Proverbs 30:24-28

24 Four things are small on the earth,
But they are exceedingly wise:

25 The ants are not a strong folk,
But they prepare their food in the summer;

26 The badgers are not a mighty folk,
Yet they make their houses in the rocks;

27 The locusts have no king,
Yet all of them go in ranks;

28 The lizard you may grasp with the hands,
Yet it is in kings' palaces.
(Proverbs 24-28 NAS)

As our daily reading, prayer, meditation and writing on The Book of Proverbs is coming to a close, with tomorrow being the 31st day of August, I would like to express a few words of thanks. Thanks to my brothers Frank Ramsey and Steve Gwilt who agreed to embark on this journey and invited me to participate. Also, thanks to my sister Rose Beaudry who joined in also. And, last but certainly not least, thanks to Jeff Ramsey who has also journied with us and made such a significant contribution. To all of you: I have enjoyed and been blessed greatly by your expounding of the word, by your questions, and also by your sharing of how it is has impacted your life. Further, I've been encouraged by your comments to me along the way. This has truly been an enriching and rewarding experience for me. Also, thanks to all of you who've been reading what we've been able to share, and hopefully, more importantly, what Almighty God Himself is saying through His word. I hope you've all been blessed with a greater grasp of His wisdom and a deeper appreciation and love for Him as a result.

Proverbs 30 is unique in that it is attributed to an author other than Solomon; so is Proverbs 31, for that matter. Authorship is ascribed to one Agur ben Jakeh, or Agur son of Jakeh. Aside from this, his writing style is distinctly different from that of Solomon. Where Solomon tends to convey wisdom in one or two-verse nuggets (for the most part), Agur's mode of expression is mostly through passages of several verses. It is interesting that YHWH chose to use this obscure fellow to convey his wisdom and truth, allowing him to sort of rub elbows with the wisest man who ever walked the earth, save for Jesus Himself.

Today's passage encourages and challenges me to "take time to stop and smell the roses", or get down on all fours and take a close look at the ants. Our God has chosen to use ants, badgers, locusts and lizards as teachers by example. In fact, Proverbs 30:24 says they are exceedingly wise!

I believe in this age of great technological advancement, especially in terms of communication, distance learning and the like, we've largely lost touch with this earth from which the Lord God made us. In a sense, maybe we need to get back to our roots- literally. Wouldn't we do well to perhaps shut off our computers, televisions, mp3 players and mobile phones for a bit and get out into His natural creation? There is a treasury of wisdom to be revealed through even the simplest and lowliest of creatures, if only we're willing to stop, look and listen.

I won't tear apart and examine this passage, rather I encourage each of you to consider the ants, badgers, locusts and lizards since they are described as exceedingly wise. And, of course, give thought and prayer to the verses themselves. (Incidentally, Proverbs 30:29-31 describes three other creatures "stately in their march".) If you can, get out into nature and check them out- or at least one of them. You may not be able to easily study the latter three in such a way, so for those you might have to do a bit of reading, research or even video-viewing. (I know, I know. I suggested getting outdoors. Sigh.) How about also looking at other creatures, be they birds, deer, squirrels, insects or others, depending on where you live? There is something to be gleaned in careful examination of creatures and all living things. At the very least, they all bring glory to their Creator in their own unique and mysterious ways.