July 13 - Evening
"The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh —
an inspired utterance.
This man’s utterance to Ithiel:
'I am weary, God, but I can prevail.
Surely I am only a brute, not a man;
I do not have human understanding.
I have not learned wisdom,
nor have I attained to the knowledge of the Holy One.
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!
Every word of God is flawless;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
Do not add to his words,
or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar."
- Proverbs 30:1-6
an inspired utterance.
This man’s utterance to Ithiel:
'I am weary, God, but I can prevail.
Surely I am only a brute, not a man;
I do not have human understanding.
I have not learned wisdom,
nor have I attained to the knowledge of the Holy One.
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!
Every word of God is flawless;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
Do not add to his words,
or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar."
- Proverbs 30:1-6
The Human Need for the Word of God
Agur son of Jakeh is a real wise man, prophet or scribe, but we know nothing about him. This new section at the close of the book of Proverbs claims to be recordings of inspired speech or revelation from God.
In 30:2-3 Agur expresses his human ignorance concerning reality and truth. He is frustrated with having reached his end, but still not knowing the conclusion. Agur (like Solomon) had reached the end of human insight in a state of frustration because there was so much missing and so much that didn’t make sense.
In 30:4 Agur draws you and I, the readers, into his quest and his frustration. Agur begins to ask you and me if we know the ultimate answers. These are rhetorical questions and Agur is expecting negative answers. So, after verse 30:4 we, the readers, agree with Agur’s statement in 30:2-3 which basically says, “We do not know how this all works, nor do we have a life philosophy that is complete.” In other words, we, like Agur, need help from someone besides teachers, sages and wise men. We need a revelation from God. This section of logically challenging questions is meant to bring us to our knees as it did Job in Job 38 and is expressed in Ecclesiastes 7:24.
The section of 30:4 ends by basically saying not only do we not know any of these things, we don’t even know the name of the one who does know them!
30:5 tells us the answer. There is the revealed word from God to help us where we can’t help ourselves. The Word of God picks up where our human knowledge leaves off.
30:6 is a firm warning not to try to add our human wisdom to God’s revelation nor to confuse human philosophy with the authority of God’s word which is reality and Truth. Do not present your philosophy as God’s word. This is a good ending to the book of Proverbs since it matches the ending of God’s revelation to Moses in Deuteronomy 12:32 and God’s New Testament revelation given to John in Revelation 22:18.
Laos (Gr) – people (Eng) – the Greek word laos refers to a group of people, usually a group that
has gathered together, in Matthew 27:25 and Acts 4:27. Laos refers to a people with the same
language and the same race in Romans 15:11. Laos refers to the citizens as distinct from
their rulers in Mathew 26:5 and Hebrews 5:3.
I will realize the limitations of human knowledge and the need for God's revelation in my life.
I understand that part of the wisdom possessed by a wise man is the understanding that human wisdom is limited. Also, I understand that God has not revealed all things to man.
I understand that part of the wisdom possessed by a wise man is the understanding that human wisdom is limited. Also, I understand that God has not revealed all things to man.
Bible Reading Descriptions Here
Personal
Positive influence on people you encounter
Church
Attitude of repentance
Nation
Police
World
Indonesia
A detailed and beautiful mosaic of a woman on a floor in a dining room in Sepphoris from about 200 AD. (Details)
Someone to Quote
"Every selfish man, strangely enough, becomes a self slayer."
- Sundar Singh
- Sundar Singh
Something to Ponder
Ancient Israel operated in a world where people and objects were constantly being classified in three classes:
1. state of uncleanness
2. state of cleanness
3. state of holiness
Depending on a person’s activities (eating, touching, presence of) they would move from one of these states into another.
1. state of uncleanness
2. state of cleanness
3. state of holiness
Depending on a person’s activities (eating, touching, presence of) they would move from one of these states into another.
Here’s a Fact
Proverb
"The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death."
- Proverbs 13:14
- Proverbs 13:14
Coach’s Corner
The greatest miracle is salvation. The godliest spiritual manifestation is the transformed soul.
Ezekiel 10
New International Version (NIV)
God’s Glory Departs From the Temple
10 I looked, and I saw the likeness of a throne of lapis lazuli above the vault that was over the heads of the cherubim. 2 The Lord said to the man clothed in linen, “Go in among the wheels beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” And as I watched, he went in.
3 Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court. 4 Then the glory of the Lord rose from above the cherubim and moved to the threshold of the temple. The cloud filled the temple, and the court was full of the radiance of the glory of the Lord. 5 The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far away as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.
6 When the Lord commanded the man in linen, “Take fire from among the wheels, from among the cherubim,” the man went in and stood beside a wheel. 7 Then one of the cherubim reached out his hand to the fire that was among them. He took up some of it and put it into the hands of the man in linen, who took it and went out. 8 (Under the wings of the cherubim could be seen what looked like human hands.)
9 I looked, and I saw beside the cherubim four wheels, one beside each of the cherubim; the wheels sparkled like topaz. 10 As for their appearance, the four of them looked alike; each was like a wheel intersecting a wheel. 11 As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the cherubim faced; the wheels did not turn about as the cherubim went. The cherubim went in whatever direction the head faced, without turning as they went. 12 Their entire bodies, including their backs, their hands and their wings, were completely full of eyes, as were their four wheels. 13 I heard the wheels being called “the whirling wheels.” 14 Each of the cherubim had four faces: One face was that of a cherub, the second the face of a human being, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
15 Then the cherubim rose upward. These were the living creatures I had seen by the Kebar River. 16 When the cherubim moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the cherubim spread their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels did not leave their side. 17 When the cherubim stood still, they also stood still; and when the cherubim rose, they rose with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in them.
18 Then the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. 19 While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them. They stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.
20 These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the Kebar River, and I realized that they were cherubim. 21 Each had four faces and four wings, and under their wings was what looked like human hands. 22 Their faces had the same appearance as those I had seen by the Kebar River. Each one went straight ahead.
New International Version (NIV)
God’s Glory Departs From the Temple
10 I looked, and I saw the likeness of a throne of lapis lazuli above the vault that was over the heads of the cherubim. 2 The Lord said to the man clothed in linen, “Go in among the wheels beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” And as I watched, he went in.
3 Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court. 4 Then the glory of the Lord rose from above the cherubim and moved to the threshold of the temple. The cloud filled the temple, and the court was full of the radiance of the glory of the Lord. 5 The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far away as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.
6 When the Lord commanded the man in linen, “Take fire from among the wheels, from among the cherubim,” the man went in and stood beside a wheel. 7 Then one of the cherubim reached out his hand to the fire that was among them. He took up some of it and put it into the hands of the man in linen, who took it and went out. 8 (Under the wings of the cherubim could be seen what looked like human hands.)
9 I looked, and I saw beside the cherubim four wheels, one beside each of the cherubim; the wheels sparkled like topaz. 10 As for their appearance, the four of them looked alike; each was like a wheel intersecting a wheel. 11 As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the cherubim faced; the wheels did not turn about as the cherubim went. The cherubim went in whatever direction the head faced, without turning as they went. 12 Their entire bodies, including their backs, their hands and their wings, were completely full of eyes, as were their four wheels. 13 I heard the wheels being called “the whirling wheels.” 14 Each of the cherubim had four faces: One face was that of a cherub, the second the face of a human being, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
15 Then the cherubim rose upward. These were the living creatures I had seen by the Kebar River. 16 When the cherubim moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the cherubim spread their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels did not leave their side. 17 When the cherubim stood still, they also stood still; and when the cherubim rose, they rose with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in them.
18 Then the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. 19 While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them. They stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.
20 These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the Kebar River, and I realized that they were cherubim. 21 Each had four faces and four wings, and under their wings was what looked like human hands. 22 Their faces had the same appearance as those I had seen by the Kebar River. Each one went straight ahead.
Isaiah 10-12
New International Version (NIV)
10
Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees,
2
to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.
3
What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches?
4
Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives or fall among the slain.
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.
God’s Judgment on Assyria
5
“Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath!
6
I send him against a godless nation, I dispatch him against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets.
7
But this is not what he intends, this is not what he has in mind; his purpose is to destroy, to put an end to many nations.
8
‘Are not my commanders all kings?’ he says.
9
‘Has not Kalno fared like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad, and Samaria like Damascus?
10
As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols, kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria—
11
shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?’”
12 When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes. 13 For he says:
“‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding. I removed the boundaries of nations, I plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their kings.
14
As one reaches into a nest, so my hand reached for the wealth of the nations; as people gather abandoned eggs, so I gathered all the countries; not one flapped a wing, or opened its mouth to chirp.’”
15
Does the ax raise itself above the person who swings it, or the saw boast against the one who uses it? As if a rod were to wield the person who lifts it up, or a club brandish the one who is not wood!
16
Therefore, the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will send a wasting disease upon his sturdy warriors; under his pomp a fire will be kindled like a blazing flame.
17
The Light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and his briers.
18
The splendor of his forests and fertile fields it will completely destroy, as when a sick person wastes away.
19
And the remaining trees of his forests will be so few that a child could write them down.
The Remnant of Israel
20
In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
21
A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God.
22
Though your people be like the sand by the sea, Israel, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overwhelming and righteous.
23
The Lord, the Lord Almighty, will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land.
24 Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says:
“My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians, who beat you with a rod and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did.
25
Very soon my anger against you will end and my wrath will be directed to their destruction.”
26
The Lord Almighty will lash them with a whip, as when he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb; and he will raise his staff over the waters, as he did in Egypt.
27
In that day their burden will be lifted from your shoulders, their yoke from your neck; the yoke will be broken because you have grown so fat.
28
They enter Aiath; they pass through Migron; they store supplies at Mikmash.
29
They go over the pass, and say, “We will camp overnight at Geba.” Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees.
30
Cry out, Daughter Gallim! Listen, Laishah! Poor Anathoth!
31
Madmenah is in flight; the people of Gebim take cover.
32
This day they will halt at Nob; they will shake their fist at the mount of Daughter Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.
33
See, the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will lop off the boughs with great power. The lofty trees will be felled, the tall ones will be brought low.
34
He will cut down the forest thickets with an ax; Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.
The Branch From Jesse
11
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
3
and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4
but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5
Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
6
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.
7
The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8
The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9
They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. 11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the Mediterranean.
12
He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.
13
Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish, and Judah’s enemies will be destroyed; Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.
14
They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west; together they will plunder the people to the east. They will subdue Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be subject to them.
15
The Lord will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea; with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand over the Euphrates River. He will break it up into seven streams so that anyone can cross over in sandals.
16
There will be a highway for the remnant of his people that is left from Assyria, as there was for Israel when they came up from Egypt.
Songs of Praise
12 In that day you will say:
“I will praise you, Lord. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me.
2
Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.”
3
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
4 In that day you will say:
“Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.
5
Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world.
6
Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”
New International Version (NIV)
10
Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees,
2
to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.
3
What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches?
4
Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives or fall among the slain.
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.
God’s Judgment on Assyria
5
“Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath!
6
I send him against a godless nation, I dispatch him against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets.
7
But this is not what he intends, this is not what he has in mind; his purpose is to destroy, to put an end to many nations.
8
‘Are not my commanders all kings?’ he says.
9
‘Has not Kalno fared like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad, and Samaria like Damascus?
10
As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols, kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria—
11
shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?’”
12 When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes. 13 For he says:
“‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding. I removed the boundaries of nations, I plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their kings.
14
As one reaches into a nest, so my hand reached for the wealth of the nations; as people gather abandoned eggs, so I gathered all the countries; not one flapped a wing, or opened its mouth to chirp.’”
15
Does the ax raise itself above the person who swings it, or the saw boast against the one who uses it? As if a rod were to wield the person who lifts it up, or a club brandish the one who is not wood!
16
Therefore, the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will send a wasting disease upon his sturdy warriors; under his pomp a fire will be kindled like a blazing flame.
17
The Light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and his briers.
18
The splendor of his forests and fertile fields it will completely destroy, as when a sick person wastes away.
19
And the remaining trees of his forests will be so few that a child could write them down.
The Remnant of Israel
20
In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
21
A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God.
22
Though your people be like the sand by the sea, Israel, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overwhelming and righteous.
23
The Lord, the Lord Almighty, will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land.
24 Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says:
“My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians, who beat you with a rod and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did.
25
Very soon my anger against you will end and my wrath will be directed to their destruction.”
26
The Lord Almighty will lash them with a whip, as when he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb; and he will raise his staff over the waters, as he did in Egypt.
27
In that day their burden will be lifted from your shoulders, their yoke from your neck; the yoke will be broken because you have grown so fat.
28
They enter Aiath; they pass through Migron; they store supplies at Mikmash.
29
They go over the pass, and say, “We will camp overnight at Geba.” Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees.
30
Cry out, Daughter Gallim! Listen, Laishah! Poor Anathoth!
31
Madmenah is in flight; the people of Gebim take cover.
32
This day they will halt at Nob; they will shake their fist at the mount of Daughter Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.
33
See, the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will lop off the boughs with great power. The lofty trees will be felled, the tall ones will be brought low.
34
He will cut down the forest thickets with an ax; Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.
The Branch From Jesse
11
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
3
and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4
but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5
Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
6
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.
7
The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8
The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9
They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. 11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the Mediterranean.
12
He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.
13
Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish, and Judah’s enemies will be destroyed; Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.
14
They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west; together they will plunder the people to the east. They will subdue Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be subject to them.
15
The Lord will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea; with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand over the Euphrates River. He will break it up into seven streams so that anyone can cross over in sandals.
16
There will be a highway for the remnant of his people that is left from Assyria, as there was for Israel when they came up from Egypt.
Songs of Praise
12 In that day you will say:
“I will praise you, Lord. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me.
2
Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.”
3
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
4 In that day you will say:
“Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.
5
Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world.
6
Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”