“Amazing Wonders”

10/14/24

Have you ever stopped to think about all the wonders you see. Recent wonders we’ve seen are hurricanes, floods, wildfires, the northern lights, the sun rising, the sun setting. Or how about simple everyday wonders? Trees, birds, flowers, bees, grass. Or how about the seasons? Fall, winter, spring and summer. All of these are wonders of the world that we often don’t even consider.

Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name? Surely you know! —Proverbs 30:4 

Something spoke to Agur’s heart and told him that there was a God beyond whatever superstitious idols were worshipped in his native land. There was a real God—a wise, living, powerful God—a God who was greater than the limited imagination and understanding of people. Note the voice that ignited Agur’s soul, that aroused the appetite of his hungry heart for God: it was the voice of creation. Agur looked at the wonders of the world around him, and although he was uneducated, unwise, and untaught in truth, he had enough instinctive sense to know that somebody designed and created it all. Agur’s searching, inquiring soul cried out with six questions:

1. Who is able to ascend up to heaven and descend from heaven?

2. Who holds the wind in His fists and releases it upon the earth?

3. Who has wrapped up the waters in the clouds, the waters that fall to earth?

4. Who established the earth and all its boundaries?

5. What is His name?

6. What is His Son’s name?

Agur desperately wanted to know the true God in a personal way. Surely somebody could answer his questions. He cried out from the depths of his heart: if anybody knew the answer, then please share it with me.

God first revealed Himself to Agur through general revelation. God has manifested Himself in this way to every human being:

Agur looked at the amazing wonders of the world and listened to what God said to his heart through them. At last, he became thoroughly convinced that there is a God who preceded these glorious marvels and who is powerful enough to make them. Agur believed the light that penetrated into his soul through creation, and he passionately cried out for additional light.

Thought 1. God reaches out to all human beings, and He wants every member of Adam’s race to know Him. In nations and homes where His Word is present and the gospel is preached, there are usually many believers. These are privileged in that they have established a relationship with God through His Son; they know how to live a victorious, conquering life. But others are born into lands and families where the names Jehovah and Christ are not known. God reaches out to these in the same manner in which He reached out to Agur: through the marvels and testimony of creation. Agur followed the light he had been given. To those who believe the light of general revelation—God’s revelation of Himself through creation—God will give additional light.

Thought 2. God delights in using unlikely people to accomplish His work. Agur was uneducated, and his statement suggests that he was below average in intelligence. He had no spiritual background and no scriptural training. He was a common laborer, not a king or a priest. Nevertheless, God spoke to Agur, and Agur faithfully delivered God’s message to the world. Agur stands in sharp contrast to Solomon, the wealthy, educated, wise, and spiritually-advantaged king who wrote many of the other Probverbs. The inclusion of Agur’s message in Proverbs reminds us that we do not have to be like Solomon to be used of God. When simple, unqualified vessels are used by God, there is no question who deserves the credit:

Thought 3. Agur predicted the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ (v.4a). God’s only begotten Son descended to earth from heaven—He came down—to accomplish the work of redemption for Adam’s fallen race. He took upon Himself a body and came to earth so that He might know all that we experience and be battered and crucified in our place:

 The lesson is this: God uses His creation to reveal himself to the human race. No matter where there is man God is showing himself through creation. And this is how “Joyful Persistence” is pursued. Through God revealing Himself to us through the wonders of His creation we all around us.