Four Things – Small and Wise

Proverbs 30:24-28

Introduction:

  1. Having recently studied the dominion of God, we considered some great and glorious creatures.
  2. The prophet Agur in this passage gives us four very small creatures, which can teach us wisdom.
  3. Evolutionists are deluded God haters – He made every creature by design and some for teaching.
  4. It is one thing to make character studies from your imagination and another from God’s inspiration.
  5. We believe every word of God is pure (30:5) and necessary for successful living (Luke 4:4).
  6. These four rules for success apply especially to employment, but to other parts of life as well.
  7. Are these four verses worth anything? Solomon and Agur by inspiration called them exceeding wise!
  8. We have many graduates, job seekers, and those planning young marriages, who need this wisdom.
  9. God has not left us without the most precious and practical wisdom in the world for worldly success.
  10. The older and successful men in this church know the wisdom is true, and they want you to believe it.
  11. More information is available in the links below for each of these wonderful creatures and lessons.
  12. More financial, economic, and professional information is available in “Bible Economics.”

The ANTS are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer;

  1. Ants are very weak creatures: you can crush many with a foot; but they are wiser than men.
  2. Ants work very hard when the going is good, and they prudently save much for hard times.
  3. Lions lack and suffer hunger most of their lives, because they do not live at all like the ants!
  4. Ants do not need anyone to tell them to get up and get going – they have initiative (6:6-11).
  5. If you get down in the dirt and watch them, they do not sleep in, doze, daydream, or relax.
  6. They make hay while the sun shines, which is man’s proverb about exploiting opportunity.
  7. It is this diligence that makes men great and rich (10:4; 12:24; 13:4; 19:15; 20:13; 22:29).
  8. They save much of their work; they do not love pleasure, for it leads to poverty (21:17,20).
  9. Not saving is a sin – you will not be ready for trouble that will surely come (22:3; 27:12,24).
  10. Not saving is a sin – you cannot exploit opportunities to make more (14:4; 13:23; Eccl 9:11).
  11. Savings must be a priority; it is not an option for leftover money, for such never happens.
  12. Paying bills is paying others, savings is paying yourself. Until you save, you worked for free.
  13. If you do not save at least 10% of income, you are playing games. 10% is possible for all.
  14. Do not touch savings! If ants took vacations and ate their food, they would die in the winter.
  15. Why are you poor today? Is it ignorance at not being taught? Or slothfulness at not doing it?
  16. When it is 6:00 tomorrow morning, remind yourself of the ant and leap up to be successful!
  17. Spiritually, God is providing instruction; are you diligently acquiring and storing knowledge?
  18. Spiritually, winter is coming when the Lord appears; do you have a foundation for that day?

The CONIES are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks;

  1. Conies are rabbits, and in this context they are the mountain rabbits of the Middle East.
  2. If you think they are some form of badgers, it does not matter – the lesson is not altered.
  3. A rabbit is a small, fragile, timid, and weak creature, which must look for outside protection.
  4. Its only protection is to run and hide, which is prudence – avoiding foolish risk (22:3; 27:12).
  5. Since you are not strong, you should protect yourself in strongholds from various threats.
  6. Your life is feeble, so you insure your health, house, life, and other important assets.
  7. Your knowledge is feeble, so you do not accept ideas that sound too good to be true.
  8. Your position is feeble, so you do not accept above market rates of return, for they are false.
  9. Your knowledge is feeble, so you gladly take professional management in mutual funds, etc.
  10. Your finances are feeble, so you must avoid every suretiship that could harm you (6:1-5).
  11. You are feeble at savings, so you take full advantage of your company’s 401k plan.
  12. If you wisely knew your feebleness like the conies do theirs, you would be more cautious.
  13. Spiritually, you are at eternal risk, unless you flee to the Rock Christ Jesus for eternal safety.
  14. Spiritually, you build your house upon the rock of His sayings to survive the coming storm.

The LOCUSTS have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands;

  1. Desert locusts turn from very solitary creatures to very gregarious creatures to succeed.
  2. Without a king to lead them, they know there is power in numbers, so they band together.
  3. They have the wisdom of God built in, which says, “Two are better than one,” (Ec 4:9-12).
  4. Loners are losers, because they miss the four great benefits ascribed to society (Ec 4:9-12).
  5. Without a mentor you will never learn; without a sponsor you will never advance. Believe it.
  6. Management cannot and will not promote loners, because they are detrimental to success.
  7. The expression “team player” has become a popular buzzword, because teamwork is good.
  8. Wise men use many counselors, knowing their ingrown ideas are suspect at best (15:22).
  9. It is often more important who you know than what you know when working a business.
  10. Information is power in any endeavor, and if you have alienated others, you are in the dark.
  11. Another popular buzzword is “networking,” which is using your contacts to leverage effort.
  12. A large family is a huge asset; you should think about it when having children (Ps 127:4-5).
  13. Helping others is one of the great pleasures of life, but loners totally miss it (Acts 20:35).
  14. Do you sow sedition about our nation, or do you help keep people happy about government?
  15. Spiritually, you will never amount to anything in God’s kingdom without loving people.
  16. Spiritually, God ordained churches where we can lovingly serve one another for profit.
  17. Spiritually, every joint and every part is necessary to the health and vitality of a church.
  18. Spiritually, and without instruction, saints should labor for cooperation, peace, and unity.
  19. Spiritually, you will remember that God hates sowing discord among brethren (6:16-19).
  20. Spiritually, you should understand why Paul made regular attendance a rule (Heb 10:23-25).

The SPIDER taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.

  1. You hate spiders! Before you write them off as nuisances, learn what they do wiser than you!
  2. They have eight hands (or feet) at the end of each of their eight legs, so they are persistent.
  3. They will use their web-spinning ability to maneuver into any location low or high they wish.
  4. They are not easily discouraged. They will replace a web many times that you wipe away.
  5. Many efforts are made to sweep them away, but they regain the ground, again and again.
  6. They do not complain, get discouraged, sue for discrimination, or quit. They reach again!
  7. A spider by using its hands can go up slippery walls or cross the room on the ceiling!
  8. Faithful perseverance in a task, even against difficult opposition, will bring great reward!
  9. It is relatively easy to get before kings. How? By diligent use of your hands (22:29)!
  10. If there is something to be done, then get your hands on it or in it or around it and finish it.
  11. Consider how often Solomon mentioned hands (10:4; 12:14,24; 14:1; 21:25; 26:6; Ec 10:18).
  12. Do not fold your hands or put them in your pockets (6:10; 19:24; 24:33; 26:15; Eccl 4:5).
  13. No wonder men want a “hands on” type, who will “roll up his sleeves” and get the job done!
  14. A virtuous woman has busy hands; it shows; and she deserves rewards (31:13,16,19-20,31).
  15. It is the “elbow grease” that lubricates your hands to accomplish the things before you.
  16. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might” (Eccl 9:10)! Do not quit! No!
  17. If you face a repetitive job, then use your hands to do one, then another, then another, etc.!
  18. Do not complain about difficulty or discrimination; spiders are hated and resisted by all!
  19. Spiritually, are you zealous enough for the kingdom of God to press into its palaces?
  20. Spiritually, do you persevere to run the Christian race in spite of setbacks now and then?
  21. Spiritually, will you continue to labor and serve, knowing they are not in vain (I Cor 15:58).

Conclusion:

  1. If you fear God and trust His word, you will improve in these areas where you might be weak.
  2. Not only will this wisdom give you a better life, you will adorn God’s doctrine by it (Titus 2:9-10).
  3. What will you do with this short lesson? “A wise man will hear, and will increase learning” (1:5).

For further study:

  1. Proverb Commentary: Proverbs 30:25
  2. Proverb Commentary: Proverbs 6:6
  3. Proverb Commentary: Proverbs 6:7
  4. Proverb Commentary: Proverbs 6:8
  5. Proverb Commentary: Proverbs 14:4
  6. Proverb Commentary: Proverbs 30:26
  7. Proverb Commentary: Proverbs 11:15
  8. Proverb Commentary: Proverbs 22:3
  9. Proverb Commentary: Proverbs 11:16
  10. Proverb Commentary: Proverbs 13:23
  11. Proverb Commentary: Proverbs 30:27
  12. Sermon Outline: Lesson of the Locusts
  13. Proverb Commentary: Proverbs 18:24
  14. Proverb Commentary: Proverbs 27:9
  15. Proverb Commentary: Proverbs 27:10
  16. Proverb Commentary: Proverbs 30:28
  17. Proverb Commentary: Proverbs 10:4
  18. Proverb Commentary: Proverbs 20:4
  19. Proverb Commentary: Proverbs 22:13
  20. Proverb Commentary: Proverbs 26:13
  21. Sermon Outline: Bible Economics