June 30

Jun 30 -Today from Proverbs 30 we look at verses 15 & 16

"The leech has two daughters. 'Give! Give!' they cry. There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say 'Enough!': the grave, the barren womb, land which is never satisfied with water, and fire which never says, "Enough!"

Whoever Agur is (verse 1), he is a wise and learned man who teaches in a very Middle-Eastern fashion. He observes the world and then draws the students in to contemplate the lessons to be learned from these observations. "Three things . . . four" is a poetic way of indicating that the list is exemplary, but not complete. In this case, some commentators attempt to attach specific definition to the two daughters of the leech (e.g. Matthew Henry identifies them as cruelty and covetousness). But I think we can tend to limit Agur's goals by doing so. We can definitely identify the character of the leech - a parasite that lives by getting its nutrition through sucking the blood of a donor animal. The two daughters would be analogies likened to the characteristics of the parent, and open to discussion and interpretation of the student. Agur then gives his examples from observing nature. The lesson to be learned is the lesson of detecting and avoiding things that consume without giving return of any substance for life. In nature, the teacher observes the examples of:
the grave (Sheol, the place of the dead) - consumes every single person ever given over to death and never puts out a 'No Vacancy' sign
the barren womb - consumes every attempt to conceive a child and leaves the heart of the discouraged woman only longing
sandy soil - water seems to endlessly disappear. When you think you have it saturated, you can start all over again the next day
fire - as long as you feed it, it will continue to consume
Each example has its own peculiarity, yet each consumes. Okay students, what can we learn? Well, there are probably many lessons to be learned. But my mind goes to the practical lesson of stewardship here. Wisdom seeks to live a productive life, handling the resources which God provides in order to see God's plan for life prosper in the world. As stewards of God's gifts and resources, we need to learn what types of things might consume them without benefit, and then avoid those things. Recreation could be a very good example. God understands our need for recreation, and He has made provision for that in His plan. But when recreation (or any kind of pleasure), becomes a major value in life, it will consume our life resources as surely as a daughter of the leech will suck a donor's blood. In the end, it will leave us empty and wanting. Recognizing the 'daughters of the leech' in one's life takes discernment. I don't believe they are the same for every person, and I believe the text indicates there are always more than one. They are the things that gain priority over productive investments in life because values become misplaced. We are not to look for analogies in the examples. We are to learn the principle from the examples. There are things in life that will endlessly receive all the resources we care to put into them and will never benefit life as God intended it to be. How does one discern what these things might be in their own life?
Let God Lead . . . after all, the resources belong to Him.