregation for church leaders (Heb. 13:17)
• Citizens for governmental leaders (I Pet. 2:17)
e. This sense of respect and honor is to be shown because it is Biblical and right before God—not because it is a cultural issue.
• There was a day when the culture promoted this—but no longer.
• Today youth seems to be honored and glorified.
• Yet, regardless of what our culture says, the Bible is the truth and is to be believed and obeyed.
7. Yet, in spite of what the Bible says and in spite of what should be, there are still those who mock their father and despise their mother.
a. In graphic, figurative, and poetic language, Agur states the consequences of this lack of respect.
b. His language is designed to capture your attention and paint a picture in your head.
c. That ugly picture painted in your head will hopefully make you think twice before transgressing in this area.
d. Sometimes a picture (even a verbal picture) is worth a thousand words.
e. Do you remember the ad against drug use?
• The announcer showed an egg and said, “This is your brain,” and then as they fried the egg he said, “This is your brain on drugs.”)
• The picture sticks with you. So does the verbal picture of Agur.
1. The point Agur is making in the proverb is NOT that if a child mocks or disrespects his parents that birds will immediately swoop down out of the sky and pluck his eyes out.
a. Rather, the picture that is painted here is that of a dead body lying out in the wilderness and birds of prey eating the carcass, and yes, even plucking out the eyeballs and eating them. It is a delicacy for ravens!
2. This picture should be put in its social and historical context.
a. In the Old Testament, a decent burial was extremely important.
• It was important to be buried with your fathers with the proper fragrant spices and incense and to have many come to the funeral and weep excessively.
• II Chron. 16:13-14 – the burial of King Asa.
b. To die without a decent burial was the highest form of disgrace.
• II Kings 9:10 – Jezebel died and there was none to bury her. Dogs ate her flesh.
• Jer. 16:3-4 – God’s judgment was a lack of a decent burial for them, their sons, and daughters. Without a burial, they were considered as “dung” upon the face of the earth.
• Rev. 19:13-18 – When Christ returns, the armies of the world gather to fight against Him. Those armies are destroyed, and as a final insult and disgrace, their bodies lie unburied—and the birds of prey come and eat their flesh… presumably, including their eyeballs.
• This was the highest form of disgrace.
3. Agur’s point to the youth who do not show respect for their parents and for elders in general: this is what will happen to you!
a. If you treat your parents and the elderly in a disgraceful manner, disgraceful treatment will come around to you!
b. Perhaps your children will grow up to mock and despise you—as you did to your parents.
c. This is not part of a Hindu-like karma. Rather, this is a very natural principle of life: you reap what you sow.
• Bad behavior begets more bad behavior.
• If you sow seeds of disrespect, expect to reap a crop of disrespect.
• God used similar language to describe the consequences of Judah’s rebellion: “Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee.”
• It is poetic justice—but also divine justice.
• You’ll get what’s coming to you one day.
• Rebellious children who disrespect parents and all authority usually beget children who disrespect parents.
• Note also that it was the EYE that mocked the father. The eye is a window into the soul. It reveals what is going on inside – the inner man.
• It is the eye in particular that is mentioned for the grossest insult and disgrace in death. It is a hideous picture.
• It is a hideous picture because this kind of disrespect is hideous to God.
• The respect (or lack thereof) we show to parents, leaders, elders, and rulers, and others in authority is an expression of our attitude towards God—the ultimate Authority over us.
Proverbs 30:18-19
Four Incomprehensible Things
Introduction:
1. This proverb comes to us in the way of a riddle, of sorts.
2. Agur mentions four things that are “too wonderful” to know.
3. The riddle is to figure out what these four things have in common.
4. Verse 20 is connected to this riddle – and is a specific application of the riddle; however, the riddle stands on its own.
5. Again, it is designed to make us think.
1. Again, Agur uses the same poetic format as in vs. 15-16 – “three things and four…” In the previous section what the four things had in common was the fact that they are never satisfied.
2. In vs. 18-19 that which they have in common is twofold:
a. They are “too wonderful.”
b. They are “incomprehensible.”
3. “Too wonderful”
a. Wonderful: Beyond one’s power; too difficult to do; wondrous because of the difficulty; surpassing; extraordinary; surprising; astounding.
b. To highlight just how wonderful—this is one of the names of God in Isaiah 9:6 – His name shall be called “Wonderful!” God is so beyond our capacity to comprehend, all we can do is stand in wonder and awe!
c. The term is used in Genesis 18:14 – “Is any thing too hard for the LORD?” In other words, is anything too extraordinary for God? Is anything too amazing for Him? No! God can do anything.
d. The term is also used in Judges 13:19-20 of the Angel of the Lord that appeared to Manoah and his wife: “So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on. 20For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.”
e. They just witnessed the Angel (the Lord!) ascending up into heaven in a flame off the altar! What they saw amazed them. They stood in awe and wonder.
4. The four things Agur lists are things which cause us to stand in wonder and awe.
5. “Which I know not”
a. This term means: to be made aware; revealed; to show; to find out.
• Lev. 4:23a – “Or if his sin, wherein he hath sinned, come to his knowledge; he shall bring his offering…”
• The term speaks of having information revealed, shown, come to one’s knowledge, to become familiar with; etc.
b. First Agur described these four things as amazing and extraordinary. Now he describes them as beyond his ability to comprehend: “I know not.”
c. He does not understand how such things could be. It has never come to his knowledge; no one has ever explained such a thing.
d. How does it work? How does it happen? It seems to defy logic and explanation.
e. There was no textbook explaining how these things work. The science behind it seemed elusive. And to a certain degree remains elusive to this very day!
Four Amazing Things
1. Try to put yourself back in time before science had advanced to what it is today. There were certain everyday occurrences that seemed perplexing.
2. We like to think of ourselves as advanced scientifically and technologically.
a. But even though scientist have discovered the “mechanics” behind that which perplexed men in ages past, they have also discovered new things that cause scientists to marvel today.
b. Today we have far more things that perplex scientists and those who made scientific observations of the world around us.
c. The creation is STILL full of wonder and amazing things to behold that baffle the most brilliant scientists of our day.
3. Agur stood amazed at how an eagle could soar through the sky.
a. We continue to stand amazed at flight.
b. The creatures of earth that fly often have very different means of flight too – from the eagle, to the hummingbird, to the white and fluffy dandelion seeds, to the flying squirrel.
1. Agur was also amazed at how a snake moves across a rock.
2. The snake has no legs. He doesn’t seem to “inch” along like an inchworm either.
3. The snake moves his body one way and moves in the other direction.
1. The next amazing thing Agur contemplated was the ship sailing through the vast ocean.
2. It has no engine; no one is rowing; it consumes no fuel; and often the wind is blowing in contrary direction, yet the ship continues to sail where it wants to go.
3. Of course men in Agur’s day did understand much of the science behind it. Men invented the sail and knew how to use the wind for his advantage. They also understood about the water currents that help move vessels along in the ocean.
4. However, it is still a wonderful thing to watch – to see boats sailing in the sea.
1. This seems to be the most wondrous thing of all!
2. The “way” of a man with a maid (virgin) speaks of a courtship.
3. How a young man and young woman get together and just “click” still amazes us.
4. We have yet to learn the chemistry and science behind that—and probably never will.
5. Yet (as in the other cases), in spite of the fact that we don’t understand HOW it happens, it does happen!
6. And when it happens, we stand amazed at the creation of God.
What These Amazing Things Have in Common
Agur chose four very different things of wonder.
• At first glance, there seems to be nothing in common between a bird, a snake, a boat, and a young couple.
• But upon further reflection (that is the purpose of this proverb) there are similarities that come to mind.
1. There is something mysterious about all four.
a. The eagle
• There is something mysterious and wonderful about watching birds fly.
• It is especially amazing to watch a large bird fly. It seems like they should fall out of the sky by the draw of gravity—but they don’t.
• It is part of the wondrous creation of God.
b. The serpent
• The serpent moving on a large flat rock also is mysterious.
• I’m sure that most of us have stopped to watch them move at one time or another and stood amazed.
• Again – God’s design in His creation causes onlookers to stand amazed.
c. The ship
• Watching sailboats glide over the water is another wonderful thing to watch.
• It’s a great way to spend a lazy hour or two at the beach on your day off.
• And perhaps you have seen the windsurfers or para-surfers. They too zip back and forth across the water with the greatest of ease.
d. The young couple
• And note what he includes last: the way of a man with a maid… courtship.
• This too is mysterious how John and Jane just seem to click. This isn’t something that fits into a neat formula.
• Science cannot predict which two people will come together and cause just the right kind of chemistry to occur.
• There is something supremely mysterious and wonderful about this—and yet it happens every day.
2. They leave no trace behind.
a. The eagle
• When planes fly, they leave behind a trail of smoke and burnt fuel.
• When the eagle leaves nothing in its wake.
b. The serpent
• The serpent slithers over a rock and does not leave any foot prints behind… or no slime like a worm or slug.
c. The ship
• The ship passes through the sea, and the ocean is unaffected by it.
• By observing, you could not go backwards and trace where they came from. They leave no trace behind.
d. The young couple
• When the chemistry occurs between a young man and woman, there are no residuals. It’s not like an explosion.
• They leave no residue behind for a scientist to trace out and study.
3. They need no road or pathway.
a. The eagle
• The eagle flies through the sky—but he doesn’t follow a road.
• There are no pathways for eagles to follow.
• There are no guard rails up there—there are no passing lanes—there are no superhighways.
b. The serpent – The snake slithers across the rock and gets where he wants to go without any roads either.
c. The ship – The ship sails through the sea and doesn’t follow any visible road or pathway.
d. The young couple – And so with the young couple.
• There is no pathway that we can see that led them together.
• There was no scientific way to determine with any accuracy that this man and this woman would be attracted to each other.
• For the believer, God leads along—but we see no pathway. They don’t always follow the same route.
• There is no easy formula to follow that leads a couple together…—Christianmingle.com notwithstanding!
4. They seem instinctively to know what to do.
a. The eagle – The young eagle on his very first flight instinctively knows what to do.
b. The serpent – The serpent is born with the ability to slither.
c. The ship – The ship also (when designed properly) instinctively functions as designed.
d. The young couple
• And so too with the young couple.
• There is something very instinctive about how they come together – about them being drawn together.
• It’s not really learned behavior.
5. They make something exceedingly complex look very simple.
a. The eagle
• Birds soaring through the air are an amazing complex activity scientifically.
• It took centuries for man to duplicate it… and even then, our “copy” is very clumsy, awkward, and bulky compared to a bird.
• The bird soars gracefully and with the greatest of ease.
b. The serpent – there is much complex science behind a snake’s motion. But the snake makes it look so easy! It moves so seamlessly.
c. The ship also sails with grace and ease.
d. The young couple
• The final point – that which draws a young man and woman together is infinitely complex.
• It is a physical, mental, social, spiritual kind of magnetism that defies description. It is beyond science.
• But when it happens, it seems like the most natural and simple thing in the world!
• We are fearfully and wonderfully made.
6. Agur wants his readers to stand amazed at God’s marvelous design in creation.
a. It is good to meditate on God’s creation and to ponder its marvels. It is a good spiritual exercise.
b. And in this spiritual exercise, the scientist has no advantage over a shepherd or a fisherman.
c. God made everything – and all of creation is fearfully and wonderfully made.
d. God knows how to make things work… and work well.
e. And He also knows how we humans were designed to function.
• In fact He wrote a book on the subject.
• We would do well to follow the instructions in His Word.
f. There are many marvels in the world that are mysterious to us. But that’s ok. We don’t have to know how everything works.
g. We just have to trust and obey—and function as God designed us to function…
h. And with all the other things we don’t understand, we can just stand in awe of who God is and praise Him for the great things that He has made.
i. The whole earth shows forth His handiwork.
Proverbs 30:20
The Way of an Adulterous Woman
Introduction:
1. Last week we considered vs. 18-19 in which Agur described four things that were too wonderful for him and which he could not understand. (the eagle in the air, the serpent on a rock; the ship in the sea; and a man with a maid).
2. We noted that “wonderful” did not mean something pleasing or delightful, but rather, something that caused a person to wonder. It was something that stunned and amazed him.
3. And that he “did not know” these things. He couldn’t understand how it could be.
4. Verse 20 is connected in thought to the previous verses. In vs. 20, Agur is going to connect the four things with an adulterous woman.
1. Agur had been speaking about different “ways” of different creatures.
a. The Hebrew term “way” is the same in each case.
b. It means the road or pathway; a path travelled. It is often used in a metaphorical sense as a pattern of life or behavior, as it is here.
c. Agur is speaking about the pattern of life of an adulterous woman… the harlot or whore.
2. As Agur thought about the way of the adulterous woman (her patterns of life; her lifestyle; etc.) he records that her ways were in some sense similar to that of the eagle, the serpent, the ship, and the young couple.
a. Her ways caused Agur to “wonder.” (vs.18) In other words, her ways stunned him. He was shocked and dumbfounded. He stood amazed at her. He was full of wonder – he wondered, “HOW could such a thing be?” Yet it is.
b. Like the “ways” of the four things mentioned, Agur “did not know” (understand) how the adulterous woman could behave the way she did—but she did. Just like he was lost for an explanation as to how the eagle could fly so easily or how the snake could slither so easily over a rock, he could not understand how a whore could behave the way she did either.
3. That which the four “things” have in common with each and with the adulterous woman.
a. Their ways cause onlookers to be stunned and amazed that such a thing could be!
b. Their ways cannot really be known or comprehended.
c. They leave no trace behind them.
• The eagle, the serpent, the ship, and the young couple leave nothing behind. They all do something stunning and suddenly it is over with no trace left behind. It’s as if the eagle never flew through the sky… or the serpent never slithered over the rock. There is no trace left behind—it is as if nothing happened.
• So too with the adulterous woman. She commits a horrendous sin against a holy God, and walks away from the scene as if nothing happened.
d. They seem to instinctively know what to do.
• The eagle, the serpent, the ship, and the young couple do something amazing—and it seemed to be done out of instinct. The young couple just seems to “click” together. The eagle just stands up and flies. The way is IN them instinctively. It is part of their nature to do so. Eagles fly; snakes slither.
• So too the adulterous woman. It is her nature to behave that way. It is IN her.
• That’s because we are all born with a sin nature—bent towards sin.
• But just because something comes naturally to us, does not mean that it is right or good. SIN comes naturally to us.
• That’s why men need to be born again—and receive a NEW nature empowered by the Holy Spirit that God would give them VICTORY over sin and their sinful inclinations.
• Sinning is just as natural and instinctive to us as sinners as flying is to an eagle, or sailing is to a sailboat.
• Unless restrained, it just happens.
e. They make something exceedingly complex look very simple.
• Marvelous design went into the creation of the eagle that enables it to fly with such ease… almost effortlessly.
• Complex science is behind the movement of a serpent over a rock, but the snake makes it seem so easy.
• And what could be more graceful and seamless than a sailboat sailing over the waters.
• The young couple also makes something complex seem simple. Out of the millions of people on earth—bringing the right two together seems complicated. Yet, apart from the complexity of the chemistry going on—it is the most natural and simple thing in the world!
• In the same vein, there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes to lure a married man away from his family and his wife to be drawn in to the harlot.
• But it was not complicated for the harlot. She is a pro at this and makes it look easy.
• Consider her “ways” in Prov. 7:13-21.
» This harlot came up with a most intricate scheme.
» But the elaborate and detailed scheme didn’t seem like it was difficult for her. She didn’t even have to think about it… she had done it so many times before.
» She made the whole arrangement seem so simple and easy… and she made it seem fool-proof. They would never get caught. She had all the bases covered.
» Like the eagle that leaves no trail behind, the adulteress has a plan that leaves no traces for her husband to discover.
» The way of the adulterous is indeed very much like the way of the eagle, the serpent, the ship, and the young couple.
1. Here Agur describes a part of the “way” of the adulterous woman.
a. After committing her sin of luring a foolish man into an adulterous relationship, breaking up a family, ruining lives, this harlot walks away, eats a meal, wipes her mouth, as if it was nothing!
b. It is just as normal and natural for her to satisfy her sinful sexual desires as it is to satisfy her normal desire for food.
c. She makes no distinction. She lives in the flesh to satisfy the flesh.
2. And to make matters worse, she walks away and says, “I have done nothing wrong.”
a. There is no guilt; no shame; no conviction;
b. There is no thought of the consequences of her action. There is no thought of how her action will affect the man and his family.
c. It is as if she had no conscience of sin.
d. Everyone has a conscience. And the first time this woman committed the sinful act, she was no doubt feeling very guilty.
e. But when a particular sin is repeated over and over and becomes a lifestyle, one loses that sense of conviction. There is no more conscience for sin. She is hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
f. She was so accustomed to her sinful lifestyle that she had “seared her conscience.”
g. When we sin and sin repeatedly, we lose the sense of guilt and shame for sin. We no longer sense a guilty conscience.
h. Because she doesn’t feel as guilty, she actually starts to believe that she ISN’T guilty. “I have done nothing wrong.”
i. But SAYING she has done nothing wrong doesn’t mean that her act wasn’t wrong.
j. I John 1:8 – “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
k. And when the adulteress begins to actually BELIEVE that lie, her conscience no longer bothers her.
l. The conscience only operates according to the knowledge and information that it has. If this woman believes that fornication is not sinful, then she will experience no guilt.
3. Agur points out the FOLLY of such thinking. This woman is CLEARLY guilty before God.
a. The Bible expressly forbids adultery. “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” (Ex. 20:14)
b. The Law made adultery a capital crime – the death penalty was established for it. (Lev. 20:10)
c. It was pretty clear what God thinks about that sin.
4. And it isn’t only adultery that is sin—sexual impurity with a married person. Any kind of fornication is sin.
a. The people involved don’t have to be married. Single people can commit sexual sin too.
b. I Cor. 5:9-10 – “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”
c. Here Paul speaks not of committing one act of these sins. He is speaking of a lifestyle. Those folks demonstrate by their lifestyle that they are lost and have never been born again. They shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. God makes it clear what He thinks on the subject of sexual sins—and many other sins too.
d. I Cor. 5:11 – “But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.”
e. Gal. 5:19 – lists fornication as a work of the sinful, fallen, fleshly nature of man.
f. And think about how accepted this sinful behavior is in our culture today. Young couples “live together.”
• But let’s call it what it is: sin.
• It doesn’t matter that our society seems to accept it today; God doesn’t. God hates it, as He does all sin.
• But the fact that people do it all the time, there is no more stigma attached to it, and our culture seems to accept it as normal does not change the facts: it is sin.
• But what effect does our tolerant society have on young people today? Very often they no longer feel guilty about sexual sin. Everyone does it. It no longer causes them to feel guilty. They have seared their consciences.
• Remember Sandra Fluck? She was pushing for government paid birth control. How come no one asked her why she, an unmarried college student would need such a thing?
g. Young people and older couples too—live in sin and think nothing of it. They live in sin and then walk away and say, “I have done no wickedness.”
h. They can SAY all they want, but they HAVE done wickedness in God’s sight. And He will judge according to TRUTH one day—not according to opinion polls of men.
5. And what about homosexuality today?
a. Here is another sexual sin that seems to be more and more tolerated in our culture.
b. But it’s pretty clear what God thinks about it.
c. Lev. 20:13 – “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.”
d. Rom. 1:26-27 – “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.”
e. What we see in our country (and around the world) today is the effect of decades of tolerance for a sinful lifestyle that God does not tolerate.
f. And because this lifestyle which has throughout the history of civilization been considered abnormal and sinful is suddenly being accepted by men, that does not mean God has changed His mind on the subject.
g. It is still an abomination… vile sin against a holy God.
h. Those who live that lifestyle will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
i. Yet, because it is becoming acceptable by our society, those who commit such sins can do just what the adulterous woman in Proverbs 30:20 did.
j. They commit their sin, go out and eat, wipe their face (as if it was nothing) and then proclaim—I have done nothing wrong.
k. Sinners can sin so many times, that they no longer feel guilty.
l. Sinners can also convince themselves that right is wrong and wrong is right.
m. But let’s not forget, that fallen, sinful man is not the standard. God’s Word is the standard against which all is judged.
n. Isa. 5:20 – “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”
6. And keep in mind that as Christians, God wants us to hate sin—but love the sinner. Christ came to save sinners.
a. Sexual sin is becoming the norm.
b. Millions are engaged in various forms of sexual sin.
c. And we need to keep in mind that sexual sin is not an unpardonable sin.
d. Those folks engaged in sexual sins of any sort can be saved just like anyone else.
e. Don’t avoid them because of their sinful lifestyle. Every sinner has a sinful lifestyle.
f. Bring the gospel to them. We have the cure for that which is ruining their lives and sending them along a pathway to Hell.
g. They need to hear the wonderful words of life from God who is a righteous Judge of all the earth, but is also a gracious, loving and forgiving Heavenly Father – a pardoning God, who is not willing that any should perish.
h. But He doesn’t save anyone so that they can continue in their sin. He saves men FROM their sin.
i. God is able to deliver the adulteress, the fornicator, and the homosexual from sinful lifestyles too. Christ not only saves us from Hell; He saves and delivers from slavery to sinful ways… and gives NEW life in Christ.
Proverbs 30:21-22
Things that are Unbearable
Introduction:
1. Once again we see the same poetic format: “for three things and for four…”
a. We saw this in vs. 15-16; vs. 18-19; and now in vs. 21-23.
b. It continues in vs. 24-28; and vs. 29-31.
2. Throughout, Agur has been recording his observations in life.
3. Tonight we are going to consider Agur’s observations about things that are unbearable.
1. As a reminder, Agur uses the figure of speech (“for three… and for four”), in which the number increases. The second number is the number he settles on. There are actually four things that disquiet the earth and are unbearable.
2. “The earth is disquieted”
a. Disquiet: To cause to shake; to be in anguish; to disturb; to agitate; to provoke to anger; to be astonished – to feel a state of unexpected wonder.
b. The meaning that best fits this context is “to agitate; to cause to shake; to disturb.
c. Agur is describing things that he finds disturbing… disruptive. Perhaps also implied is a sense of something being shaken up—but not in a good way.
d. The things that Agur mentions in the next couple of verses he sees as agitating life on earth; as being disruptive to society; things that are disturbing because they are not the way life OUGHT to be.
e. Agur is observing his society as an older, mature man. As he observes, he notices things that disturb him. He notices aspects of his country and society that he sees as harmful and disruptive to life as it ought to be.
f. He records his findings for us.
g. It is unlikely that what he observed, he only observed once. It probably would not have been so disturbing to him. It is likely that what he records for us were TRENDS that he saw happening over and over again. This he found troubling.
h. Older folks notice things that younger folks don’t notice.
• Older folks and younger folks both observe the same events… but have a different perspective.
• The younger folks see such happenings and assume that is just the way things are (and perhaps have always been).
• Older folks look at the same events and see the occurrence as something that never happened before—at least not so frequently.
• Older folks are able to observe trends that younger folks don’t have enough history to be able to see.
• The trends Agur saw troubled him.
• I have to admit that I often feel like Agur when I observe trends in our country—and especially in the churches.
• There are things happening in the churches that never happened before—at least not to the same degree and frequency.
• And there are three, yea, four of those trends I find troubling.
3. The earth “cannot bear”
a. Bear:
• Literally it means to lift something up and carry it.
• Figuratively it means to carry something on the heart that is difficult to carry; hard to bear. For example: bearing burdens on the heart; bearing guilt; bearing through a trial; etc.
• Agur is using the term in a figurative sense here.
• His point is that there are some things that occur that are “unbearable.”
b. The earth cannot bear such things.
• Again, by the “earth,” he does not mean the physical planet, but people on the earth—society—culture—the nations of the earth.
• There are certain events, occurrences, and trends on earth that are too heavy to be borne.
• They will break the back of a society or a nation if allowed to continue.
4. Agur noticed four of those things that he records for us in this passage.
a. These are things that disturbing to him. He sees them as agitating and disrupting to society.
b. And he sees them as so heavy that a nation or a people cannot long bear them. They are unbearable.
c. Like a wagon trying to carry a load of bricks that is too heavy, it will soon collapse.
d. This, the author finds disturbing.
e. I’m sure we can relate to this; especially as we observe trends in our country:
• Spending more than we have (at some point that becomes a moral issue—not a political one)
• The change from a traditional family to who knows what
• Loss of freedom and privacy
• Persecution against Christianity
f. These trends are disturbing to me; but that’s another issue.
g. Let’s look at the things that were disturbing to Agur.
1. The first disturbing thing he mentions is a servant reigning.
a. That’s not the norm. That’s not the way things should be.
b. In fact, this sort of thing is unbearable.
2. The situation he describes here is topsy-turvy. It is abnormal.
a. Normally kings reign and servants serve.
b. But here he describes a situation where the servant is reigning as king.
c. Agur is describing a nation where a servant (who is presumably uneducated, unqualified, and unprepared for leadership) suddenly finds himself on the throne, ruling over the masses.
d. This situation envisions a series of anomalies occurring simultaneously:
• An unqualified man suddenly thrust into a position that requires much grooming and training.
• A poor man suddenly becoming exceedingly wealthy.
• A man who lived from paycheck to paycheck suddenly with access to the entire treasury of a nation.
• A man with no authority suddenly becoming the most powerful man in the country.
• A man, who has no idea as to how the economy works, suddenly is making decisions that will affect the national economy and the lives of everyone in the nation.
• A man with no understanding of the judicial system, suddenly, as king, has the power of life and death. He now has the power to say, “Off with his head” and it happens.
e. Agur probably observed this happen—perhaps in the nations around Israel.
• He realized how abnormal this was; how absurd and inappropriate it was.
• It’s not the way things should be.
• Prov. 19:10 – “Delight is not seemly for a fool; much less for a servant to have rule over princes.” It is not seemly – inappropriate.
3. Keep in mind that these are proverbs.
a. There may be times when a servant does a better job than the one who was groomed, educated, and trained for the job.
b. Exceptions do occur.
c. But the rule is, that the situation Agur describes is not the norm; and in most circumstances, is not preferable.
d. In fact, usually this is very disturbing and disruptive to a society or a nation. As Agur said, “It is disquieting.”
4. It can become unbearable!
a. It can become unbearable when an unqualified servant suddenly thrust into a position as king—with no training. He can make life unbearable for his subjects through his ignorance incompetence.
b. A poor man suddenly becoming exceedingly wealthy can easily become unbearable. Money easily goes to a person’s head for those who come into great wealth overnight.
c. A man with no authority suddenly becoming the most powerful man in the country. Imagine making Salem, NH’s “dog catcher” the president of the US? He could easily make life unbearable for all around him—and for the citizens of the country.
d. The concept about which Agur laments here is similar what Isaiah described in Isa. 3:4-5 – “And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. 5And the people shall be oppressed.”
e. It is foolish to children, or men who are not prepared to rule over a nation. It will result in oppression of one sort or another.
5. We don’t live in a monarchy; but this kind of situation does occur often in the US in other settings:
a. A poor man suddenly becomes a multimillionaire (through the lottery or by inventing a new kind of social media).
b. A nobody with no authority can win one election and become very powerful.
c. A young punk on the street corner can be swept up into a professional sports team and suddenly become rich and famous over night and have to deal with the swarms of women who follow him and the paparazzi.
d. Agur’s point in our proverb is that those situations don’t always end well. That person’s actions can become very disturbing and unsettling; and he himself can even become unbearable for all those around him.
1. The second illustration is similar.
2. Here Agur speaks of a foolish man who is filled with meat.
3. The fool in Proverbs is an immoral man.
a. He is seen to be a rude, loud and boisterous man.
b. He is often violent and vicious.
c. He has no control over his tongue or his appetites.
d. He is completely selfish and is inconsiderate of others.
e. He is lazy and jealous of what others have through hard work.
f. He is unkind, unpleasant, and difficult to be around.
4. Agur pictures what this man is like when he is “filled with meat.”
a. “Filled with meat” may be a figure of speech in which the author uses one example to represent something much broader.
b. A fool filled with meat speaks of a fool who is well off and has his fill of whatever he needs.
c. He has plenty of food—and everything else, like a servant who has suddenly become rich.
d. This kind of fool is very disturbing and disruptive.
e. In fact, being around this kind of person would be unbearable!
f. Prov. 19:10 – “Delight is not seemly for a fool; much less for a servant to have rule over princes.”
• A fool who has his fill of “all he wants” would be obnoxious.
• To see him delighting in his “fill” would be unseemly.
• His actions would be completely inappropriate – unseemly.
5. Ecc. 10:5-7 – Solomon saw this kind of folly and also wrote about it: “There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler: 6Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place. 7I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.”
6. These things are abnormal, disquieting, upsetting, disturbing, unseemly, inappropriate, and unbearable.
Proverbs 30:23
An Odious Woman and a Handmaid
Introduction:
1. Agur is describing four things that disquiet the earth and that the earth cannot bear. (vs 21)
2. Last week we consider the first two: (1) a servant who reigns and (2) a fool who is filled with meat.
3. Tonight we want to consider the last two: (1) an odious woman when she is married; and (2) a handmaid that is heir to her mistress.
A. An Odious Woman
1. Odious defined:
a. Odious means “to be hated; to be detested; abhorred; intense dislike; a lack of compassion for; unloved;
b. In the broadest sense, it is used of all kinds of hatred or intense dislike.
2. Usage of the term:
a. Gen. 37:5 – “And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.” (family hatred—jealousy)
b. Lev. 19:17 – “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart.” (internal hatred)
c. Judges 11:7 – “And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and expel me out of my father’s house?” (hatred among fellow countrymen – feared him)
d. Prov. 14:20 – “The poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich hath many friends.” (neighbors – social bigotry)
e. Prov. 8:36 – “But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.” (a fool who hates wisdom)
f. Deut. 33:11 – “Bless, LORD, his substance, and accept the work of his hands: smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again.” (those who hate the Lord)
3. There are lots of reasons why people might hate others.
a. The odious woman is one who is hated.
b. The English word “odious” seems to imply that the fault lay with the woman. The Hebrew term simply states that she was hated—and does not imply any reason for that hatred.
c. However, the word translated “odious” could be interpreted as “hateful”… thus laying the blame on the woman.
d. It seems best to me (in light of its usage elsewhere) to view this woman as one who is hated or unloved rather than hateful.
e. Either way, what is described is a marriage without love.
B. An Odious Woman When She is Married
1. Agur describes the odious woman in more detail here. He emphasizes a kind of hatred associated with her marriage.
2. Specific usage of the term “odious” relating to marriage:
a. Deut. 21:15 – used 2 times: “If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated.”
b. Gen. 29:31 – “And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.”
c. Of course, the term is used in lots of other contexts, but these two seem closest in meaning to its usage in Prov. 30:23.
d. An odious woman is one who is hated; scorned; whose love is rejected in her marriage.
3. Agur is describing a married woman who is not loved by her husband.
a. The examples in the Old Testament can be traced back to polygamy as the root cause.
b. It was so common, that a law had to be established to regulate the inheritance.
• Deut. 21:16 – “Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn.”
c. With multiple wives, some would be loved more than others.
• Gen. 29:30 – “And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.”
• It resulted in jealousy, envy, anger, and hatred.
• Of course, polygamy was not God’s design for marriage. God brought Adam one wife—not many.
• The Old Testament gives us ample proof that polygamy is not only not God’s design—it doesn’t work well. It created all kinds of problems in the home.
4. For this, the earth is disquieted. (vs.21)
a. Disquiet: To cause to tremble; to cause to shake; to disturb; to be in anguish; to disturb; to agitate; to provoke to anger.
b. A home where the woman is not loved is earth-shaking.
c. It is disruptive to God’s plan… to society… and certainly to the marriage relationship and the children.
d. A home where the wife is not loved by her husband provokes the wife to anger… it agitates the children and upsets their lives too.
e. It is not God’s design for the home.
f. God’s design is described in Eph. 5:25: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.”
g. Children are also to demonstrate their love for their mother by honoring (showing respect and appreciation to) her (Eph. 6:2).
h. Agur’s point is that when the woman in the home is not loved, the whole earth is disquieted—it is disturbing to God’s plan for life on planet earth. It is extremely disturbing to the natural order of things which God built into His creation.
i. This is NOT the way things ought to be!
5. For this, the earth cannot bear. (vs. 21)
a. Figuratively it means to carry something on the heart that is difficult to carry; hard to bear. For example: bearing burdens on the heart; bearing guilt; bearing through a trial; etc.
b. Agur is using the term in a figurative sense here.
c. His point is that there are some things that occur that are “unbearable.”
d. They will break the back of a society or a nation if allowed to continue.
e. There are lots of evils in the world, but this one is unbearable. It cannot be tolerated.
f. Our society is seeing the effects of this from coast to coast.
g. Men use women for their own pleasure; they have children; they don’t get married; they demonstrate by their actions that they do not love the woman they should have married.
h. And in many marriages there is infidelity… another demonstration of the fact that the wife is not loved and cherished. If she was, there would be no infidelity.
i. An unloved married woman is something that is unbearable to the home… to a society… and to a nation.
j. The home is the building block of society… and we see the building blocks of our society crumbling.
k. It will break the back of our nation and does not bode well for the future of any people. It is unbearable.
l. And yet all of this can be resolved as simply as men obeying God’s Word: “Husbands, love your wives.”
m. As Christians, we ought to be LIGHTS in the midst of darkness.
n. When there is little light emanating from a Christian home—that is really bad news for our nation.
o. The answer there is also simple: “Husbands, love your wives.”
p. The onus is on the husband to take the lead in that too… loving a wife—regardless of how she treats you. That’s what love is.
1. This is the fourth example of an unbearable thing: a handmaid who is heir to her mistress.
2. A mistress refers to a lady of some prominence and stature.
a. It is sometimes used of a queen or a female ruler.
b. It also is often used of a woman who has servants under her.
c. This is the meaning of the term in our proverb.
3. This example is very similar to the first example: a servant who reigns.
a. The handmaid is a female servant.
b. The normal order of things was that the servants serve. That’s their job; that’s what they were hired to do.
c. But when a female servant becomes heir to the lady she works for—look out! That spells trouble ahead.
d. Just like the servant would be ill equipped, untrained, unprepared to be a ruler and reign, so too a female servant who is heir to her mistress will one day suddenly be thrust into a position of power, great wealth, and prominence for which she is woefully unprepared.
4. This situation too can become unbearable… and extremely disturbing to all involved.
a. It is not the way things ought to be.
b. Often, when someone is instantly thrust into a position of great power, it goes to their head—and they themselves become unbearable!
5. Overall, in all four of these examples of “unbearable things”, Agur describes a perversion of the natural order of things as God designed.
a. Normally, kings reign and servants serve. When that is reversed, it often leads to trouble.
b. Normally fools are lazy and have nothing; but if a fool suddenly comes into a lot of money and has all he needs and is “full”—then look out. His folly will be over the top!
c. Normally a husband is to love his wife. That’s God’s plan. But when God’s plan is rejected, and a married woman is unloved, expect trouble.
d. And normally, a female servant serves. But if that order is reversed, and the female servant takes over the position of power that her mistress once had—she probably won’t be prepared to handle that very well.
e. When young athletes or young actors suddenly become rich and famous, their lives don’t always turn out well. There are exceptions—but this is the rule.
f. When God’s order in the home is not carried out (an unloved married woman), it creates disorder, jealousy, and disrupts the home life. That’s not God’s way.
g. And just imagine what the future holds for America, when we think of how much MORE the family is being changed in this generation. We are legalizing immorality—changing God’s design for the family. Now we are tolerating two husbands or two wives. Polygamy must be right around the corner—and who knows what else. God help us!
h. To use the words of Agur: the earth will be disquieted, and our nation will not be able to bear it!
i. We need to pray for our leaders as God has commanded.
j. We need to be willing to be considered old fashioned and out of step with the modern world—because the modern world is out of step with God.
k. A society works well only when each one does his job and fulfills his role as he or she was designed to do… and to be.
l. The same is true in the local church. The local church works well only when each one does his job and fulfills his role as he or she was equipped by God to do.
m. I Cor. 12:7, 18 – “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.” 18“But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.”
Proverbs 30:24-25
Little but Wise
Introduction:
1. In vs. 24-28 we have the fourth set of “things” Agur observed.
2. They all follow the same poetic pattern of numbering the things.
a. Vs. 15-16 – Two things that are never satisfied.
b. Vs. 18-20 – Three, no four things that are too wonderful to know.
c. Vs. 21-23 – Three, no four things that are disquieting and unbearable for life on the earth.
d. Vs. 24-28 – Four things that are little, but wise.
3. This section of “things” Agur observed consists of ants, conies, locusts, and spiders.
a. They are all small and yet they all manifest wisdom—in various ways.
b. They each have something to teach us.
c. Job 12:7 – “But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee.”
d. There are lessons we can learn from animals.
e. Tonight we are going to consider the ant.
f. What a thought! The infinite, eternal, omnipresent God – the Lord and Creator of the universe, commands His children to take the time to stop and think about something as tiny as an ant.
g. And if we do take the time to stop and meditate about one of God’s tiniest creatures, there are some wonderful spiritual lessons that have the power to enable each of us to become BETTER servants of God and thus acquire more rewards that will be our blessing for all eternity!
h. Just by thinking about an ant!
i. It is actually a little humbling isn’t it? …that we have things to learn from an ant? It is humbling, but true.
j. The fool will never learn these things because it requires humility. The fool is too proud.
k. Proverbs 24:7 states that “wisdom is too high for a fool.” He will never get that high because the way up is down. If we humble ourselves, (which the fool refuses to do) God will lift us up.
l. Pride keeps us from wisdom. But if we are humble enough to consider the ant (and the conies and spiders), then God will lift us up and give us wisdom!
m. We would do well to take to heart the lessons that the ants have to teach us. They are small, but wise.
Introduction to the Series (vs. 25)
1. That which each of these critters has in common is the fact that they are all small, but wise.
2. In one way or another, they all teach us that wisdom is always preferable and superior to being big and powerful.
a. Wisdom is far more valuable than strength.
b. Wisdom is greater than stature.
c. Wisdom is even superior to knowledge. (Not all educated people are wise.)
3. In a sense, the book of Proverbs is all about wisdom: what it is, how to get it, how wisdom exceeds folly, and what to avoid.
4. We have already seen some passages in Proverbs that teach this same truth: wisdom is superior to strength.
a. Prov. 21:22 – “A wise man scaleth the city of the mighty, and casteth down the strength of the confidence thereof.”
b. Prov. 24:5 – “A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.”
5. Now we are going to consider examples from God’s creation—and tiny creatures at that!
ANTS: Small, But Wise Enough to Be Diligent and Prepared
A. The Ants Are a People Not Strong
1. Ants are not strong physically.
a. Actually, for their size and weight, ants are exceptionally strong.
b. But Agur is considering their strength as compared to other creatures.
c. Compared to a rhinoceros, ants are not strong. I don’t think anyone would debate that point.
d. Ants are tiny. Most creatures could simply step on them and crush them. It’s really no contest.
e. If it was a match up based on brute force, not many creatures would be afraid of the strength of an ant.
2. This is really the basis of Agur’s point.
a. Real strength isn’t always measured in brute force.
b. It’s good to be physically strong, but there are many things that are superior to brute force. The ant is one example.
c. Don’t judge a book by its cover. An ant is small, relatively weak, and not all that attractive, but they are wise… which is far more valuable.
d. Brains trump brawns.
B. Yet They Prepare Their Meat In the Summer
1. Ants are wise enough to plan ahead.
a. Ants know their needs. They know they need food.
b. They have the foresight to know that the food supply they have won’t last throughout the winter months.
c. It is almost as if they budgeted their time and resources, figured out exactly how much food they would need to carry them until the next growing season, and then made plans to store enough away.
d. They may be tiny critters, but there are much larger and much stronger animals that DON’T make it through the winter because they don’t plan ahead.
e. God gave Joseph the wisdom to stockpile the grains in Egypt during the seven years of famine.
• He had a master plan to deal with droughts that were coming.
• Joseph “prepared the meat” for the Egyptians ahead of time so as to have enough to meet their needs during a season when there would be no food.
• He showed such wisdom and foresight, that he was made the Prime Minister of the greatest empire on earth at the time.
• In other words, the Prime Minister of the greatest empire on earth had the wisdom of an ant!
• And the whole empire admired Joseph and gloried in his wisdom.
f. God made the ant… and God gave the ant the “foresight” (scientists call it instinct) to prepare ahead of time. To God be the glory. Scientists don’t like to give God the glory for the wonders and marvels He built into His creation; but we should.
2. Ants are wise enough to take personal responsibility.
a. Prov. 6:6-8 – In this passage, it is evident that Solomon (the author) also studied ants and made observations about their wisdom.
• Solomon challenges his readers to “Go to the ant… and consider her ways.”
• The ant has “ways” that we would be wise to observe and incorporate into our lives.
• In other words, if you want to gain wisdom, put aside all your high tech toys for a while, and watch ants work.
• “And be wise.” By observing, we should learn from the ant, and as a result, gain wisdom we can put into practice in our own lives!
• Observing ants is not a waste of time; it is time well spent.
• Solomon used the same word as Agur: “they PREPARE” their meat in the summer.” (translated “provide” here)
• Solomon also observed that the ants have the foresight to plan ahead for winter.
• Note also that Solomon says that ants do this with “no guide, overseer, or ruler.”
» This was not an edict which came down from a communist-type central government forcing all the workers into submission to their five year plan.
» This was not a kind of socialism where the ants were forced to behave in a particular way for the good of the society imposed upon them from above. Nobody forced them. There was no ruler.
» It was simply that each of the ants had enough foresight and wisdom to know that they needed food and they therefore planned ahead to gather it and store it up for the winter.
» Nobody had to demand it of them. They were not forced into labor like Pharaoh forcing people into building the pyramids and other national building projects.
» They each took personal responsibility. The work had to be done so they did it. No questions asked.
» They were small and relatively weak, but wise.
b. We could learn some lessons from the ants.
3. Ants are wise enough to be diligent.
a. Prov. 6:6-8 – Solomon not only spoke of their individual, personal responsibility (no ruler over them making demands), he also highlights their hard work and diligence.
b. Vs. 6 – This passage is directed towards the sluggard.
• He is addressing lazy human beings.
• Vs. 9 – The sluggard would rather sleep than work.
• Vs. 11 – the sluggard will end up in poverty. He won’t have enough of what he needs because instead of going to work to earn money to meet his needs, he was sleeping… or at the beach… or watching the clouds roll by.
• The lazy man may have a lot of intelligence. He may have been an A+ student in school; but he is not wise.
• The lazy man isn’t even as wise as an ant.
c. The ant knows enough to get up and go to work gathering food for the winter. The ant has the foresight to do it, the personal responsibility to do it, and he has the diligence required to do it.
d. The ant will have plenty to eat during the winter months.
• And that is not because they are large and strong.
• Ps. 34:10a – “The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger.”
• Lions are much larger and stronger than ants, but the ants do not lack food because they are diligent and industrious workers.
e. But what about the lazy human being?
• The lazy human being is much larger than the ant. He is much stronger than an ant. And he has far more intelligence than the ant.
• But the ant is superior in wisdom.
• That is really something to think about.
• Ants know how to take care of themselves better than some human beings!
4. They are wise enough to seize a window of opportunity.
a. Proverbs 30:25 – The ant prepares his meat in the summer time.
b. The ant has the wisdom to know (1) that he needs food for the winter and (2) that food grows in the summer time, and (3) that the summer time is the only season of opportunity they have to get what they need.
c. And because they are diligent and industrious workers, they SEIZE the opportunity.
d. Other creatures may be relaxing in the summer sun. Other creatures may be splashing in the pond. Other creatures may hibernate during the winter and don’t need a stockpile of food. But the ants know that they DO need a stockpile of food for the winter.
e. They take advantage of the summer to get what they need.
f. They know that once the cold weather settles in, their window of opportunity closes on them.
g. They are wise enough NOT to let that happen.
h. The ants prepare their meat (food) in the summer.
i. We too could learn good lessons from the ant.
• God gives us seasons of opportunity too.
• We should have the wisdom to SEIZE the opportunities God gives and use them for God’s glory.
• Some opportunities come and go.
j. Today the window of opportunity is open to preach the gospel.
• We should do what we can with what we have to SEIZE this opportunity to plant churches and preach the gospel of the grace of God to all the “whosoever wills” out there.
• The window of opportunity may not be as wide open down the road.
• Col. 4:2-4 – “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; 3Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: 4That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.”
• Let’s be as wise as ants in our own little circle of influence.
Proverbs 30:26
Conies: Feeble but Wise
Introduction:
1. Verse 26 is part of the context that begins in vs. 24.
2. In this section, the author Agur is describing four things which are little, but exceedingly wise.
3. The first small but wise creature was the ant. Ants are tiny and are not strong compared to other creatures; however, they are wise enough and have the foresight to plan ahead and prepare their food in the summer.
4. The second small but wise creature is the coney. The coney is feeble, but makes his house in the rocks.
A. What Is a Coney?
1. It is hard to be certain exactly which animal the Bible refers to when its species is not well known. Some creatures have become extinct. Others may have different names in different lands.
2. Various descriptions are given for this creature.
3. The coney of the Bible has been variously described as:
a. Some have identified it as the Syrian rock hyrax.
b. It is similar to a rabbit in appearance – with short ears.
c. According to the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, the coney is the badger (which is similar to a woodchuck or a groundhog).
d. However, according to the Easton Bible dictionary, “It is about the size and color of a rabbit, though clumsier in structure, and without a tail. Its feet are not formed for digging, and therefore it has its home not in burrows but in the clefts of the rocks.”
e. According to Deut. 14:7 – The coney is distinguished from the hare – and thus is not the same as the hare (rabbit).
f. Yet another dictionary identified the coney as a shrew mouse… a small rodent.
g. Lev. 11:5 – The coney was considered an unclean animal to the Jews because he chews his cud but does not divide his hoof.
4. We may never know with certainty which creature to identify with the Bible “coney”—if any. It could be extinct.
a. But it is not necessary to know with certainty.
b. We do know approximately what kind of creature it is.
c. It is a small animal, similar to a rabbit, large mouse-like creature, or a groundhog… that evidently does not dig.
d. It appears to chew its cud and it does not divide its hoof.
5. Agur gives us two more features of the coney—features that are pertinent to the proverbial point he is trying to make.
a. Vs. 24 – They are small but wise.
b. Vs. 26 – They are “feeble folks”
c. FEEBLE: The expression “they are a feeble folk” is actually a positive translation of a negative expression in Hebrew. The Hebrew says, “They are not a mighty folk” – hence, a feeble folk. It means exactly the same thing.
d. FOLK: This refers to its “tribe” or “group”… we would say today, its species. This implies that there is a whole family of other similar creatures in this “kind” that are feeble and make their homes in the rocks.
6. The coney is not strong or mighty; it is feeble.
a. The implication here is that the coney is not well equipped to defend itself against predators.
b. There were lots of other creatures roaming the wilderness that would love to make a meal of the conies.
c. Wolves, jackals, wild dogs, large snakes, and perhaps even some birds of prey could easily overpower these feeble creatures.
d. With their small legs they cannot outrun a wolf.
e. They don’t have the fangs, the claws, or even the strength to do battle with a wild dog, or even wild cats.
f. They don’t have the armor of an armadillo – which have built in plates that serve as protection against their enemies.
g. They don’t have the wings of an eagle to fly away.
h. They don’t have the size to scare down a predator.
i. Compared to the creatures that would love to feast on them, the coney is vulnerable… defenseless… helpless out there in the wilderness. It has no strength.
7. Thus, the coney cannot rely on its own strength for safety against its enemies.
a. It must never trust in its brute force for protection against its adversaries. If it does, it will surely lose the battle—and perish.
b. The coney is one of the four things Agur says are small upon the earth… and not only small, but feeble – weak and helpless.
c. The coney lives in a hostile environment, surrounded by creatures much larger and stronger than itself – creatures that are seeking to hunt it down, kill it, eat its flesh, and toss its carcass in the wilderness.
d. The coney finds itself in a most precarious situation.
1. Agur also tells us something else about the coney. It may be small, but it is WISE! And how does it manifest wisdom?
2. They make their houses in the crags of the rocks that are found everywhere out in the wilderness.
3. Psa. 104:18 – This is the only other place in the Bible where the word coney is mentioned.
a. “The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the conies.”
b. The coney finds REFUGE in the rocks.
c. Refuge: A place of safety; free from danger.
d. Interestingly in the whole context of this psalm is designed to reveal the fact that it is the LORD who provided all that His creatures need.
• Vs.10, 13 – HE sends them water and streams.
• Vs. 14 – HE causes the grass to grow for the cattle.
• Vs. 16-17 – HE planted all the trees and provided homes for the birds.
• Vs. 18 – It is implied too that it was HE who provided the rocks for the conies as a place of REFUGE from their enemies.
e. So WHY does Agur call them wise?
• Because they are wise enough to realize their weakness.
• They are wise enough to take advantage of that which God has provided for their safety and refuge.
• They are wise enough to be humble enough to realize that they are no match for their predators—therefore, they go to the place of refuge God has provided.
• If they were proud and foolish, they might try to do battle with the fox or wolf.
• But because they are humble and wise, they take advantage of the safety God provided for them – the rocks.
4. They lack strength; so they don’t rely on their own strength.
a. They hide in the little caves and crags in rocks.
b. And in that little hole, they are safe from much larger and stronger creatures.
c. The other creatures (wolves and dogs) may be stronger than the coney, but they are not stronger than the rock in which the coney finds safety… and they are too large—and thus the enemies cannot get “in” where the conies are hiding.
We could learn some good lessons from the coney
1. Don’t be proud and foolish; be humble and wise.
2. Acknowledge our own spiritual weakness. Have no confidence in our flesh.
• “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing.” (Rom. 7:18)
3. Take refuge in the ROCK that God has provided for us.
• “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psa. 46:1)
• “In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.” (Psa. 62:7-8)
4. Stay close to the Rock.
• “Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; 10There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.” (Ps. 91:9-10)
5. Turn your weaknesses into strength by resting in the ROCK of Ages.
• “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” (II Cor. 4:7)
6. Don’t lament your weakness. See it as an opportunity to rely upon the infinite power of God.
• “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, (weakness) for when I am weak, then am I strong.” (II Cor. 12:10)
7. There is no need to fear our enemies when we take refuge in God’s provision for safety.
• Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked [one] (Eph. 6:16).
8. We too have an enemy that is much stronger than we are. But when we rest in the safety of our Rock of Ages, we are safe and secure and nothing can harm us.
• “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (I Pet. 5:8)
• “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. 3Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. 4He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. 5Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day.” (Psa. 91:1-5)
9. Don’t trust in self and assume that we can handle our adversary on our own.
• “In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.” (Psa. 56:11)
• “Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. 2From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 3For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. 4I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.” (Psa. 61:1-4)
10. Thank God for the “cleft of the Rock” He has provided.
• “And David spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul: 2And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; 3The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence. 4I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised…” (II Sam. 22:1-4)
11. Today, it is also true among humans, that the unclean creature (a sinful man) who runs to Christ in faith will find safety and security in Him… our Rock of Ages.
Proverbs 30:27
Small but Wise: The Locusts
Introduction:
1. In this last section of Proverbs 30, Agur has been describing things that are “small but wise.” (vs. 24)
2. The first example was the ant. They are small, but wise enough to take advantage of the window of opportunity in the summer, diligent enough to work hard, and smart enough to plan ahead for the winter. (vs. 25)
3. The second example was the coney. They are small and defenseless creatures, but wise enough to make their homes in the rocks for shelter and safety from predators.
4. The third example we are going to look at tonight is the locust. This creature is also small, but wise enough to go forth in bands.
Locusts
1. The locust
a. The locust is a small creature… like the ant and the coney.
b. It is basically a flying grasshopper.
2. They are edible – and are considered “clean” according to the Levitical dietary laws.
a. Lev. 11:21-22 – “Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth; 22Even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind. But all other flying creeping things, which have four feet, shall be an abomination unto you.”
b. Matt. 3:4 – John the Baptist ate locusts and wild honey. (Though some sources state that he ate locust berries.)
3. Locust swarms devastate crops and cause major agricultural damage. (information taken from the National Geographic.)
a. This often causes human misery—famine and starvation. They occur in many parts of the world, but today locusts are most destructive in sustenance farming regions of Africa.
b. The desert locust is notorious. Found in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, they inhabit some 60 countries and can cover one-fifth of Earth’s land surface. Desert locust plagues may threaten the economic livelihood of one-tenth of the world’s humans.
c. A desert locust swarm can be 460 square miles in size and pack between 40 and 80 million locusts into less than half a square mile (one square kilometer).
d. Each locust can eat its weight in plants each day, so a swarm of such size would eat 423 million pounds of plants every day.
e. When they connect up with a wind current, they can fly over 300 miles in one night!
4. The locust in the Bible
a. Ex. 10:4 – The eighth plague in Egypt was the plague of locusts.
• The threat was that if Pharaoh did not let God’s people go, that God would destroy the land with locusts.
• National Geographic tells us that a swarm of locusts can eat 423 million pounds of plants in one day. They could easily destroy Egypt’s crops along the Nile River.
• A desert locust swarm can be 460 square miles in size and pack between 40 and 80 million locusts into less than half a square mile.
• They could easily do what Moses threatened: “cover the face of the earth so that you can’t even see the ground.”
• And in light of the fact when connected to the wind stream, that locusts can travel over 300 miles in one night—this army of locusts could easily be brought in by the Lord as He threatened.
• This threat should have scared Pharaoh to death. He should have repented—but he didn’t.
• Psalm 105:34-35 – The psalmist described the coming of this plague as the result of God “speaking.”
1. “He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillars, and that without number, 35And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground.”
b. Rev. 9:3 – Locusts are mentioned in the final book of the Bible.
• Vs. 3 – They come out of the smoke and have power like a scorpion. They “sting.” These are not ordinary locusts.
• Vs. 1-2 – They are part of the fifth trumpet judgment of the Tribulation Period. These locusts come out of the bottomless pit. These are not ordinary locusts.
• Vs. 4 – They were given instructions NOT to harm the grass or vegetation. Instead, they were to “hurt” those who had not the seal of God in their foreheads.
• Vs. 5 – Their sting torments men for five months.
• Vs. 7-9 – These “locusts” are actually demons coming out of the bottomless pit – like a swarm of locusts. Their description indicates that these words are not to be taken literally.
• Like locusts, these demons are many, a swarm all at once, and inflict harm… only on men.
• Vs. 11 – And they had a KING over them – Satan.
1. These “demons” which swarm and hurt like locusts DO need a king over them.
1. The literal locusts which Agur is describing are small, but wise enough to be able to function WITHOUT a king or a ruler over them.
a. The bees have a queen bee; but not the locusts.
2. Some fascinating discoveries have been made about the locusts.
a. Sometimes locusts can be solitary creatures, like a grasshopper, but they also have another behavioral phase: “the gregarious phase.” This transforms an ordinary desert grasshopper into a brown flying locust.
b. An article in Scientific America stated that under certain environmental conditions, these grasshoppers emit serotonin and a metamorphosis occurs – like that of a caterpillar into a butterfly.
c. Thus, the green grasshopper is transformed into a brown locust and only in the locust stage do they swarm together. These two phases of the desert grasshopper were considered to be two different species until the 1920s because they look so different.
d. What happens is that when they come upon an area with many green plants, they stop there to eat. The locusts congregate into thick, mobile, ravenous swarms.
e. As they become denser, swarming upon a small area of vegetation, the density triggers more serotonin which causes them to fly as a unit and they stay together as they corporately seek greener pastures.
f. They are fascinating creatures.
3. Agur never read the National Geographic or American Scientific, but he did notice how these creatures fly as a unit… in bands… orderly… and with great discipline… and that they did so automatically… without a king or ruler… no one over their shoulders telling them what to do.
4. This is the point that Agur makes: they are small, but wise enough to function together as a unit without anyone telling them what to do.
5. The locusts “go forth in bands.”
a. Band: Distributed; divided into divisions; ranks; – hierarchy.
b. Thus, they function as a unit… with orderly divisions.
c. They might appear to be just a sky full of bugs, but they arrange themselves neatly and there is an order to it.
d. They function in great order.
e. They are seeking for food and go forth as an army on a mission.
f. In fact, in Joel 2:25 God refers to locusts as “my great army which I sent among you.”
g. Locusts are small and weak individually, but when they swarm almost nothing can stop them—except an ocean.
h. They are small but wise enough to realize that there is strength in unity.
i. And they do so without a king or ruler.
j. These little creatures are fearfully and wonderfully made.
k. Human beings don’t function very orderly without a ruler or leader of some sort. Every man does what is right in his own eyes—and that leads to chaos.
l. But locusts do function orderly without a ruler.
m. They are small but wise.
6. Lessons from the locust
a. Thus, they function as a unit… with orderly divisions.
• The church is to function as a unit.
• I Cor. 12:12 – The church is like a body that functions as a unit.
• This can be applied to a company or a family unit as well.
• We could learn from the locusts. They know this instinctively.
b. They function in great order.
• The local church is to be orderly in its conduct.
• I Cor. 14:40 – “Let all things be done decently and in order.”
c. When the serotonin is released, it causes the locusts to be extremely social and to stay close to each other.
• Eph. 4:25 – We are “members one of another.”
• Rom. 12:5 – “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.”
d. They function as a unit for the good of the whole swarm.
• I Cor. 12:7 – Individual members of the local church are equipped to function for the good of the whole body too.
• Selfishness is not even considered among the locusts. That should be the case in the local church too.
e. They function as an army on a mission.
• The local church has been given a mission too: to make Christ known through our life as a witness in the world, and verbally by proclaiming the gospel.
• Are we as wise as a grasshopper? Are we sharing the good news of Christ to those around us?
f. They are small and weak individually, but when they swarm almost nothing can stop them.
• Our adversary can attack us, but the church is unstoppable when we stay close to Christ and walk by faith.
• Eph. 6:16 – “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”
g. They realize that there is strength in unity.
• Our adversary seeks to cause division in the church.
• Doctrinally… personally… morally… any way he can.
• If Satan can get the believers in an assembly fighting amongst themselves, instead of banding together in unity, he has an inroad there.
• II Cor. 2:10-11 – If we hold grudges and manifest an unforgiving spirit, Satan can take advantage of us.
• This is not an organizational unity that makes the church strong—but an INTERNAL unity among the members of a local church.
• I Cor. 1:10 – “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”
• When we are KNIT together in love, it is very unlikely that we will unravel.
h. And they do so without a king or ruler.
• Of course, the church has no king; but we do have a Head – the Lord Jesus.
• However, as we function on earth, our Head is invisible—He is at the right hand of the Father in heaven.
• So on earth, it LOOKS LIKE we function without king or ruler.
• Even though our Ruler is in Heaven, we WILL be able to function as a unit when each of us is submitted to His will and His Word… and filled with His Spirit.
• By God’s grace, let’s be as wise as a locust.
Proverbs 30:28
Small but Wise: The Spider
Introduction:
1. Here we have the third of three examples of things that are small but wise. (Cf. vs. 24)
2. This trio consists of the ant, the coney, and now the spider.
a. The ant is small, but wise enough to plan ahead for the winter.
b. The coney is small, but wise enough to make her home in the rocks.
c. The spider is small, but is found in a king’s palace.
1. This passage is short, but presents us with a couple of challenges.
a. First is the meaning of the Hebrew word translated “spider.”
b. Second is the expression “taketh hold with her hands.”
2. SPIDER: (sem·aw·meeth)
a. This Hebrew word is translated variously as either spider or lizard. It is not a textual issue. We know for sure what the Hebrew word is; but there is disagreement as to how to translate it. Some sources give the Hebrew word two meanings: spider or lizard.
b. Some believe that this name came from a root that means “poison, toxic, or stupefying”. (There are poisonous spiders and lizards.)
c. A precise identification of some of the insects and small creatures in the Bible from ancient names is an imprecise science. That is especially so of ancient Hebrew words that are used only once in the Bible – like the term for spider here.
d. But the exact species to which Agur refers is not the point.
e. We have all the information we need to accurately interpret the proverb.
3. The next challenge is the expression “taketh hold by hands.”
a. Again it is not a textual issue.
b. The problem in interpreting this is whose hands are taking hold… the spider’s or the onlooker?
c. Thus, it could mean that the spider (or spider/lizard) is so small that a person could catch one in his hand.
d. Or, it could mean that the spider/lizard uses his “hands” to take hold of walls to climb.
e. Since the point of the proverb is to demonstrate that the creature is small but wise (vs. 24) the KJV is best here because it describes a small creature AND shows its wisdom in the way it uses its “hands.”
f. Each hand (foot) has many hair-like fibers; and each of the fibers has many more fibers coming out of it. They have up to 600,000 fibers coming out of their feet, and these fibers cling to surfaces and enable them to climb even shiny surfaces.
g. The spider is small but wise in the way he is able to manufacture fine threads that he uses to transport himself wherever he wants to go… and to weave a web that catches his dinner. He weaves his web and then just waits for dinner to be delivered to him. That’s pretty wise. He doesn’t even have to go out hunting like the much larger and stronger animals.
4. Agur’s point is that this is a tiny, weak creature.
a. A person could easily kill it by stepping on it.
b. And if it was a poisonous creature, then it would certainly be hated by others. Nobody likes poison bugs or poison lizards.
c. But they are wise. The way they transport themselves is ingenious.
1. The second part of the proverb contains the main point. And thankfully there is no ambiguity in the wording.
2. Agur states that the spider, in spite of its relative weakness, and in spite of its relatively tiny size, can be found in the king’s palace.
3. Perhaps Agur had the opportunity to enter the king’s palace on a special occasion.
a. He, like Solomon, was a thinking man.
b. Most people who see a spider in a palace would simply view it as a pest that the servants need to attend to and clean out.
c. Who would take the time to stop and think from the spider’s perspective? Agur did.
d. Agur thought about that little spider.
• He thought: what a tiny, weak creature.
• It doesn’t have the strength to lift a hammer. It doesn’t have the size to lift up beams and large foundation stones.
• And yet, it lives in a royal palace… not a bad place to live!
• Comparing his own dwelling to the spider, Agur lived in what might be called a humble cottage; but the spider lived in a palace filled with gold, jewels, fine furniture, and all the best of everything.
• In fact, some spiders today still live in palaces and homes that are 100 times grander than your house or mine!
• We don’t live in a royal palace—but spiders do.
• In spite of all of man’s efforts to keep them out—they somehow are wise enough to get in. And they often live in homes much better than ours.
• So who’s the dummy now?
• The spider may be small and weak; but is wise.
4. APPLICATIONS
a. God takes care of His creation. The lilies… the sparrows—even the spiders. If God can provide a palace for a spider, He will take care of you too.
b. Spiders are small, weak, and often hated, but they dwell in a palace fit for a king.
• In the world’s eyes, believers are small, weak, and despised by the world too.
• Eph. 2:4-6 – But we dwell in something that surpasses a king’s earthly palace; we dwell in heavenly places in Christ.
c. Spiders and their webs are constantly meeting opposition in the form of the home owner who is forever sweeping out spider webs and trying to remove these “pests.”
• But the spiders keep on weaving more webs… in spite of the opposition. They are diligent like the ant and they never give up.
• We too should follow this example. We may face opposition from foes that are much more powerful than we are.
• They may sweep away our little “webs”—the labor of our hands; but learn from the spider and weave another! Don’t quit.
d. All four of the “small but wise” creatures have lessons to teach us.
• They all teach us that our perceived disabilities (small; weak; etc.) need not be cause for defeat. If we use the abilities God has given us wisely, we can do quite well—in spite of our infirmities.
• The ant is small but stores food for the winter; their foresight and diligence makes up for their weakness.
• The coney is small and weak but lives in rocks which provide protection against larger and stronger predators; his wise choice of the rocks makes up for what he lacks in strength.
• The spider is small and generally hated—yet they reside in palaces. The spider can’t jump like a grasshopper; he can’t fly like a bird; but he does know how to make “rope” and uses it for his advantage. He is not big and strong but he does have a fascinating and effective means of transportation. He gets around quite well considering his so called disability.
• Prov. 22:29 – The spider is diligent and ends up in king’s palaces. We could learn from her diligence.
• All of these creatures do very well.
• They do not gripe, complain, or fret over the qualities they don’t have; instead they use to the fullest the qualities they do have.
• And as a result, they have plenty to eat; they are safe from their enemies; and they live in beautiful dwellings. They have food; shelter; and safety. They have all their needs met. What more could they want?
• God takes care of them. He will take care of us.
e. We would do well to learn from these little creatures.
Proverbs 30:29-31
Four Comely Things
Introduction:
1. This is the last in a series of things Agur describes using the same poetical pattern:
a. Vs. 15-16 – Two things that are never satisfied.
b. Vs. 18-20 – Three, no four things that are too wonderful to know.
c. Vs. 21-23 – Three, no four things that are disquieting and unbearable for life on the earth.
d. Vs. 24-28 – Four things that are little, but wise.
e. Vs. 29-31 – Four comely things
2. In this series, Agur mentions a lion, a greyhound, a goat, and a king.
a. These are the four comely things.
b. And they have a valuable lesson for us.
1. Here we see the familiar pattern: three things, yea, four.
a. In this series, there are three things from the animal kingdom: lion, greyhound, and a he goat.
b. The fourth is from mankind – a human king.
2. In each series, each of the things mentioned have something in common.
a. In the series in vs. 18, all four things were too wonderful too know.
b. In the last series, the four things were similar in that they were all small but wise. (Vs. 24)
c. In this series, the four things mentioned also have something in common: they “go well” and are “comely in going.”
3. They all “go well.”
a. The word “go” means: “stride; walk; step.”
b. The word “well” means pleasing; good; successful; beautiful; beneficial; favorable.
c. The expression (go well) speaks of a walk that is beautiful; admirable; favorable.
4. They all “are comely in going.”
a. The term “going” is not the same as the previous word translated “go.”
b. The word translated “going” means to travel; to walk; to walk about; to march.
c. The word translated “comely” means do well; beautiful; poise; stately.
d. The two expressions are virtually synonymous.
e. Agur tells us that what these four things share in common is a poised walk, an upright gait, a dignified step.
f. There is something impressive and noble about their “strut” or the way they walk… their gait.
1. The first creature mentioned with a stately walk is the lion.
a. The lion is called the king of the jungle. They walk around like they really believed it too. They walk about like they owned the jungle.
b. There is a huge difference between the royal strut of a lion and the way a tiny sand piper flits across the beach and away from anything that comes near.
2. The lion is strongest among the beasts.
a. This is quite a contrast between the creatures mentioned previously. (vs. 24- little upon the earth.)
b. The ants are a people not strong. (vs. 25)
c. The conies are but a feeble folk. (vs. 26)
d. The locusts and the spider are also comparatively small and weak.
e. But that is not the case with the lion. He is strong. And he walks about as if he realized his strength.
3. The lion “turneth not away for any.”
a. In other words, the lion doesn’t back down from anyone.
b. Sometimes a tiny mouse can spook a horse or even an elephant; but a lion is not easily spooked.
c. The lion is fearless. The lion is courageous. The lion is bold.
d. He is not like the cony that runs under a rock for shelter when he sees another animal coming.
e. The lion turns away from no other creature.
1. In vs. 31a, we have two more creatures mentioned that are “comely in going.”
2. Greyhound: This term is problematic in interpreting.
a. It is problematic because its name is idiomatic. It literally means “girt about at the loins.”
b. Sometimes animals are named according to what they look like.
c. That is evidently the case here.
d. The KJV translates the term the best they could from the idiom as a greyhound. The greyhound is certainly a creature that is “girt about at the loins.” (slender waist)
e. “Girt at the loins” is also a way saying “ready to run.” The long robe is pulled up around the waist and girted with a belt so the man could run.
f. A greyhound is certainly a good example of an animal that is girt about the waist and prepared for running. They are known for running and speed.
g. Again, most Bible dictionaries do not list a particular animal. They simply give the Hebrew idiom. Some have suggested that it is an extinct animal.
h. The Hebrew idiom is translated in this passage variously as a greyhound, rooster, war horse, and even a zebra.
i. If I had to pick between those four, the greyhound certainly stands out as having a slender waist and is known for running.
j. However, I am just going to refer to this as some kind of a fast creature with a slender waist.
k. Whatever creature Agur had in mind, what we DO know is that it was stately, poised, and comely (beautiful) in the way it ran.
3. The third “thing” mentioned is the he goat.
a. Goats were very common creatures in Bible times. There is no question as to what this creature is.
b. And goats also walk about somewhat like a lion.
c. There is something stately about the way a goat walks—even on rocks. They are unbelievably sure-footed. They walk with their heads up… very dignified.
d. The male goat holds his head up high and has almost an arrogant look about him—like he owned the world.
e. Some years ago we had to get rid of a pet goat named Alfalfa. We gave him to a farmer and assured the farmer that he was gentle and easy to get along with. He never once bit or butted us. But when the farmer took our goat and put him in a large pen with a huge pig, within seconds, the goat butted the pig and knocked him over. He just wanted the pig and any other creature there to know that the king of the pen had arrived. He made it clear in the first few seconds in the pen that he was in charge and tolerated no rivals.
1. The fourth and final creature mentioned is not an animal but a human being, a royal human being, a king.
2. In a sense, Kings walk about like a lion.
3. They too walk with poise—like they owned the world. There is often an air about them. They sometimes have a look of dignity about them. They have been groomed, polished, and thus walk with poise with their heads held up high.
4. Here Agur says that against a king, there is no rising up.
a. They walk about like a lion—and lions don’t turn away from anything.
b. The king walks about (often surrounded by body guards and even his royal army) and is therefore afraid of nothing.
c. Very often, in reality, deep down inside, kings lived in fear. There was much intrigue and murder in royal courts. There was always someone who wanted to kill the king and overthrow the monarchy.
d. But Agur is talking about outward appearance—the way the king walked.
e. They walked about in dignity, in courage, and put on a show of courage and strength.
f. That was part of their job – to give the people a sense of safety and security.
g. The king walked about like a lion and no one could rise up against him.
Application: Lessons from these four things:
1. In the animal kingdom as well as in human affairs, there is order.
a. In the animal kingdom, some animals are small and feeble. However, they may be extremely wise.
b. There are creatures that are “over” the feeble animals.
c. They have much greater power and strength.
d. They are in a superior position. The lion is certainly superior to the ant and the coney.
e. This was by Divine design. God created His world this way. In the animal kingdom you might call it a pecking order.
2. The same is true in human affairs—there is order.
a. Kings and senators and governors are “over” the “little” people.
b. That doesn’t mean that the “common people” are not wise.
c. They may be exceedingly wise. But in God’s order, they are beneath others. But that does not mean inferior—just different. Different does not mean inferior. Women are different from men—but not inferior. There is a difference in God’s order for the home too… the husband is the head.
d. Kings and wealthy people are big and powerful—like lions.
e. Many of the common people are small and relatively weak—like ants.
f. And in the world, God has ordained that we (the common people) submit to those who are over us.
• Rom. 13:1 – Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers…
• Submission is required by God not because the common people are inferior. Rather, it is to maintain order. There is order in God’s universe.
• Submission to leaders does not mean that those in high positions are necessarily wise and qualified. In fact, Daniel tells us that God sometimes raised up the basest of men to be in rulership positions.
g. We all have our lot in life. God wants us to accept it… submit to it… and be content in whatever state we find ourselves.
h. That is true in the home, in the local church, in our career, and in relationship to our government. There is a built in order in every realm of life.
3. The common man (like the ant) may not have the strength of a lion, but if he uses the talents he does have, (plans ahead; works diligently) then he can live very well. He may be small but is exceedingly wise.
4. Spiders live in the king’s castle.
5. Sometimes the “little people” live as well as the king.
6. We might not have the physical strength of a lion or the political strength of a king, but if we submit to God’s will for our lives, and do our best in whatever state we find ourselves, God will see to it that we BLOOM wherever we are planted and bring forth good fruit for God’s glory.
7. You don’t have to be a lion or a king. It’s not God’s will for everyone to be a leader or a ruler. Not everyone is in a position of strength and power.
8. It’s not God’s will for everyone to be the same.
a. There are differences.
b. How boring if we were all the same.
c. Not everyone is born with the same IQ. Not everyone is born in the same social standing. Not everyone is born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Not everyone is born physically strong.
d. We shouldn’t complain about the differences and cry, “That’s not fair.”
e. In the natural world, some are lions and some are ants. Some are he goats and some are conies. They are all unique—and they don’t complain.
f. In the world of mankind, some are strong and powerful; some are weak and seemingly insignificant.
g. But there is a place for each one… and each one in its place.
h. That’s God’s order and design. And when we learn to accept our lot in life… and learn to submit to what God has ordained for us… and how God has created us… and get busy like an ant doing our best—we can all glorify God just as we are.
9. One other note: the lion, the greyhound, the he-goat, and the king all walk in a stately manner… with poise, dignity, and courage.
a. We too, as part of a royal priesthood, should walk in this world with poise, dignity, and courage.
b. Our attitude should be: I will not fear what man can do to me.
c. We can have the courage of a lion too.
d. Psalm 46:1-2 – “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.”
e. Prov. 28:1 – “The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.”
f. There should be something comely and beautiful about the “walk” of a believer. Is that true of us?
Proverbs 30:32
Lay thy Hand upon thy Mouth
Introduction:
1. The words of Agur are coming to a close.
2. He ends with a few words of advice – good advice that (sooner or later) we all will need to put into practice at the appropriate time, place, and situation.
3. We will be looking at two examples of bad behavior and what to do about them.
Bad behavior # 1:
1. The main point of this expression is “lifting up thyself.”
a. This is a common expression in the Bible that speaks of PRIDE.
b. The concept of “lifting up” speaks of pride. Humility is described as “bowing down.”
c. Luke 18:10-14 – The publican refused to “lift up” even his eyes to heaven. He bowed down in the Temple. God was pleased with his actions.
d. We should not equate God’s pleasure with posture. It was the attitude of mind and heart that was exhibited through the posture that either caused God to be pleased or angry.
e. Jas. 4:10 – “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” If we humble self (bow down in humility) God will lift us up. When we lift ourselves up—God will humble us—knock us back down to size.
2. There are lots of examples of men and women who lifted up their hearts in pride—and the awful consequences.
a. Prov. 30:13 – It speaks of our generation that “lifts up” their eyelids in pride. Pride is seen in their facial expression.
b. Deut. 8:14 – A heart that is lifted up (in pride and self-sufficiency) forgets God.
c. II Chron. 26:15 – Uzziah’s heart was lifted up in pride and rebellion. He went into the Temple and burnt incense to God – a ministry reserved for the priests. His heart was lifted up to his own destruction. God smote him with leprosy.
d. Ezekiel 28:1-2 – King Tyrus lifted up his heart in pride and arrogance and said, “I am a God!” He was a picture of Satan!
e. Ezekiel 28:17 – The same thing was then said of Satan. His heart was lifted up in pride because of his beauty.
f. Dan. 5:20 – Nebuchadnezzar’s heart was lifted up and his mind was hardened in pride.
3. Agur states that lifting up self is FOOLISH.
a. It is foolish because God hates it.
b. It is foolish because God judges pride.
c. It is foolish because “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” (Prov. 16:18)
d. It is foolish because in the Scriptures we have so many examples of pride and its ugly consequences.
Bad behavior # 2:
1. Thought: “To plan; to intend; to think with the purpose of planning a course of action.”
a. The term is used in Psalm 37:12 – “The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.”
b. Prov. 31:16 – “She considereth a field, and buyeth it…”
c. The idea of this term seems to go beyond just a passing thought that is quickly and firmly dismissed.
• It is a thought that has been contemplated seriously.
• Serious consideration has been given to evil in this case.
2. Evil: There is no Hebrew word that underlies this English word.
a. When this term is used without an object, it usually has the sense of “plotting, scheming, etc.”
b. Hence, the word “evil” was added because that is the obvious meaning in this passage.
3. The second example of bad behavior is planning, plotting, or scheming to do evil.
a. Serious consideration is given to this plot to do evil or harm.
b. Ps. 36:4 – “He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.”
c. Prov. 6:18 – This is one of the “seven deadly sins”: “An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations.”
d. Prov. 6:14-15 – “Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord. 15Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.” And it has consequences. He shall be broken.
What to DO:
1. There are two different forms of bad behavior; there is but one solution to both: put your hand over your mouth.
a. When you put your hand over your mouth, you are preventing yourself from speaking out… speaking up… adding your own two cents. Your mouth is SHUT.
b. Shutting one’s mouth with the physical motion of using your hand implies that the person is dealing with the underlying issue.
c. Of course, what comes out of the mouth originated in the heart.
d. Hence, if we are really going to get to the heart of the problem, it involves dealing with the mouth AND the heart.
2. If we discover that we are guilty of either one of these two forms of bad behavior, it is God’s Word that condemns us.
a. Rom. 3:19 – “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”
b. The moral absolutes of God STOP every mouth.
c. When the heart is convicted by the Word, the mouth is stopped.
d. Putting one’s hand over one’s mouth is like saying, “I’m guilty! I have nothing to say. My mouth is stopped.”
3. Putting one’s hand over one’s mouth is an acknowledgement of God’s presence.
a. Habakkuk 2:20 – “But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.”
b. It is to acknowledge that God knows what I’ve been up to.
c. I’ve been discovered – Be sure your sin will find you out.
d. Thus, I have no defense; there are no excuses.
e. There is nothing more to say; this is the end of debate.
f. It is an acknowledgement of the fact that God is LORD. There is no answering back; nothing to add to His Word. The only proper response is to be silent; to be in awe; and to receive whatever He says.
4. Job 40:1-5 – Job laid his hand over his mouth.
a. It was his way of recognizing that he spoke out of turn.
b. He said something he should never have said.
c. His words were contentious—and he was addressing God!
d. He realized that he was vile. He had nothing more to say.
e. He spoke once insolently; but he will not do that again.
f. By putting his hand over his mouth, Job is showing restraint.
g. He learned his lesson—and put his hand over his mouth.
h. Job was finished debating with God.
5. Agur’s point is that whether the sin is foolish pride or rebellious plotting to do evil—the correct response is to just put your hand over your mouth, show a little restraint, and be silent before God.
a. It is like putting the lid on all of your former thoughts and words.
b. It is like acknowledging your sin and that it has been done in the very presence of God who knows the very thoughts and intents of our hearts and minds. There is no point in arguing with God.
c. Prov. 24:9 – “The thought of foolishness is sin.” That being the case, put your hand over your mouth before your thoughts begin to pour out… and may even turn into action. Put a lid on that!
d. Restrain any expression of that evil thought or plan.
e. When our thoughts are evil and our heart is full of pride—speech becomes DANGEROUS… poisonous. Put the lid on it!
f. It is a physical motion designed to denote something along these lines: “That’s the end of that thought… of that pride. It’s wrong; I’m not going to tolerate it any longer; it’s over.”
g. Thank you Agur for the good advice!
Proverbs 30:33
The Forcing of Wrath
Introduction:
1. This proverb deals with an issue that is “common to man”, namely, anger and wrath.
a. Who among us does not get angry?
b. Who among us does not have to deal with angry people?
2. Nobody can avoid dealing with anger.
a. We face anger in our own hearts and have a hard time dealing with it.
b. We face anger at work, in the neighborhood, throughout the country various groups are angry at other groups, and yes, we have to deal with anger even in our homes and at church!
3. And we all know why: we are sinners. Even as believers, we still have a sin nature, and anger is very much a part of it.
a. There are some external sins that seem to depart soon after we get saved. (drinking; swearing; immorality; etc.) Those are relatively easy to deal with.
b. But there are internal sins that will be with us till glory—and anger is one of them.
4. So Agur’s advice here is always timely and relevant.
5. At first glance, it appears that Agur is teaching us HOW to produce anger… as if we needed lessons.
a. But obviously, the purpose of telling us how anger is produced is so that we might AVOID it.
b. This might be likened to Smokey the Bear doing an ad telling everyone how most forest fires are started. He is not promoting forest fires. Rather, he tells us so that we might avoid making that mistake.
c. This is the technique Agur uses in our proverb.
Two Illustrations: “A” Produces “B”
1. E-How online gives some simple directions for making butter.
a. Use raw milk; let the cream float to the top; scoop out the cream; and pour it into a quart jar; shake and shake until globs of butter appear; strain the butter from the buttermilk.
b. Once you get the cream in the jar, all you have to do is shake and butter globs appear. Always!
c. It’s not magic; it’s science. It’s just the way things work.
d. The churning (shaking) of the cream always produces butter.
e. If you want butter to appear – then follow those easy steps.
f. “A” always produces “B”.
2. Perhaps another warning should be given here.
a. If you DON’T want butter, then don’t shake the cream, because if you do, butter WILL be formed.
b. Like it or not, “A” always produces “B”. It’s guaranteed to happen.
c. The potential for butter is resident in the cream.
d. If you shake it, the butter appears; if not, it won’t.
1. In our proverb, Agur used a play on words that is missing in our English Bible. It is probably impossible to reproduce.
a. The word translated “wringing” here is variously defined:
• Squeezing, pressing, wringing, agitate, irritate, stirring.
• This passage is the only occurrence of this word in the Bible.
b. The words translated “churning,” “wringing,” and “forcing” are all the same Hebrew word. One term described all three actions.
c. And there is also a threefold repetition of the same Hebrew term translated “bringeth forth.”
d. In each case, the same action “brings forth” (produces; results in) something.
e. “A” produces “B”.
f. We don’t have one English word that adequately describes one action for shaking, blowing one’s nose (or punching a nose), and stirring up trouble… but you get the idea.
g. The Hebrew had one word that described those three actions.
h. It’s easy to see how you could use the same term to describe stirring up cream and stirring up trouble. But we don’t think of “stirring up” one’s nose. We say “blowing” one’s nose.
i. To understand the relationship, we will have to think in Hebrew idioms rather than American English idioms.
2. Agur’s point in the second illustration is that if you keep on “agitating” a nose, (blowing or punching a nose) eventually, it will begin to bleed.
a. Butter does not instantly appear in the cream if it is shaken but once; but if you keep it up, butter will appear.
b. So too with the blowing (punching) of a nose. Blood does not occur every time you blow your nose. But if you do so continuously, it is going to happen.
c. It’s not magic; it’s science. It’s the way the nose works.
d. If you keep doing “A” long enough, “B” is what will happen. It’s guaranteed.
e. The membranes in our nose are only so strong. If they are agitated enough, blood comes forth.
f. The potential for bleeding is always present in the nose. It you keep on agitating, it will eventually bleed; If you don’t continually “agitate” the nose, it won’t bleed.
One Application: “A” Produces “B”
1. The application Agur makes is to the “forcing of wrath.”
a. Again, this is the same verb as is translated “churning” and “wringing.”
b. Forcing wrath here speaks of provoking others to anger.
2. The application here is obvious.
a. The potential for anger is resident in all of us – in all men. All men are sinners and have a sin nature. Anger resides in our hearts.
b. If you leave it alone, the anger will not surface.
c. But if you keep on pressing an issue, (provoking others) eventually, you will FORCE the potential for anger to become actual and it will manifest itself outwardly.
d. It’s guaranteed. It’s not magic; it’s a scientific principle. It has been observed and measured so many times consistently, that it is a scientific law of our fallen nature.
3. The membranes in the nose prevent blood from flowing out. But they do have their breaking point.
a. If they are punched or agitated, and irritated long enough, they will give way and blood will flow out.
4. Heavy cream will remain heavy cream.
a. It can handle a few shakes. But if it is shaken consistently and repeatedly, you will get butter as a result.
b. It’s science. It will happen.
5. So too with anger.
a. You can talk about irritating and upsetting issues for a while without causing people to blow up. They can handle it for a while—like a few shakes of the cream and the cream doesn’t change.
b. However, you can press an issue only so far before people reach their breaking point.
c. If you continually bring up issues that get people angry, eventually, it will “bring forth” STRIFE… a big fight.
d. This too is guaranteed.
6. We can be guilty of stirring up trouble—of irritating the passions of others—of forcing an issue to someone’s breaking point.
a. And perhaps they should not break forth into anger. If they do, they are guilty of anger. We are all responsible for our own actions.
b. But the one who forces the issue also bears responsibility.
c. Light brings accountability.
d. Here Agur gives us some light: “A” results in “B”. Therefore, we persist in “A” (forcing issues that make people mad), we bear responsibility in the predictable result: “B”—strife!
7. The POTENTIAL for wrath resides in all of us.
a. Oftentimes there are folks who may be angry over a particular issue. It may be a sore spot with them.
b. However, they may be trying to keep it in check. They may be trying not to get angry.
c. But if you or I keep on pressing the issue—we should expect that person to blow up eventually.
d. Even a man who wants peace (like cream sitting there minding its own business) can be pushed and irritated enough to break out into strife.
e. That’s Agur’s point: therefore DON’T keep on pressing an issue.
8. Constant pressure on a sensitive issue brings forth strife.
a. The answer is to “let up” – ease off… don’t keep on applying pressure… don’t keep on bringing up the issue… don’t keep on pressing people’s buttons!
b. Let it die and then bury it. Don’t bring it up again.
c. Be patient. Be selfless. Be longsuffering. Let harsh words go in one ear and out the other.
d. Let the other person have the last word. Demanding to have the final word (which is usually pretty forceful) is often the straw that breaks the camel’s back—that results in strife.
e. If you find yourself beginning to apply pressure and “forcing the issue”, then do what Agur says in in Proverbs 30:32 – “Lay your hand upon your mouth.”
f. Prov. 17:14 – “The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.”
i. Learn to let go of an issue: “leave off contention.” Avoid it.
g. Prov. 26:21 – “As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife.”
• If you stop heaping coals on the fire, eventually, the fire will go out.
h. Prov. 29:22 – “An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression.”
• Very often it is our OWN anger that causes us to want to press an issue. If we want to avoid strife—then deal with the anger in our own heart. Then we will be less likely to stir up anger and strife in others.
i. Prov. 10:12 – “Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.”
• Hatred causes us to keep the flames of strife going; love enables us to “cover it up” and bury it.
• Love is a fruit of the Spirit. It is not natural. Anger is.
• Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
