Proverbs 30:15-16
Things that are Never Satisfied
1. In verses 11-14, Agur describes certain segments of society.
a. There is a generation of disrespectful rebels. (vs. 11)
b. There is a generation of self-righteous hypocrites. (vs. 12)
c. There is a generation of proud and arrogant ones. (vs. 13)
d. There is a generation of cruel, greedy ones. (vs. 14)
2. In vs.15-16 Agur uses a different poetic formula, but he continues to speak about yet another aspect of fallen human nature: greed.
1. The leech is defined as a worm-like parasite in water that sucks blood.
a. Freshwater leeches are parasites that feed on the blood of fish, frogs, and mammals—like us.
b. They swim well and attach on to their victims with their mouths.
c. They have sharp teeth that are able to penetrate the skin and inject an enzyme which causes the host to bleed. They then suck the blood as much as they want.
d. Freshwater leeches don’t eat often; they can go a year on one feeding.
2. The two daughters:
a. One commentator suggested that the “two daughters” refers to a leech that has a mouth on each end. (The freshwater leeches I saw online had only one mouth.)
b. Most compared the two daughters to the two points on the tongue of a leech.
c. It is also possible that Agur meant the literal daughters of a leech – meaning that they breed after their kind. Bloodsuckers breed more bloodsuckers.
d. The two daughters cry, “Give, give.” (gimme gimme).
e. This is the message of the leech to its victim: Give us blood; and when you’re done, give us more; keep on giving us blood.
3. The leech serves as a vivid and graphic picture of greed: a leech – translated, horseleech.
a. The greedy man is like a leech – a bloodsucker.
b. It picks on an innocent victim, sinks its fangs into it, and sucks out of it as much as it can get.
c. The greedy man is not the honest business man doing an honest trade or business transaction.
d. The leech illustrates a one sided transaction. The leech is a parasite on its host. The host gives and gives and gets nothing out of it.
e. The leech also illustrates one who takes without permission. The parasite robs its victim.
f. Agur may also have intended to imply the stealth of a leech. They swim up quickly and often unnoticed by the victim. They are not even always felt by the victim at first. Their blood is being sucked out unawares.
4. Agur uses the leech to illustrate greed.
a. The greedy man is like a leech.
b. He sucks out of his victims something valuable and precious to the life of his victim (blood – the life is in the blood).
c. The greedy man is like a parasite—he takes but he doesn’t give.
d. And the greedy man takes advantage of others stealthily.
• It may be robbery—a scam artist who steals your identity and sucks the money out of your bank account.
• It may be a slick salesman—who provides a service or a product that is a scam. He may sell you a cure-all elixir that takes your money but cures nothing.
• Greedy men are like blood suckers.
5. It is likely that this thought is an expansion of Prov. 30:14 – the cruel, greedy ones who have jaw teeth like knives with which they devour the poor and the needy.
a. They are greedy men who take advantage of the poor and needy.
b. They exploit the poor like a leech exploits its host.
1. Agur continues his description of greed, but he switches his poetic format.
a. He had been using a different kind of expression (“there is a generation that…”) to demonstrate a particular area of fallen human nature.
b. Now he changes the formula, and uses another familiar Old Testament poetic formula (There are three things, yea, four…) The prophets used similar language.
2. Agur plainly states that he is describing “things that are never satisfied.”
a. This is a description of insatiable desires like lust, greed, or covetousness.
b. Satisfied: Be in a state of physical contentment, due to having physical needs met in abundance or excess.
c. The greedy man, like a bloodsucker, is never satisfied. He always wants just a little more.
3. The four examples Agur gives which “never say enough.”
a. Obviously, this is figurative language. Graves, wombs, fire, and water cannot actually speak.
b. The point is that these things have one thing in common: they have insatiable desires and don’t know how to be content.
c. The greedy man is like that: he has an insatiable appetite for “more” and never seems to have enough.
4. The four insatiable things:
a. The grave
• This is a personification of a grave—as if a grave had desires.
• One would think that the grave (sheol – the place of the dead) would be satisfied.
• How many people have died and been buried? Isn’t that enough?
• The grave is never satisfied with the countless millions of occupants. It can never say “I have enough.”
• The point: a desire is never satisfied by obtaining that which it desires.
• True contentment isn’t found in getting what we desire.
b. The barren womb
• The same truth is found in this example.
• How many women were there in the Old Testament who were barren and craved a child?
• How many are there today?
• The barren womb says, “If only I could have just one child!”
• And if they finally bear a child, they cannot say, “It is enough.” Instead they say, “It would be so nice to have just one more.”
• The point is the same: a desire is never truly satisfied by obtaining that which it desires.
c. The dry earth
• Agur was not writing from Washington State’s rain forest. He was writing from a very dry and arid region.
• There the dry, parched sands craved for water. They baked in the hot sun and (figuratively speaking) lusted after rain.
• And no matter how hard it rains, the parched earth soaks up all the rain—like a bloodsucker sucking up the blood.
• And after the torrential downpour, the earth soaks up all the rain, the sun comes out, and the earth is craving for more rain.
• It can never say “enough.”
d. The fire
• The fire that rages through a dry forest does the same.
• It devours all the trees in the forest—and when it gets to the highway, the trees on one side are not enough. It sends its sparks over the road and continues to devour dry trees and brush.
• The fires out West are often the size of Rhode Island… and even then, it’s not enough. The flames seem to want to devour more and more.
5. Heaping one illustration upon another, Agur drives home his point:
a. A desire is never satisfied by obtaining that which it desires.
b. True contentment isn’t found in getting what we desire.
c. True contentment is only found in LEARNING to appreciate what we DO have and LEARNING to be content therein.
6. Phil. 4:11-13 – “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. 12I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
a. This is not a natural talent or skill that we learn.
b. Rather, this kind of contentment is only obtained THROUGH Christ in you.
c. It is a moment by moment yielding of our will to Him…
d. Desires are going to be with us forever. We always see the grass as a little greener on the other side of the fence.
e. We crave after fame, fortune, the nice house on the hill, the perfect family, the corner office, the BMW, celebrity status, etc.
f. Agur’s point is that cravings and desires never stop… like a raging out-of-control fire.
g. As soon as one desire is fulfilled, six more pop up in its place.
h. The real secret is to LEARN to enjoy the blessings God has provided and THANK Him from a pure heart of appreciation daily for your situation.
i. Consider Paul’s advice: “And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.”
7. We too can be like the grave, the barren womb, the parched soil, or the raging fire… longing to be satisfied with one thing or another.
a. Those who live according to the flesh are never satisfied.
b. Those who live according to the flesh can never say, “It is enough.”
c. The flesh continually desires more and more. It is insatiable… unquenchable.
d. One commentator likened this insatiable desire to Pharaoh’s skinny cows: when they had eaten up all the fat cows, they were still as hungry and whining as before.”
e. Since the flesh will never be satisfied, the Biblical way to deal with the flesh is the CROSS.
f. Gal. 5:24-25 – “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”
g. The one who walks in the Spirit is filled with the FRUIT of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. The Spirit filled believer will be content… satisfied. He knows how to say “Enough.”
h. He has found His all in all in Christ. He has all he needs in Christ. True contentment is found in a Person: Jesus Christ.
i. There the believer has not just enough – but exceedingly abundantly, above “enough.”