Proverbs: 30:1-5

Discussion Questions

1. What do you think God most wants us to know about Him?
2. Have you ever felt similar to Agur, when he expresses frustration related to his ability to know & understand God?
3. What can we do to best be open to God’s revelation in our lives?

Transcript

It’s really great to be here. I’m really excited to be here with you all today. And friends and family, visitors, those of you online, we welcome you as well. And I really would love it if everybody had a Bible either, in your hand, paper or maybe on your phone, which is a convenient way. But if you don’t have one, Josh is over here with some Bibles that he’ll hand out to you.  Raise your hand up real high and we’ll get one of those Bibles to you so that you can read along and follow along and enjoy God’s Word today. This morning, we are continuing in our sermon series “Proverbs: The Wisdom and the Ways of God.”

Nashville is not my home. Some of you know that, but it’s good to be in Nashville. It’s a great place. I am originally from Missouri (pronounces it mɪˈzʊə.ri) or Missouri (pronounces it mɪˈzʊə.ruh). Some people say Missouri, some people say Missouri (pronounces it “misery”), but that’s a whole different thing. No, really, it’s a great place. And most of my younger years, I was in southeast Missouri, the region of southeast Missouri, and I really enjoyed growing up there. Overall, it was a great place to grow up. And my mom and my dad, Duke and Shirley, my brother, his family, they still live in southeast Missouri.

To get to where they live, you head west from Nashville until you come to a town of about 450 people called Ellsinore. And then, the shortest route from there is three miles on a gravel road out into the countryside. And stop when you get to a beautiful field with a herd of cattle grazing; then you’ll know you’re there. That’s where my folks live. It’s a very peaceful place. It’s really quiet.

There’s no internet there. (Now, seriously, there’s no internet there.) You can’t do internet there. So, when I was growing up there, the locals communicated with a little bit of an Ozark twang, and you might even hear a little bit of that in my voice still. There were three greetings that they commonly would use when they would greet a person down there. “What do you say?” “How are you doing?” and “Where are you headed?”

What do you say, how are you doing, and where are you headed? You know what, those are really great questions when you think about them at a deeper level. What do you say? Well, that engages how I think and how I articulate that. How are you doing? It engages how I feel. And where are you headed engages my sense of direction and my will to go there.

All of us humans are naturally wired to answer questions with our mind and our hearts and our wills. Throughout life there are a lot of questions that come our way. Some of them are pretty easy to answer, but other ones press right into our soul. Two of the biggest questions are what does God most want you to know about Himself, and how will He tell you. Those questions stir my curiosity.

Does God really have any interest in me? Does He want to tell me about Himself? And if He does want to communicate, how will He do it? What is it like to understand the language of God? Really, it’s a fabulous learning experience. It’s amazing. It’s quite a journey. It engages everything in us. It’s not simple, it’s not easy, and sometimes it’s hard. We’re not always sure how to take the next step. We need wisdom. We need biblical wisdom.

But wait a minute. You might say, “Wait, hold on. You’re saying biblical wisdom. Wisdom is not limited to the Bible,” and that’s true. There are lots of examples of wisdom out there. If we look through history, there are a lot of wisdom writers or wise sayings and wise writings. There’s a lot of wisdom out there that we can enjoy, but in the Bible, there’s a special kind of wisdom.

It’s not just general wisdom; it is perfect wisdom. Over the last few weeks, we’ve had this anchor text that we’ve been looking at about pursuing wisdom. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10). This scripture tells us where to start. The LORD (God) is the source of ultimate wisdom.

Well, before I continue, I want to give you a little bit of background on the person who wrote the text that we’re going to refer to.  Overall, Proverbs is a book that’s really a collection of writings by multiple writers. Solomon, who’s the wisest human who ever lived, he wrote most of them. And today’s proverb was written by a fascinating man by the name of Agur.  You may not be familiar with him, but I know you’ll become friends after today.

Who is he? Agur is a wise man. He has an abundance of experience. He knows a few things about God. He’s trying to understand God better. And he’s also learned a few things about perfect wisdom and he helps to reveal them to us. His name appears one time in the Bible. Do you know, he is not an Israelite? He’s a sage from the east. His name means “Gatherer of Wisdom.” How appropriate. He reminds us of other ancient wise men from the east who were honored in the Bible, people like Job, people like the Wise Three Kings who came from Asia to visit the Christ child.

So, with these things in mind, let’s look now at Proverbs Chapter 30: “The words of Agur, the son of Jakeh, the oracle. The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal: ‘Surely I am more stupid than any man. And I do not have the understanding of a man. Neither have I learned wisdom, nor do I have the knowledge of the Holy One. Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name or His Son’s name? Surely you know! Every word of God is tested. He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.’”

The first matter of importance to know is that Agur knew himself as someone speaking for God. “The oracle” means that Agur has a proclamation, a declaration from God. He is from the Massa. Agur grew up in a district in the desert of Northwest Arabia. We don’t know exactly why and we don’t know exactly when, but at some point in time, Agur left the Massa to pursue life in a new place with a new people.

Verse 1 continues, “The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal.” I find it interesting that Agur is speaking in third person. He calls himself “the man;” he’s calling himself the man like he’s standing apart with us and he’s watching himself declare the message. Ithiel and Ucal were certainly students and may have been sons of Agur. We have a variety of Bible translations in the room here, I’m sure.

And I feel like right now it’d be good to just give you a little bit of information about Bible translations. I think it’ll help as we move forward because at some point different English translations don’t have the same wording and that you’ll see different wording in different English translations, but don’t be concerned about that. You can trust your Bible. Don’t be worried about that. We’ll look into this a little bit.

Part of the reason for this is that the original Old Testament manuscripts were written in Hebrew and a little bit of Aramaic in the Book of Daniel. But these manuscripts, these ancient manuscripts are the basis of our modern translations, whether it’s English or any other language, for that matter. And there’s an amazing preservation of these manuscripts called the Masoretic text.

The Masoretic text is a brilliant work from very committed Hebrew scholars known as the Masoretes. That’s where we get “Masoretic” from. The Masoretes were the people who did the work. They worked in Tiberius, which some of you visited because it’s on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and they were also in Jerusalem. And they operated, they did their work, between 500 A.D. and about 916 A.D.  So, this is between 1,100 and 1,600 years ago.

These scholars were preserving the Word of God that they had received, these manuscripts that they had received. They spent their lives meticulously copying letter by letter, these manuscripts, so that they would not pass away. However, the spoken language was passing away. At that time, the ancient Hebrew vocalizations were being diminished for a variety of reasons.  And so, these scholars, these people were brilliant. They developed a system, a vowel pointing. Their little dots, little markings in the text, they took these consonants that were in the manuscripts and they inserted these little dots and different markings. They created a vowel system so that when… it’s kind of like a musical score. You look down and you see the marking and you know it’s an A-flat or whatever it is.  It’s absolutely, absolutely amazing. They preserved not only the text, but they preserved how to say it so that people would never forget it.

And those texts are still the basis of our English translations. There are, however, sometimes some curiosities and some complexities where you can actually end up with two different English translations, and they’re both valid. They’re both legitimate and it’s based on the way the Hebrew language works.  So, I don’t want you to worry about it, but I do want to leverage it because in today’s passage, we have an example of this and that is the alternative that some of you may see in your Bible. If you have an ESV, for example, you’ll see this. It says, “The man declares, ‘I am weary God, I am weary God, and I am consumed.'” Well, why is he weary? Why is Agur consumed? Why would he be?

I think maybe it’s because despite his sincerity and his good intentions and his effort, he’s worn out. He’s overwhelmed. He wants more. Like Agur, we can become overwhelmed by our journey. Do you ever feel worn out? I do. Sometimes I do. I can have good intentions. I try to do life the right way, but I just end up tired. I can find myself crying out, “I’m weary God, I’m weary God, and I’m consumed.”

Can you relate? Despite sincerity and diligent effort, are you weary? Do you want more? Agur has a word for us. Biblical prophets like Agur proclaim the Word of God. Prophetic language peers into the reaches of the future. It also peers into the depths of our lives. It engages our minds. It makes us think about what God is saying to us. In prophetic language, we find perfect wisdom, and that’s the kind of wisdom we can base our life on.

Let’s look together at verse 2. In this passage, Agur skillfully employs figures of speech. He uses hyperbole. He uses semantic range. He actually taps into our hearts here. We could call him a poet. That’s the way he’s writing, but his words can also be rather shocking to our ears in this day and time. For example, he says, “Surely I am more stupid than any man.” That’s probably not very correct for us today.

Not all of the English translations that we have included that word “surely”, but it’s actually in the Hebrew text. It’s a tiny little one consonant, one vowel word. It’s pronounced key. And in this context, it’s used for emphasis. It’s very dramatic. “Surely” is how we would translate it here. Surely. This verse could be read as, “Yes, absolutely, I am more stupid than any man. I’m absolutely the biggest doofus.”

But wait a minute. Let’s dig into this a little bit. What’s he talking about? The Hebrew word that Agur uses here for stupid is ba’ar. This language compares a man’s rational ability with that of animals. It’s literally like being compared to a cow. By the way, if you want to see stupid, go visit my brother Chris on his cattle ranch in southeast Missouri. He has about 200 examples of stupid grazing out in the pasture!

But Agur is talking about relating to God. He says, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m such a dummy when it comes to this stuff.’ But he’s not saying that he’s literally the stupidest man who ever lived. He’s using figurative speech. He’s describing his understanding in comparison with God’s comprehensive knowledge and wisdom. He’s trying to get a handle on what God wants him to know about himself. He’s wrestling with how he can know it.

“And I do not have the understanding of a human being,” he says. The word that he uses here for human being, it’s “man,” it’s adam, and that’s “a human being.” It’s all people. It’s all mankind. Not only is Agur comparing himself unfavorably to what God knows, he’s saying he doesn’t measure up to what any other people know. He’s pretty hard on himself.

He keeps going, “Neither have I learned wisdom.” The wisdom he’s talking about pertains specifically to the relationship between people and God. It refers to how we should live as we develop in this relationship. In the same way that people learn various skills like driving a car or playing golf or playing a musical instrument, Scripture says that we learn the skill of how to understand and know God.

The Bible says that the time will come when even slow learners and objectors and complainers will receive instruction and understand what God wants them to know. I find that very encouraging. I find myself in that comment. There’s hope for all of us. Agur doesn’t say he has no understanding about a relationship with God. Not really. He’s writing poetically. He’s using hyperbole.

Deep inside, this man knows that he understands something about God, but it’s not enough. His wisdom seems insufficient, but is it? This is not knowledge about the Holy One. This is the knowledge of the Holy One. It’s the knowledge possessed by God in which God teaches to men and women who have a heart for Him. The word Agur uses for knowing is pronounced ya-dah.  Do you want to try that? Let’s speak Hebrew. Yada. It’s a great language. You all are doing great. The word “to know.”

People throughout the ages have wrestled with what it means to live in this world and to know God. They’ve sought to answer the questions, what does God most want me to know about Himself and how will He tell me? What does it mean to know God? What does it mean to know anything?

Knowing is an intellectual pursuit. It has an emotional component. And I have to exercise my will in the act of knowing. This verb yada appears over a thousand times in the Old Testament. It’s obvious that God wants people to know what is real, and He wants us to know Him. Agur says, “The knowledge of the Holy One I do not know.” Notice that he’s not saying again that he doesn’t have any personal experience with the Holy One. Again, he’s speaking in hyperbole. Again, he’s comparing his finite human knowledge with the infinite knowledge of God. Agur understands some things about the eternal, the transcendent, the creator of the universe, but at the end of the day, Agur is a mere man. He can only know so much. But even with his human limitations, this man can personally know and be known by God, and it’s the same with us.

We can truly know God. We can truly know the Lord even if we cannot fully understand all He knows. In Hebrew, the Holy One is “the LORD.” His personal name is Yahweh. The name Yahweh appears nearly 7,000 times in the Old Testament. It’s the name God uses when He reveals himself to every faithful person. This name refers to the God we can relate to. He’s not a concept or a myth or a fable. He is a living sentient being who makes Himself known in a language that we can understand. The scripture captures many genres of language. So, here, it’s the genre of poetry. Poetic language merges the mystery and the nearness of God. It colors between the lines. This language engages our hearts. It stirs our feelings about what God is saying to us. In poetic language too, we find perfect wisdom. That’s the kind of wisdom we can build our life on.

So, we’ve looked at how God’s language is prophetic and how it’s poetic. Let’s look together at one more essential aspect of how God communicates with us. “Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name Or His Son’s name? Surely you know!”

Agur asked four rhetorical questions that revealed the wonder and the awe that he’s experiencing. Rhetorical questions have answers, but they beg for more. What did Agur’s first audience hear? What would his words have meant to them? Heaven, shamayim, is high above. It is the sky and the far reaches of the universe. It’s also the place of God.

Agur understands that God abides there, but He did not stay there. God has come down to us. The Hebrew word for wind ruach is also the word for breath and spirit. In Genesis Chapter 1, the Ruach Elohim, the Spirit of God, the person of the Holy Spirit, hovered over the surface of the waters at creation. Agur knows this One who has bound up the water in a garment. He knows the One who established the ends of the earth. God is in control of nature because He created it ex nihilo, out of nothing. He remains separate from it and powerful over it.

Is this the God you want to know? Isn’t it wonderful that the God who is far above has come down? The God who created the universe, humans, time, the God who has ultimate control over even nature wants to have a relationship with me and with you.

Agur knows the name of this God. He’s already called Agur into relationship, but still, Agur asks, “What is His name?” The audience, Agur’s audience, yells back at him, ‘It’s Yahweh.’ ‘Yes, I know our God is Yahweh.’ But there’s something Agur didn’t know. He couldn’t have known at that time. “What is the name of His Son? Surely you know. Surely (key), surely you know the name of His Son.”  The prophet has returned. What he did not understand as he peered into the future seeking to understand something that was sure to happen. We understand today. What is the name of God’s Son?

The rest of chapter 30 in all of the Book of Proverbs is packed with practical applications for living wisely, and they all relate to everything in relationship with God.  But if we want to fully grasp the depth of wisdom, we need to look together at verse 5. This verse connects the dots across the timeline of God’s revelation. It completes the message. With it, to the best of his ability, Agur explains the revelation of God and what it means to know the name of His Son. “Every word of God is tested. He’s a shield of those who take refuge in Him.”

Every word of the true and living God, everything that He communicates, every instruction, every command, every promise, every jot and tittle of Scripture is pure, flawless, precious, true, trustworthy, satisfying. Agur loved it. I love it. God gave us the Bible, the written Word of God, so that we would have a way to learn the truth about Him. But not only that, look at the verse. Look closely.

“Every word of God is…He” (Proverbs 30:5) “Every word of God is…He.” He, a personal pronoun, a person. What does He do? He protects those who are in danger. He safely harbors those who seek refuge in Him. Agur and believers of His day did not understand the Trinitarian expression of God. They didn’t understand how God, a Holy God, could eternally exist as three persons.

They knew about the Father. They knew about the Holy Spirit. They did not understand the Son. God’s revelation of Himself is progressive through the ages. Throughout the Bible, the name Yahweh is associated with a redeemer. He is the Holy One who sees the confusion and suffering and estrangement of every fallen person. He is the Holy One who knows they cannot save themselves.

Yahweh is the name that people can understand. He’s the one they can turn to in their need. Yahweh is the Holy One who called Abraham by name away from polytheism to follow the true God. The Lord promised to bless Abraham and through him all the peoples of the earth. Yahweh spoke for centuries through the prophets, calling people to relationship with their Creator.

Often people didn’t understand or they wouldn’t listen. They were busy with religion. They were busy offering insufficient sacrifices that never stopped. They needed more. They needed answers and wisdom for this life. We need more too. We need answers and wisdom for this life. But not just wisdom, we need perfect wisdom. During His ministry, Jesus said to the religious people and the curious crowds of His day, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I Am” (John 8:58).

Jesus Christ knows who He is. Jesus knows Himself as Yahweh. He was before Moses. He was before Abraham. He was before all things. For centuries, Yahweh revealed Himself, called people to Himself. He was the Word of Wisdom. And then, in Jesus Christ,

“the Word became flesh and dwelt among us… No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is himself God and is at the Father’s side, He has revealed Him”
John 1:14,18

Everything in the Old Testament prepares us for the coming of Christ. All the truth, all the hope, all the wisdom, everything about the God who can be known, the God who people desperately need, the Creator, the Redeemer is personified and incarnate in Jesus. In John 14:9, Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” In Christ, God has manifested. He, Jesus, is perfect wisdom.

“To those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
1 Corinthians 1:24

“The riches of complete understanding, the knowledge of God’s mystery, who is Christ, in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
Colossians‬ ‭2‬:‭2‬-‭3‬, ‭CSB‬‬

How are we supposed to respond to this? Where do we begin? Our starting point is to approach God in humility and reverence.

We begin by acknowledging that we don’t fully understand, but we want to understand. We want to know Him as He truly is. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10). And as we come to know Christ, it all begins to make sense to us—better sense, more sense. We begin to realize that we can know God, that He can know us. We can know the Redeemer.

God’s language in Holy Scripture is wonderful. It’s prophetic and it’s poetic. How much more wonderful that His language is also personal. In it, we discover the Son, the one who has perfect wisdom. This language engages our will. It challenges us to reject the fallenness of the world and our own fallenness. This language invites us to receive the gift of Jesus Christ, the gift of forgiveness, the gift of the restoration of relationship with God, the gift of a new life.

This is the personal language of God. This is for all of us. He is the perfect wisdom, and we should follow Him. We should pursue life in Him. What does God most want you to know about Himself? How will He tell you? These are challenging questions.

I want to give a shout-out to my homies back in Missouri that I mentioned at the beginning of our time.  Do you remember the three excellent questions that they would often ask when we’d meet? Do you remember what they were? “What do you say?” “How are you doing?” and “Where are you headed?” What if God asked those questions? “What do you say? What do you think about me? How are you doing? What do you feel about me? Where are you headed? Are you willing to go with me?”  Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for this time that we’ve had to worship you in prayer and in song through your Word and through your presence. It’s such an amazing truth that you have a language that we can understand, that you’re a person we can know, a God who loves us, that you provide not just wisdom, but perfect wisdom in the person of Jesus Christ.  Dear Lord, I pray today for all of us, that our minds and our hearts and our wills would be engaged, that we would receive more fully and more enthusiastically the call that is your voice calling to us. Help us, Lord, to hear. Help us to understand. And Lord, help us to respond in the way that you know we should, that each one would respond to you as you want them to according to your truth and according to your Word. It’s in your holy name that I pray, amen.