Proverbs 30

This chapter owes much of its impressiveness to the author’s profound humility. He professes that humility in verses 1-9. From that attitude, he shows both his abhorrence of arrogance in all its forms and his fascinating, frank description of his perception of the world and its manners. The groups of people and animals he describes teach us lessons without imposing these lessons. The predominant attitude is that of keen and often joyful interest. This interest invites us to look afresh at our world with the eye of a man of faith who is a characterful artist of words and observer.

Who “Agur” was, we do not know. We do know that he is “the son of Jakeh”, but we do not know Jakeh either. That his father is mentioned may mean that he is a wise son who listened to the teaching of his father. That he is a wise son is evident from the wise words we have from him in this chapter. His father must have rejoiced in his wise son. We have seen this father-son relationship several times in the previous chapters. This relationship is the basis for the teaching of this book.

That Agur is mentioned only here and is otherwise unknown to us may mean that it is not so much about his person as about his “words”. This makes him at the same time an example for us. We all have a name, but who knows us? Only a few know us. But if our name is connected to our wise words, our name will live on because of our wise words.

Nor are the words spoken by Agur just words. They are words called “the oracle” or “the burden”. This word we often encounter with the prophets (Isa 13:1; 14:28; 15:1; 17:1; 19:1; Hab 1:1). The words of Agur contain a prophetic message placed by God’s Spirit as a burden on his heart. He feels its weight. He experiences what he writes. That makes him a prophet who speaks to our hearts and consciences (cf. Jn 4:17-19).

He speaks as “the man”. There is no pomposity with him. The haughty claim ‘thus speaks the LORD’ that people sometimes utter in order to draw attention only to themselves is absent with him. He takes the humble place of a man because he knows himself in the presence of God. At the same time, this makes it clear that this man speaks by the Spirit (cf. Num 24:3; 2Sam 23:1).

Also of Ithiel and Ucal we do not know more than their names mentioned here. Possibly they are his children whom he teaches in the knowledge of Divine things. They may also be disciples whom he wishes to teach wisdom. In any case, he has had dealings with these two persons from a personal involvement.

It is notable that he speaks to “to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal”. He mentions the name of Ithiel twice. As an application, perhaps this can be seen to mean that he has responded to questions raised by Ithiel alone and to questions raised by Ithiel and Ucal together. His attention is on personal and communal questions.

When Agur begins his teaching, he does not speak from on high, from the position of someone who believes he knows everything and has an answer for everything. He begins by saying of himself that he is more stupid than anyone else (verse 2). He also acknowledges that he lacks understanding. In verse 4 we see that he comes to this conclusion because he looks up and around and thinks of God. In the light of Who God is and the ways He goes, his reason and understanding do not amount to anything at all. In that light, he assumes that others have more understanding than he does. This is evidence of true reason and understanding.

One who recognizes his own inability regarding Who God is and what He accomplishes has the right mind and attitude to teach others. It does not mean that Agur lacked intellectual ability, but that he recognizes that with regard to the spiritual understanding of life and the questions of life, he is completely ignorant. Only God is perfect in His knowledge and understanding of life, and He alone can communicate of this to people.

The psalmist Asaph comes to the same conclusion as Agur by a different route: “Then I was senseless and ignorant; I was [like] a beast before You” (Psa 73:22). This is the condition in which all humanity finds itself. Yet there are only a few who realize this. It is only those who are connected to God by faith and live from a living connection with Him, as we see with Agur and Asaph. He who shares in their realization feels it so intensely personal that in his own eyes he seems more stupid than any man.

In continuation of verse 2, in verse 3 he speaks of “wisdom” which he has not learned and of “the knowledge of the Holy One” which he does not have. Here he says that human education he has received has not given him wisdom in Divine things and in God Himself. By “the Holy One” God is meant. Agur, like Solomon in Proverbs 9, speaks, literally, of God in plural (Pro 9:10).

God is not fully revealed as the triune God until the New Testament. Agur and Solomon did not know it either. Yet they may have already sensed something of it through the Spirit [see the words “We” and “Us” in Gen 1:26]. We also see this as far as Agur is concerned in the question he asks at the end of verse 4 about “His Name” and “His son’s name”.

What he says proves the working of the Spirit of God in his heart. As a result, he realizes who he is in himself and what he knows from himself. He belonged to the darkness in which man’s mind is darkened. The understanding of what life is, is for man with a darkened mind nothing but groping around in darkness. Consequently, it was also not possible to learn wisdom or gain anything from the knowledge of the highly holy God.

What he is saying is that God’s wisdom is so immense that in comparison to it he learned nothing of wisdom. The deeper a person penetrates into the mystery of wisdom, that is into Who God and Christ are, the more he becomes aware of how little he knows. It is wisdom to know the limits of reason and wisdom. As believers, we may know the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ’s love, while at the same time there is the deep realization that this love “surpasses knowledge” (Eph 3:18-19).

Agur makes it clear through six questions that he – and this is true of every human being – is indeed totally ignorant concerning God and Divine things. These questions emphasize the actions of God and show that it is absurd for a mortal to think that he can explain God’s work or compare himself to God. They prove the exaltedness of God and the complete inability of man (cf. Isa 40:12; Deu 30:11-14; Rom 10:6-7; Eph 4:9).

It cannot be contradicted that “heaven” is there, above us, and that man’s interest has been toward heaven since time immemorial. The journey to the moon shows his desire for its knowledge. His examination of the sky, which he undertakes from the earth, gives him the consciousness that he is only scribbling at the hem of the universe. And going to heaven to have a look there is another thing altogether. Who has ever done that? Or who has descended from it to tell something about its mysteries?

We know that Christ ascended to heaven. That happened after He had completed the work of redemption on the cross, had been in death and had risen. From there He sent the Holy Spirit. In the Spirit He comes down to tell what is in heaven (Jn 14:18; 16:13-15). When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He could say: “No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man” (Jn 3:13). He, Who was to ascend into heaven after His work on the cross, when He was on earth was at the same time in heaven. This was so because He is the only begotten Son of God. He is the answer to the questions of Agur.

When we look under heaven, here on earth, we also see things there that cannot be grasped or controlled by man. The invisible “wind” is elusive and its power irresistible, but not to Him. In the spiritual application, the wind refers to difficulties that come into our lives. We have no control over them, but we may know that Christ also has the wind in His hand in our life.

The same applies to tangible “waters”, over which man also has absolutely no control. Waters speak of trials that can come into our life where we feel like we are drowning in them. But He is with us in the waters of tribulation (Isa 43:2). And what about “all the ends of the earth”, who “established” them, or gave stability to them? Here again, He is the answer. He gives stability to our life.

The atmosphere (wind), the liquid (waters) and the solid (ends of the earth), all are beyond man’s control. Yet they are controlled. Agur asks about the Name of Who does that and what is His son’s Name. The words “His name” and “His son’s name” are rightly capitalized, for Agur is speaking of God. Only to him God is still so incomprehensible, so inimitable, so full of secrets. To ask about the name is to ask about His Being, about His characteristics and attributes. Who will be able to know them fully?

He also asks about the Name of His Son. If then God is so exalted and so incomprehensible, is there perhaps Someone Who can represent Him? Is there perhaps Someone Who can speak on behalf of God, or could declare Him? His question does show that he lives very close to God and senses that perhaps there is a Son Who shares in the attributes of God because He is His Son. In this we must remember that the Son does not speak on behalf of God, but He speaks as God because He is God.

God “has spoken to us in [His] Son in these last days” (Heb 1:1). The prophets were human beings through whom God addressed His people. But the Lord Jesus, the Son, is not a means through whom God speaks. The speaking of the Lord Jesus is the speaking of God Himself! The prophets spoke on behalf of God. The Lord Jesus did not speak on behalf of God, but in His capacity as God. This He certainly did as Man on earth, but that Man is God the Son. God Himself speaks as a Divine Person. That Person is the Son.

As noted above, the truth of the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is not fully revealed until the New Testament. Here, in the Old Testament, it is still hidden. We know that the Lord Jesus is the eternal Son to Whom God has not transferred certain attributes, but Who is perfectly one with Him and has perfectly revealed Him on earth: “The only begotten Son Who is in the bosom of the Father, Who has explained [Him]” (Jn 1:18). At the same time, even for us it remains an unfathomable mystery Who the Son really is, for “no one knows the Son except the Father” (Mt 11:27).

For us, the questions of verse 4 are answered in the New Testament. There we see that they are about God and His revelation in the Son. Wherever God reveals Himself, He does so in the Son. We also see that the Son is the Creator and Sustainer of all things (Jn 1:1-3; Col 1:16; Heb 1:2). Everything is under His control and He brings creation to the goal He has set for Himself. God will once subject all things to His feet (Heb 2:8) because He has accomplished the work of redemption.

From his questions about God regarding creation, Agur moves on to the words of God, to what He has said (verse 5). God reveals Himself in creation and He reveals Himself in His Word (Psa 19:1-11). Agur knows that in God’s Word are the answers to the questions he has just asked. God can only be known through His Word, for in it He reveals Himself fully, while in creation He alone reveals His “eternal power and divine nature” (Rom 1:20).

There is no doubt with Agur about anything God has said. “Every word” that God has spoken, without one exception, “is tested”, pure, spotless (Psa 12:6). Tested means that it has passed every test of fire, showing its untainted purity. The proof has been established and cannot be contradicted. It also means that all of the Word of God is trustworthy. Nothing in it is deceitful or false, whether history, commandments, promises or threats.

The second half of the verse gives the tremendous value of the Word for our daily life. Those who are convinced of the value of the Word will “take refuge in Him”. We see here the identification of the Word with the Person of the Son. We also see this identification in Hebrews 4, where we read that “there is no creature hidden from His sight” (Heb 4:12-13). To those who take refuge in the Word, that is, in the Son, the Word is, He is, a shield. When we are tested in our faith, God’s Word and His promises will prove to be a shield and protection. It is safe to take refuge in Him, which is what we do when we read and keep His Word (Psa 18:30).

The confidence spoken of in verse 5 is followed by a warning in verse 6 not to add anything to the words of God (Deu 4:2; 12:32; Rev 22:18-19). This tendency is all too common. The Word does not need to be checked for errors and for completeness. It is inerrant and complete. What is proven to be pure becomes impure by an addition.

He who adds is conceited and ascribes divinity to himself. Any addition of foreign elements makes it impure. Whoever does so proves that he is a liar, one who does not stand in the truth. We see additions, for example, when human writings about the Bible are in practice given the same authority as Scripture or even begin to rule over the interpretation of the Bible. Of the latter, the (theistic) theory of evolution is an example.

After God’s revelation in creation (verse 4) and His Word (verses 5-6) comes prayer (verse 7). Word and prayer always go together. Agur has expressed his absolute confidence in God’s Word. Now he turns to God in prayer. He lives with the God Whom he trusts and in Whom he takes refuge. Through his prayer, he assumes the position of one who depends on God. He has no confidence in himself, but all confidence in God. In that trust, he prays a short and powerful prayer.

He has asked for “two things”. He will call these in a moment, but first he asks that God not refuse him these two things before he dies. “Before I die”, means as long as I live. By saying it this way, Agur shows that he lives in the realization that life on earth is finite, and also that it comes down to perseverance until the end. Also, the thought of dying implies that he is aware that he will have to account for the things he has done in his life. Agur wants to live to the glory of God and not be condemned by Him.

What Agur says in verses 8-9 shows great self-knowledge. He is aware of dangers of sinning. First, he recognizes the danger of “deception” in his heart and “lies” in his mouth (verse 8a). Here it is about the mind, the inner self, the motives. It is about sin and lies through which sin is expressed, deception in thought and lies in speech.

His prayer is that God will keep that far from him. He instructed his children or disciples Ithiel and Ucal in verse 6 that they should not add anything to God’s Word, lest they prove to be liars. Now he himself acknowledges his weakness and tendency to sin and asks God not to lead him into temptation, but to preserve him from the evil one and his influences (Mt 6:13). Those who warn others must pray that they themselves are preserved from the evil they warn others about.

Agur recognizes that only God’s grace can preserve him from this. He knows that he is capable of deception and lies and that he has no power in himself to resist it. But with God that strength is present. Thus he finds rest in God in regard to these dangers.

There are also other dangers, dangers that are more in the circumstances that may endanger motives or character (verse 8b). He desires balance in his material circumstances. He does not seek great things in life. Specifically, he asks that God give him neither poverty nor riches. What he would like is for God to “feed” him “with the food that is” his “portion”.

The portion is the daily bread, which is needed daily. It corresponds to what the Lord Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Mt 6:11). More is riches, less is poverty (cf. 1Tim 6:8). Agur is not concerned with poverty or riches per se, for God can make rich and poor, but with what is associated with it, what it can lead to. He speaks of that in verse 9.

Agur desires the happiest way to live. Poverty and riches both have their dangers. He wants to be free from the worries associated with poverty and he does not want to be vulnerable to temptations associated with riches. Freedom from both dangers he sees as the best way to serve God.

He does not prescribe, as if this is the only way a person can be happy and serve God. God can make someone rich. Then such a person may serve God with his riches. If God makes someone poor, he may trust God in his circumstances. Paul learned in his life to deal with both circumstances (Phil 4:12).

In verse 9 he says what the dangers of both riches and poverty are. If he fell into either danger, it could lead him to sin. As a result, his life would no longer produce fruit for God. He then resembles seed sown among thorns, about which the Lord Jesus tells in the parable of the sower: “And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful” (Mt 13:22). “The deceitfulness of wealth” we have in the word “full” and “the worry of world” we have in the words “in want”.

Agur recognizes that he is in danger of becoming independent of God, no longer needing Him and thereby denying Him when he has too much (Deu 8:11-14). He would thereby act as if he were a rebellious unbeliever like Pharaoh, who also said: “Who is the LORD?” (Exo 5:2). The defiant question: “Who is the LORD?” implies that a person does not feel obligated to Him, can live without Him and is content with himself. The desire of Agur not to have too much is related to his dealings with the LORD. His thinking revolves around God.

The danger associated with poverty lies more in doing what is wrong. Poverty involves the great temptation to be dishonest and steal. If you have a gnawing hunger and see something edible somewhere that belongs to someone else. Thereby, you can also tell yourself that the other person can miss it and you need it to stay alive. Maybe it is even for your children who are starving. Then it seems all justified. But stealing can never be justified, no matter how much one can sometimes understand it in cases of hunger (Pro 6:30-31).

Why is Agur afraid to steal? Because otherwise he will end up in prison? No, he is afraid to steal because then the Name of God will be profaned by it. Agur was known as a faithful, God-fearing believer. What defamation he would cast on the Name of God if he were to steal. He emphatically calls God “my God”, indicating that he lives in a personal and living relationship with Him. Therefore, he cannot bear the thought of profaning his confession of that Name by a sinful act. For this reason, he asks God not to put him in such a situation of poverty. As with the danger of riches, we see that with the danger of poverty, his thinking revolves around God.

Agur is the rare example of someone who knows his weakness and openly confesses it. He expresses that he does not trust himself. We are quite capable of speaking in general terms and saying that man cannot be trusted, but it is another thing to say: ‘I do not trust myself.’ Agur did not trust himself, but he did trust God.

We have seen that Agur acknowledges his own ignorance (verses 2-3) and that he appeals to God’s Word for the safety in life (verses 5-6). We have also seen that he prays that God will keep him from falling into temptation (verses 7-9). He has spoken of his ignorance, but his appeal to God’s Word and his prayer demonstrate great wisdom and knowledge. In this he is much wiser and has much more knowledge than man in general. He recognizes the danger of poverty and he knows the grave dangers of riches, on which man so easily relies and which makes him forget that he owes everything to God.

This prayer is reminiscent of that of Jabez (1Chr 4:10), but as an opposite prayer. Perhaps we should admit that we are more inclined to pray the prayer of Jabez than this prayer of Agur.

From someone who already has no privileges, a slave, life should not be made even harder by slandering accusing him to his master of things he has not done, with the hope that he will suffer even harder. Nor will the master thank such a person for that. He will repay him who tried to do this evil. He will return it on his own head in the form of a curse and declare him guilty of slander.

In the spiritual application, this verse fits well with the prayer of Agur. He prayed for himself without thereby denouncing before God others who are not like him. It is not for him to judge anyone else’s relationship to his Lord. Paul points out to the believers in Rome the personal relationship each had to the Lord (Rom 14:4). To judge another’s slave means to step into the rights of his master, which for us means the exclusive rights of the Lord Jesus. We need not denounce fellow slaves to the Lord Jesus (cf. Phlm 1:10-11; cf. Deu 23:15-16).

Agur gives a list of four things six times in verses 11-31. In doing so, he draws the world as it functions after the Fall. He begins with four generations having the characteristics of the devil, their father. Each verse of verses 11-14 begins with the Hebrew word dor, which is “kind” or “generation”, a class of people characterized by certain character traits.

Agur perceives the distinctive character traits of the people who surround him. The generations are not successive generations. They can take place in the life of one person, so to speak. In the four generations he describes, we see a gradual increase in depravity. It goes from bad to worse:
1. Rebellion against authority, no respect for parents (verse 11).
2. Blindness regarding their true moral condition and their sinful life (verse 12).
3. Arrogance and pride (verse 13).
4. Aggressiveness and oppression of the needy (verse 14).

The first characteristic of a generation that does not acknowledge God is the contemptuous rejection of parental authority (verse 11). These are people who do not fear God and do not care about the authority given by Him. On the contrary, they curse it. They have no natural love for their parents; there is no respect for them.

They curse their father who fathered them. Their mother, who has carried them and tenderly cared for them, receives no word of thanks from them. “Does not bless” is a softening expression, which also means “curse”. It is one of the hallmarks of the last days that children disobey their parents (2Tim 3:1-5). We see its actuality around us.

Sin begins in the family, in the attitude toward parents. The beginning of all deviation is the renunciation of God’s authority in family relationships. We are commanded to honor our parents because they were God’s instruments to create us. Without them, we would not exist. To fail to recognize that we owe our life to our parents, and that as a result we are obligated to honor them, is to fail to recognize God as our Creator Whom we are obligated to praise. In our world that is full of broken families and dislocated families, this proverb sounds like a scathing condemnation.

A generation that has renounced God’s authority through the parents views itself as pure (verse 12). This is the second characteristic of a generation that does not acknowledge God. The cause is that these people have not been washed from their filthiness. That means they see their filthiness as purity. How foolish and blind is such a generation. “Filthiness” often refers to physical uncleanness, but here it is moral defilement (cf. Zec 3:3-4). This filthiness is not physical nor can it be washed away by any human means (Job 9:30-31; Jer 2:22). The dirt of sin can only be washed away by the blood of the Lamb and the Name of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit of God (Rev 7:14; 1Cor 6:11).

These people pride themselves on observing the outward religious rituals, but they pay no attention to their inner cleansing (Lk 11:39). They are busy with a clean outside, but blind to their depraved innermost being. Everyone sees the filthiness but themselves. They are clean in their own eyes and utterly blind to their shortcomings (Lk 18:11), but God sees the filthiness outside and inside.

It is the generation that claims that filthiness is no longer filthiness but purity. The open promotion, proclamation and acceptance of homosexual manifestations and connections, such as through Gay Pride, is one of the clearest examples of this. When God and His Word disappear from our view because they are removed from it, the standard by which everything must be measured is gone. We must have the original to see the deviations. Only the Holy Spirit can convince us of sin.

He who is pure in his own eyes (verse 12) looks down contemptuously on others (verse 13), the third characteristic of this generation. This generation exudes pride, arrogance and insolence. With contempt, the people of this generation look down on their neighbor, while they themselves show off like peacocks. They think they are stealing the show while making themselves despicable in God’s eye. It is a generation of proud people who pour out their contempt on anyone who resists them (cf. Psa 131:1).

The fourth and final characteristic of the people of that generation is cruelty (verse 14). The pictures of the first half of verse symbolize their cruel rapacity. Their teeth are like swords and their jaw teeth like knives. The second part of verse shows who their victims are. Like a voracious and unfeeling beast, they open their tearing mouth “to devour the afflicted from the earth and the needy from among men” (cf. Amos 8:4). Those who exploit and destroy other people are equal to beasts.

It is a generation without compassion. The tolerance that these people tout and highly extol is only varnish. They demand it only for themselves. Everyone must accept them, but they themselves do not accept any other opinion. There is not a trace of mercy in them, but only tearful brutality. We see this in the killing of children in the womb and the killing by euthanasia of the elderly or those suffering ‘unbearably and hopelessly’.

Man through his belief in the theory of evolution thinks he is a higher developed animal. In reality, he sinks deeper and deeper into a behavior comparable only to that of the most savage beasts. He displays the traits of a tearing beast. He even surpasses that beast in cruelty, for he deliberately acts and justifies his violent, cruel behavior by giving a spin on it that it is actually a benefaction to act in this way. It is the deepest form of depravity. That man is the image of the Creator Who gives and sustains life is completely gone here. Every relationship with Him is broken. Man has turned into a predator with satan as his model, who is a murderer of men from the beginning.

The four generations mentioned above (verses 11-14) are the leeches of verse 15. The leech is the symbol of greed. It sucks blood by means of its suckers at both ends of its body. Agur here mentions the “two daughters”, one named “Give” and the other also named “Give”. The name “Give” is a ‘brand name’ you can put on any form of greed. In each case it is about nothing but the satisfaction of a desire that in reality is never satisfied. Always the desire for more or different remains.

Satan is the great leech. He sucks the life out of people. The instruments he uses to do this are the “two daughters” who are also leeches. The expression “three, ... four” (verses 18,21,29) is a Hebrew saying indicating that it is not about something incidental, but something more common.

The “three things” are satan and his ‘daughters’. This can be applied to man’s sinful lusts, for they never say “enough”. Satan and his daughters are insatiable leeches. To illustrate the dark nature of man’s sinful, insatiable lusts, Agur uses “four” examples. There is mention of two daughters, three insatiable things and four things that never say: “Enough.”

The first example of what is insatiable is “Sheol” or the realm of death (verse 16; Hab 2:5). Sheol is like a house that is always open and where there is always room when someone has died. Countless have gone before us since the Fall. Never will the door close with a sign that says Full. The door of that house will not close until eternity comes and death and Hades are cast into the lake of fire (Rev 20:14). This is not because the realm of death is full, but because there is no one left to enter it.

The second example is “the barren womb”. The woman’s womb is always absorbing the seed, but the woman never receives the satisfaction she desires: to give life to a child (Gen 30:1; 1Sam 1:8). The womb is thus equivalent to Sheol.

The third example is dry earth. That “earth that is never satisfied with water”, will absorb water with the greatest eagerness and never say it is enough (cf. Psa 63:1-2). Poured out water is a symbol of the pouring out of life, which always goes on and on (2Sam 14:14). As a result, this example can also be connected to death.

The fourth example is “fire”. Fire does not ever become satiated from what it can consume. It eats up everything it encounters in its path and continues to do so insatiably as long as there is anything that is combustible. Similarly, anything thrown into it is eaten up by the flames. Never do flames reach a point where they give back what was thrown in because they would have enough. This is reminiscent of hell, the eternal fire, a fire that never comes to an end, that burns on forever and is not satiated until eternity.

Only the Creator can satiate man’s deepest desires, that is a life in fellowship with Him. Only He can fill the emptiness of the heart He created by satisfying the desire for Him.

It is not out of the question that he who is insatiable may fall into the lowest sin, that of mocking and despising the parents. As if they were to blame for not satisfying his insatiable desires. With this, Agur returns to the first characteristic of the generation in the midst of which he lives (verse 11). Here he speaks of “the eye that mocks the father”. The eye reveals the inner attitude of the heart, and that eye is full of contempt. The contempt runs deep. It is also evident in the scorn [literally: despise to obey] there is for “the mother”. God pays attention to with what eyes a child looks at his parents.

The punishment is commensurate with the sin. The eye that so emphatically expresses scorn and contempt will first be picked out by “the ravens of the valley”. Then it will be eaten by “the young eagles”. We can take the eye picking out and eating it literally. It indicates dying an untimely death, after which the body will not be buried, but given up to the birds of prey. God ensures that these birds will feast on the eyes of this sinner. This judgment also confirms that such a person is blind to God as Creator. This severe punishment is applied to him who looks at his parents with scorn and contempt.

Agur now looks at nature, in which many things are wonderful and at the same time “too wonderful” or incomprehensible (verse 18). Four times it is about “the way of” as an illustration of the ways God goes in creation and with people (Rom 11:33b). Agur cites some examples as an anthology. We know that God includes in His Word only what is important to us. Therefore, we may expect to learn lessons from these examples. Not that those lessons are always immediately clear to us, but that is peculiar to the book of Proverbs. We have to think about things, even things of which we have to say they “are too wonderful for me” and of which we have to acknowledge “I cannot understand”.

It is not easy to discover what the four things have in common (verse 19). They are linked by the use of the word “way” and also by a sense of mystery and inscrutability. All four go a way that cannot be traced. Once they have shown themselves, they disappear again without leaving a trace. Of the areas where they go their way, three are geographic (sky, land and sea) and one is social (marital relationship). The first three serve as illustrations of the fourth. The fourth is also the greatest wonder.

When we observe “the way of an eagle in the sky”, we are impressed by it. Which way he goes, we cannot know in advance. And when he has gone that way, we see no trace of it. The same is true of “the way of a serpent on a rock”. We can watch the quick and purposeful movement of a reptile without feet, but we cannot predict the path he takes over the rock. If he crawls away into a crevice, he has left no trace of the way he went.

“The way of a ship in the middle of the sea” is equally unpredictable. There is no defined path by which it is predictable which way the ship goes. When it has sailed by and the water behind it has settled down again, there is no trace of the path it has taken. The movements of these three are beautiful to behold. They focus our attention on the majestic and mysterious movements in the sky, on the land and on the sea.

After covering the areas of sky, land and sea, our attention is drawn to “the way of a man with a maid”. Herein is indicated the wonder of attraction between a man and a woman and unification in the sexual intercourse. In what way a man conceives love for a girl is a wonder that cannot be described beforehand. When the time comes for him to seek contact with the girl, it is impossible to predict how it will go. Perhaps “the way of a man with a maid” is about the most intimate part of the marriage relationship in particular. That is completely closed off from any perception. It is the secret between two people that no one else knows about.

We can make another spiritual application of the four “ways” described here. We can connect the way of an eagle in the sky to the coming of the Son of God from heaven to declare God on earth. It also refers to His way back to heaven. This cannot be grasped by the natural man (Jn 6:60-63).

The way of a serpent on the rock cannot be understood either. What is the way the serpent, the devil (Rev 12:9), chose to enter the creation created by the righteous God, Who is a Rock and free from guile (Deu 32:4)? And what is the way the serpent continually goes and on which he moves in God’s creation? How is it that the evil one can continually come into God’s presence to denounce the brethren (Rev 12:10; cf. Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6)? We also see the way of a serpent on the rock in satan’s attempts to tempt the Lord Jesus, the Rock (Mt 4:1-11; 1Cor 10:4). He left no trace in Christ, for he found nothing in Him (Jn 14:30).

In a ship in the middle of the sea, we can see the church in the middle of the nations of the world. The church has now sailed through the sea of nations (Isa 17:12-13) for 2,000 years. All these years the evil one has tried to destroy the church, to cause her to be shipwrecked. But she has been preserved right through all attempts in a way that is inimitable to us (Mt 16:18), for God is leading her. God’s way with His church is in the sea (cf. Psa 77:19-20).

The way of a man with a maid brings us to the way of the Lord Jesus with His church. The way He went about to possess her is inimitable. How did He take our heart, how did we receive the new life? We cannot verify that (Jn 3:8), we can only conclude it. His love for us brought Him into the greatest suffering, into the anguish of Gethsemane and the horrors of the cross, above all into the three hours of darkness, when He was made sin and His God had to forsake Him. We can only worship Him for that.

Nor can we verify the wisdom of His constant work with and for His church. We know that He does so through His Word (Eph 5:25-27), but not in a way that is discernible to us. Perhaps He will tell us and show us when we are with Him. Then we will know as we too are known (1Cor 13:12).

In verse 20, one more way is described. This way is in stark contrast to the way of love of the previous verse. It is “the way of an adulterous woman”. Of her unfaithfulness she also leaves no trace. Here again we find the contrast that runs through the whole book of Proverbs, the contrast between Wisdom and foolishness, between the faithful woman and the unfaithful woman. We also find this contrast in Revelation, between the Lamb’s wife, the church, and Babylon the great, the great harlot, the mother of harlots (Rev 17:1-6; 19:1-8).

This latter points out that we can also apply this verse spiritually. The verse portrays that the love Christ has revealed for the church is answered by the church with unfaithfulness. We see that professing Christianity is becoming increasingly blatantly unfaithful to Him Whom she professes as her Lord. She connects with the world in the most intimate way by bringing in all kinds of worldly methods and adapting God’s Word to the vision of modern man.

That this verse is placed immediately after verse 19 gives support to the idea that the previous verse is focused on sexual intimacy in marriage. The pictures of her eating and wiping her mouth are a veiled indication of sexual activity (cf. Pro 9:17). What she does in her unfaithfulness is no more than a meal for her. She removes all traces of the sin she has committed and goes back to her daily activities as if nothing had happened.

It is mind-boggling that people can sin and then very easily shake off a sense of guilt or responsibility. This is only possible because there is a callous indifference to the Lord’s will regarding sexuality.

The common element in verses 21-23 is the unbearable. Agur gives four examples of this, divided equally between the two sexes. Each example indicates the abuse of power and prosperity obtained by persons who come to occupy or receive a position that is inappropriate for them. They go against the order that God has established. When God’s order is reversed, it brings quaking of the earth (verse 21). It cannot bear that. It makes the whole society unstable. Maintaining God’s order works stability and peace. Thus He wants everything in the church to be done “properly and in an orderly manner”, that is, in His order (1Cor 14:40).

The first example is that of “a slave when he becomes king” (verse 22a). For a slave, a place of ruling is not reserved. If he does get that place, it will be a mess in the land, for he simply has no understanding of it. He who is suddenly elevated in his status becomes an unbearable person. Everything begins to quake, for there is no longer a clear government. Such a change shakes the order of life. In the church, everything also shudders when someone who should be serving begins to rule (3Jn 1:9-10).

The second example is that of “a fool when he is satisfied with food” (verse 22b). It is a lazy fool. The fool, by definition, excludes God. That makes him a fool. Giving such a man food until he is completely full of it turns God’s order upside down. One who does not want to work will not eat either (2Thes 3:10). If you do give such a person food, he will not only sit with a satisfied feeling in his belly, but also with a full feeling of arrogant self-satisfaction. Because he is satisfied, he is not thinking about going to work. He spends his time preaching and performing follies. With such a person, chaos only increases.

The third person under whom the earth quakes is “an unloved woman when she gets a husband” (verse 23a). An unloved woman means a woman on whom there is nothing attractive; she has an evil character. This becomes apparent as soon as she is married. Then she takes control within the family. The power she has, she uses not for good, but for evil. The relationships in the family are disturbed. Underneath it, the earth quakes.

The fourth person is “a maidservant when she supplants her mistress” (verse 23b). She is similar to the slave who becomes king in verse 22a. The possessions she inherits suddenly give her a completely different life. She was a maidservant, but suddenly she feels she is a mistress because of the inheritance. Instead of obeying, she now gives orders. This cannot be borne by those with whom she used to serve her mistress.

What the “four things” who are “small on earth” have in common is wisdom (verse 24). The four small animals mentioned by Agur know how to deal with their natural disadvantages or limitations in order to survive. This instinct has been put into these small animals by the Creator. He has made them “exceedingly wise”. How great is His wisdom! Man is naturally inclined to admire what is big, strong and impressive. Here we see that this is not so for God, even in creation. We should not despise the weak things in creation, but learn from them. In God’s creation, God’s wisdom manifests itself in various ways. Humans can thereby learn the value of wisdom (Job 12:7).

These creatures are “not a strong people” (verse 25), “not mighty people” (verse 26), without “king” (verse 27) and without defense (verse 28). The same is true of the church in the world. The church is weak, but all wisdom is available to it in Christ (1Cor 1:26-29,30).

The wisdom exhibited in “the ants” concerns their forward thinking and organizational ability to build a food supply for later (verse 25). That the ants are not a strong people is no excuse for them to be lazy. They know how to physically survive in the future. Diligently they are preparing food in the summer so they will have food to eat in the winter.

They teach us that we must live a future-oriented life (Pro 6:6). Just as the ants gather food in view of their future needs, so we should read God’s Word as our spiritual food not only for today, but also for the future. Then the Holy Spirit can use from it what is needed at any given time.

The rich fool had also had laid up many goods for many years, but on earth. He never saw the future years for which he had accumulated so much, because his future for him was only earth (Lk 12:16-21).

We see the wisdom of “the shephanim” [badgers] in their ingenuity in finding a place of safety in the rocks and building their houses there (verse 26). They know how to survive in a hostile environment (Ps 104:18b). They seek their safety in the rocks. Their condition is extremely weak, but their position is very strong. It teaches us that our awareness of weakness and inability should bring us to the rock, that is Christ (1Cor 10:4), to build our house there (Mt 7:24-25).

The wisdom of “the locusts” consists in the orderly cooperation among them that makes them march like a massive military division (verse 27). They know how to organize; they have a remarkable organizational talent. There is spontaneous unity and order. They do not have a king or queen like the bees, “yet all of them go out in ranks” like a well-organized army. A single locust has no strength; you just trample it to death. But in swarms locusts are invincible and all-destroying (Exo 10:13-15; Isa 33:4; Joel 2:25; Rev 9:11).

God has put that collective advancing in them. The lesson for us is that the sense of weakness should keep us together as members of the church and that we should strengthen each other. We can experience that in a local church if the invisible Person, the Holy Spirit, can govern it. With the Colossians that was the case. Paul could say to them: “For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ” (Col 2:5). Are there any local churches today that He can say that to?

The wisdom of “the lizard” is his ability to enter even the palaces of kings (verse 28). The weak, defenseless lizard who can be grasped at will knows how to get into the best-secured, as well as into the most important, dwellings, such as “into the palaces of the king”.

Countless Christians throughout church history have been seized and slaughtered without defending themselves, but they have a dwelling with God. He who is weak may know that he has a distinguished and secure place in Christ. Believers have royal dignity and “are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household” (Eph 2:19). With its suction cups, the lizard can move about on the smoothest surfaces. It sticks to them, as it were. This is how faith may cling itself to the dwelling place of God.

To keep us from thinking that the small of the previous verses is always better than the big, Agur gives four illustrations of stately creatures. They are all leaders (verse 29). The contrast with the previous four is clear. They are not powerless beings with whom you can do whatever you want, but they impress. They possess leadership qualities. There is something majestic about the way they move around. They “are stately in [their] march” and “are stately when they walk”. First we are given three examples from the animal world. They are the prelude to the fourth, the king who has his army with him. The army enhances the impression of his majesty.

The first animal with a royal appearance is “the lion”, the king among beasts (verse 30). He “does not retreat before any”. On the contrary, everyone avoids him and gives him wide latitude. His way of moving around commands awe. Power radiates from it. He will not quicken his pace to flee, for he knows no fear of anyone. By his strength and majesty he illustrates Christ, “the ruler of the kings of the earth”, “the Lion from the tribe of Judah” (Rev 1:5; 5:5).

We also see in “a strutting rooster” (verse 31) a royal appearance as he parades among the chickens. We find something of this in the Dutch saying “his rooster crows king” (= he achieves victory). The rooster crows when the sun rises, at the beginning of a new day. It is a sign of a new beginning. We see this in Peter’s denial of the Lord Jesus. When the rooster crowed, Peter woke up, as it were, and repented of what he had done (Mt 26:75). That was the beginning of the way back.

We can therefore see the rooster as a symbol of the announcement of the coming of the King. Christ will appear in majesty as Judge to judge the world and establish His kingdom of peace.

The walk of “the male goat” is also stately. With his head proudly raised, he walks before the flock (Jer 50:8), he goes at the head of it. The male goat is pre-eminently the animal that was used as a sin offering. It recalls the Lord Jesus Who went with royal dignity to Jerusalem to die as the sin offering. He had purposed to go that way and do that work and no one could stop Him in that (Lk 9:51). That work is the basis for His return to earth, for by that work He regained the right to creation.

Christ comes back to earth as “a king” and his “army is with Him”. A king with an army with him makes a great impression. No one dares oppose him and no one can stand against him. That will happen when Christ returns as King with all His people with Him (Rev 19:11-21). It is the people He has sanctified for Himself, for whom He has offered the sacrifice. That people may reign with Him.

Agur does not end with the dignity suggested in the previous verses. That would have been a nice ending. Instead, he ends with a warning that is a final call to humility (verses 32-33). The examples in verses 30-31 are about leaders. A fool may take the wrong lesson from them and assume to be a leader (verse 32). Therefore, the warning sounds against pride in the heart (“exalting”) and against evil thoughts (“plotted”).

Let him in whom this is found quickly realize that this is folly, and let him not express his prideful thoughts (verse 32). Therefore, the “hand on your mouth” (cf. Job 40:4-5). With Job, it is the hand on the mouth toward God. With Agur, it is the hand on the mouth in mutual intercourse. It is worse to think bad; it is even worse to also speak out that bad. When the latter happens, one gives in to the bad thought and others are affected by it.

Exalting oneself and plotting something is not yet the act. Yet Agur says that a person “has been foolish” when pride and bad thoughts are present. Indeed, thoughts are equated with deeds. The Lord Jesus confirms that: “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mt 5:28). Therefore, not only wrong deeds must be judged and confessed, but also evil motives and thoughts.

In verse 33, three comparisons present what the result is if the hand is not put on the mouth. We see this from the word “for” with which the verse begins. If he continues to carry out his prideful thoughts, he will only cause discord. In his presumed leadership, he puts pressure on others. Putting pressure on something has a consequence.

When pressure is put on milk, when it is stirred vigorously, butter is produced. The original healthy drink is no longer drinkable. If pressure is applied to the nose, if someone gets a blow to the nose, blood comes out of the nose. The original function of the nose, to take in odors, is disabled. On the contrary, blood loss takes place. The last example of pressure is what it is actually about. A person can be so pressured that he becomes angry and then strife ensues.

The examples make the point of this concluding advice clear. Agur urges us to strive for peace and harmony through an attitude of humility and justice. He ends his proverbs with the same thought he began with.