Well here we are. If Psalm 117 is indeed the middle chapter of the bible, and it is, then we are in a physical sense half way through the book. However that being said there are a lot more book in this half then there was in that half. Proverbs is the 20th book of the Bible out of 66, so it’s 20 down 46 to go. The bulk of the proverbs were written by Solomon but not all of them there are also contributions by Agur and Lemuel. The Proverbs were generally written to the people of Israel but more specifically they were aimed at young people who were just starting out on their journey. When were they written? Solomon ruled as King of Israel between 970 and 930 BC so that’s when they were written and they were compiled together in their present form around 700 BC. Why were they written? To show how godly wisdom merges with real life.
You don’t hear a lot of preaching from the book of Proverbs it tends to get neglected from the pulpit. Not because it’s too deep or too profound. Quite the opposite it’s because it’s really quite self explanatory. Especially in the modern translations it speaks for itself. The books of Ezekiel, Daniel and the Revelation they need explaining. This collection of sayings, and that what proverbs are a truth condensed into a few words, really explain themselves.
These are the epitome of preaching. You know you’ve blown it as a preacher when someone has to explain what you said. It has been said that the theologian takes the simple and makes it difficult and the preacher takes the difficult and makes it simple. We are told that John Wesley would first preach his messages to a servant and anything they couldn’t understand he changed. The evangelist Billy Sunday warned other preachers of the dangers of preaching to the intellectual giraffes in their congregations.
No danger of that with most of the proverbs. Proverbs 17:28 Even fools are thought to be wise when they keep silent; when they keep their mouths shut, they seem intelligent. Proverbs 17:12 It is safer to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than to confront a fool caught in folly. Proverbs 12:11 Hard work means prosperity; only fools idle away their time. Proverbs 10:1 A wise child brings joy to a father; a foolish child brings grief to a mother. Even when they make you go “Hey, that’s not nice!” you can appreciate the truth. How about Proverbs 27:15 A nagging wife is as annoying as the constant dripping on a rainy day.
This is good stuff and all 31 chapters are chock full of it. This morning we are going to look at the second from the last chapter, chapter 30, which was written by Agur the son of Jakeh. We know very little about the author of these 33 verse other then his father’s name. Some people believe that he may have been a believing non-Jew, what referred to as a “God Fearer”, but that is only speculation. We do know that he was a contemporary of Solomon’s and was considered wise enough to be included in this book of wisdom. If we divide this chapter up we discover that the first 9 verses were personal observations. Vs 1-4 about the author’s knowledge of God, 5-6 his revelation of God and 7-9 records his prayer to God. From there we get several numerical proverbs woven into the fabric of his wisdom. Things like Proverbs 30:15-16 There are three other things—no, four!—that are never satisfied: the grave, the barren womb, the thirsty desert and the blazing fire. And in Proverbs 30:18-19 There are three things that amaze me—no, four things I do not understand: how an eagle glides through the sky, how a snake slithers on a rock, how a ship navigates the ocean, how a man loves a woman. Kind of as an after thought to that one he adds. Proverbs 30:20 Equally amazing is how an adulterous woman can satisfy her sexual appetite, shrug her shoulders, and then say, “What’s wrong with that?” Ouch. Then in Proverbs 30:21-23 There are three things that make the earth tremble—no, four it cannot endure: a slave who becomes a king, an overbearing fool who prospers, a bitter woman who finally gets a husband, a servant girl who supplants her mistress. In closing Agur writes Proverbs 30:29-31 There are three stately monarchs on the earth—no, four:
the lion, king of animals, who won’t turn aside for anything, the strutting rooster,
the male goat, a king as he leads his army.
But we aren’t looking at any of those things today instead we are going to look at Proverbs 30:24-28 There are four things on earth that are small but unusually wise:
Ants—they aren’t strong, but they store up food for the winter.
Rock badgers—they aren’t powerful, but they make their homes among the rocky cliffs.
Locusts—they have no king, but they march like an army in ranks.
Lizards—they are easy to catch, but they are found even in kings’ palaces.
Too often we get caught up in what is large, big, great and magnificent. We are always being asked if we want to super size that, whatever that is. And I’m sure it was the same in Agur’s day. And yet he begins by saying: There are four things on earth that are small. You know for all the good things we can say about BCC we are small. We are the smallest church in Bedford and possibly the smallest church in Bedford and Hammonds Plains combined.
We are not a big church and sometimes that bothers me. No that’s not true, most of the time it bothers me. And it becomes a catch 22 situation because we aren’t a big church with lots of programs there are people who drift in and drift out looking for the big church with lots of programs. Never really stopping and thinking, “Hey maybe if we stayed and other’s stayed then BCC would become a big church with lots of programs.” There are four things on earth that are small.
You understand that Jesus started with 12, and even after the resurrection, the church only numbered 120. Historians tell us that at that time the population of Palestine was around 4,000,000 people. So that meant that 1 in 30,000 people were Christians. That would be the equivalent of having 900 believers in all of Canada or 100 Christians in Toronto or 11 Christ-followers in the entire HRM or 1 Christian in all of Bedford and Hammonds Plains. Think about if you were the only believer in this entire community. And yet those 120 people changed the world. There are four things on earth that are small but unusually wise: Although these four things are small Agur gives them credit for their wisdom, and they aren’t just wise they are unusually wise. Although Christianity has never represented a majority of the world’s population look at the impact that it has made. It has made more of a difference then the other 2/3 of the world combined. More hospital, schools, universities, research centres and relief agencies have been started by the church then by any other organization or group. Even when the church has gotten it wrong and you hear about the abuses that people, not the church but people, did in orphanages and residential homes you gotta wonder why nobody else was providing the service. Because they didn’t care is why. The four things that Agur goes on to describe should be indicative of Christianity as a whole but in order for that to happen we are going to have to find them in our own lives and in the life of our local church.
So here they are: Proverbs 30:25 Ants—they aren’t strong, but they store up food for the winter. Actually, ants are proportionally much stronger then we are, but the author isn’t speaking proportionally. He’s saying compared to a person there isn’t much to an ant. We can step on them, catch them and put them in a jar and there’s not much they can do in retaliation. Compared to us they aren’t strong. But they aren’t alone.
1 Corinthians 1:27 Instead, God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose those who are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 1 Corinthians 4:10 We are weak. . . and 2 Corinthians 13:4 We, too, are weak,
Proverbs 30:25 Ants—they aren’t strong, but they store up food for the winter. We have enough farms in the area that we know the wisdom of Solomon from Ecclesiastes 3 when he says there is a time to plant and a time to harvest. The ant knows this so he works real hard all summer so he can take the winter off. Ever notice that you don’t see ants in the winter, that’s right they’ve gone south. Many people who would never think of waiting until the last minute to bring in their garden crops wait until the eleventh hour before accepting Christ.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:20 Store your treasures in heaven. That’s simply stocking your spiritual shelves. On at least three other occasions Jesus speaks of believers having treasures in heaven.
You heard the news about 26 year old American Nicolas Berg who was decapitated in Iraq last weekend. Those who watched the video said that it was apparent that Berg’s death came as a surprise to him, as he read his name and parents name for the video he had no idea what was about to happen.
People die every day and for the most part it comes as a surprise. Kind of like the epitaph that read “I expected this, but not just yet.” I don’t think anyone is ever completely prepared for death, it seems there’s always just one more thing to get done. I wonder how many people who died in the last seven days in Canada had prepared treasures in heaven? How many had been diligent in storing up their food in the summer? Or were they dumber then ants.
When it comes time to die make sure that all you have to do is die.
Proverbs 30:26 Rock badgers—they aren’t powerful, but they make their homes among the rocky cliffs. Humanity doesn’t like to admit it but we are basically creatures of little power, just like the rock badger. Most of what we have accomplished has been learning to live within our environment, not controlling it. Sure we can fly, but we haven’t done away with air disasters. We can explore the depths of the ocean but people still drown. We can develop irrigation systems but if there’s no rain we’re out of luck.
Even our major medical breakthroughs aren’t cures. Insulin controls diabetes it doesn’t cure it. Salk’s polio vaccine may help prevent you from getting polio but if you do get it doctors are powerless. Every time we have a major snowstorm, people die. Why? Because we are still powerless. We’re like the rock badger. As a matter of fact the only defensive part of our bodies is our brain. Probably in the physical sense we are probably even more powerless then the badger.
We can’t run like an antelope, we don’t have teeth like a lion or a protective covering like a porcupine. We really are one of the least protected critters in the world.
Proverbs 30:26 Rock badgers—they aren’t powerful, but they make their homes among the rocky cliffs.
The rock badger’s main defensive move is to hide in the rocks. They know that even the most determined predators can’t claw their way through stones. The rocks not only protected the badgers from predators but also provided a refuge against the environment.
Palestine was and still is a land of extremes, heat, cold, sandstorms, flash floods and so the rock badger could hide safe and secure in his rock burrow and weather out the toughest weather.
Listen to the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:24 “ Anyone who listens to my teaching and obeys me is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Jesus is just finishing up the Sermon on the Mount and he says, “now I’m going to tell you about a wise man.” Perhaps his mind drifted back to Agur saying There are four things on earth that are small but unusually wise: And so Christ tells them a story Matthew 7:24-27 “ Anyone who listens to my teaching and obeys me is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse, because it is built on rock. But anyone who hears my teaching and ignores it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will fall with a mighty crash. ”
Notice that Christ doesn’t not say they were good or bad, right or wrong, righteous or unrighteous. No Jesus simply defines them as wise and foolish. They made their own choices. Christ makes it very clear that they had both heard the gospel. He was probably referring to those who sit week in and week out in a church where God’s word is proclaimed. The key concept is that one obeyed those teachings and the other ignored those teaching. So it’s not in the hearing it’s in the doing.
The rock badger was wise only because he uses the rocks provided for him by God. The wise man and the foolish man both had the same option, sand or rock. Obey or ignore. And maybe the man who built on the sand did so because the lot was cheaper then the solid lot. It’s certainly true that the cost of obeying God’s word is often higher then ignoring those words. But the returns are higher as well. Time and time again we discover in this life that the item with the lower initial cost may cost much more in the long run. Are we making God’s word come alive by living it daily?
Notice that having built on the rock doesn’t exempt the wise man from the troubles of life. Each of the trials that befall the foolish man were also visited upon the wise man. The greatest fairy tale ever told is that Christians have fewer problems then non-Christians. If you are a believer death will come, tragedy will visit and illness will arrive at your door, the same way as it comes to the unbeliever. But if you have built your life on the solid rock of the promises of Christ he will keep you.
Proverbs 30:27 Locusts—they have no king, but they march like an army in ranks. Locusts are the most frequently mentioned insect in the Bible. It was locust which invaded Egypt in the 8th plagues that Moses called down from heaven. In Leviticus 11 Locusts and grasshoppers are listed as the only insects that the Israelites were permitted to eat, in case you are wondering what we brought for the pot-luck. And indeed if you remember your New Testament you’ll recall that Locusts were a major part of John the Baptist’s diet.
Agur is referring to the migratory pattern of some kinds of locust. They would advance across the country in huge swarms. The direction they pursued seems to be almost instinctive rather then following a particular leader. Proverbs 30:27 Locusts—they have no king, but they march like an army in ranks. This intrigued our writer, here we have one of the baser creatures on this planet and yet they are able to advance together. If we jump into the New Testament in Matthew 2:2 you’ll recall the magi asked Matthew 2:2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? Christ came into this world being called a “King” and we read in Matthew 27:37 A signboard was fastened to the cross above Jesus’ head, announcing the charge against him. It read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” And Jesus died being called a “King”. And in 1 Timothy 6:15 we read 1 Timothy 6:15 For at the right time Christ will be revealed from heaven by the blessed and only almighty God, the King of kings and Lord of lords. And in Revelation 15:13 John refers to Jesus as the “King of nations”
I wonder if what this Old Testament writer was trying to get at was if the locust could be united without a king how much more should people with a king be united? The New Testament writers tell us who our king is: Jesus Christ. And we read in Acts 2:44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, And may I be so bold as to suggest this was the last time in the history of the church that “all the believers” agreed on anything. Throughout the remainder of the New Testament we see churches made up of people unable to get along. As history progressed we see with more and more people becoming Christians there became more and more divisions and divisions of divisions. People began to align themselves along common doctrinal, theological, demographical and economical lines.
There are more denominations, sects and gatherings today each of who claims to be Christians then at any other time in history. Earlier in the service we sang “Because We Believe” and it highlighted some of the common ground that we as believers should have, the virgin birth, the divinity of Christ, his death and resurrection. We need to realize that although we are different we serve one King and are loyal to one God. And our primary loyalty has to be to God and the Kingdom of God and the winning of people to God’s Kingdom. And sometimes that means co-operating across denominational lines. On a smaller scale that means that we can’t be trying to protect our interest but need to be concerned abut God’s interests. Unity in the Church is one of our greatest weapons against the devil. Colossians 2:2 talks about the church being knit together in love, Ephesians 4:3 speaks about the unity of the Spirit and Ephesians 4:13 talks about the unity of faith. Listen to Jesus’ prayer in John 17:23 I in them and you in me, all being perfected into one. Do you remember the comment that we read from the prophet Amos last week in Amos 3:3 Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction? During the past year we have seen the people of BCC become united as we moved toward a common goal. And I believe we are walking in the direction that God is leading us and we are walking in God’s time. And as we move along we need to move in unity, not uniformity, we don’t need to always be in total agreement over every little thing in our plan for a new church home.
The important thing is that we walk together and if we don’t pick the colour carpet that you wanted, or things during the capital campaign weren’t done exactly as you would have liked that you not take your ball and go home. We have a King, it’s not King Denn or King HC it King Jesus so we should at least be able to advance together like locust who have no king.
Proverbs 30:28 Lizards—they are easy to catch, but they are found even in kings’ palaces. Another weak creature with limited possibilities are lizards. They are small enough to be caught, although when we lived in Australia it sometimes took an ice-cream container to do the job. Proverbs 30:28 Lizards—they are easy to catch, but they are found even in kings’ palaces. There is the element of choice as always. For every lizard who lived in the palace there were ten who lived in the huts and hovels of everyday people. The priests had lizards, the soldiers had lizards, the scribes had lizards, the cobblers had lizards even the paupers had lizards, these were equal opportunity lizards.
The same type of Lizards lived in the squalor of the poor and the luxury of the rich, the only difference being perhaps in their personal taste and aspirations. You didn’t have to be a well heeled lizard to live with a king, you didn’t have to be on the 10 best dressed reptile list or carry a platinum Israeli Express Card, but you as a lizard had to make the choice. “do you want to live with the prince or with the pauper?”
Perhaps living in the palace was a little tougher with more rigid security as well as a cleaning staff to contend with, but the perks were there as well. Better table scraps, softer pillows smoother floors to slither along.
Agur is drawing our attention to our own mortality, that fact that we are easily caught, and if don’t believe that read the newspapers. Hate to be a wet blanket this morning but “You are going to die” and as Tony Campolo says “Then they are going to put you in a hole in the ground, throw dirt in your face and go back to the church and eat egg salad sandwiches.” Christians and non-Christians alike. We are not immortal, we are not supermen. Walk in front of a moving automobile, step off the roof of a tall building and you will find out that the same rules of life and death apply to Christians as well as non-Christians. Even those who claim that God will always heal you have to admit that sometimes that healing comes as death. We are a chosen people, but we are still people who die. However we are people who will be found in the palace of the King. Remember the words of Jesus in John 14:2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Christians die like other people, yet they can be found in the Palace of the King. Read Revelation 21 and you get an idea of what that Palace will look like. John describes heaven as being 1,960,00 square miles. That the walls were made of Jasper and the streets were pure gold. The foundation was constructed of Jewels; jasper, sapphires, emeralds, chrysolites, topaz and amethysts. The Gates were giant pearls, I mean you want to talk about palaces. And if you want you can dwell there, forever, in the presence of almighty God.
We are just people, mere mortals. From the same species that spawned Hitler, Idi Amin, Stalin, The Son of Sam, Henry Morgantilier and Attila the Hun. And yet by a choice and a decision to follow that choice we are lifted out of the mud and placed in the palace of the king.
If you haven’t made that choice then I would encourage you to make it today.
Hope you enjoyed the message, PowerPoint is available for this message, email me at denn@powerpoint4preaching.com
