Proverbs 30:1-14 – Humble Wisdom Instructs Prideful Folly

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

Who are we, in our pride and arrogance, to think we don’t need God’s help and blessings? There is an urgent need for this generation to become more humble in its way.

Introduction

Where can your pride get you?  Humble yourself quickly because pride goes before the destruction, and a haughty spirit before the fall.

There are many who live ignorant of the Lord and certainly need to heed His wisdom, as God gives wisdom to the ignorant.  At the same time, there are many who, because of their pride, don’t believe they need God.  This, of course, is a grave mindset for one to have!  One must quickly humble themselves, and this week’s lesson gives us reason as to why everyone ought to humble themselves.  This week’s Sunday School commentary covers Proverbs 30:1-14.

What we will focus on learning in this week’s Sunday School commentary:

1. Humbly acknowledging when you don’t know and need God’s help.
2. Man’s knowledge or lack thereof about God.
3. The spiritual consequence r of pride, arrogance, ego, and being conceited.

A Stupid Man’s Admission

Our lesson this week opens with an admission you don’t often see or hear.

Proverbs 30:1 tells us that these are the words of a man named Agur, as he spoke them to Ithiel and Ucal.  None of these men are mentioned anywhere else in Scripture, so we don’t know anything about them.  What we do know of Agur is the rather pointed admission that he makes in Proverbs 30:2.  

In Proverbs 30:2, Agur stated of himself, “I am more stupid than any man, and do not have the understanding of a man.”

What do you think of a man who can admit that he is stupid?  Could you admit that you’re stupid?

Agur, I want you to understand, is making a humble admission that many of us are too prideful to make.  One who is truly wise has no problem admitting to their ignorance!  You see, the greatest problem still plaguing mankind today is the foolish and conceited pride many have in believing they know everything and everyone else knows nothing.  

Social issues continue to plague mankind because of conceited pride.  Wars are still being fought because of arrogant pride.  We, mankind, have not flourished and prospered as we could because we don’t have the humility that leads to growth.  Growth can only happen when one is humble and will learn.  However, as it is said in Proverbs 1:7, the fool despises instruction because the fool doesn’t believe they need instruction.

What Does Man Know About God?

In his admission, Agur admitted that he did not know, or lacked knowledge of, the Holy One (Prov. 30:3).  

Notice the questions he asked in Proverbs 30:4.  He asked, “Who has ascended into heaven, or descended?  Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, if you know?” 

These questions raise the question:  What do we know about the Lord?  Everything we can know about God is everything that He has shared with us.  

Agur didn’t know the Son because he lived before the only begotten Son walked the earth.  We know the Son, and that He is God, and that He came from eternity to save mankind from the condemnation of sin.  We know the Son because the Son testified of Himself, and then died and rose from the grave.  Without His testimony, we would know nothing about Him.

We know that God is gracious and merciful because He not only proclaimed that He is (Ex. 34:6-7), but He gave Himself for mankind.  Without His proclamation and show of faithfulness, we would know so little about God.  Man would have to make things up about God.

In their pride, the prideful say there is no God, and they say this matter-of-factly.  Being full of confidence, the prideful often ask believers, ‘How can you say this thing or that thing about God?’ often forgetting that they testify confidently that God is not what we proclaim.

The sincere believer’s proclamation of God is what the Lord proclaims of Himself.  Agur, saying that every word of God is pure and that God is a shield to those who trust in Him, can say this from personal experience and matter-of-factly because that is God’s proclamation of Himself.  

The convicted denier makes their proclamation of God from pride, not from experience nor from wisdom.  The convicted denier doesn’t know the Lord because the convicted denier doesn’t give Him a try.  It makes you wonder: why should anyone believe the words of one who pridefully denies the Lord?

Flee from Conceited Pride

With that thought in mind, Proverbs 30:7-8 shows us that Agur had two things that he requested of Ithiel and Ucal to do for him.  

Live by the word of God

Agur’s first request:  He requested that they remove falsehood and lies from him.  

We have to be wary of the doctrines we consume, as there are many doctrines in the world but only one doctrine we are to live by.  Moreover, we ought to be wary of the company we keep as well, because the company we keep may dispense falsehoods and lies for us to consume.

Paul said it best when he said, “Evil company corrupts good habits (1 Cor. 15:33).”  When you permit the company of falsehoods and lies in your presence, there is a chance that you can be carried away by their doctrine.  If you choose to consume falsehoods and lies on your own, you open yourself to being carried away by those false doctrines.

So, let me ask this question:  Do you think it is wiser to keep the presence of falsehood and lies, consuming false doctrine, or is it better for you to turn away from falsehood and lies?  The answer ought to be obvious.

Paul repeatedly spoke against being conceited throughout 1 Corinthians.  In 1 Corinthians 1:27, Paul spoke about how the Lord has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, those who become conceited and wise in their own eyes.  

Then, he said in 1 Corinthians 3:18, “Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.”

In 1 Timothy 6:3-5, Paul encouraged his ministerial son Timothy to withdraw himself from those who don’t consent to the sound doctrine of Christ, saying that they are proud, know nothing, and stir up strife with useless wrangling.  

Jesus taught that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4).  When one heeds God’s word – His instructions – one overcomes sin.  When one heeds man’s wisdom, man’s wisdom can only lead one away from God and further into sin.  Under man’s wisdom, the soul does nothing but consume sin and will be condemned by God.

So, again, we ought to petition the Lord in our prayers that He helps to keep us in truth, which is the role of the Holy Spirit (John 16:13).  In our daily life, we ought to do everything possible to heed the Spirit so that we can continue in truth.

Be content with God’s givings

Agur’s second request:  He requested that they give him neither poverty nor riches, but rather give him what was allotted to him.  

Agur had no desire to live in poverty, and frankly, none of God’s children ought to desire to live in poverty.  Some have this notion that God wants His children to suffer, and that we are to live in suffering to inherit the kingdom of heaven.  Let’s bring correction to this notion.

First and foremost, God’s thoughts towards His children are of peace, not evil; He desires to give us a future and hope (Jer. 29:11).  Repeatedly, Jesus taught that we ought to pray to the Lord, making our supplications known to Him, and God will bless us (John 15:7-8).  God cares for us much more than He does the flowers in the field who spin in their beauty (Matt. 6:28-30).

Now, in 1 Peter 4:12-13, Peter spoke of the Christian’s suffering.  Peter said, “ Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.”

When Peter spoke of the Christian’s suffering, he didn’t say anything about one purposefully choosing to suffer.  God doesn’t ask His children to suffer for Him like some kind of ritual.  The Christian’s suffering is that which Christ endured.

Now, the suffering that Christ endured must also be made clear.  Yes, Christ suffered on the cross, but again, God doesn’t ask His children to die on a cross.  

Christ suffered by living in this sinful world, where at all points, He was tempted  (Heb. 4:15).  Most of us think that Christ was only tempted when Satan tempted Him, but sin is a constant temptation.  Yes, sin is a constant temptation that we suffer with every breath we take.

Christ also suffered in the hate He endured.  Jesus told the apostles that they should find it strange if the world hated them because He was hated by the world.  Jesus was hated because He was not of the world and preached against the world (John 15:18-24).  

We Christians will suffer hatred not for anything that we bring upon ourselves.  I want to make this clear:  there are many so-called “Christians” who bring hate upon themselves because they choose to move out of hate.  However, those who move in sincere faith will be despised they preach and live against worldliness.

Agur desired to live in holiness; he wanted no part in worldliness.  He was the kind of man who would be content with God’s giving over silver and gold, or poverty.  The wise ought to live with the same mindset.  Keep in mind that Jesus taught that we ought to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, not the riches of the world (Matt. 6:33).  

Grave Concerns for This Generation

As our lesson comes to a close,  Agur turns his attention to speaking of a generation that certainly fits the generation of the church age, and what he says is a very stark warning for this generation.

Agur first spoke of a generation that curses its father and mother, rather than honor (bless) them (Prov. 30:11).  This, of course, refers to the first command in the second half of the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:1-17).   When one doesn’t honor their father or mother, they don’t honor themselves, their neighbor, nor do they give honor to God’s commands.  Choosing not to honor the Lord is certainly a grave sin.

Agur then said there is a generation that is pure, but it is pure in its own eyes, as it has not been washed from its filthiness (Prov. 30:12).  To be clear, Agur speaks of a sinful generation.  Sin pollutes, corrupts, and defiles the soul.  For the soul to be washed, one must repent of sin and be washed by Christ.

Let’s keep in mind what Jesus told Nicodemus when He told him that unless one is born again, one is not fit for the kingdom, nor can one enter the kingdom (John 3:3,5).  When Jesus washed the feet of the apostles, He told Peter that if one is not washed by Christ, one cannot have part with Him (John 13:5-8).

One who refuses to be washed of their sins is choosing to neglect salvation through Him.  To refuse Christ’s salvation is to imply that one is above needing Him.  What is very concerning is that this generation is a generation that is moving further away from God.  As Agur said, there is a generation that is lofty in their own eyes, and that is certainly this generation (Prov. 30:13) – the generation of the church age.

What is it that can come from moving away from God?  As we saw in the lesson – – calamity is what awaits the fool.  Terror will come in the form of God’s judgment against the fool.  God’s judgment is inescapable, which means that destruction awaits the one who is so arrogant and proud as to neglect salvation through Christ.

Lastly, Agur said there is a generation whose teeth are like swords; their fangs are like knives.  Agur described a generation that is like a wolf, or some kind of predator that devours the poor and the needy.  

Personally, it is hard for me to ignore that this describes our generation, as we are a generation that truly takes advantage of the poor and the needy.  The folly of this generation is why, if you haven’t done so, you must humble yourself and heed God’s instructions. 

Should one not humble themselves, I remind you again that pride goes before the destruction, and a haughty spirit before the fall.