Proverbs 30:21-22

Things that are Unbearable

1. Once again we see the same poetic format: “for three things and for four…”

a. We saw this in vs. 15-16; vs. 18-19; and now in vs. 21-23.

b. It continues in vs. 24-28; and vs. 29-31.

2. Throughout, Agur has been recording his observations in life.

3. Tonight we are going to consider Agur’s observations about things that are unbearable.

21 For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear.

1. As a reminder, Agur uses the figure of speech (“for three… and for four”), in which the number increases. The second number is the number he settles on. There are actually four things that disquiet the earth and are unbearable.

2. “The earth is disquieted”

a. Disquiet: To cause to shake; to be in anguish; to disturb; to agitate; to provoke to anger; to be astonished – to feel a state of unexpected wonder.

b. The meaning that best fits this context is “to agitate; to cause to shake; to disturb.

c. Agur is describing things that he finds disturbing… disruptive. Perhaps also implied is a sense of something being shaken up—but not in a good way.

d. The things that Agur mentions in the next couple of verses he sees as agitating life on earth; as being disruptive to society; things that are disturbing because they are not the way life OUGHT to be.

e. Agur is observing his society as an older, mature man. As he observes, he notices things that disturb him. He notices aspects of his country and society that he sees as harmful and disruptive to life as it ought to be.

f. He records his findings for us.

g. It is unlikely that what he observed, he only observed once. It probably would not have been so disturbing to him. It is likely that what he records for us were TRENDS that he saw happening over and over again. This he found troubling.

h. Older folks notice things that younger folks don’t notice.
• Older folks and younger folks both observe the same events… but have a different perspective.
• The younger folks see such happenings and assume that is just the way things are (and perhaps have always been).
• Older folks look at the same events and see the occurrence as something that never happened before—at least not so frequently.
• Older folks are able to observe trends that younger folks don’t have enough history to be able to see.
• The trends Agur saw troubled him.
• I have to admit that I often feel like Agur when I observe trends in our country—and especially in the churches.
• There are things happening in the churches that never happened before—at least not to the same degree and frequency.
• And there are three, yea, four of those trends I find troubling.

3. The earth “cannot bear”

a. Bear:
• Literally it means to lift something up and carry it.
• Figuratively it means to carry something on the heart that is difficult to carry; hard to bear. For example: bearing burdens on the heart; bearing guilt; bearing through a trial; etc.
• Agur is using the term in a figurative sense here.
• His point is that there are some things that occur that are “unbearable.”

b. The earth cannot bear such things.
• Again, by the “earth,” he does not mean the physical planet, but people on the earth—society—culture—the nations of the earth.
• There are certain events, occurrences, and trends on earth that are too heavy to be borne.
• They will break the back of a society or a nation if allowed to continue.

4. Agur noticed four of those things that he records for us in this passage.

a. These are things that disturbing to him. He sees them as agitating and disrupting to society.

b. And he sees them as so heavy that a nation or a people cannot long bear them. They are unbearable.

c. Like a wagon trying to carry a load of bricks that is too heavy, it will soon collapse.

d. This, the author finds disturbing.

e. I’m sure we can relate to this; especially as we observe trends in our country:
• Spending more than we have (at some point that becomes a moral issue—not a political one)
• The change from a traditional family to who knows what
• Loss of freedom and privacy
• Persecution against Christianity

f. These trends are disturbing to me; but that’s another issue.

g. Let’s look at the things that were disturbing to Agur.

22a A servant when he reigneth;

1. The first disturbing thing he mentions is a servant reigning.

a. That’s not the norm. That’s not the way things should be.

b. In fact, this sort of thing is unbearable.

2. The situation he describes here is topsy-turvy. It is abnormal.

a. Normally kings reign and servants serve.

b. But here he describes a situation where the servant is reigning as king.

c. Agur is describing a nation where a servant (who is presumably uneducated, unqualified, and unprepared for leadership) suddenly finds himself on the throne, ruling over the masses.

d. This situation envisions a series of anomalies occurring simultaneously:
• An unqualified man suddenly thrust into a position that requires much grooming and training.
• A poor man suddenly becoming exceedingly wealthy.
• A man who lived from paycheck to paycheck suddenly with access to the entire treasury of a nation.
• A man with no authority suddenly becoming the most powerful man in the country.
• A man, who has no idea as to how the economy works, suddenly is making decisions that will affect the national economy and the lives of everyone in the nation.
• A man with no understanding of the judicial system, suddenly, as king, has the power of life and death. He now has the power to say, “Off with his head” and it happens.

e. Agur probably observed this happen—perhaps in the nations around Israel.
• He realized how abnormal this was; how absurd and inappropriate it was.
• It’s not the way things should be.
• Prov. 19:10 – “Delight is not seemly for a fool; much less for a servant to have rule over princes.” It is not seemly – inappropriate.

3. Keep in mind that these are proverbs.

a. There may be times when a servant does a better job than the one who was groomed, educated, and trained for the job.

b. Exceptions do occur.

c. But the rule is, that the situation Agur describes is not the norm; and in most circumstances, is not preferable.

d. In fact, usually this is very disturbing and disruptive to a society or a nation. As Agur said, “It is disquieting.”

4. It can become unbearable!

a. It can become unbearable when an unqualified servant suddenly thrust into a position as king—with no training. He can make life unbearable for his subjects through his ignorance incompetence.

b. A poor man suddenly becoming exceedingly wealthy can easily become unbearable. Money easily goes to a person’s head for those who come into great wealth overnight.

c. A man with no authority suddenly becoming the most powerful man in the country. Imagine making Salem, NH’s “dog catcher” the president of the US? He could easily make life unbearable for all around him—and for the citizens of the country.

d. The concept about which Agur laments here is similar what Isaiah described in Isa. 3:4-5 – “And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. 5And the people shall be oppressed.”

e. It is foolish to children, or men who are not prepared to rule over a nation. It will result in oppression of one sort or another.

5. We don’t live in a monarchy; but this kind of situation does occur often in the US in other settings:

a. A poor man suddenly becomes a multimillionaire (through the lottery or by inventing a new kind of social media).

b. A nobody with no authority can win one election and become very powerful.

c. A young punk on the street corner can be swept up into a professional sports team and suddenly become rich and famous over night and have to deal with the swarms of women who follow him and the paparazzi.

d. Agur’s point in our proverb is that those situations don’t always end well. That person’s actions can become very disturbing and unsettling; and he himself can even become unbearable for all those around him.

22b A fool when he is filled with meat;

1. The second illustration is similar.

2. Here Agur speaks of a foolish man who is filled with meat.

3. The fool in Proverbs is an immoral man.

a. He is seen to be a rude, loud and boisterous man.

b. He is often violent and vicious.

c. He has no control over his tongue or his appetites.

d. He is completely selfish and is inconsiderate of others.

e. He is lazy and jealous of what others have through hard work.

f. He is unkind, unpleasant, and difficult to be around.

4. Agur pictures what this man is like when he is “filled with meat.”

a. “Filled with meat” may be a figure of speech in which the author uses one example to represent something much broader.

b. A fool filled with meat speaks of a fool who is well off and has his fill of whatever he needs.

c. He has plenty of food—and everything else, like a servant who has suddenly become rich.

d. This kind of fool is very disturbing and disruptive.

e. In fact, being around this kind of person would be unbearable!

f. Prov. 19:10 – “Delight is not seemly for a fool; much less for a servant to have rule over princes.”
• A fool who has his fill of “all he wants” would be obnoxious.
• To see him delighting in his “fill” would be unseemly.
• His actions would be completely inappropriate – unseemly.

5. Ecc. 10:5-7 – Solomon saw this kind of folly and also wrote about it: “There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler: 6Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place. 7I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.”

6. These things are abnormal, disquieting, upsetting, disturbing, unseemly, inappropriate, and unbearable.