As I was going through my devotions today I stumbled upon Proverbs 30. I recognized bits and pieces of it but had not read straight through the chapter in its entirety. It is powerful to say the least. After digesting it a first time I read it over a second time savoring every single word. I wanted to dig a little bit deeper so I pulled out my Message version of it...and was a little caught off guard with how different some of the verses are from the original scripture. I understand it's a modernized and summarized version that's easier to understand but I wanted to beef out some differences I had with certain phrases. Just as there were morsels that differed exponentially from what I believe the original text meant/means to communicate, there were also portions that were unabashedly blunt which was refreshing. Proverbs in itself often tends to be a rather brusque book of the Bible-and I am A Ok with that. So without further a due, let my scrutiny of Proverbs 30 commence.
The first verse that really got to me was verse 5. It reads
"Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar."
To start with, try and take in the magnitude of "His every word being tested". He does not want us to test Him out of spite or arrogance but He does want us to ask Him to prove and reveal Himself to us because we are hungry for more of Him. "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. 'Test me in this,' says the Lord Almighty, 'and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of Heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.'" Malachi 3:10. He is confident and sovereign in His power and omnipotence and wants us to be as well as offspring of the king. He is ready and willing to prove Himself and His power to us whenever we are ready-such a gentleman, always patient yet persistent. Always waiting until we are ready. What a Man.
Now lets take the second bit of the verse-
"He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him."
Now, this may be a phrase that we hear all too often and consequently have become anesthetized to its potent effect and raw truth. Everyone feels "ganged up" on at some point in their life, sometimes more frequently than they'd like. So just take a moment to consider this verse in light of those situations-if we curl up in His arms, in His presence, in His words, we are never affected by those rising up against us. We are never intimidated when we've got the Big Man's wing's enveloping us. Tell me that's not legit. Next time I feel like I am being teamed up on, I've got no one on my side...I'll have these words hidden in my heart. I'll be just fine because He is my shield. My fatty shield right in front of me and all around me.
The last point that I want to get at is the last half of the verse obviously. People make the mistake of adding a little of this a little of that to the Holy Scriptures, whether it be conscious or unconscious. It says "He will reprove you and you will be proved a liar." Go back to a time in your life when you were proved a liar. It is probably one of the worst, most embarrassing and uncomfortable happenings that you can undergo. When you are proved a liar, nothing you say can remedy anything-anything you say only degrades your case even further. You've been exposed and there's no backtracking. Exposure. Vulnerability. Never comfortable and only helpful when done by God Himself or by God through someone else. How can we keep the pride at bay if we do not allow Christ the authority in our lives to expose us and strip us to bare and raw vulnerability? We can't. Thank you Jesus.
Verse 8: "keep deception and lies far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion."
Let me zoom in on the latter fragments-I can't speak for anyone else but I can immensely relate to the poverty nor riches jig. I have come to realize something peculiar about myself over the course of several similar situations: I do not know what to do with myself when I receive large sums of money. When I have more means in my bank account than my norm I feel completely at a loss. I am the type of person that feels totally overwhelmed with too many options, retreat then withdraw. When I have more money than I know what to do with I would rather not spend any of it...I can't bring myself to touch it or else I do not use it wisely at all. Tying this into the verse, "feed me with the food that is my portion" aka, no more no less than what I need to get by. Sometimes that means comfortably sometimes that means it will be a little snug. I can honestly say that I really would rather have just what I need than riches in abundance-it gets to us humans you know? This is the part where I would like to inject an "Into the Wild" quote: "My days were more exciting when I was penniless." How can we watch what God can do with his infinite power in our finite lives if we have all that we need? We can't. I will confess I have sent up prayers before to God in supplication with thanksgiving requesting that He would increase my riches SO THAT I could IN TURN give them away. I believe that is one of the only reasons, if not the only, that we should be praying for riches of this world. The currency of the Earth is wasting away and will be gone soon. Investing in goods that people will always need is key. We will soon have no use for money. We need to step up our investments wouldn't you say?
The following verse expands even more on not wanting poverty nor riches-verse 9 reads "That I not be full and deny You and say 'Who is the Lord?' Once again I reiterate the fact of needing to be in need to see Him provide for us. If we are all set, why would we search for Him?
The next sections of this chapter are the original reason that I chose to write this blog entry. Proverbs 30:15-33. Scripture proceeds to describe Four Insatiables, Four Mysteries, Four Intolerables, Four Small Wonders, and Four Dignitaries (as The Message version describes). Observing the previous statement, I will be contrasting original scripture with The Message abbreviated, modernized version. The original text version I am using is the New American Standard version which I am a huge fan of. The following observations will be purely opinion of course-but accurate opinion if I may.
Four Insatiables
There are said to be "three things that will not be satisfied, Four that will not say, 'Enough.'" (NAS)
Original text
1. Sheol
2. The barren womb
3. Earth that is never satisfied with water
4. And fire that never says "Enough"
The Message
1. Hell
2. A barren womb
3. A parched land
4. A forest fire
Four Mysteries
"There are three things which are too wonderful for me, Four which I do not understand" (NAS)
Original Text
1. The way of an eagle in the sky
2. The way of a serpent on a rock
3. The way of a ship in the middle of the sea
4. And the way of a man with a maid. (my personal favorite)
The Message
1. How an eagle flies so high in the sky
2. How a snake glides over a rock
3. How a ship navigates the ocean
4. Why adolescents act the way they do
Alright now. One of the contrasts that I have a beef with. I don't know where the Message got their version of number four in regards to this passage but they are obviously completely two different things. And as someone who has heard at least one message in church in relation to this portion of Scripture, I have never heard number four described as "why adolescents act the way they do." And also as my favorite piece is number four, I am particularly defensive about this verse. I researched other versions of this verse to solidify my point of view on this particular deviation of verse. I will only list the following versions that differ from the New American Standard version and obviously differ from the Message version.
New Living Translation: "...how a man loves a woman."
English Standard Version: "...and the way of a man with a virgin."
Contemporary English Version: "...or people fall in love."
New Century Version: "...and the way a man and a woman fall in love."
GOD'S WORD Translation: "...a man making his way with a virgin."
Young's Literal Translation: "...and the way of a man in youth."
Holman Christian Standard Bible: "...and the way of a man with a young woman."
So as you can see, all but one (Young's Literal Translation) describes this line in verse 19 as the way of a man with a maid, a man with a woman, or something of the like. I'm sure there is definitely a case for "why adolescents act the way they do" of course, but not in this verse of Scripture. Point established.
Now, before I move on to the Four Intolerables, I would just love to add for the enjoyment and surliness of it the Message version verse that immediately follows the Four Mysteries. I immensely appreciated the raw quality that this version strips out:
"Here's how a prostitute operates: she has sex with her client, takes a bath, then asks, 'Who's next?'"
The Message is throwin down, just keepin it real. I just needed to steal a moment for that.
The Four Intolerables
"Under three things the earth quakes, And under four, it cannot bear up" (NAS)
Original Text
1. Under a slave when he becomes king
2. And a fool when he is satisfied with food
3. Under an unloved woman when she gets a husband
4. And a maidservant when she supplants her mistress
Message Version
1. When the janitor becomes the boss
2. When a fool gets rich
3. When a whore is voted "woman of the year"
4. When a "girlfriend" replaces a faithful wife
When I first read the original text of this portion, it was slightly unclear and vague to me exactly what was being referred to, hence the reason that I originally scooped up my Message version to see what it had to say in comparison. As far as "things that the earth cannot bear" I am not sure the connotation behind this. Obviously it seems to be mostly derogatory but while reading this I found myself pondering, "Well what's the matter with someone in a low position being able to escalate to a higher position? Doesn't everyone deserve that chance?" And of course that is true, but I think I was just poking at the wrong point when considering these verses. And the second? I completely relate-it drives me insane sometimes when I see those who are careless, stupid, and naiive succeed in their endeavors and earn what they don't deserve. On a slightly deviant note, none of us deserve anything in the first place. We can into this world with nothing and we will leave with nothing. Everything we've had, have now, or ever will have, material or spiritual, was given to us by pure, raw, unreserved grace on His Almighty's end. Thank you Abba.
Number 3 got to me a little bit and when I first contemplated the distinction
between the two I felt a substantial twinge of shifts in weight between the meaning
behind each. My initial impression of the original text's meaning behind number 3 was
how ground breaking and earth quaking, in a positive way, it was for an unloved a.k.a untouched woman to finally be touched and loved because she has never felt that way before. (Yes, I did just hear Madonna's "Like a Virgin" in my head right now.) But gathering the connotation of the other verses contexts, I realized that maybe the Message's version of number 3 isn't so off after all. I still leave this open ended as of now, I haven't come to a solid conclusion on this in my own mind yet. Maybe eventually I will. Also, the time period that this was written in and the way things and phrases were said and considered should be taken into account as a huge factor as well.
Four Small Wonders
"There are four small creatures, wisest of the wise they are" (Message)
Original Text
1. The ants
2. The shephanim
3. The locusts
4. The lizard
The Message version
1. Ants
2. Marmots
3. Locusts
4. Lizards
The ants are said to be "not a strong people, but they prepare their food in the summer".
Again, considering the time period that certain Scripture was written, there are different names used for certain things such as this instance. The shephanim is obviously interchangeable with Marmots. By definition, the marmot can be described as
1. "any bushy-tailed, stocky rodent of the genus Marmota, as the woodchuck
2. "any of certain related animals, as the prairie dogs
Just to give you a general idea of what a shaphanim or marmot is. These are said to be "not a mighty people, yet they make their houses in the rocks." The Message version recites "vulnerable as they are, manage to arrange for rock-solid homes". This reminds me of a couple of things. The wise man building his house upon the rock in reference to Matthew 7:24: "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock." Also, the fact that Jesus uses the ordinary in life to do His great will and purpose. As I recently read in my devotional, God isn't looking for the one with the abilities but the one with the availability. Another hint into the character of God here is the obvious fact that He values and rewards those who are hard workers.
The locusts "have no king, yet all of them go out in ranks"
And lastly but not leastly, the lizard-"you may grasp with the hands, yet it is in king's palaces." Message version? "...but they sneak past vigilant palace guards."
Four Dignitaries
"There are three things which are stately in their march, Even four which are stately when they walk" (NAS)
Original Text
1. The lion
2. The strutting rooster
3. The male goat
4. A king when his army is with him (personal favorite)
Message
1. A lion
2. A rooster
3. A billy goat
4. A head of state in stately procession
Can I just begin by saying I am an avid supporter especially of number one. Although the fact that I am a proud cat lover comes into play, I cannot help but to think of Aslan in Chronicles of Narnia and how His very presence demands attention even from the Evil One. Lions by nature are utterly gorgeous, breathtaking creatures and have a magnificent majesty about them.
As far as the rooster and billy goat, I'll pretty much leave them to fend for themselves. Although I will interject my intense annoyance with roosters-yes it is all too true how they walk around like they own the planet making their sound of theirs like they think it's the most beautiful sound on God's green earth. I'll spear one someday.
Number 4? Definitely not a fan of the Message's version of number four. However, I'm crazy about the original text's wording of number four-just think about how secure and accepted you feel with all those who are for you behind you. It's a beautiful feeling knowing you got your back covered, just as a king with his army proudly behind him.
This powerful and mighty chapter trickles off into one verse bursting at the seams with intensity, cleverness and truth; it reveals the organic, unstripped common sense that Proverbs stands for: "If you have been foolish in exalting yourself Or if you have plotted evil, put your hand on your mouth. For the churning of milk produces butter; And pressing the nose brings forth blood; So the churning of anger produces strife." (NAS)
"If you're dumb enough to call attention to yourself by offending people and making rude gestures, Don't be suprised if someone bloodies your nose. Churned milk turns into butter; riled emotions turn into fist fights. (Message)
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