WEBVTT 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:20.719 It has been a few weeks since we've been in Proverbs, and so it is worth understanding as we're wrapping up our series in Proverbs, how the book of Proverbs all fits together, like what's going on in the book of Proverbs. 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:33.119 And so here's a high-level overview of the book of Proverbs to make you appreciate Proverbs 30, because Proverbs 30 is a wonderful chapter that gets overlooked if you don't understand how it connects to Proverbs 1 through 29. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:36.799 Proverbs 1, if you remember, is wisdom's invitation. 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:41.600 It's the invitation for people to come and study wisdom, and not just any people. 00:00:41.679 --> 00:00:50.719 It's the invitation from a father and by extension the father and mother, parents, to around 14 or 15-year-old son. 00:00:51.039 --> 00:00:55.840 It's an appeal, an appeal to that son to treasure and come find wisdom. 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:58.240 It's the parents saying, There's a life in front of you. 00:00:58.320 --> 00:00:59.359 You can have this life. 00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:00.479 Come to it. 00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:02.399 That's Proverbs 1. 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:05.760 Proverbs 2 is letting you know you'll have to fight for wisdom. 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:07.599 It will not come easy. 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:11.120 So the 14, 50-year-old son that says, Yeah, Mom, I'm in. 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:13.040 Yeah, Dad, I'm going to live a life of wisdom. 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:16.079 All right, it's going to be harder than you're imagining. 00:01:16.319 --> 00:01:22.799 There's enemies of wisdom, and Proverbs 2 is basically spelling out that there's going to be a fight, but it will be worth it. 00:01:22.959 --> 00:01:27.200 Proverbs 3, wisdom is beautiful and it's going to be worth it. 00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:31.359 In fact, Proverbs 3 almost reads like an appeal for an arranged marriage. 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:36.799 It's the parents telling the kids, hey, here's this lady I met, wisdom. 00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:38.719 Man, she's beautiful. 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:40.560 I know we're parents. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:42.959 We can make this happen right now. 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:44.400 That's Proverbs 3. 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:47.120 Like, go ahead and just get married to her, will you? 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:50.400 Proverbs 4 is the wedding ceremony. 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:56.640 Proverbs 4 is the, it's got the voice of the grandfather, remember, the night before the wedding with the last-minute advice. 00:01:56.799 --> 00:02:01.760 Proverbs 4 is the commitment, the marriage where the person says, Now I'm married to wisdom. 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:07.920 Proverbs 5 is the famous chapter, warning against adultery, which makes sense that it comes after the marriage. 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:12.560 Warning the son, now that you're married to wisdom, be afraid of adultery. 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:16.240 And of course, it's a real warning against real adultery in a real marriage. 00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:24.319 It also stands representative as the warning for cheating on wisdom, for becoming a fool after you've said you're going to pursue wisdom. 00:02:24.960 --> 00:02:27.919 Proverbs 6, also a very good post-marriage speech. 00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:30.960 Proverbs 6 says, oh yeah, your friends are going to have to change also. 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:36.560 Proverbs 6 talks about all the friends of the world that will spoil your marriage. 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:41.680 I know people get married often think, oh, and I'll keep my friends exactly the same now that I'm married. 00:02:41.759 --> 00:02:44.960 Just because I was friends with them when I'm single, I can still be friends with them when I'm married. 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:46.159 Ha ha ha ha. 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:49.039 Because you grow up. 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:50.479 You mature. 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:52.879 That's Proverbs 6. 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:56.000 You know, some of your friends are gonna have to go or they're gonna mess up your marriage. 00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:57.439 Proverbs 7, oh yeah. 00:02:57.599 --> 00:02:59.520 Again, don't commit adultery. 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:01.360 Another warning against adultery. 00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:06.560 Proverbs 8 shows you how wisdom reflects God. 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:11.919 How wisdom is the attributes of God on display for you. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:14.000 Proverbs 8 gets theological. 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:17.039 Proverbs 9 separates two paths again. 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:19.520 There's the path of wisdom and the path of folly. 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:20.639 Remember what you chose. 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:21.840 That's Proverbs 9. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:25.680 You signed up for wisdom, you got married to wisdom, you know about the God of wisdom. 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:28.000 This is your life that I'm setting in front of you. 00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:29.439 Don't go over here, that's bad. 00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:31.360 So that's Proverbs 1 through 9. 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:38.000 Proverbs 10 through half of chapter 22 is what people call elementary wisdom. 00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:46.800 It's just the generic wisdom about things like speech, money, work, ethics, your conduct. 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:48.960 That's Proverbs 10 through 22. 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:52.159 The generic Proverbs, and we spent a lot of time going over those. 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:56.960 We talked about those categories: speech, money, greed, contentment, joy, work ethic. 00:03:57.199 --> 00:04:01.120 Proverbs 22 through 29 is the more complicated wisdom. 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:06.719 That's things like parenting, personal relationships, friendships in Proverbs 27. 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:09.520 How to know do you confront sin or cover sin? 00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:21.759 Leadership, principles for leadership, and uh that the king would use in governing his country, conflict resolution, the more complicated interpersonal dynamics, that's Proverbs 22 through 29. 00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:23.839 And now that's done. 00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:26.879 So all of those Proverbs, and the words of Solomon are done. 00:04:27.439 --> 00:04:28.240 That's how they all end. 00:04:28.319 --> 00:04:31.040 It's the words of Solomon have been discharged now. 00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:33.920 What's left? 00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:38.160 So there's three chapters left, or two chapters left, three different speeches left. 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:41.759 You have Proverbs 30, which is a different king. 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:48.240 Commentators tend to think he's probably an Egyptian king, but who was trained under Solomon, and you wonder how did that happen? 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:52.560 Well, Solomon married half of their princesses, so I'm sure there's some overlap somewhere. 00:04:54.160 --> 00:04:59.839 It's some king, and maybe the word king here just means a royal court official or something like that. 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:09.680 It's somebody who is educated, who has some uh authority around him, has some uh political appointment, probably trained under Solomon. 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:10.959 That's just a guess. 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:12.000 We don't know. 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:15.120 Doesn't appear to be overly Jewish. 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:19.199 Most commentators suggest that he's from some other nation. 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:21.600 That's Proverbs 30. 00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:31.279 And then Proverbs 31 is about, you know, the lesson about who to marry for King Lemuel, who may very well be Jewish, we don't know. 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:32.240 We don't know who these kings are. 00:05:32.319 --> 00:05:34.720 They're not kings of Israel, they're not kings of Judah. 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:36.399 They're trained under Solomon. 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:41.600 And so these last three chapters serve almost like the epilogue. 00:05:41.839 --> 00:05:45.360 And it's interesting, it steps outside of Solomon here. 00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:51.680 Now, for one reason is just so obvious that uh Solomon did not marry well. 00:05:51.839 --> 00:05:53.839 Solomon did not follow his own advice. 00:05:53.920 --> 00:05:58.000 And so for Proverbs 31 to be written, it's actually more effective if it's not written by Solomon. 00:05:58.079 --> 00:05:59.519 We all understand that. 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:04.639 But Proverbs 30 here, why isn't that from Solomon? 00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:14.079 Because it's taking all of the wisdom of Proverbs 1 through 29 and giving it to somebody else who's looking back at it retrospectively and saying, Yes, I did this. 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:20.079 My mom had this conversation with me, my dad had this conversation with me, I married wisdom. 00:06:21.839 --> 00:06:26.079 I led the life of purity, I stayed faithful to wisdom. 00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:30.240 I did Proverbs 12, or sorry, Proverbs 10 through 29. 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:31.439 I acted that out. 00:06:31.680 --> 00:06:34.319 Of course, you don't act it out perfectly, but that's the idea of this guy. 00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:35.920 He's been weary. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:37.600 This is what he says in verse 1. 00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:39.519 He's exhausted himself. 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:41.759 He's actually done the work of wisdom. 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:43.040 He's done this. 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:49.279 And now at the latter part of his life, he's looking back on it. 00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:50.800 Did it work? 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:52.000 That's the question. 00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:54.560 That's why Proverbs 30 is such a powerful passage. 00:06:54.639 --> 00:07:01.040 It's from somebody who did Proverbs 1 through 29, and how he's here now to report on how it all went. 00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:03.680 And it's kind of a surprising turn. 00:07:03.759 --> 00:07:07.439 This is not the epilogue you would expect to get through the publishing house. 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:10.720 An editor should have caught this and taken it a different direction. 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:13.199 However, Proverbs fits in the wisdom literature. 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:16.800 Proverbs 30 has the ring of it kind of like Ecclesiastes. 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:21.680 You get some of Ecclesiastes bleeding over here into Proverbs 30, or Job. 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:27.519 There's verses here that appear to be very similar to content from the book of Job as well. 00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:32.399 The main point that this guy comes away with is that wisdom only gets you so far. 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:34.399 Wisdom is good. 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:35.519 Don't get him wrong. 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:39.040 Wisdom is good, and it has governed his life well. 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:46.720 It's been exhausting, though, and it only gets him so far. 00:07:48.160 --> 00:07:51.680 Verse 1, the words of Agur, son of Jacob. 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:53.839 The oracle. 00:07:55.600 --> 00:07:55.920 No. 00:07:56.399 --> 00:08:01.680 He goes on to write, the man declares, I am weary, O God, I am weary, O God, and worn out. 00:08:02.079 --> 00:08:06.079 Just about every English translation renders verse one very differently. 00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:13.680 It's complicated Hebrew, which has led some to suggest that perhaps he was Egyptian. 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:18.720 There's two words in there that could be other names, like foreign names. 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:24.959 And so some translations say, you know, words from Egar, son of Jacob, to these two different names, two different people. 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:31.360 The ESV is, as I understand it, I'm not a Hebrew scholar, but I'm friends with them. 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:36.399 The ESV probably has the best understanding of it with I am weary, O God. 00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:41.120 And that last phrase in worn out, it could be worn out, or it could also be I can overcome. 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:44.480 I'm weary of the fight, but I I think I can still win. 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:46.879 I think I can overcome. 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:50.799 But it's the idea of an exhausted athlete. 00:08:51.679 --> 00:08:59.840 The closing whistle is about to blow, and they're up by a goal or two, and he thinks I've poured it all out on the field. 00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:04.000 I'm tired of this, but I think we're going to win. 00:09:04.159 --> 00:09:06.000 It's that kind of concept in his mind. 00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:07.600 That's what verse 1 is indicating. 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:10.799 So he's not dissing wisdom here. 00:09:11.039 --> 00:09:15.519 He loves wisdom, he's led his life by it, and he's about to have victory because of it. 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:20.639 But with that said, he also recognizes that it only gets you so far. 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:24.720 For outline, we're going to look at the limits of wisdom, the first limit of wisdom. 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:28.000 The limits of wisdom, the first limit of wisdom. 00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:31.840 Wisdom is just bordered in. 00:09:32.559 --> 00:09:34.879 Wisdom doesn't cover everything. 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:39.360 He starts here by looking up at the Lord. 00:09:39.919 --> 00:09:42.639 He looks up in this first stanza to God. 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:44.159 He prays to God. 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:45.679 I'm weary, O God. 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:47.039 I'm weary. 00:09:47.600 --> 00:09:51.360 And then verse 2 surely I'm too stupid to be a man. 00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:55.360 Remember when I said it goes kind of a different direction here, expecting. 00:09:55.840 --> 00:09:57.120 I'm just dumb. 00:09:57.360 --> 00:10:01.360 That's not what you want the guy who spent his life living Proverbs to say at the end of his life. 00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:06.639 Like I've done it, I've memorized, I've memorized Proverbs, but man, I am just stupid. 00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:10.799 I don't even have the understanding of a man, he says in verse 2. 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:12.000 I'm so low. 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:15.919 I'm tired, and I'm a sinner and I'm frail. 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:19.039 I've not learned wisdom, he says in verse 3. 00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:22.720 Nor have I knowledge of the Holy One. 00:10:23.919 --> 00:10:28.240 Ultimately, he doesn't know God thoroughly. 00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:30.879 He knows God, of course. 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:34.240 You're going to see that he has some pretty good theology here. 00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:41.919 He knows God, perhaps in a more profound way than many of the other Jewish kings knew God. 00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:49.360 But he recognizes when it comes to who God is, I have leaned on wisdom and I don't know him thoroughly. 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:51.279 He knows him truly but not totally. 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:52.799 You could say it that way. 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:56.000 He knows God truly but not totally. 00:10:56.320 --> 00:10:59.200 And now he's going to have a series of questions. 00:10:59.360 --> 00:11:00.080 Verse 4. 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:02.559 Who has ascended to heaven and come down? 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:06.080 Who's gathered the wind in his fists? 00:11:06.480 --> 00:11:08.720 Who's wrapped up the waters in a garment? 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:11.840 Who's established all the ends of the earth? 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:13.440 That's his question here. 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:19.360 He's lived his life with wisdom, and he's stuck with the basic concept here of how did God create the world? 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:21.440 How can I think I'm like God? 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:22.879 Yes, I know him. 00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:27.279 Yes, I know his word, but I don't know all the secrets of everything. 00:11:27.360 --> 00:11:28.799 I don't know how God made the world. 00:11:28.960 --> 00:11:36.320 And this should be reminiscent of the end of the book of Job, where Job basically spends a long time in the book proclaiming himself an expert in these things. 00:11:36.559 --> 00:11:42.399 Even Job would say he doesn't know all things, but he knows enough to know that he's getting the short end of the stick here. 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:46.639 And then when God appears, remember, God gives Job a pop quiz. 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:49.440 You know, you, Job, you think you're going to stand before me and question me? 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:51.360 I have some questions for you. 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:54.480 Do you dispatch the lightning bolts? 00:11:55.120 --> 00:11:57.200 Are you there when the mountain goats give birth? 00:11:57.360 --> 00:11:59.200 Which is kind of a funny question. 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:01.200 You don't know anything, Job. 00:12:01.279 --> 00:12:03.039 You don't know about goats, you don't know about lightning. 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:05.759 You can go ahead and be quiet for a second before you question me. 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:10.159 Well, here, King Agura is there ahead of that. 00:12:10.960 --> 00:12:12.639 This is the life of wisdom. 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:14.879 At the front end of that, he's not questioning God. 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:16.960 He's saying, listen, I spent my life in wisdom here. 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:19.360 I don't know those things. 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:20.720 I'm not God. 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:23.279 This is what Moses says at the end of Deuteronomy. 00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:32.879 The word of God is near you, so that you won't have to say who can go up to heaven to get it, who can go down to the bottom of the sea and get it, it's near you, it's in your mouth, on your heart, in your mind, on your tongue, and all that. 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:35.120 This king understands that. 00:12:35.279 --> 00:12:38.000 He knows the word of God is near him, of course he does. 00:12:38.159 --> 00:12:42.159 But he's saying, I don't know what it's like to actually go up to heaven. 00:12:42.960 --> 00:12:44.159 Or to go down to the water. 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:47.759 Wisdom can't get me into the inner workings of God. 00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:53.039 Remember what Moses says after he says all that, too, is the secret things belong to the Lord. 00:12:53.120 --> 00:12:55.200 That's where that's where King Agarus just starts. 00:12:55.279 --> 00:12:56.559 The secret things belong to the Lord. 00:12:56.639 --> 00:12:58.240 I haven't gone into his throne room. 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:00.399 He hasn't paged me, he's never consulted me. 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:01.440 I don't know those things. 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:02.639 I wasn't there. 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:05.519 I wasn't there. 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:11.600 It's interesting that he starts his approach to wisdom by humbling himself. 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:14.879 He recognizes that wisdom begins with God and not with man. 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:18.960 And this is a very profound point to end the book of Proverbs with. 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:23.600 If you get nothing from the book of Proverbs other than that observation, then you've won. 00:13:23.919 --> 00:13:26.559 Wisdom comes from God, not from man. 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:32.240 So many people act as if wisdom begins with them. 00:13:32.399 --> 00:13:40.240 They make themselves the judge over God and God's word, and they determine what is true or false based upon their own perception, not based upon what God says. 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:42.639 They live life based upon how they feel. 00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:46.480 They respond to ethical situations based on what they think is right. 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:54.080 They're in a complex ethical situation and they say, oh, what do I think is the right thing to do based upon what I feel this or how I feel that? 00:13:54.240 --> 00:13:56.159 And they're not going to God in God's word. 00:13:56.399 --> 00:14:03.600 They're elevating their own desires of thought, their own affections, their own feelings, become the director of how they should ask rather than God's word. 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:05.360 King Edgar is ahead of all that. 00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:06.639 See, that's not where he's going. 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:12.399 He's recognizing that right wisdom starts not with oneself, but with God. 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:14.879 And there's apologetic inferences in this. 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:17.679 I was looking at Van Til. 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:27.120 Van Til, of course, presuppositional apologetics, and that just means that the challenge in apologetics is to get people to recognize that truth comes from God, not man. 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:29.120 And so I would summarize that. 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:41.840 Van Til writes, quote, if one does not make human knowledge wholly dependent upon the original self-knowledge and consequent revelation of God to man, then man will have to seek knowledge from himself as the reference point. 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:42.799 So you catch that? 00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:50.000 Van Til says, if you don't start by saying God's the source of knowledge, then you're going to end up saying you are the source of knowledge, and that's of course bad. 00:14:50.080 --> 00:14:51.679 That reminds me of Calvin's Institutes. 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:53.200 There's two categories of knowledge. 00:14:53.679 --> 00:14:57.279 That's how Calvin begins his institutes, those that reveal God and those that reveal man. 00:14:57.600 --> 00:14:59.519 Gotta start with God, my friend. 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:07.120 Van Til says, that person will have to seek an exhaustive understanding of reality before he can say anything. 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:15.039 Then he'll have to hold that if he cannot attain to such an exhaustive knowledge of reality, then he has no true knowledge of anything at all. 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:17.039 Do you catch Van Til's logic there? 00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:27.279 In order for if you're gonna say that knowledge doesn't begin with God, it begins with man, then for you to say anything that's true, you have to know everything there is to know about everything. 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:31.519 Otherwise, you'll say something that you don't know if it's true or not. 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:37.759 He goes on to give, you know, kind of classic uh philosophical or logical examples of that. 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:41.919 You know, for you to say there's no gold in China, you would have to look everywhere in China. 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:43.039 That's the idea. 00:15:43.279 --> 00:15:47.759 You're never really able to say that unless you have exhaustive knowledge of all of China. 00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:49.919 That's his illustration. 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:57.360 Either a man, this is Van Tilligan, either a man must therefore know everything, or he can know nothing at all. 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:00.720 That's where King Agar is. 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:06.240 I don't know anything, he says, because knowledge can't start or end with him. 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:08.960 So he says, Who can know God? 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:11.840 And then here's what I mean about his theology. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:13.600 What is his name at the end of verse 4? 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:16.320 What is his name and what is his son's name? 00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:18.320 Surely you know. 00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:25.519 Now I know you're not allowed to say that the Old Testament writers knew that God had a son who would be the savior. 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:26.799 Oh no, no, of course not. 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:28.240 They would never know that. 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:31.120 And that's my sarcasm voice. 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:40.000 You know, you can get to the deity of the Messiah, I would say, from Psalm 2, Psalm 110, other passages as well. 00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:41.440 It appears that he got there. 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:46.399 And it's so interesting to read commentators that say, you know, when he says who's his son, it means Israel. 00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:47.440 He's talking about Israel. 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:49.039 Israel is functioning as God's son. 00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:53.840 So he's saying, Who is the one who made the heavens and the earth, and how do you know him through Israel? 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:57.120 It would be fascinating if this person is not Israelite in saying that. 00:16:57.200 --> 00:17:01.519 And if the answer is Israel, then he knows that, and the question doesn't make any sense. 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:14.559 It's better to take him as really wrestling through the kind of messianic prophecies that are all over the scripture, including Psalm 2, where the Lord is going to appoint his son on his holy hill, and his son will rule the nations. 00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:21.519 This is this is Proverbs 8, the wisdom is embodied in the second person of the Trinity, namely the eternal Son of God. 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:24.640 And he's asking himself, who knows that Son? 00:17:26.960 --> 00:17:28.240 Surely you know. 00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:31.440 Surely someone does. 00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:35.680 And if you say, oh no, the Son has to be Israel, that's fine. 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:38.240 Jesus is the true and better Israel as well. 00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:40.400 Either way you get to the Savior. 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:43.519 Verse 5, every word of God proves true. 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:46.799 He's a shield to those who take refuge in him. 00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:50.000 That's his conclusion from Proverbs. 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:54.880 Just run into the arms of God and his son, and he will protect you. 00:17:55.039 --> 00:17:56.400 All of God's words are true. 00:17:57.200 --> 00:17:59.680 Man's words are not true because man don't have knowledge. 00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:01.599 And that's why, that's his basic argument here. 00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:08.720 He's saying, I don't know all things, so I don't know anything, but I do know this, God's word is true, because truth comes from God. 00:18:08.799 --> 00:18:12.000 So you find shelter in him and you will be safe. 00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:14.799 Hence the warning in verse 6. 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:16.640 So don't add to his words. 00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:19.519 Lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar. 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:24.319 That's a kind of warning that is often after these kind of passages, even in Deuteronomy. 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:30.240 Deuteronomy has that, the expression of who can go up to heaven and who can go down to the water, but do you remember Deuteronomy chapter 4? 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:33.519 Do not add to the word that I command you or take from it. 00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:39.359 John's description of the judgments in Revelation 22 ends the same way. 00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:42.799 I warn everyone who hears the words of this prophecy of this book. 00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:44.880 This is Revelation 22, verse 18. 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:48.720 If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 00:18:48.880 --> 00:18:55.519 If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share of the tree of life in the holy city, which are described in this book. 00:18:55.680 --> 00:18:56.400 So it's interesting. 00:18:56.559 --> 00:19:03.039 You have the Torah, the first five books of the scripture, and with that kind of warning in Deuteronomy 4. 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:08.880 You have the wisdom literature with that kind of warning here, and you have the prophetic literature with Revelation 22. 00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:13.759 There is a constant warning: do not add to God's word. 00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:18.240 Because truth doesn't come from you, it comes from Him. 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:22.319 So he recognizes limits of what he can study. 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:25.039 All he can do is pray to God, and he's going to do that. 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:29.200 In fact, verse 7 becomes a prayer. 00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:34.640 Two things I ask of you, Lord, don't deny them from me before I die. 00:19:36.400 --> 00:19:42.559 Remove far from me falsehood and lying, and give me neither poverty nor riches. 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:45.839 Feed me with the food that is needful for me. 00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:49.759 Lest I be full and deny you and say, Who is Yahweh? 00:19:49.920 --> 00:19:53.279 Or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God. 00:19:54.960 --> 00:20:00.000 You can tell he's a preacher because he says, I just have two prayer requests, two points, and then gives you four. 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:04.240 But you recognize they consolidate under two headings. 00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:07.039 Don't let me be a liar and don't let me be greedy. 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:10.480 Give me the right truth and give me the right needs. 00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:13.839 Get lying away from me. 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:18.960 Now notice that this is a prayer that God removes things from him, that God purifies him. 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:22.559 He has the right concern about truthfulness and contentment. 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:24.559 He's focused on his character. 00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:27.359 He wants to be a truth teller and he wants to be content in the Lord. 00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:29.680 And he knows that his circumstances can affect that. 00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:35.039 And so he wants liars to be gone from him, and he does not want either poverty or riches. 00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:38.960 If he's around liars, he'll lie. 00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:42.720 If he's poor, he's afraid he'll steal. 00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:44.319 And that would profane God. 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:47.680 If he's rich, he's afraid he'll forget who God is. 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:52.640 Lest I be full and deny you and say, Who's Yahweh again? 00:20:54.240 --> 00:20:55.200 Who's Yahweh? 00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:56.079 I don't remember. 00:20:56.240 --> 00:20:57.119 I have everything I need. 00:20:57.200 --> 00:20:58.720 Why do I need to pray? 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:04.079 This is a model prayer for us as well, of course. 00:21:05.200 --> 00:21:10.720 You can pray, not for riches, because if God gave you riches, you would you would forget your dependence on Him. 00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:14.160 You think, oh no, I'd I spend the rest of my life being thankful for God. 00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:15.920 You're right. 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:26.400 So you just pray, God, give me what I need, so that I don't go to bed hungry, I'm not tempted to steal, and so I'm dependent upon you. 00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:28.400 That is a very, very mature prayer. 00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:31.920 And it would be sobering for you to ask yourself, do you pray that prayer? 00:21:32.079 --> 00:21:34.400 Do you actually ask God to give me what I need? 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:40.000 I mean, we're so eager to have savings accounts and you know everything squared away for the future. 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:42.160 And of course, there's wisdom in financial planning. 00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:44.559 Obviously, there's wisdom in the book of Proverbs. 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:49.359 There's wisdom in financial planning, so you can pass on inheritance to your kids in this very book. 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:52.480 Nevertheless, after all that, it is worthwhile to pray. 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:55.440 God, I don't want more than I need. 00:21:56.720 --> 00:21:59.359 I just want to be contingent on you. 00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:05.599 This is in a way I called it a model of prayer for us. 00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:08.000 You see prayers like this elsewhere in the Bible. 00:22:08.079 --> 00:22:09.359 Uh here's one. 00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:11.839 The Lord's Prayer. 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:17.839 Two things I ask of you correspond pretty well to our Father in heaven, addressing your prayer to the Father. 00:22:18.160 --> 00:22:20.480 Lest I profane the name of my God. 00:22:20.880 --> 00:22:22.319 What's the next thing in the Lord's Prayer? 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:23.680 Let your name be sanctified. 00:22:23.759 --> 00:22:25.279 Hallowed be your name. 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:27.279 Give me my allotted bread. 00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:29.200 First give us our daily bread. 00:22:29.440 --> 00:22:31.279 Keep falsehood and lies far from me. 00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:34.400 Lead me not into tempt into temptation. 00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:36.640 Give me neither poverty nor riches. 00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:39.519 Forgive me my debts as I forgive my debtors. 00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:41.920 This is very much a model prayer. 00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:49.119 The Lord studied Proverbs 30 and developed his own prayer from it. 00:22:50.559 --> 00:22:56.400 And yet, much more I could say on this, but I don't want to get stuck in the middle of this part. 00:22:56.559 --> 00:22:58.319 We got a long chapter in front of us. 00:22:58.799 --> 00:22:59.839 It keeps going. 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:04.000 There are some fools that don't know their limits. 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:13.759 Proverbs 10, or 30, verse 10, don't slander a servant to his master, lest he curse you and you be held guilty. 00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:17.519 Servant here is the word not just for slave, but for somebody in a royal court. 00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:21.680 So don't, if you're talking to the governor, don't complain about his secretary. 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:22.960 Alright? 00:23:24.880 --> 00:23:28.079 Because it'll come back to you. 00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:31.440 He's probably the governor's secretary because he likes her and trusts her. 00:23:31.599 --> 00:23:34.960 So if you walk in and say, oh, that that lady's out of her mind, how'd she get hired? 00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:36.400 What's that intern doing over there? 00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:37.920 You know, it's probably going to come back on you. 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:38.480 That's the point. 00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:39.440 It's interesting. 00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:46.319 This guy's a king and he's giving after all that theology here, he has kind of one random proverb before he gets to other stuff, and it's about that. 00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:49.359 Well, that's something he's he's summing up his life of wisdom. 00:23:49.440 --> 00:23:51.279 He's like, all these proverbs are good and helpful. 00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:54.960 You can't truly know God, so just pray that God will keep you content and truthful. 00:23:55.039 --> 00:23:57.599 Oh, yeah, and stop saying mean things about the staff. 00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:06.720 But there are those, verse 11, who curse their fathers and don't bless their mothers. 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:13.519 There are those who's who are clean in their own eyes, but are not washed to their own filth. 00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:18.960 There are those how lofty are their eyes, how high their eyelids lift. 00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:25.759 Yet their teeth are swords, their fangs are knives, they devour the poor from the earth and the needy from among mankind. 00:24:25.920 --> 00:24:29.839 So now he's just saying, after all of this wisdom, can you believe it? 00:24:30.319 --> 00:24:36.400 After everything in Proverbs, there are still people in the world that don't honor their parents. 00:24:36.559 --> 00:24:40.640 This whole book has been structured on parents making an appeal to the young people to trust them. 00:24:40.880 --> 00:24:50.880 After all of that, there's still people in the world that don't trust their parents, that speak evilly of their parents. 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:54.000 And they walk around thinking they're wise. 00:24:54.079 --> 00:24:55.359 That's the incredible thing. 00:24:55.519 --> 00:25:00.880 It's almost the most basic level of wisdom here is do you trust your parents? 00:25:01.039 --> 00:25:05.599 They're the only people in the whole world whose sole job is to look after you. 00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:12.160 It's not your friend's job, it's not your teacher's job, it's not your coach's job, it's your parents' job. 00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:21.119 And so after 29 chapters of wisdom, this king kind of rolls his eyes, and some of it has a little bit of kids these days kind of flair to it, doesn't it? 00:25:21.279 --> 00:25:25.279 Kids these days walking around, pants all down by their knees. 00:25:25.440 --> 00:25:27.200 Come on, kids these days. 00:25:27.440 --> 00:25:30.559 Some of it has that flair to it, but some of it is true. 00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:36.880 He's looking at people that think they are so wise, and he's like, they don't get the most basic part of wisdom. 00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:43.680 They act wise, they got all their makeup on their eyes and everything, and their teeth are nice and brushed, they think they're so wise. 00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:46.160 They don't respect their parents, so you can forget the rest of it. 00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:47.519