Counseled By The King: The Proverbs Of Solomon. Day 95, Defiled From Within

Today we continue on with the sayings of a man named Agur. We don't know anything about him except from this one chapter of the Bible, but this one chapter is enough to tell us he was a godly man. In yesterday's passage he spoke about not being brilliant enough to understand everything about the Lord. He doesn't have a doctorate degree in theology, he doesn't have the highest IQ on the planet, and he isn't the wisest man on earth like Solomon. But he knows the Lord, and because he knows the Lord, the Holy Spirit has instructed him with these wise proverbs which he passes on to us. 

"Do not slander a servant to their master, or they will curse you, and you will pay for it." (Proverbs 30:10) To slander someone is to accuse them of something, usually falsely. It's an attack on their character. Agur warns, "Be careful about accusing a man's servant of wrongdoing, especially when it isn't true. This curse will fall back on your own head when you are proven a liar. Besides, it's not your business to meddle in the relationship between master and servant." 

This is particularly wise advice for anyone who dares to slander the servant of God. The Apostle Paul cautioned against passing judgment against those who have accepted Christ as their Redeemer, "Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand." (Romans 14:4) The Lord has promised to avenge every servant of His who has been slandered, and this happens to be one of my favorite verses because it assures us that God is always watching out for His servants, "'No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from Me,' declares the Lord." (Isaiah 54:17) 

"There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers; those who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth; those whose eyes are ever so haughty, whose glances are so disdainful; those whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are set with knives to devour the poor from the earth and the needy from mankind." (Proverbs 30:10-14) Agur points out some distressing trends he's observed in his generation, and we can observe these same trends in our own times. There are those who have no respect for their parents or for authority figures of any kind. They believe it's fine to do anything they want, and that there really is no right or wrong, and that they have the right to pursue their desires no matter who it hurts. They speak sharp words that cut others to the quick and they have no compassion on the poor and needy. 

We can only expect these conditions to worsen as we near the end times, as the Apostle Paul points out, "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God---having a form of godliness but denying its power." (2 Timothy 3:1-5a)

"The leech has two daughters. 'Give! Give!' they cry." (Proverbs 30:15) Agur compares the person who is greedy and driven by selfish ambition to a leech who sucks blood until it's ready to burst and still wants more. Solomon says of greed, "Death and destruction are never satisfied, and neither are human eyes." (Proverbs 27:20) The Lord Jesus said that greed is one of the character flaws that defiles us. He was criticized for not observing ceremonial washing before eating, and He countered the accusations of the hypocritical Pharisees and teachers of the law by saying, "What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For it is from within, from a person's heart, that evil thoughts come---sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person." (Mark 7:20-23) 

As we continue Chapter 30 we will find Agur discussing several of these defiling things that Jesus mentions. He will discuss flaws of the human heart that cause us to constantly crave more, even if it belongs to someone else. He will talk about those who are disrespectful to parents, those who are sexually immoral and refuse to admit their wrong, those who are foolish but have risen to high positions, and those who consumed with pride in themselves. All of these are attitudes that defile us, as the Lord Jesus warned. As servants of God we must not live this way, for it gives unbelievers grounds to accuse us and a reason to reject Christ because we have set such a poor example of what being a Christian means.