January 30; Proverbs 30 Verses 1-4
[Please note: The first two paragraphs below are repeated each day for new readers. My amateur comments are offered below the verses from Proverbs.]
[Please note: The first two paragraphs below are repeated each day for new readers. My amateur comments are offered below the verses from Proverbs.]
Christians looking for a simple way to review the Bible regularly, have long been convenienced by the fact that the book of Proverbs has 31 chapters, the same number as most of our months. Each chapter includes multiple bite-sized verses (uhm, proverbs) and can be read through simply in one sitting, one appropriately numbered chapter per day through the month. A person might read through the Proverbs a chapter a day during any month, but why mess with your head (reading an extra chapter on one, two, or three days!) like that when there are 7 months every year perfectly suited for the endeavor?
My idea here is to reprint about 1/7 of the verses from each day's chapter throughout this year, every time a 31 day month pops up, and then offer a few comments from The Barking Owl. So in January, we will get through the first few verses of every chapter and then in March, the next group, and so on, until December comes around and we can finally get to the last set of verses in each chapter and complete the book's reading. If you are smarter than I am (is there any doubt?), you will read the whole chapter every day, every 31 day month, and then you will have read the whole book 7 times this year! By then you are guaranteed to at least be wiser than The Barking Owl , though no one will ever match the wisdom of Solomon![All Bible passages are from the NIV, and are copied from www.Biblegateway.com]
Proverbs 30
The sayings of Agur
1 The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh-an inspired utterance.
This man's utterance to Ithiel:
"I am weary, God,
but I can prevail.
1) Oh Agur, I hope you mean that you can prevail only with God's help! Don't be like Elvis, who died on the bathroom floor in despair, or a Frank, whose last words were "I'm losing", after years of claiming you can do it "my way."
Wouldn't you love to know more about Agur and Ithiel? I bet their story would make a great movie! Perhaps we will have him giving this "utterance" while chained to some dark prison wall. Ithiel is a guard who has become so fascinated by Agur's resolve in the face of his dark circumstances that he writes down every brave thing Agur says. He may seem to be talking to himself in that dank cell, but is he talking to his god?
2 Surely I am only a brute, not a man;
I do not have human understanding.
2) THERE is the humility God wants! Not to disparage that which is made "in His image", but to recognize and admit one's fallen nature, and need for divine help.
3 I have not learned wisdom,
nor have I attained to the knowledge of the Holy One.
3) Hyperbole. No one can attain that level! After a million years in paradise, being tutored and trained through participating directly in the works of the Lord, the things we will have YET to learn and enjoy will still be infinite!
4 Who has gone up to heaven and come down?
Whose hands have gathered up the wind?
Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name, and what is the name of his son?
Surely you know!
4) Rhetorical questions, of course. We all know the answer. Nobody, in those days BC (Before Christ), of even a whole human's nature, had done those things. Only God, and His Son!
The imagery here is astounding! We humans can not even imagine hands gathering up the wind, or wrapping the waters (oceans) in a cloak. It took God's wisdom to establish the ends of the earth by limiting its boundaries to the surface of a sphere, and only God knows the name that will be given to the Son: Revelation 19:12 "He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself."
I DARE you to not read the rest of Agur's soliloquy today! I would hate to have you wait until March and May and July and August and October and December, to enjoy the full benefits of this guys insight and style. To borrow a bit of his method, I might say "There are six months to delve into Proverbs; seven, with 31 days to celebrate its wisdom (but read it all now)!" You will not miss anything in waiting for my little comments, so read it now and I won't "twist your nose"!
The sayings of Agur
1 The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh-an inspired utterance.
This man's utterance to Ithiel:
"I am weary, God,
but I can prevail.
1) Oh Agur, I hope you mean that you can prevail only with God's help! Don't be like Elvis, who died on the bathroom floor in despair, or a Frank, whose last words were "I'm losing", after years of claiming you can do it "my way."
Wouldn't you love to know more about Agur and Ithiel? I bet their story would make a great movie! Perhaps we will have him giving this "utterance" while chained to some dark prison wall. Ithiel is a guard who has become so fascinated by Agur's resolve in the face of his dark circumstances that he writes down every brave thing Agur says. He may seem to be talking to himself in that dank cell, but is he talking to his god?
2 Surely I am only a brute, not a man;
I do not have human understanding.
2) THERE is the humility God wants! Not to disparage that which is made "in His image", but to recognize and admit one's fallen nature, and need for divine help.
3 I have not learned wisdom,
nor have I attained to the knowledge of the Holy One.
3) Hyperbole. No one can attain that level! After a million years in paradise, being tutored and trained through participating directly in the works of the Lord, the things we will have YET to learn and enjoy will still be infinite!
4 Who has gone up to heaven and come down?
Whose hands have gathered up the wind?
Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name, and what is the name of his son?
Surely you know!
4) Rhetorical questions, of course. We all know the answer. Nobody, in those days BC (Before Christ), of even a whole human's nature, had done those things. Only God, and His Son!
The imagery here is astounding! We humans can not even imagine hands gathering up the wind, or wrapping the waters (oceans) in a cloak. It took God's wisdom to establish the ends of the earth by limiting its boundaries to the surface of a sphere, and only God knows the name that will be given to the Son: Revelation 19:12 "He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself."
I DARE you to not read the rest of Agur's soliloquy today! I would hate to have you wait until March and May and July and August and October and December, to enjoy the full benefits of this guys insight and style. To borrow a bit of his method, I might say "There are six months to delve into Proverbs; seven, with 31 days to celebrate its wisdom (but read it all now)!" You will not miss anything in waiting for my little comments, so read it now and I won't "twist your nose"!
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