 Proverbs 30:1 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the oracle. The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:
Here we have an interesting verse in Proverbs. It is generally accepted that this person named Agur was an actual man - and that his students, Ithiel and Ucal were also real as well. Thus this is probably part of the collection of wisdom that Solomon had. He was probably greatly impressed by this collection of wise sayings and incorporated it into his own collection as well. What do we know of these three men? Well, beyond the meaning of their names and this particular collection of sayings - nothing. Yet God used them to offer to us an entire chapter of Agur's wise sayings. In fact, Agur is called, "the oracle," which means that Solomon considered him a prophet - or at least a man inspired by God to put these sayings from Him into a list of sorts. Let's take a closer look at their names and what they mean. Agur means collector or gatherer. This name probably designates that he was a collector of wise sayings - but the "son of Jakeh" refers to his father. Jakeh means to be on one's guard - and this particularly before God Himself. Thus the idea here is that of piety - guarding ourselves before God - and guarding others so that they walk in godliness. Thus, when we grasp Agur's full name - he would be considered to be the gatherer, the son of the man who guarded piety - who desired to walk in holiness and purity before God. If a name meant anything - and in Hebrew culture it did - then this was quite a man God used to collect these sayings from God and then declare them as an oracle from God Himself. Not only did this man offer these wise sayings as much needed wisdom - he took the time to state them to others. Ithiel and Ucal were Agur's students. Ithiel means, "with me is God" while Ucal means "to eat or to devour." These are quite the names of his students. Evidently his students wanted the presence of God in their lives - and also had a hunger for the things of God. At least this is what their parents hoped and desired for them when they named their children. We come back to this verse - apart from trying to gain information from the names themselves and see a very important principle of discipleship here. At face value, we have a situation where a godly man - even a prophet or oracle of God is taking two others under his wing for the purpose of declaring to them the things God has made known to him. This is the heart of true discipleship. Life on life ministry is so important. It is not enough to just try to read the Bible - we so desperately need for godly men to pour their lives into younger men and pass wisdom to them. Jesus did it with 12 - Paul did it with Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Epaphroditus and others. If we are wise, we will do it too. The other thing we learn is that this kind of discipleship only happens as godly men take the time to spend a life gathering wisdom from God for the purpose of living a godly, holy, God-glorifying life. That means a life devoted to reading, studying, and knowing the Word of God. This means other things that waste our time need to be set aside for the Word. In our day we have young men who are experts at video games - who spend countless hours playing them. They will not be wise. There are others who waste countless hours watching television - and in our current culture - who use Netflix to watch entire seasons of shows for days at a time. They too will not become wise. A choice has to be made to become an Agur, an Ithiel, or a Ucal. The choice has to do with time - with what is eternal - and with whether we desire to be worldly-wise - or Word-wise.
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A sated man loathes honey, But to a famished man any bitter thing is sweet. Proverbs 27:7
This proverb is about much more than just when a person likes and dislikes honey. It is about hunger - first physical hunger as the physical meaning suggests - but it is about much more than just physical hunger. It is about how we walk through life - about worldliness and about knowing and walking with God. The physical picture painted for us is very clear. When a man is sated he loathes honey. To be sated means that you are stuffed. This is like when you have eaten too much at a meal and you are miserable. It wouldn't matter what someone offered you - you would not want any part of it. This is why the man loathes something as sweet and enjoyable as honey. He is too stuffed with food to enjoy anything. The opposite is also true though. A famished man considers any bitter thing sweet. The famished man is truly hungry. He has not eaten all day long - and as a result he is ready to eat anything. Even something which others might consider bitter is sweet to him. He will take it up and eat it grateful for anything to help him with his hunger. Beyond the physical picture shown to us are great spiritual truths for us to glean. A man sated with the world will look at the Word of God and loathe it. He is filled up with the daintes of the world and as a result has little or no spiritual hunger. 1 John tells us that everything in the world, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the boastful pride of life comes not from the Father, but from the world. When we fill our hearts and souls with whatever our eyes desire, whatever our flesh demands, and with a heaping helping of boasting in this life - we will not have any desire for the Word, which is sweeter than the honey or the honey comb. The glories of God and what He has in store for us seem like nothing when we are glutted with worldliness and selfish pursuits. This is why it is so hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. He is so filled with what "this world" has to offer - that often he has no room left for the things of God. We need to see the danger of feasting on the world, the flesh, and the fast food of the devil. When we do - we will despise and loathe the things of our Lord. Then there is the famished man. The man who knows that the things of this world and this life are temporary. They are fleeting pleasures - what the Bible calls lying desires. They lie to us because they constantly promise fulfillment - but in the end they do not satisfy. They don't provide contentment - they do just the opposite. They eye is never filled with seeing - the flesh is never satisfied with food - and when we set our sights on wealth and riches, they take flight and soar to the heavens, always just a little beyond our ever grasping hands. Knowing these things - he seeks God for his "daily" bread - and asks not for riches. He knows that often the man with them forgets his God. Thus he wants something more. He has heard of this One Whose Spirit within is like a spring that rises up to heaven and salvation itself. He has heard of One Whose bread of life actually fills. He seeks the One Who offers rivers of living water - not a river outside of himself - but one that God puts within that overflows out of him to bless others. He is a famished man when it comes to worldliness and sin. He is a famished man when it comes to the religion of the eyes and flesh. He knows that boasting in this life provides him nothing in the end. Therefore he hungers and thirsts after God. He has heard from One that blessed is he that hungers and thirsts for righteousness, for he will be satisfied. This hunger makes it to where any bitter thing is sweet to him. Where the worldling is constantly receiving but is never satisfied, this one receives everything from the hand of God - good and bad - and it all works together for good in his heart and life. Whereas the worldling ever complains that it is just not enough - the spiritually hungry one has eaten of contentment itself in the presence of God. Having his spirit filled to overflowing - he knows that all that God allows in his life (whether sweet or bitter) is working on his behalf. He even knows that the light and momentary discomforts, disappointments, disconcerting events - are working toward an eternal weight of glory that cannot be ascertained. God is at work in this famished man's heart - thus any way that God's providence and sovereignty designs his circumstances are going to be satisfying for eternity. When you look at this proverb - and the truth that it represents - you come away with the paradox of God's work in this world. The filled go away hungry - while the hungry are deeply satisfied. The difference between seeking this world - and the world to come - is the difference between knowing contentment and fulfillment in hunger - or just walking through life empty even though you are sated with the world and all it offers. Truly, blessed are the poor and destitute in spirit - for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. It is not good to eat much honey, Nor is it glory to search out one's own glory.
Proverbs 25:27 Humans are a proud lot. Therefore it is not a profitable thing to "search out one's own glory." Such a pursuit will only result in excessive pride and arrogance. Since God resists the proud, it is unwise to embrace something that God hates. Today's proverb gives us some very wise counsel on this subject. Let's take a closer look at it - and - at some examples we can learn from so that we don't fall into this sin. Eating too much honey can make you very sick. Honey is great for you - but in excess it can cause bloating, stomach cramps, and diarrhea. This is an interesting truth - because if you applied it to what Solomon is saying to us we learn the following. Too much thought about your own glory will cause you to bloat spiritually - and can make you sick in your spirit. We are warned that it is not glory to search out one's own glory. What does this mean, "to search out one's own glory?" When we speak of glory - we are talking about seeing ourselves as glorious - or our own works as worthy of glory. The truth is that we don't deserve ANY glory whatsoever. Scripture tells us that our condition is not glorious. "All have sinned and fallen short of true glory - the glory of God." (from Romans 3:23) The absolute truth is this - God alone deserves glory. Any glory we ever receive - is only reflective of the glory that God deserves for Who He is and what He has done. Searching out "one's own glory" is synonymous with being prideful. Paul said in Galatians 6:4, "But may it never be that I would glory, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." There is no reason to glory in anything or anyone other than Jesus Christ. Paul also wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:31 that we are to eat, drink, and do all that we do to the glory of God. Therefore to glory in searching out our own glory is not just unwise - it is the ultimate foolish pursuit. We will get sick to our spirits - we will find a bloated ego - and we will disgust God, Who alone deserves glory. Glorying in searching out one's own glory is about as profitable to us as having a unicorn round up. Unicorns don't exist, therefore such a search is fruitless and stupid. But then again so is searching for how much we shold be glorified. Our time would be better spent glorifying the only One who deserves to be glorified - our Lord Jesus Christ! May our days be spent therefore searching out new ways to bring glory to Him and to His wonderful name. The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite, But the stomach of the wicked is in need. Proverbs 13:25
This is an interesting proverb dealing with God's provision for the righteous. It involves both a promise for the righteous in regard to having enough food in addition to another apsect dealing with how the rightseous have an appetite that can be satisfied. The second has more to do with the heart than it does with food. When we look at this from the viewpoint of food and the filling of a man's stomach we see that God promises that we will have enough to satisfy our appetite. In a psalm David said that he was young and now he is old, yet he has never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. God has blessed me with the honor of knowing a couple from Latvia who actually walked from Latvia to Eastern Europe during WWII. They did this while war was raging between the Germans and the Russians. They actually were trapped in the middle of a battlefield for a couple of weeks. During this time they had no food whatsoever. Yet for two solid weeks God would have various members of the family find hot baked bread in the middle of a battlefield. This was enough to satisfy their appetite each day. Truly God will provide for the righteous. The stomach of the wicked is in need though. This is often the case in lands where God is rejected and false gods are worshipped instead. In India there is plenty of food for the entire population, but many are hungry because they will not eat cows for fear that it is a relative who was reincarnated. Some even refuse to kill rats that ravage their wheat and corn supplies for fear that they will have bad karma from killing a person reincarnated. Thus even though they have plenty of food each harvest, many stomachs are in need. A false view of God leads to religious views that harm a society. There is another view of this proverb though that I also want to address. This is the fact of our inner appetites. Ecclesiastes says that God has placed eternity in our hearts. That is why there is an insatiable appetite within mankind for something to fill an inner need. Some spend their whole lives searchin in vain for this inner satisfaction because they seek it apart from Jesus Christ. It is only in Him that this void can be filled. So we see that this proverb is true once again - that the righteous (those who came to be righteous through what Jesus Christ did on the cross and by His resurrection) are filled and satisfied. The wicked - continue to want and need and feel like something is missing. My hope for each of you is that you will find your "eternal void" within filled by turning to Jesus Christ to find the salvation and the righteousness that will allow you to be satisifed and filled. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But desire fulfilled is a tree of life.
Proverbs 13:12 Today's proverb is placing before us a truth - that when we hope for something and that hope is indefinitely put off - we can become heart-sick for that thing. When we want something very badly, we begin to set our sights upon it and long for it. If that thing does not come to us - the longing increases to the point where we cannot get it out of our minds. From that point there is an increasing burden upon our hearts for the thing we long for in life. But if what we long for is not within our grasp - and we cannot bring it within our grasp - our hearts will grow sick over it. Soon, we find ourselves in a morose and depressed state over this thing - where it dominates our lives. If there is not a relieiving of that situation - we will lose hope altogether - which is a sad state to be in as we walk through life. I'm sure we've all met someone who has utterly lost hope - embittered against someone, something, even against God - they live a life defined not by what they have - but by the one thing they did not get. They are a bitter, resentful, horrid lot - and very difficult to be around. The opposite of this is also true - that a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. There is something about a desire that is met that thrills and envigorates the soul. We find ourselves overjoyed at the realization of that which we desired - and it only encourages us to desire and work toward other things. Please see and grasp that word, "work" here. Jacob had a desire to marry Rachel - and was willing to work 7 years for that desire to be realized. The Word tells us that the 7 years seemed but days because of his great love for her. Even after his father in law deceived him and gave him Leah first, Jacob still worked another seven years for Rachel. There is something about a desire that can be realized, that will make us work hard for it. There is something about the accomplishment of a task - one that helps us realize a goal - that will help us to work joyfully toward it. That is why it is so wise to live by understanding that comes from knowing and pursuing God's will rather than our own. Romans 12:1-2 urges us to present our very bodies to God as a living sacrifice. We are exhorted to be conformed to God, and not to this world. And in this divine pursuit we are promised that we will find the will of God to be good, acceptable, and perfect. There is wisdom indeed! The desire fulfilled here is a reference to God's will being the source and the center of our desires. We do not allow the world to lead us by the nose through its lusts. That, too often, will lead to heart sickness over a hope deferred again and again. What is astounding is the heart sickness is over that which is outside God's will for us. When we make the mistake of being conformed to this world, our desires are conformed to its lusts as well. Then we find ourselves in opposition to God's will and longing for things God does not desire to give to us. Just like with the Israelites, He may give them to us - but send a leanness to our souls in the process. This means that God will usually say, "No!" to those desires. If we continue to want them, we will find that our "ungodly hope" will be deferred again and again. God's deferral is for our own good - but that is not the way that we will see it. We will continue to writhe in anguish in the grasp of God's controlling and sovereign hand - finding ourselves miserable in the will of God. Our heart sickness will eventually turn us against Him - making us think He is withholding from us that which is good or best. This, dear saints, is the same lie that was told to Eve in the garden. God knows that in the day you eat of this forbidden fruit your eyes will be opened. He is trying to keep you from being just like Him. Just like Eve, we will too often believe the lie - and allow our heart sickness to lead to a soul sickness - and death. We do not want the false fruit of the tree of our own and this world's evil desires. What we should want is the fruit of the tree of life. Interesting isn't it, how this passage points us to that fateful decision that was made in the garden. That decision deferred the hope of life for generations - and unleashed on the earth sin, suffering, and death that would reign over men until the second Adam, Jesus Christ, made His appearance and destroyed the lie. Oh, saints of God, do not give your life to worldly and fleshly hopes that will only take you toward heart sickness. Embrace God's ways and paths. Surrender to His will and His Spirit's guiding. In that you will find a tree of life that will yield not just an earthly satisfaction now - but an eternal one that will last forevermore. A sated man loathes honey, But to a famished man any bitter thing is sweet. Proverbs 27:7
This proverb is about much more than just when a person likes and dislikes honey. It is about hunger - first physical hunger as the physical meaning suggests - but it is about much more than just physical hunger. It is about how we walk through life - about worldliness and about knowing and walking with God. The physical picture painted for us is very clear. When a man is sated he loathes honey. To be sated means that you are stuffed. This is like when you have eaten too much at a meal and you are miserable. It wouldn't matter what someone offered you - you would not want any part of it. This is why the man loathes something as sweet and enjoyable as honey. He is too stuffed with food to enjoy anything. The opposite is also true though. A famished man considers any bitter thing sweet. The famished man is truly hungry. He has not eaten all day long - and as a result he is ready to eat anything. Even something which others might consider bitter is sweet to him. He will take it up and eat it grateful for anything to help him with his hunger. Beyond the physical picture shown to us are great spiritual truths for us to glean. A man sated with the world will look at the Word of God and loathe it. He is filled up with the daintes of the world and as a result has little or no spiritual hunger. 1 John tells us that everything in the world, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the boastful pride of life comes not from the Father, but from the world. When we fill our hearts and souls with whatever our eyes desire, whatever our flesh demands, and with a heaping helping of boasting in this life - we will not have any desire for the Word, which is sweeter than the honey or the honey comb. The glories of God and what He has in store for us seem like nothing when we are glutted with worldliness and selfish pursuits. This is why it is so hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. He is so filled with what "this world" has to offer - that often he has no room left for the things of God. We need to see the danger of feasting on the world, the flesh, and the fast food of the devil. When we do - we will despise and loathe the things of our Lord. Then there is the famished man. The man who knows that the things of this world and this life are temporary. They are fleeting pleasures - what the Bible calls lying desires. They lie to us because they constantly promise fulfillment - but in the end they do not satisfy. They don't provide contentment - they do just the opposite. They eye is never filled with seeing - the flesh is never satisfied with food - and when we set our sights on wealth and riches, they take flight and soar to the heavens, always just a little beyond our ever grasping hands. Knowing these things - he seeks God for his "daily" bread - and asks not for riches. He knows that often the man with them forgets his God. Thus he wants something more. He has heard of this One Whose Spirit within is like a spring that rises up to heaven and salvation itself. He has heard of One Whose bread of life actually fills. He seeks the One Who offers rivers of living water - not a river outside of himself - but one that God puts within that overflows out of him to bless others. He is a famished man when it comes to worldliness and sin. He is a famished man when it comes to the religion of the eyes and flesh. He knows that boasting in this life provides him nothing in the end. Therefore he hungers and thirsts after God. He has heard from One that blessed is he that hungers and thirsts for righteousness, for he will be satisfied. This hunger makes it to where any bitter thing is sweet to him. Where the worldling is constantly receiving but is never satisfied, this one receives everything from the hand of God - good and bad - and it all works together for good in his heart and life. Whereas the worldling ever complains that it is just not enough - the spiritually hungry one has eaten of contentment itself in the presence of God. Having his spirit filled to overflowing - he knows that all that God allows in his life (whether sweet or bitter) is working on his behalf. He even knows that the light and momentary discomforts, disappointments, disconcerting events - are working toward an eternal weight of glory that cannot be ascertained. God is at work in this famished man's heart - thus any way that God's providence and sovereignty designs his circumstances are going to be satisfying for eternity. When you look at this proverb - and the truth that it represents - you come away with the paradox of God's work in this world. The filled go away hungry - while the hungry are deeply satisfied. The difference between seeking this world - and the world to come - is the difference between knowing contentment and fulfillment in hunger - or just walking through life empty even though you are sated with the world and all it offers. Truly, blessed are the poor and destitute in spirit - for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The LORD will not allow the righteous to hunger, But He will reject the craving of the wicked. Proverbs 10:3
There are two level's of meaning to this particular proverb. They are both a blessing to those who read it, understand it, and who look to the Lord for their subsistence. Jehovah will not allow the soul of the righteous to hunger. That is what this passage says. It refers on the surface level to the simple fact that God is going to provide basics for believers. David said, "I was young, and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread." What a comfort to us this should be. God promises to make provision for us. Often our problem is that we want way more than provision. God promises food and raiment (clothing) and with these we should be content. Yet in our culture we have come to call too many things "necessities." In fact there are entire theological systems based upon us getting whatever we claim from God - no matter how blatent the greed becomes. Hopefully we see through the ruse of selfish and fleshly greed and rejoice when we are able to eat and clothe ourselves each day. But there is more to this proverb - a deeper level. God will not allow the SOUL of the righteous to hunger. If we desire the Lord - if we hunger for God - our soul will be satisfied! Blessed are the hungry, for they shall be filled! Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled! God promises to us a fullness that can never be defined by food and drink alone. It is the fullness of the Spirit. It is a fullness that describes how God Himself comes to fill us to the deepest levels of our hearts and souls with Himself. This, even more than just a promise of food, should fill our hearts with joy unspeakable, and full of glory! There is a comparison here though. We read that the craving of the wicked will be thrust away. The craving of the wicked is the desires and lusts that they have without limits and without bounds. The wicked will always seek to push the limits of what is allowed. They will always seek to push the laws of the land to where they can pursue greater and greater godlessness. Because it is the desire of the wicked - these desires and wants are ungodly ones - desires that are clearly outside of the scope of God's will and desires. The Lord promises to thrust away these things. When I read this I think of that horrific final day when God's judgments on all things, all choices, all lifestyles is made clear. In that all important day those who lived for wickedness will hear those eternally aweful words, depart from me, you wicked, into everlasting fire - I never knew you! In that moment every desire of the wicked - every lifestyle that is outside God's purposes will be thrust away. There is one thing though that I think we need to grasp to see this proverb clearly. We usually see words like "wicked" and think of only the most heinous of sinners. The wicked are those outside of God's grace and salvation in Christ. The "wicked" might look to us like the model citizen, the good ole boy, the nice girl, the sweet couple. Yet, if they reject their sinfulness in God's sight and the only remedy which is Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected from the dead - they are indeed wicked. Even their 'nice' lifestyles and 'decent-looking' lives will be thrust away. When our desires run contrary to those of the Lord - we place ourselves firmly in the place and the choices of the wicked. Their lives may look full and meaningful from the outside - but inwardly they are empty. Their desires will be thrust away. Yet the righteous - their soul will be satisfied as with fatness. They have Christ Jesus as an everlasting portion. Their hungers and desires in Him will be fulfilled! |
 Proverb a DayEach day, we'll take a look at a verse from the chapter of Proverbs for the day. Our hope is to gain wisdom each day - and from that wisdom - to have understanding to make godly decisions in the throes of everyday life. 
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