Pro 30:11 | KingComments | STEP | Agur gives a list of four things six times in . In doing so, he draws the world as it functions after the Fall. He begins with four generations having the characteristics of the devil, their father. Each verse of begins with the Hebrew word dor , which is “kind” or “generation”, a class of people characterized by certain character traits. Agur perceives the distinctive character traits of the people who surround him. The generations are not successive generations. They can take place in the life of one person, so to speak. In the four generations he describes, we see a gradual increase in depravity. It goes from bad to worse: 1. Rebellion against authority, no respect for parents ( ). 2. Blindness regarding their true moral condition and their sinful life ( ). 3. Arrogance and pride ( ). 4. Aggressiveness and oppression of the needy ( ). The first characteristic of a generation that does not acknowledge God is the contemptuous rejection of parental authority ( ). These are people who do not fear God and do not care about the authority given by Him. On the contrary, they curse it. They have no natural love for their parents; there is no respect for them. They curse their father who fathered them. Their mother, who has carried them and tenderly cared for them, receives no word of thanks from them. “Does not bless” is a softening expression, which also means “curse”. It is one of the hallmarks of the last days that children disobey their parents ( ). We see its actuality around us. Sin begins in the family, in the attitude toward parents. The beginning of all deviation is the renunciation of God’s authority in family relationships. We are commanded to honor our parents because they were God’s instruments to create us. Without them, we would not exist. To fail to recognize that we owe our life to our parents, and that as a result we are obligated to honor them, is to fail to recognize God as our Creator Whom we are obligated to praise. In our world that is full of broken families and dislocated families, this proverb sounds like a scathing condemnation. A generation that has renounced God’s authority through the parents views itself as pure ( ). This is the second characteristic of a generation that does not acknowledge God. The cause is that these people have not been washed from their filthiness. That means they see their filthiness as purity. How foolish and blind is such a generation. “Filthiness” often refers to physical uncleanness, but here it is moral defilement (cf. ). This filthiness is not physical nor can it be washed away by any human means ( ; ). The dirt of sin can only be washed away by the blood of the Lamb and the Name of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit of God ( ; ). These people pride themselves on observing the outward religious rituals, but they pay no attention to their inner cleansing ( ). They are busy with a clean outside, but blind to their depraved innermost being. Everyone sees the filthiness but themselves. They are clean in their own eyes and utterly blind to their shortcomings ( ), but God sees the filthiness outside and inside. It is the generation that claims that filthiness is no longer filthiness but purity. The open promotion, proclamation and acceptance of homosexual manifestations and connections, such as through Gay Pride, is one of the clearest examples of this. When God and His Word disappear from our view because they are removed from it, the standard by which everything must be measured is gone. We must have the original to see the deviations. Only the Holy Spirit can convince us of sin. He who is pure in his own eyes ( ) looks down contemptuously on others ( ), the third characteristic of this generation. This generation exudes pride, arrogance and insolence. With contempt, the people of this generation look down on their neighbor, while they themselves show off like peacocks. They think they are stealing the show while making themselves despicable in God’s eye. It is a generation of proud people who pour out their contempt on anyone who resists them (cf. ). The fourth and final characteristic of the people of that generation is cruelty ( ). The pictures of the first half of verse symbolize their cruel rapacity. Their teeth are like swords and their jaw teeth like knives. The second part of verse shows who their victims are. Like a voracious and unfeeling beast, they open their tearing mouth “to devour the afflicted from the earth and the needy from among men” (cf. ). Those who exploit and destroy other people are equal to beasts. It is a generation without compassion. The tolerance that these people tout and highly extol is only varnish. They demand it only for themselves. Everyone must accept them, but they themselves do not accept any other opinion. There is not a trace of mercy in them, but only tearful brutality. We see this in the killing of children in the womb and the killing by euthanasia of the elderly or those suffering ‘unbearably and hopelessly’. Man through his belief in the theory of evolution thinks he is a higher developed animal. In reality, he sinks deeper and deeper into a behavior comparable only to that of the most savage beasts. He displays the traits of a tearing beast. He even surpasses that beast in cruelty, for he deliberately acts and justifies his violent, cruel behavior by giving a spin on it that it is actually a benefaction to act in this way. It is the deepest form of depravity. That man is the image of the Creator Who gives and sustains life is completely gone here. Every relationship with Him is broken. Man has turned into a predator with satan as his model, who is a murderer of men from the beginning.

‏ Proverbs 30:11

Four Apostate Generations

Agur gives a list of four things six times in Pro 30:11-31. In doing so, he draws the world as it functions after the Fall. He begins with four generations having the characteristics of the devil, their father. Each verse of Pro 30:11-14 begins with the Hebrew word dor, which is “kind” or “generation”, a class of people characterized by certain character traits.

Agur perceives the distinctive character traits of the people who surround him. The generations are not successive generations. They can take place in the life of one person, so to speak. In the four generations he describes, we see a gradual increase in depravity. It goes from bad to worse:

1. Rebellion against authority, no respect for parents (Pro 30:11).

2. Blindness regarding their true moral condition and their sinful life (Pro 30:12).

3. Arrogance and pride (Pro 30:13).

4. Aggressiveness and oppression of the needy (Pro 30:14).

The first characteristic of a generation that does not acknowledge God is the contemptuous rejection of parental authority (Pro 30:11). These are people who do not fear God and do not care about the authority given by Him. On the contrary, they curse it. They have no natural love for their parents; there is no respect for them.

They curse their father who fathered them. Their mother, who has carried them and tenderly cared for them, receives no word of thanks from them. “Does not bless” is a softening expression, which also means “curse”. It is one of the hallmarks of the last days that children disobey their parents (2Tim 3:1-5). We see its actuality around us.

Sin begins in the family, in the attitude toward parents. The beginning of all deviation is the renunciation of God’s authority in family relationships. We are commanded to honor our parents because they were God’s instruments to create us. Without them, we would not exist. To fail to recognize that we owe our life to our parents, and that as a result we are obligated to honor them, is to fail to recognize God as our Creator Whom we are obligated to praise. In our world that is full of broken families and dislocated families, this proverb sounds like a scathing condemnation.

A generation that has renounced God’s authority through the parents views itself as pure (Pro 30:12). This is the second characteristic of a generation that does not acknowledge God. The cause is that these people have not been washed from their filthiness. That means they see their filthiness as purity. How foolish and blind is such a generation. “Filthiness” often refers to physical uncleanness, but here it is moral defilement (cf. Zec 3:3-4). This filthiness is not physical nor can it be washed away by any human means (Job 9:30-31; Jer 2:22). The dirt of sin can only be washed away by the blood of the Lamb and the Name of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit of God (Rev 7:14; 1Cor 6:11).

These people pride themselves on observing the outward religious rituals, but they pay no attention to their inner cleansing (Lk 11:39). They are busy with a clean outside, but blind to their depraved innermost being. Everyone sees the filthiness but themselves. They are clean in their own eyes and utterly blind to their shortcomings (Lk 18:11), but God sees the filthiness outside and inside.

It is the generation that claims that filthiness is no longer filthiness but purity. The open promotion, proclamation and acceptance of homosexual manifestations and connections, such as through Gay Pride, is one of the clearest examples of this. When God and His Word disappear from our view because they are removed from it, the standard by which everything must be measured is gone. We must have the original to see the deviations. Only the Holy Spirit can convince us of sin.

He who is pure in his own eyes (Pro 30:12) looks down contemptuously on others (Pro 30:13), the third characteristic of this generation. This generation exudes pride, arrogance and insolence. With contempt, the people of this generation look down on their neighbor, while they themselves show off like peacocks. They think they are stealing the show while making themselves despicable in God’s eye. It is a generation of proud people who pour out their contempt on anyone who resists them (cf. Psa 131:1).

The fourth and final characteristic of the people of that generation is cruelty (Pro 30:14). The pictures of the first half of verse symbolize their cruel rapacity. Their teeth are like swords and their jaw teeth like knives. The second part of verse shows who their victims are. Like a voracious and unfeeling beast, they open their tearing mouth “to devour the afflicted from the earth and the needy from among men” (cf. Amos 8:4). Those who exploit and destroy other people are equal to beasts.

It is a generation without compassion. The tolerance that these people tout and highly extol is only varnish. They demand it only for themselves. Everyone must accept them, but they themselves do not accept any other opinion. There is not a trace of mercy in them, but only tearful brutality. We see this in the killing of children in the womb and the killing by euthanasia of the elderly or those suffering ‘unbearably and hopelessly’.

Man through his belief in the theory of evolution thinks he is a higher developed animal. In reality, he sinks deeper and deeper into a behavior comparable only to that of the most savage beasts. He displays the traits of a tearing beast. He even surpasses that beast in cruelty, for he deliberately acts and justifies his violent, cruel behavior by giving a spin on it that it is actually a benefaction to act in this way. It is the deepest form of depravity. That man is the image of the Creator Who gives and sustains life is completely gone here. Every relationship with Him is broken. Man has turned into a predator with satan as his model, who is a murderer of men from the beginning.