Bird's-eye view
In this section of Agur's inspired sayings, we are presented with a fourfold description of a wicked generation. This is not a description of four different kinds of corrupt societies, but rather four interlocking characteristics of one single godless generation. The structure is a numerical proverb, a common feature in this chapter, designed to make the teaching memorable. The passage functions as a divine diagnostic tool, revealing the spiritual sickness of a people who have forsaken God. The diagnosis begins with the breakdown of the most basic unit of society, the family, and progresses outward to reveal the internal attitudes of self-righteousness and pride that fuel the external sins of social predation and oppression. It is a portrait of a society in full rebellion, from the home to the marketplace, and it stands as a stark warning against the inevitable consequences of rejecting the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of all wisdom.
The four descriptions are like four photographs of the same subject from different angles. First, we see their contempt for authority, starting with their parents. Second, we see their spiritual blindness, a self-proclaimed purity that masks deep defilement. Third, we see the root of it all, a profound and insolent pride. And fourth, we see the fruit of that pride, a rapacious cruelty toward the weak and vulnerable. This is what a society looks like when it has cut itself off from its foundations, and the only remedy is the gospel that humbles the proud, cleanses the filthy, and turns the hearts of children to their fathers.
Outline
- 1. Four Portraits of a Godless Generation (Prov 30:11-14)
- a. The Contemptuous Generation: Cursing Parents (Prov 30:11)
- b. The Self-Righteous Generation: Clean in Their Own Eyes (Prov 30:12)
- c. The Arrogant Generation: Haughty Eyes (Prov 30:13)
- d. The Predatory Generation: Devouring the Poor (Prov 30:14)
Context In Proverbs
Proverbs 30 contains "the words of Agur the son of Jakeh." This section is distinct from the main body of Solomon's proverbs and is characterized by its humility (Prov 30:2-3) and its frequent use of numerical lists (e.g., 30:15, 18, 21, 24, 29). These lists are a Hebrew poetic device used for emphasis and memorization. The section from verses 11 to 14 is one such list, identifying four kinds of people, or rather, four characteristics of a single kind of people, who are abominable. This diagnostic quartet follows a warning against slandering a servant and precedes another numerical list about things that are never satisfied. The placement is significant; it is part of a collection of inspired observations about the nature of the world, sin, and wisdom. These verses provide a stark, unvarnished look at the outworkings of human depravity when left unchecked by the grace and law of God.
Key Issues
- The Fifth Commandment as Social Foundation
- The Nature of Self-Deception and Hypocrisy
- Pride as the Root of Sin
- Biblical Justice vs. Predatory Greed
- Generational Sin and Covenantal Curses
The Four Faces of a Godless Age
Agur, under the inspiration of the Spirit, gives us here a compact description of societal rot. He uses the phrase "There is a generation" four times, which we should understand not as a reference to a particular twenty or forty year span, but rather as a type of people, a kind of society. These are the characteristics that mark out a people who have turned their back on God. And notice the progression. It starts in the home, with the most basic form of rebellion, and then works its way into the heart, and then out into the world. A society does not become cruel and predatory overnight. It begins when children stop honoring their parents.
Verse by Verse Commentary
11 There is a generation that curses its father And does not bless its mother.
The first diagnostic sign of a corrupt generation is the breakdown of the family. The Fifth Commandment, to honor father and mother, is the lynchpin that holds the two tables of the law together. It is the first commandment with a promise, and it forms the basis of all delegated authority in society. When children curse their fathers and refuse to bless their mothers, they are not just being rude teenagers. They are attacking the very structure of God's ordained order. To curse a parent is to reject the authority of the one who gave them life, which is a direct assault on the ultimate life-giver, God Himself. A society that tolerates, or worse, celebrates this kind of rebellion is a society that is sawing off the branch it is sitting on. All other forms of social decay flow from this first and fundamental act of defiance.
12 There is a generation that is clean in its own eyes, Yet is not washed from its filthiness.
The second characteristic is a profound spiritual blindness, a self-righteous hypocrisy. This is the generation of the Pharisee who thanks God he is not like other men. They have a detailed list of external rules that they keep, and by this standard, they declare themselves "clean." But it is a self-certification program. God has not declared them clean, because they have never dealt with the filth inside. Their hearts are full of envy, greed, lust, and bitterness, but they have convinced themselves that none of it matters so long as the outside of the cup is polished. This is the essence of all false religion. It redefines righteousness to be something achievable by man, and then congratulates itself on achieving it. But God is not fooled. He sees the heart, and He declares that without the washing of regeneration, without being cleansed by the blood of Christ, all our righteousness is as filthy rags.
13 There is a generation, oh how haughty are its eyes! And its eyelids are lifted up.
Here Agur identifies the root cause of the previous two sins: insolent pride. The Bible uses the imagery of "haughty eyes" or "lifted up eyelids" to describe a person who is arrogant, who looks down on others with contempt. This is the original sin of Satan, who was not content to be a creature but wanted to be the Creator. This generation despises authority because it wants to be its own authority. It declares itself clean because it refuses to bow before a holy God and admit its filth. Pride is the ultimate anti-God attitude. It is the assertion of self as the center of the universe. When a man's eyes are haughty, he cannot see God above him or his neighbor beside him. He sees only himself, and the world as a stage for his own glory. God's consistent promise throughout Scripture is that He opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
14 There is a generation whose teeth are like swords And its fangs like knives, To devour the afflicted from the earth And the needy from among men.
The final portrait shows the practical, social outworking of the first three. A generation that despises authority, is blind to its own sin, and is consumed with pride will inevitably become predatory and cruel. Their teeth and fangs are weapons used to devour the afflicted and the needy. This is not just about isolated acts of theft. This is a systemic oppression. Their business practices, their legal systems, their entire way of life is structured to crush the vulnerable for their own gain. They see the poor not as image-bearers of God to be helped, but as resources to be exploited. This is the opposite of the kingdom of God, where the king comes to defend the cause of the poor and give deliverance to the children of the needy (Psalm 72). This is the law of the jungle, red in tooth and claw, established as the operating principle of a society that has forgotten God.
Application
We must not read these verses as though we were detached sociologists studying some ancient, primitive tribe. We must read them with a mirror in our hands. Do we see these four faces in our own culture? The answer is an obvious and resounding yes. We live in a generation that systematically dishonors the wisdom of the past, that redefines sin out of existence, that celebrates pride as a virtue, and that has perfected new and innovative ways to devour the needy through debt, inflation, and vice.
But the mirror must be turned inward as well. These are not just societal sins; they are the native sins of the human heart. Which of us has perfectly honored our parents? Which of us is not tempted to be clean in our own eyes, justifying our pet sins? Which of us has not felt the poison of pride rising in our hearts? Which of us has not participated in systems that benefit us at the expense of others?
The diagnosis is grim, and there is only one cure. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the direct answer to every one of these corruptions. To the generation that curses its father, Jesus is the perfect Son who always honored His Father. To the generation that is clean in its own eyes, Jesus is the Lamb of God whose blood alone can wash us from our filth. To the generation with haughty eyes, Jesus is the King who humbled Himself, even to death on a cross. And to the generation whose teeth are swords, Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep. The only hope for a generation like this is to turn from its rebellion and fall down before the cross in repentance and faith. Only then can we begin to build a new generation, one that blesses, one that is truly clean, one that is humble, and one that protects the weak instead of devouring them.