The Proverbs Code: What Do All These Numbers Mean?

Proverbs 30:1-33

Main Idea: Wisdom is the way the world works, and that can only be perceived through God’s Son.

1. Look to Christ for Wisdom (30:1-9).
2. Look to Christ for Salvation from Sin (30:10-14).
3. Look at the World through the Lens of Christ (30:15-33).
   1. Warnings about uncontrolled appetites
   2. Instruction in wisdom

My ( Jon’s) dad taught me and instilled many things in me, but how to fix things was definitely not one of them. He is mechanically challenged. Not having that skill in my own life did not prove to be a problem until Ashley and I started having children. So Ashley’s dad, Jimmy, who is really good at fixing things, began to try to teach me how to do certain things. He and I put together all kinds of things like cribs, rockers, and swing sets. Inevitably what would happen is that, even though Jimmy is good at putting things together, we would rush into the project, put it together, and then notice that we had made a mistake somewhere along the way. For example, we put a sofa table together, and when we finished we noticed the legs of the table were facing outward rather than inward like they were supposed to. At that point, we had to go back and actually look at the instructions for the first time, see where we went wrong, and start again the right way. We had to go the manufacturer’s manual to see how it really worked so we could do the job in accordance with the furniture’s design.

Proverbs 30 gets at this kind of thing in the grand scheme of life when it comes to wisdom and your way in the world. There is a pattern to the world. There is a certain way that it works, and you need to live according to the pattern because that’s wise. Wisdom is the skill to live according to that pattern. To understand what that skill is, you have to go the Maker—the one who created the world—to see how the world works. That is what Proverbs 30 is all about, and it shows us three important truths.

Look to Christ for Wisdom

Proverbs 30:1-9

The author of this passage is Agur the son of Jakeh (v. 1). We do not know who Agur is because this is the only place he is mentioned in the Bible. Some do not take this as a proper name but rather interpret the meaning of the names as “I am a sojourner (Agur) and son of Yahweh the Holy ( Jakeh)” since Jakeh is shorthand for “Yahweh the Holy” (see Skehan, Studies, 27–45). That is a possible interpretation. Regardless, the author is a follower of the one true God. Not only do we not know exactly who Agur is, but we also do not know the recipients to whom he is writing: Ithiel and Ucal.^[28]What we do know is that the Holy Spirit of God breathed out these words for us.

Agur starts the passage in verses 2-3 by claiming to be ignorant:

I am more stupid than any other person, and I lack a human’s ability to understand. I have not gained wisdom, and I have no knowledge of the Holy One.

He confesses that he is limited when it comes to wisdom. But Proverbs repeatedly indicates that humility is the first step to wisdom. To become wise, you need to recognize that you are not and look to God for it.

Just as Solomon recognized that wisdom begins with fear of the Lord, Agur recognizes that wisdom begins with God—with knowledge of the Holy One. Not only does wisdom reside with God, but it also resides with God’s Son. Agur asks a series of rhetorical questions in verse 4 to indicate humanity’s finitude and to point out that wisdom belongs to the Almighty Creator and his Son. No human has gone up to heaven and come back down. No human can gather the wind in his hands. No human created the world. We read this from a different vantage point than Agur. Agur asks the name of the son, but he does not know it. We do know it—Jesus Christ! We know that Jesus is the God-Man who came down from heaven as wisdom for us. Goldsworthy points out,

Agur’s question in verse 4 is answered directly in Jesus’s reply to Nicodemus in John 3:13, “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of man.” (Tree of Life, 186)

The point is that God’s Son is the one who has access to God’s wisdom because he came from heaven, so look to God and his Son for wisdom.

How do you do that? I think verses 5-6 give us the answer:

Every word of God is pure; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Don’t add to his words, or he will rebuke you, and you will be proved a liar.

God reveals this unknowable wisdom to us in his Word, so we must submit to it. For us to know wisdom, God must reveal it to us, and he has in his Word. His Word is true, a shield to those who trust in him, and sufficient. Don’t add to it. There is a warning to those who do. Don’t sit in judgment on God’s Word as if it’s lacking something. That was the problem for humanity in Genesis 3. They did not see God’s word as sufficient for their lives. We do the same thing. We know what the Bible says, but we think our ideas in certain situations are better. We often come to Scripture and act like God forgot to put the exception clause in there for our case. People will say, “Well, I know what God says about divorce, but you don’t know my husband,” or, “Well, I know what God says about parenting, but you don’t know my children,” or, “Well, I know what the Bible says about submission to authority, but you don’t know my boss.” We think our case is the exception that somehow just got left out of the Bible. Proverbs warns that God will rebuke you and prove you to be a liar if you act like the Word is not enough for you. In fact, Revelation threatens a curse to those who do this (Rev 22:18-19).

Agur then turns around and does for himself what he has recommended for others. He looks to the Lord for wisdom. He humbly depends upon God for wisdom by asking for it in prayer (Longman, Proverbs, 524–25). James 1:5 says that if we lack wisdom, we should ask God for it in prayer and he will give it to us generously. Agur prays for wisdom in Proverbs 30:7-9. Agur asks two things for his life that he knows he can’t produce in his own power. He is saying that in his own power he can’t be an honest or content person. He says he will depend on God to grant those things because his own human effort can’t save him from deception and greed (Waltke, Proverbs, Chapters 15–31, 478). We learn from this that the power does not lie with us.

The two things that he asks God for are honesty and contentment. The main emphasis is on finances, and it seems that the subject of deception introduces the subject of money because money can lie to you. Garrett argues that the two requests are actually (1) do not give me poverty and (2) do not give me wealth, and the reference to deception refers to poverty and wealth (Garrett, Proverbs, 238). Poverty lies to you: “God can’t help you. God won’t provide for you. You need to help yourself.” And riches lie to you: “You don’t need God because everything is good in your life. You are doing a great job by yourself. Depend on you not him.”

Agur pleads with the Lord to feed him with the food that he needs. Give me my daily bread. Let me have just enough for my needs to be met. Help me to be content with that and not greedy for more. Why? He gives the reasons for his supplication. First, if he has too much, he will deny the Lord (v. 9). After all, the reason God gave Israel daily manna from heaven in the wilderness was to teach them to depend on him and not on financial provision. He wanted them to learn that man lives by the word of God, not by bread. In Deuteronomy 8 God says that the purpose of the manna in the wilderness was that Israel was about to enter a land flowing with milk and honey, and when they got to that abundance they were going to forget God and think they did this on their own. That is what Proverbs 30 is warning us about. If you have too much, you won’t depend on God. It’s not saying that all rich people are greedy or profaners, but it is saying that wealth is so deceptive that it is hard for the rich to recognize their need of God.

Second, if he has too little, he will be tempted to steal (v. 9). If he is poor, he will be tempted to cheat on his tax return, misuse petty cash, be stingy toward the poor, or take money off his mom’s dresser. He makes the strangest of requests to American ears because he wants the middle ground—not too much and not too little.

The point is that both riches and poverty can lead to a lack of dependence on God. If you are rich, you think you do not need God because you can do this yourself. And if you are poor, you think obviously God isn’t helping you so you need to do this yourself. Agur asks God to give him the kind of life where he can learn to depend on and praise God’s name the best—the way of contentment. The motivation for his prayer is not his own needs; the motivation for his prayer is the name of God! God, glorify yourself by teaching me to lean wholly on you.

Look to Christ for Salvation from Sin

Proverbs 30:10-14

Proverbs 30:15-33 gives a list of numerical sayings. The verses between the numerical sayings help us understand the meaning of the numerical sayings (Waltke, Proverbs, Chapters 15–31, 481–82). He starts by talking about immorality in verses 10-14 to set up the numerical sayings. He says not to slander a servant to his master or he’ll curse you and you will become guilty (v. 10). Don’t ruin an employee’s reputation by slandering them to the boss, making fun of them, telling lies, stabbing them in the back, or being overly critical. That person will respond by verbally cursing you, and God will uphold the curse. Yikes! You are being foolish and wicked when you slander and gossip against someone, and by doing that you are incurring judgment on yourself. When the person retaliates verbally, it indicts you before God for your own wickedness (Waltke, Proverbs, Chapters 15–31, 483).

In fact, judgment of sin governs this whole section. Agur describes in this section behavior that deserves condemnation. So verse 10 sets up the listing of verses 11-14 and gives us a key for how to interpret them. In verses 11-14 he gives four “generations” or types of sinners who will be condemned by God (Murphy and Huwiler, Proverbs, 146).

First, there is a generation that curses instead of blessing its parents (v. 11). The Bart Simpsons of the world who are smart-alecks to their parents; the angst-ridden teens who yell at their parents, “I hate you!”; the bratty three-year-old who shouts “No!” to his parents’ directions; or even the grown child who refuses to provide care for aging parents. I ( Jon) remember when I pastored in Louisville, we were hit with a huge ice storm one winter that left thousands without power. We received a call from the grown daughter of one of our elderly members who was worried about her parents and wanted the church to take bread and milk to them and make sure that they were OK. We were happy to do so. The problem was that this grown—and fully healthy—daughter lived in the same town as her parents and she did not lift a finger to help them herself. Proverbs says this sort of behavior is condemned before God. The behavior that honors God is what Christ displayed—obeying his parents in childhood (Luke 2:51) and caring for his aging mother as he died ( John 19:26-27).

Second, there is a generation that is pure in its own eyes but is not washed from its filth (30:12). This verse presents a disgusting image of self-righteousness and hypocrisy. The word for “filth” in the Hebrew is literally the word for dung.^[29]The picture is of someone who is unaware that they stepped in dog mess, and now it’s smeared on their clothes. They think everything is fine with their lives morally, yet they are nasty. This is what self-righteousness looks like to God. Those who think they are not sinners and look down on others as if they are better than them look disgusting in God’s eyes! When we try to categorize sins by calling the sins of the culture worse than the sins of the church, that is gross to God. The word pure refers to those who are able to approach the presence of God in the temple. These folks think they can when they can’t. Proverbs is clear—like the rest of the Bible—that you cannot come to God unless you first know that you are filthy. The first step to salvation is recognizing you are not clean and coming to God through Jesus for cleansing. After all, Jesus is the one who lived out the wisdom of Proverbs (Luke 2:52). We are always in danger of thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought. It keeps us from Christ. He must cleanse us because we are not clean and we cannot clean ourselves.

Third, there is a prideful generation (v. 13). You can see it in their eyes! Again, the temptation to think more highly of yourself than you ought is a strong one. Pride is almost the essence of foolishness in Proverbs. Proverbs repeatedly condemns it as the path to death.

Fourth, there is a generation whose teeth are like knives that devour the poor (v. 14). There are people who are stingy toward the needy. There are those who take advantage of the poor. They slice and dice without a second thought. There are those who are simply indifferent to the oppressed. Proverbs repeatedly brings up the poor. It condemns those who mistreat them, and it honors those who are generous to them.

Proverbs 30:17 gives us the outcome for these generations, specifically those who curse parents, but it applies to all: “As for the eye that ridicules a father and despises obedience to a mother, may ravens of the valley pluck it out and young vultures eat it.”^[30]This outcome is the end for those who roll their eyes at their parents. Judgment will fall on these generations, and it is described in the grossest of ways. The language of being eaten by vultures outside the camp is the sign of someone who is accursed. God’s judgment is described sometimes as being eaten by birds (Rev 19:17-18).

The good news is that Jesus took this curse for us (Gal 3). The entire curse that we deserve for not honoring our parents, for our self-righteousness, for our arrogance, and for our indifference to the poor crushed Jesus on the cross in our place. He was taken outside the camp, executed under the judgment of God, and then raised from the dead in vindication so all who believe in him will be declared right before God! So look to Jesus for salvation from your sins.

Look at the World through the Lens of Christ

Proverbs 30:15-33

We must observe the way the world works; that will help us navigate skillfully through life. Only through Christ can we perceive and follow this pattern of the world. That is what is happening with these numbered sayings. Agur—like Solomon (1 Kgs 4:33-34)—observes nature and gives wise principles about how the world works based on his observations. Wisdom is living in accordance with the pattern of the world. His observations will do two things: warn us about uncontrolled appetites and instruct us in wisdom.

Warnings about Uncontrolled Appetites

First, Agur observes that the way the world works warns us about uncontrolled appetites for money, sex, and status. For example, verses 15-16 deal with an uncontrolled appetite for money. A leech is a literal bloodsucker that attaches to a host to drain resources and energy. Agur uses this metaphorically to talk about an uncontrolled appetite for stuff. We even use the term “leech” metaphorically for someone who consumes and consumes but does not produce. He says the leech has two daughters, referring to the suckers on the leech by which it attaches itself and drains the host (see Waltke, Proverbs, Chapters 15–31, 486–87). These two want more and more and more. The dad can never get his girls enough stuff! They cannot ever be satisfied. They always want a little more. They can be just like Rockefeller, who was asked how much money would be enough, and he replied, “Just a little bit more.” Agur’s point is to warn you to avoid people who are like this and to warn you not to become like them because this is the path to destruction. Don’t let a leech drain you of your time, money, and energy; and don’t be a greedy person who constantly craves more and more. He observes four things in nature that are never satisfied to warn you that if you are not a content person then you will never be satisfied. Sheol is never satisfied because the grave always wants one more dead body. The childless womb always craves a child—like Rachel who said, “Give me sons, or I will die!” (Gen 30:1). The land never gets enough water because after the rain the water soaks away. Fire always wants to rage out of control. This is a warning to you if you are the kind of person who can’t live within your means because your appetite is out of control and you constantly want more. The warning is that you will never be satisfied. Instead, be content with the gifts God has given you.

Next, he warns about uncontrolled appetites for sex in verses 18-20. What Agur observes here are things that move on or in something else, but what moves does not leave any trace of itself behind.^[31] They do not leave any tracks. An eagle does not leave a path in the sky, a serpent leaves no trail on a rock, and the waves behind the ship settle so no one ever knows it was there. The other three observations about things that move on or in something without leaving a trace serve the final, human observation: the way of a man “with” (though the best translation like the other three is “in”) a virgin or a young woman. This is talking of the proper context of sexual relations between a man and a woman in marriage. Unlike, say, a plow or a sword, these four things involve graceful movement and leave no damage or scar.

This fourth and final observation sets up the horrific nature of the next verse, which is the point. All four “ways” in verse 19 set up the “way” of verse 20. The way of a man with his wife provides the contrast for the impropriety of the “way” of an adulteress—sexual relations outside of marriage. The adulteress eats, wipes her mouth, and says, “I’ve done nothing wrong.” She acts as though she too leaves no damage or scar, but in fact she has done something wrong; her behavior is vulgar, and she has caused grievous damage. Eating is a metaphor for sexual sin. She wipes her mouth, which means she removes the trace or evidence of her actions, and that is the connection with the four observations of nature. She goes on and forgets all about it. She treats sex like the common act of eating a meal, just like so many treat sex today. They say it’s just a natural urge that you need to satisfy, just like you eat when you’re hungry. They say if you repress it, you will harm yourself; this is what we are made to do, how we evolved. It is just a bodily function. But 1 Corinthians 6 points out that is not the case at all—it is a very spiritual act with huge consequences. Paul points out that it’s not just like eating a meal.

This woman in Proverbs feels as little compunction about her illicit act with another woman’s husband as she does about eating breakfast. She wipes away the trace and goes on with no guilt, saying she’s done nothing wrong. While she doesn’t feel guilty, she does try to get rid of the evidence. So many people do the exact same thing. They clear an Internet history, erase an e-mail, or pay in cash at the motel so that no one finds out. Your conscience can become so seared that you no longer feel bad sneaking around in the shadows and betraying your spouse. But in fact you need to have a controlled appetite when it comes to sex, where you enjoy it rightly in marriage, otherwise you will wreck your life and face the judgment of God. While these four things behaving properly in nature leave no trace, an immoral person’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord (5:21).

Finally, Agur turns to uncontrolled appetites for status and pride in Proverbs 30:21-23. These verses talk about judgment against uncontrolled appetites for status that overturn the social order and threaten the cosmic order. It is inappropriate for a servant to become a king because he is not ready to rule (Longman, Proverbs, 531). The former slave had so many things withheld from him that when he suddenly has no constraints he will want to consume as much as possible. We observe this in history with rebellions that overthrow tyrannical governments. Often, a tyranny that is on par or worse than the previous tyranny arises in its place. (This is the point of the book Animal Farm in its indictment of the communists who overthrew the tsar but set up a system just as oppressive.) A perfect example of this is when Scar becomes the king of Pride Rock in The Lion King. His appetite is out of control, so that he consumes without producing and Pride Rock becomes a wilderness. He wants to be king, but he is not the kind of person who can be king. Pride Rock—like us—needs a king who can control his appetites so that the world works the way it should (this is a large point in Judges). Mufasa—like Solomon with his son in Proverbs—tries to instill this in Simba by telling him that he can’t just do anything he wants. There is a circle of life—a way the world works—that you must rule by and by which Simba restores order.

Next, it’s inappropriate when a fool is filled with food because a fool doesn’t know how to have a moderate lifestyle. He will become a drunk and a glutton. Third, it’s inappropriate when an unloved woman gets a husband. She becomes a torment (Garrett, Proverbs, 242). A woman who goes throughout life unloved starts to crave affection and attention and seek it in the wrong ways. Once she becomes married, she will crave her husband’s attention in a way that damages the relationship (this is a warning to dads to love their daughters well so that they are not unloved). She craved the status of marriage, but now that she has it, it is not enough. Finally, and similar to the first observation in this set, it’s inappropriate when a servant girl becomes queen.

Instruction in Wisdom

Not only does Agur observe the world and warn about uncontrolled appetites, but second, he moves on to observations that instruct us in skillful living. He observes four small but wise animals in verses 24-28 and then more stately animals in verses 29-31. You learn wisdom by observing these animals. Again, wisdom is not IQ; it’s skill for life. None of these animals could take an IQ test, but they instruct us in wisdom because they have the ability to navigate through life despite the limitations they have (Longman, Proverbs, 532). So observe these animals and do likewise.

He begins with four small animals.^[32] First, the ant survives because it provides (v. 25). The ant is wise to store up during the good times so it can be prepared during the bad times. This reality provides a nice contrast with the uncontrolled appetite for money and stuff we have seen previously in the chapter. Agur’s point in making this observation is that you should do likewise. You should work hard, you should save, you should not overspend, and you should have a plan for lean times. Second, the hyrax or rock badger is a very small animal that makes its home in the cliffs so it’s safe from predators against which it would be no match (v. 26). The point is that you need to learn how to live a life that is secure from things that might destroy you. You need to learn to resist peer pressure that might cause you to make a stupid decision that gets you in trouble. You need to learn how to resist the temptation toward adultery that would destroy your family. Third, he observes the locusts, who have no king but march in ranks (v. 27). This observation shows our need for community and cooperation. You need to be in a group that takes care of each other. Finally, the vulnerable little lizard that manages to live in the palace transitions to the next set of observations about stately things (v. 28).

He observes things that are stately in their stride—in contrast with the small things above. He observes the lion, the rooster, and the he-goat, which leads to the final observation of the king (vv. 29-31). Here is the whole point. You observe the tiny ants and lizards because they are humble, limited creatures that despite their limitations, even because of their limitations, develop wisdom and competency. Go and do likewise.^[33]You learn your weaknesses, your limits, your drawbacks, and then you humble yourself before God and you will be made wise. Proverbs is often set up as a king instructing the prince so that he can rule, and you see some of that at play here. After all, the lion is a messianic animal (Gen 49:9-10), and Solomon wants to train the line of David to be wise so that the messianic kingdom might be established. But that will only happen through humility, so learn from small creatures. And like our Messiah who humbled himself, we also must humble ourselves in dependence on God so we can make our way wisely through the world.

These observations bear a striking resemblance to the Joseph story. Joseph—like the ant—stored food in good season in preparation for the famine. This leads to him being exalted as a ruler in Egypt who saves the world. This is fulfilled in Jesus because he is the humble King who saves the world, who can rule his own appetites, and who orders his kingdom after wisdom.

Agur ends this chapter on the same note that began it. Reject foolish self-exaltation (vv. 32-33). If you have been promoting yourself, then shut up, turn off Twitter, ignore Facebook, and repent, or it will lead to a bloody conflict.

Conclusion

What we have seen in Proverbs is how it’s all centered on Christ. If you have a problem with uncontrolled appetites for money, sex, or status; if you are not honoring your parents; if you are mistreating the poor; or if you can’t see how the world really works it’s because you have a problem with Jesus! So humble yourself and seek forgiveness and transformation in Jesus Christ.

There is an order to the world. The Maker made it to work a certain way. That order is Christ-centered. Christ is the one who made the world, upholds the world, and will make the world new again (Col 1:15-20). The pattern of the seasons was woven into creation with the death of winter that gives way to the resurrection of spring in order to point us to Christ. The pattern of the seven-day week was woven into creation to point us to passion week where the new Adam—the gardener—steps out of the grave into a new world on the eighth day. After all, in The Lion King, when the rightful king overthrows the usurper and assumes the throne, even the creation itself is healed. That’s the gospel (cf. Isa 11). King Jesus sets the world right, and you can only navigate through that world—you can only be wise—through him.

Reflect and Discuss

1. We recognize that a designer gets to decide how his or her project works. In what ways does that apply to God and what he tells us about the world?
2. In what ways does recognizing our limitations help us to become wise? How does thinking you are wise actually make you foolish?
3. If wisdom truly resides with God, his Son, and his Word, then how do we go about learning and growing in that wisdom practically?
4. How do we effectively add to and subtract from the Bible?
5. How do you relate to God in lean times? Times of plenty?
6. How should children honor their parents practically?
7. Why do you think we are strongly drawn toward self-righteousness?
8. In what ways do we justify our sin as if it’s not wrong, like the adulteress?
9. What are some practical ways you can practice making wise provision like the ant?
10. How does having a church community help you grow in wisdom?