A LESSON FROM A LEECH

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on March 27, 2022 under 2022 |

Bethany Bible Church Sunday message; March 27, 2022 from Proverbs 30:15-16

Theme: Certain sinful desires, when gratified, lead us deeper and deeper into bondage.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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One of my life-long favorite adventure movies is the 1951 John Huston World War I classic, The African Queen. That’s the one where Katharine Hepburn plays the prim-and-proper daughter of a missionary in a German-occupied African village. The mission was burned down by German forces; and she was rescued and transported down the river in a dilapidated old boat called ‘The African Queen’—piloted by Humphrey Bogart as a dirty, smelly, rough-talking mechanic.

A lot of the fun of the movie involves the contrasts between the two of them—but also the surprising tenderness that they share during a time of crisis. But there’s one scene in the movie that, as a kid, absolutely terrified me. It still does. It’s when the boat got stuck in the marsh; and Humphrey Bogart’s character had to get out and pull it along by a rope. It was exhausting and agonizing work. And when he got back into the boat to get some rest, Katharine Hepburn’s character took one look at him and screamed. Without knowing it, his body had become covered with leeches. He was horrified; and he began to quiver and shake—frantic to get the loathsome things off his skin. As Hepburn was about to pull them off, Bogie stopped her—warning that if they pull the leeches off, their heads will break off into his body and poison his system. So; they had to pour salt on his body, and gently rub the leeches off. But after the leeches were off his body, a look of gloom fell upon their faces. They both realized that he had to get right back into the leech-infested water and keep on pulling the boat through the marsh.

That scene from the movie was my first introduction to these horrible little things called ‘leeches’. It has informed my attitude toward them ever since. I’ve never encountered one; and I hope I never will. I know that some people think that they’re useful in certain medical situations. But as far as I’m concerned, whoever uses them is definitely not going to be my physician!

Leeches are blood-sucking parasites of the worm family—and there’s just no way to put that nicely. And we find the one-and-only reference to them in the Bible in Proverbs 30. The wise man named Agur, whose words we’ve been studying from this chapter, probably meant for us to be a little repulsed when—in verse 15—he wrote;

The leech has two daughters—
Give and Give! (Proverbs 30:15a).

These seem like strange words; don’t they? But the Holy Spirit has preserved these words in the Scriptures for a reason. They are meant to teach us something. And I’m convinced that what they are meant to teach us is further illustrated to us in the words that follow. Verses 15-16 go on to say;

There are three things that are never satisfied,
Four never say, “Enough!”:
The grave,
The barren womb,
The earth that is not satisfied with water—
And the fire never says, “Enough!” (vv. 15b-16).

Things that never say, “Enough!”—that sound ‘leech-like’; doesn’t it?

This is a strange passage. But I believe that the best explanation of what God wants us to know from these words would be the most natural one—the one that would probably most immediately come to our mind. The leech is most likely intended to symbolize some kind of loathsome sin. The fact that its offspring cry out in a double way, “Give … Give”, is probably meant to symbolize that this sinful thing—whatever it is—keeps demanding more and more from its victim. And the fact that it is further illustrated by a list of things that never say “Enough!” is meant to illustrate the way that these sins leave their victims: dissatisfied, unfulfilled, drained, and feeling hollow and empty.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; this wise man Agur—writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—was warning us that we must beware. Certain sinful desires, when gratified, lead us deeper and deeper into bondage; and as we wade our way through the marshes of this fallen world, we must beware of these ‘leeches’—and not let them get attached to us and bring us into bondage!

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; as we begin to look at this passage together, I need to explain something to you. The things that are described to us in it are—obviously—very symbolic in nature. And lots of Bible teachers and commentators have seen all kinds of wild things in this passage. They’ve found various institutions being represented in it that they dislike, or religious traditions that they disagree with, or things of this world that they find offensive. And they have therefore used this passage to declare such things ‘leeches’ and ‘leeches daughters’. In the process, they have ended up with some highly subjective interpretations that are just too fantastic to be trustworthy.

But let’s remember that our heavenly Father didn’t put things in His word to confuse us—but rather to edify us. And so; as we seek to understand these things, let’s make a commitment to keep our interpretations carefully rooted in Scripture. The Bible is its own best commentary; and we should look for clues for what these things mean from other Scripture passages, and to root our interpretations in the Bible itself. As we do so, I’m convinced that we’ll discover that there’s a very good reason why God has preserved these seemingly-strange words for us in His book.

So; let’s begin with what we find at the beginning of verse 15. Agur wrote, “The leech has two daughters—Give and Give!” We’re probably safe in understanding the leech to represent some kind of sinful practice that attaches itself to us from this world. And we’re probably safe in understanding the ‘daughters’ who cry “Give … Give” in a double way to symbolize something that is produced by these leech-like sins. They produce cravings that demand more and more from us.

And this idea is itself clearly supported by the Bible. Do you remember one of the first stories in the Bible that warns us about that ever-increasing, “Give … Give” characteristic of sin? It was the story that we find way back in Genesis 4—the story about how Cain murdered his brother Abel. He was jealous of his brother because God had accepted Abe’s righteous sacrifice, but had rejected Cain’s self-willed sacrifice. Cain was angry because God had rejected his disobedient offering; and he resented and hated his brother as a result. God told him:

“Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it” (Genesis 4:6-7).

Think of that! Sin was crouching at the door—ready to seize Cain and bring him into bondage. But Cain didn’t heed the warning. His hatred grew in him until he took action to gratify it. He slew his brother—and from then on, sin kept him in bondage. That’s the way it is with all sin, of course. But it’s especially so with certain types of sin. This teaches us that …

1. SOME SINS ARE LEECH-LIKE IN THEIR DEMANDS.

As we’re ‘wading through the marshes’ of this fallen and sinful world, we come into contact with certain temptations—certain cravings—certain sinful desires. And whenever we give in to those temptations and gratify the desires that they arouse in us, they become attached to us. Once that connection gets established in our lives, these leech-like sins make a constant demand: “Give! Give!” In modern terminology, we might think of them as ‘destructive addictions’. But in Agur’s terminology, they’re leech-like sins that suck us dry.

Jesus once said;

“Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34).

That’s what sin does. It makes us its slave. It brings us into bondage to the enemy of our souls. But we should always remember that there’s hope for deliverance. Jesus went on to say;

“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (v. 36).

So then; in Proverbs 30:15, we’re given a warning. All sin makes us a slave. But some sins are leech-like sins that suck us dry with their enslaving power—demanding more and more.

* * * * * * * * * *

And then, Agur goes on to tell us that …

2. SUCH SINS CANNOT SATISFY OUR LONGINGS.

Sin always engages in false advertising. It always makes promises of satisfaction; but it never delivers what it promises. To illustrate this further, Agur gave us a set of examples from the natural world.

He began in verse 15 by saying, “There are three things that are never satisfied …” And then, he goes on to say, “Four never say, “Enough!” This is a style of Hebrew poetry that Agur uses often in this chapter. He announces that he’s going to tell us a number of things; but then he goes on to increase the number in order to add emphasis. It’s a way of saying, “These things are an example of what I want to tell you. They are very serious things; and this is by no means a complete list of all of them.” We could find many more such examples in life of things that are never satisfied; but these three …yea, even four … serve only as some very basic examples.

First, Agur says in verse 16 that “the grave” is never satisfied. The word that he uses in the Hebrew is Sheol—and that’s the name that the Bible gives for the abode of the dead. It’s sometimes translated by the word “hell”. What a gruesome picture! The place of the dead is never full. Hell always has the ‘vacancy’ sign lit up. There’s always room for more tenants. And what are we meant to understand by the idea that “the grave” never says enough? Agur is speaking of a particular kind of sin; and he’s illustrating the principle to us that greed is as insatiable as the grave.

Now; you may be asking, “Greed? Where is that idea coming from?” Well; you remember, don’t you, that we need to draw our interpretations of these things from the Scripture itself? If we look at Proverbs 27:20, we read these words:

Hell and Destruction are never full;
So the eyes of man are never satisfied (Proverbs 27:20).

“Hell” is a translation of that Hebrew word Sheol—the abode of the dead. And the phrase ‘the eyes of men’ is here used as a figure of speech for greedy desire—just like when Eve coveted the forbidden fruit because it was ‘pleasant to the eyes’. And so; this is warning us about one of those ‘leech-like’ sins. Greed, or covetousness—that is, an inordinate coveting and grasping after what God has not permitted us to have—is a sin that never stops in its demand for more. Once it sinks its teeth into us and starts sucking, it’s never satisfied. In Habakkuk 2:5, it speaks of those who are enslaved by this sin; and says,

“Indeed, because he transgresses by wine,
He is a proud man,
And he does not stay at home.
Because he enlarges his desire as hell,
And he is like death, and cannot be satisfied,
He gathers to himself all nations
And heaps up for himself all peoples.”

It’s like the greedy land-owner I once heard about, who explained, “All I want is the land that’s right next to the one I already own.” We’ve got to beware of the leech-like sin of greed!

Another thing that Agur says is never satisfied is “the barren womb”. Now; we need to be very careful and sensitive in how we understand this one. Sadly, there are many couples among our family and friends who long to have children. Their barrenness is a great grief to them. And the longing for children is certainly not a sinful thing—nor is it a product of sin.

But when we look back to the earliest chapters of the Bible, we find a story about barrenness that does involve a particular sin. I believe that any Jewish person who would have read Agur’s words in those days would have thought right away of the story of Jacob’s two wives, Rachael and Leah. They were sisters who were both married to the same man—and they were rivals of one another. God had given Leah the ability to have children; but Rachael could not. And in Genesis 30:1, we’re told;

Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die!” (Genesis 30:1).

So; this is speaking of a particular kind of sin—envy, or jealousy. It’s the sin of discontent that comes from wanting what God has given to someone else—thus making that other person our hated rival. And as Agur’s words remind us, envy is as hollow as barrenness. It never satisfies. It never ceases. Once envy gets hold of our hearts, it demands more and more; because there will always be someone else that will have what we want. Rachel and Leah both had children; but they were at odds with each other for the rest of their lives.

Now; I appreciate what a good brother said the other day. There’s another story of barrenness in the Bible. It’s the story of Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel. We’re told in 1 Samuel 1 that she too longed to have her barrenness taken away. But rather than looking enviously upon another—or demanding satisfaction from her husband—she humbly brought her desire to God in prayer. And God answered her prayer by giving her Samuel. But you get the point; don’t you? Envy—however it makes its way into our lives—is a leech-like sin that will never be satisfied. It will always cry out, “Give … Give!” Don’t let it get attached to you!

A third thing that Agur said is never satisfied is “The earth that is not satisfied with water”. King Solomon gave us a picture of this in Ecclesiastes 1:7, when he wrote;

All the rivers run into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full;
To the place from which the rivers come,
There they return again (Ecclesiastes 1:7).

Round and round it goes. The earth never seems to drink in enough water. We certainly know about that here in the Pacific Northwest! But what’s the particular sin that Agur is warning us about in this picture? It’s the sin of self-indulgence—the hedonistic pursuit of pleasure. Agur is warning us that self-indulgence leaves one as dry as the desert.

Now; where do I get that? I get it from reading a little further, to what Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 2. His description of the endless cycle of water was meant to be a picture of his own frustrated pursuit of pleasure. As the greatest king of his time, he was able to try everything—and what’s more, as a man endowed with great wisdom, he could accurately analyze all of his experiences. Nothing was out of his reach. And so, in Ecclesiastes 2:3-11, he wrote;

I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives. I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards. I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove. I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds. So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.

Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them.
I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure,
For my heart rejoiced in all my labor;
And this was my reward from all my labor.
Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done
And on the labor in which I had toiled;
And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind.
|There was no profit under the sun (2:3-11).

No one could have been more self-indulgent than Solomon. He was, perhaps, the greatest pleasure-seeker of all time. And yet, it left him as dry as the desert. Self-indulgence is a leech-like sin that cries out for more and more—and yet, never satisfies. Beware of it!

And Agur mentioned one more thing that is never satisfied. He said, “And the fire never says, ‘Enough!’” It never says, “Okay; I suppose I’ve burned enough things now. Sure don’t want to over-do it!” The nature of fire is such that, once it has started to burn, it keeps burning until there’s nothing left. And what sin was Agur warning us about? It’s one of the most deadly of the leech-like sins—the sin of sexual lust. He’s warning us that lust is as consuming as fire.

It’s amazing how often the Bible compares sexual lust with a burning fire. Proverbs 6:26-27 warns a young man to stay away from sexual sin:

For by means of a harlot
A man is reduced to a crust of bread;
And an adulteress will prey upon his precious life.
Can a man take fire to his bosom,
And his clothes not be burned? (Proverbs 6:26-27).

In Romans 1:26-27, the apostle Paul warned of how God—in judgment—gave an unbelieving culture over to the self-destructive gratification of same-sex attractions; saying,

For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another (Romans 1:26-27).

In giving instructions to young people, Paul urged them to remain single if they could; but then added that …

if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion (1 Corinthians 7:9).

Sexual immorality of any kind—whether it is gratified vicariously through pornography, or gratified physically through immoral relationships—is a leech-like sin that holds its victims captive with the cry, “Give … Give!” Many lives are being destroyed by this horrible leech even as we speak.

* * * * * * * * * *

Greed. Envy. Self-indulgence. Lust. This is by no means a complete list. But these are sinful desires that—once they begin to be gratified—will sink their teeth into us, and attach themselves to us, and suck our lives away, and drain our spirits dry. They hold us in bondage. They are like leeches; whose loathsome offspring demand more and more from us … and give nothing in return.

But let’s not end there. We have a promise from the Lord Jesus. He has died to free us from sin; and He said that whoever He sets free is “free indeed”. He’s the one who is able to knock all the leeches off us, and set us free from their bondage. Let’s remember that …

3. THE GREATEST DEFENSE AGAINST SUCH SINS IS A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS.

Do you remember the story of the woman at the well? She was empty. She was longing for satisfaction. She had allowed things into her life that were leaving her dry and thirsty. And that’s when Jesus held up a cup of water before her and said;

“Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:13-14).

He says to you, and to me, and to all who will hear;

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

As we make our way through this fallen world, let’s keep closely attached to Jesus. If we do, the leech-like sins that inhabit the marshes of life will have no power over us.

AE