“We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do” (Pro 30:1-14)
“We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do”
(Pro 30:1-14)
The introduction to this thirtieth chapter of proverbs (Pro 30:1-3) does not have a typical feel or style that most of the other Proverbs have.
Pro 30:1 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy: the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal,
Pro 30:2 Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.
Pro 30:3 I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy.
A maturing spiritual mind can see how brutish their own fleshly condition is (Pro 30:2), and sets the stage for the rest of the proverbs that point to the solution to our brutishness being found in Christ who alone can lead us into all truth (Joh 16:13), ascending and descending in our heavens (Eph 4:10) to do this work of grace and faith in this age, in His body (Pro 30:4).
Joh 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Eph 4:10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
Pro 30:4 Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?
It is with that knowledge and conviction of who we are, that we will, Lord willing, continue to diligently examine ourselves against all the words of God that we are to live by (Joh 9:41, Mat 4:4, Psa 119:160).
Joh 9:41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.
Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Psa 119:160 The sum of thy word is truth; And every one of thy righteous ordinances endureth for ever.
“The words of Agur the son of Jakeh” is a ‘Job-moment’ expressed in (Pro 30:1-2). His language parallels Job’s who puts his hand to his mouth after being greatly humbled in his flesh, and recognizes his nothingness in comparison to our great Creator who has been working all things according to the council of His own will, with the ultimate goal of sanctifying all of His creation in time (Pro 30:2, Job 40:4, Eph 1:11, 1Co 3:13, Joh 17:17).
Job 40:4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
The biblical scholars debate regarding who this “Agur” is, but we know what is important is the message inspired, a profitable word of God (2Ti 3:16) revealing that when we mature in the Lord, we will all come to the same conclusion that Agur did, as Job did, described by Christ toward his disciples in this verse (Luk 17:10):
Luk 17:10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
With this thought in mind, we will look at the first half of the second to last chapter of the book of Proverbs.
Pro 30:1 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy: the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal,
Pro 30:2 Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.
Pro 30:3 I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy.
Pro 30:4 Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?
These opening verses (Pro 30:1-4) parallel God’s comments to Job in (Job 40:1-24, Job 41:1-34) and then Job’s comments to God (Job 42:1-17) after he comes to see through the humbling experiences of his life just how little and insignificant he is (Luk 17:10).
Luk 17:10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
Agur’sH94 name means “gathered” and the Lord is going to gather all the nations from the four corners of the world to bring judgement upon the flesh of mankind.
[Gog and Magog typifying how all flesh [4 corners], not just Gog and Magog but every one who has ever been in flesh, will be judged].
Agur’s now correct assessment of what flesh is and is in need of, is typical of mankind’s need for judgement that will come in the order that God has ordained (1Pe 4:17, Rev 20:8, 1Co 15:23). Agur typifies Christ whose Father is JakehH3348 whose name means “blameless”.
IthielH384 is a type of the elect, and his name means “God is with me” (Heb 13:5), and finally UcalH401, whose name means “devour”, represents the rest of the world who will be ‘meat’ for the elect at the supper of the Great God (Rev 19:17).
Heb 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Rev 19:17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
There is symbolism in the order and names of these four names mentioned as well. Agur the son of Jakeh, Ithiel and Ucal. The subject has to do with man’s ignorance and inability to hear and see the things of God’s knowledge, and we are being told that this is true of the whole [4] of humanity (2Co 4:4).
2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Our hope is in knowing the answers to these questions. It is Christ that “hath ascended up into heaven” and “descended” and “who hath gathered the wind in his fists” and “who hath bound the waters in a garment” and “who hath established all the ends of the earth”. (Mat 8:27).
Mat 8:27 But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!
what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell? We are blessed to believe that God will, within the body of Christ that is His workmanship, accomplish all this through Christ who has all power over heaven and earth (Mat 28:18, Eph 2:10, Php 2:12-13, Php 4:13).
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works (Php 2:12-13), which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Php 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. [“walk in them” of Eph 2:10 above]
Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Pro 30:5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
Pro 30:6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
God’s word is a shield unto us as long as we don’t add or take away from it (Deu 4:2, Rev 1:3, Rev 22:19). Our former conversation has us doing just that until Christ comes into our lives to bind those evil spirits and give us victory over our past and present spiritual battles (Mar 3:27, Eph 6:12). So we are going be reproved and found out to be liars if God is working with us in this age, and if we endure that chastening of the Lord, we will be matured and received of God through it (Pro 16:4, Heb 12:6).
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Mar 3:27 No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.
Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God,[Psa 119:160] that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Pro 30:7 Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die:
Pro 30:8 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:
This is the cry that God’s humbled elect make every day. It is “two” because it is a witness of Christ who won’t “deny” (2Ti 2:13) himself within us (Col 1:27) of the purpose for which we have been ordained from the foundation of the world to accomplish (Eph 2:10), fulfilling the desires of our hearts that He puts there in this life if we are His elect. These desires and drives will happen “before I die” (Php 2:12-13) so that we can be raised in the blessed and holy first resurrection if this is God’s will (Rev 20:6).
What has to happen in the life of God’s little flock (Luk 12:32) is that “vanity and lies” have to be far removed from us, and we must not be spiritually impoverished by not growing in the grace and knowledge of our Savior (2Pe 3:18). We can only accomplish this by going without the camp with Christ (Heb 13:13, Joh 6:44) so that we can partake of the bullock, the strong meat of Jesus Christ who is represented by the “food convenient for me”. The negative connotation of poverty and riches, “give me neither poverty nor riches”, is defined with these verses (Mat 25:29, Rev 3:17).
Mat 25:29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Pro 30:9 Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.
The conclusion of verses seven and eight is telling us that we need to ask God for what we need and don’t ask amiss (Jas 4:2-3). We can’t set our hearts on things that are temporal and passing, but rather must keep them fixed on those things which are eternal, as Christ did himself as our example (2Co 4:18, Heb 12:1-2).
Jas 4:2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
Jas 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.2Co 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
When we’re “full” in the flesh, eating and drinking and being merry all day long (1Co 15:32), we are not in the house of mourning where we can know the Lord and have His strength in our lives as a result of being baptized into his death (Rom 6:3), mortifying the deeds of the flesh, resulting in our being able to overcome this blinded Laodicean spirit (Rev 3:17-19) that says “Who is the LORD?”, or in other words, “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing”.
Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
A spiritually poor soul is one who is robbing God by not presenting our whole lives a living sacrifice unto Him, symbolized by the tithe offering spoken of in Malachi (Mal 3:10). When we withhold our life from being a living sacrifice unto God, we are taking “the name of my God in vain”, or His words which are His name.
Mal 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
Pro 30:10 Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be found guilty.
Pro 30:11 There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.
Pro 30:12 There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.
Pro 30:13 There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.
Pro 30:14 There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.
When we get into the second section of proverbs chapter thirty next week, it will be instructive to look back at these five proverbs (Pro 30:10-14) that set the stage for the rest of chapter thirty.
Christ is our master, and each of us are His servants, so this parable is telling us that we are to work together in unity, and cover each other’s sins and not go to Christ with this condemning attitude of others, lest Christ “curse thee, and thou be found guilty”. (Mat 18:22)
Christ is Christ, whether that is Christ in the “servant” or Jesus Christ our saviour. There is a time [dying daily] when we go to God and groan within ourselves things inexpressible regarding the behaviour of others and ourselves, and God is the judge in all instances through His spirit that works within us (Rom 13:4, in the same breath Rom 2:22).
Rom 13:4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
Rom 2:22 Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
We always need the Lord to help us to bear all things as love does (1Co 13:7, Gal 6:2), and trust that He already knows all the particulars of that person you may be struggling with, or your own personal struggle. In the final analysis God is able to make them stand or fall (Rom 14:4), and so from that perspective we must always be coming before God with mercy and love, with the hope that we can reconcile any situation by God’s grace and the faith of Christ (Eph 2:16, Col 1:20, Mat 18:22).
Mat 18:21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
Mat 18:22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
Everything that follows verse 10 (Pro 30:10) is revealing the corrupt generation that we’re living in, which wants to pick up the stone and start throwing it at others (Joh 8:7), forgetting our own wretched condition (Rom 7:24, Rev 3:17). We all don’t bear the sword in vain (Rom 13:4), but we’re also told to be very circumspect in removing the beam from our own eyes before we consider it needful to go to another brother (Mat 7:5). In other words, there is a time to go (Mat 18:15), and there is a time to patiently let a situation unfold as God himself does with us, giving us time to repent (Rev 2:5).
With these things in mind we can see that “a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother” is speaking of Babylon that is not given to die daily today, to be judged, and as such negatively “curseth their father” as opposed to being cursed to be on a tree with Christ, which is the positive use of the word ‘curse’ (Deu 21:23, Gal 3:13, 1Jn 4:17, Gal 2:20).
The proverbs go on to show us that “a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness” is also cursed, reminding us of this verse in the book of Revelation, mentioned a couple of times now in this study (Rev 3:17-19).
Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
This “generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness” is speaking of the self-righteous spirit within us that, by God’s grace, will be destroyed by the brightness of Christ coming daily into our heavens (Eze 33:13, Php 3:9, 2Th 2:3-5).
The next generation spoken of is “a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up”. Again this is speaking of God’s elect in their appointed time (Mat 24:34), but more specifically regarding the pride of life that blinds us to the reality that we are the chief of sinners, until we are given to see this truth (1Ti 1:15).
Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
1Ti 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
The last generation spoken of is “a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men”, speaking of the heart of man at the end of the ages when the sins of the Amorites are being fulfilled (Gen 15:16, 2Ti 3:1-5, Rev 20:8). As always, if we are brought to see that this is where everyman starts and believe we are being judged by the Lord in this age (1Pe 4:17), then these words will easily be understood as applying to our own former conversation that we are being dragged out of by the grace of God (Eph 2:1-3)
Gen 15:16 But in the fourth generation [notice there were 4 generations mentioned in Pro 30:11-14] they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
2Ti 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2Ti 3:2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
2Ti 3:4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
2Ti 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. [The sins of the Amorites being fulfilled at the end of this age before Christ returns]Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. [sins of the Amorites being fulfilled after the reign of Christ and his Christ]
Next week, Lord willing, will look at the last few verses of (Pro 30:15-33).