UNTRACEABLE WAYS

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on May 15, 2022 under 2022 |

Bethany Bible Church Sermon Message; May 15, 2022 from Proverbs 30:18-20

Theme: Things in our lives that may be untraceable to other people are not untraceable to God.

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

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This morning, we continue our study of Proverbs 30; and of the words that the Bible records for us from a wise man named Agur.

We know very little about this man Agur. Almost all that we can be sure of is from the humble way that he began this chapter; saying,

Surely I am more stupid than any man,
And do not have the understanding of a man.
I neither learned wisdom
Nor have knowledge of the Holy One (Proverbs 30-2-3).

However stupid and unlearned he may have been, the Holy Spirit clearly gave Agur great wisdom along the way. And the Spirit has preserved Agur’s short, quick expressions of wisdom for us in the pages of Scripture. At times, they come across to us as rather mystifying words … at first, anyway. But as I have found—and as I hope you have found too—the profound wisdom of this Spirit-inspired man’s words shows itself after closer and more prayerful examination.

That’s very true of the words we find in verses 18-20;

There are three things which are too wonderful for me,
Yes, four which I do not understand:
The way of an eagle in the air,
The way of a serpent on a rock,
The way of a ship in the midst of the sea,
And the way of a man with a virgin.
This is the way of an adulterous woman:
She eats and wipes her mouth,
And says, “I have done no wickedness” (vv. 18-20).

These three verses seem very mystifying words at first. Their observations, at first, don’t seem as if they belong together. But all Scripure is given to us by God for our edification and growth in the Lord Jesus—even these seemingly mystifying words. I have found that, after closer study of them, there is a very important spiritual lesson to be found for us in them.

And I think that the best way to share what I’ve found is to simply walk you through the process of personal discovery that I went through in working my way through these words.

* * * * * * * * * *

The first thing that I noticed about these words is the form in which they come to us. Agur uses a remarkable form of poetic structure. We’ve encountered it before in other things that he has written in Proverbs 30. In these verses, Agur announces to us that he’s going to give us a list of things in a particular number. But then he goes on to add emphasis to the list by increasing its number. It’s a way of saying, “These things are an example of what I want to tell you. They are very serious things. I will tell you about at least three of them. In fact, to show you how important they are, I will even go on to add a fourth one.”

And what kinds of things are these that he wants to tell us about? They are things that are mysterious to him. They are things that cause him to marvel at. They are things that he had tried to understand; but just couldn’t grasp as he would like to. They eluded him. He said,

There are three things which are too wonderful for me,
Yes, four which I do not understand … (v. 18).

Most of the translations I’ve looked at have it that these are things “too wonderful” for Agur. And that almost gives the impression that he’s speaking of it all in a kind of ‘sentimental’ way—as if the things he’s talking about are overwhelmingly delightful to him. But I have found that that’s not really what he meant. In a Jewish translation that I’ve read, it puts it this way: “Three things are beyond me; four I cannot fathom …” I think that the New International Version gets the closest to Agur’s meaning when it says, “There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand …” These are things that not only cause him to wonder and marvel in a positive way; but that also leave him puzzled and bewildered in a frustrating way. They are things that, to some degree, thrill him to consider … but that also leave him scratching his head.

And what are these things? He says;

The way of an eagle in the air,
The way of a serpent on a rock,
The way of a ship in the midst of the sea,
And the way of a man with a virgin (v. 20).

Do you notice that each of these things uses the phrase, “The way of …”? What Agur was talking about was the remarkable paths that these things follow—the journeys that they take—the courses of their actions. The thing that they all have in common is that you can’t follow their trails. They move, but in what we might call ‘untraceable ways’.

And that teaches us that …

1. SOME THINGS ARE UNTRACEABLE IN THEIR WAYS TO HUMAN MINDS.

Consider the things that Agur mentions. First, he mentions something from nature, and says that “the way of an eagle in the air” is untraceable.

Living where we do, my wife and I often look out the window and see birds—very large birds—flying and swooping over the fields. They’re really remarkable to watch; although I sincerely wish I could tell you that what we were watching were eagles. That would certainly be a more romantic thing to say. Sometimes they’re hawks; but more often than not, they’re turkey vultures—looking around for ways to do their God-given job. But they’re nevertheless beautiful and majestic and graceful in fight … from a distance, anyway … if you don’t have to look at their heads.

And the thing about eagles (and, for that matter, turkey vultures) is that you can’t trace their path of flight. You can’t predict their patterns in the sky. If you watch one flying, and then turn your head away for just a second, you will look back and discover that you can’t find them. They would have swept away or vanished in the sky; leaving no contrails behind them. Eagles in the air are ‘untraceable in their ways’.

Agur mentions a second thing from nature. He says that “the way of a serpent on a rock” is also untraceable. Living out in the country, we see those too.

When a snake slithers across dirt and dust, it leaves a discernable pattern. If someone was walking along the trail, and saw certain kinds of patterns, they might be on heightened alert—and might become very careful where they walked. But when a snake moves across rocky ground—with little or no dust—you can’t discern its pattern or its path at all. It leaves no trail. You might see a snake and turn your head for a second (although I can’t imagine why you’d ever do that!); and then, you’d find that you can’t see where it went. It slipped away without a trace. Serpents on a rock are also ‘untraceable in their ways’.

Agur goes on to mention a third thing—but this time, not from nature. It’s more from the ingenuity of human beings. He says that “the way of a ship in the midst of the sea” is also untraceable.

It’s amazing enough to consider how a large ship can float upon the water at all—and carry all that it carries while it does so. The science of navigation and seamanship is truly wonderful—even as it was understood in the days of Agur. How pilots can take a large vessel from one shore to another far distant shore, over great distances across the water—past rocks and reefs, and through waves and storms—and all by the power of the wind and through the guidance of the stars—is among the greatest of all human achievements. But there’s a sense in which even that is untraceable. A ship cuts through the water, and leaves a wake behind it for a brief while. But you can’t go out the next day, look at the surface of the water with your eyes, and say, “A ship went through here … and it went that-a-way. See its trail?” The ships out in the midst of the sea are also ‘untraceable in their ways’.

And then, we find a fourth thing that Agur mentions. But it’s not from nature or from human ingenuity. It’s a phenomenon of the deepest of human relationships. It may be that Agur said, “these three … and then a fourth” in order to make this last one standout from the others. It may even be that the first three are meant to point to the even greater wonder of this fourth thing. He says, “And the way of a man with a virgin” is also untraceable.

When Agur uses the word “virgin”, he’s talking about a young woman of marrying age. In the New International Version, she’s called “a maiden”. And what a great mystery this is! I know of quite a few songs about ships at sea. I know only a couple of songs about eagles in the sky. I really can’t think of any songs about snakes on rocks—not that I’d want to sing, anyway. But there are countless songs about the mystery of the way of a man toward a maiden.

How do those relationships of love take shape? How are they formed? What draws a man and a woman together in such a way that they commit themselves to one another and spend the rest of their lives together—sharing all they have together—and even produce a family together? How is it that two people—sometimes of very different backgrounds from each other—can be formed into a life-long union of love? It truly is a marvel, isn’t it? I still don’t know how it came about that my wife and I met in the way that we did, and how we fell in love almost immediately. With all of my blundering and stumbling, how in the world did I win her over? I’m not sure I could account for it. I certainly can’t trace how it happened with other couples who have spent their lives together in marital bliss. You just can’t map it out in a clear way. Along with those other ways, a relationship between a man with a virgin is also ‘untraceable in its way’.

* * * * * * * * * *

So then; Agur spoke of some truly ‘untraceable ways’. He said;

There are three things which are too wonderful for me,
Yes, four which I do not understand:
The way of an eagle in the air,
The way of a serpent on a rock,
The way of a ship in the midst of the sea,
And the way of a man with a virgin (vv. 18-19).

And when I read of those things, and thought carefully about them, the thing that Agur then went on to say in verse 20 struck me as almost out of place. He said;

This is the way of an adulterous woman:
She eats and wipes her mouth,
And says, “I have done no wickedness”

At first, I thought that Agur was taking us off onto a completely different subject. But there were two things that convinced me otherwise. The first was the way that this verse is introduced in the original Hebrew. It uses an adverb that can be translated “So” or “Thus”; and it clearly points back to those four ‘wondrous’ things in verses 18-19 as the example or basis or analogy of what Agur says in verse 20. And second was the fact that it uses the same phrase in verse 20 as it does in the previous verse “the way of …”

Look at the details of this verse. He speaks of the “way” or “path” or “course of action” of an adulterous woman. This would be a woman who was someone’s wife—someone who would have perhaps been won over by a man in the way we read about in verse 19—but who was not faithful to her husband. The way it’s constructed in the original language suggests that she had a habit of unfaithfulness. It’s her pattern of behavior—her practice.

And then, notice what it says that she does. First, Agur says that she “eats”—which is a symbolic way of describing her act of unfaithfulness. When I read that, I saw it in relation to the words that the immoral woman used in Proverbs 9:17 to entice her lover;

“Stolen water is sweet,
And bread eaten in secret is pleasant” (Proverbs 9:17).

Then, we’re told that, after “eating”, she wipes her mouth—as if to remove all evidence and any trace of her unfaithful action. She seeks to cover her steps. And then, with any trace of her action covered over—and as if with no conscience of the matter at all—she declares, “I have done no wickedness.” It made me shudder to read it.

Now; when I read this, I had a question. Perhaps you have it too. Why is the adulteress the only one who is being described in this verse … and not the adulterer also? And I’m afraid I don’t have a satisfactory answer. It may be that because the way of a man with a maiden was highlighted in the previous verse, so that the way of this woman could be highlighted as a contrast. It may be because, in many passages in the earlier chapters of Proverbs, Solomon warns his son to stay away from the house of the adulteress. But whatever the reason might be, I think it would be safe to say that what goes for the adulteress in this verse would also go for the adulterer.

And the thing that most connects verse 20 to the things listed in the previous verse is the supposed ‘untraceableness’ of the act. Just as the way of the eagle in the sky cannot be traced, or the way of the serpent on the rock, or the way of the ship on the sea, or the way of a man with a maiden, so also those who commit adultery seek to make their way ‘untraceable’.

* * * * * * * * * *

Dear folks; I need to tell you that I laid awake at night working this passage over in my mind. I prayed and prayed. “Lord,” I asked, “why, after telling us these wonderful things in verses 18-19, is this horrible thing being told in verse 20? Is there a practical lesson to be learned from these ‘untraceable ways’? What is it?”

And then, somewhere along the way, it hit me. Those ‘untraceable ways’ that are described in verses 18-19 are only ‘untraceable’ to human beings. They are only a mystery to us. They are not untraceable at all to God. The Lord Jesus told us that not even a sparrow can fall to the ground without our Father’s knowledge. He who created the creatures that crawl on the earth knows their paths. We have stories in the Scriptures of how God guided lost ships safely to the harbor. The way of a man with a maiden is no mystery to Him—and is often guided by Him. The traces of these wonders and mysteries are bewildering to us; but they are all known perfectly to our heavenly Father.

And the same would be true of the sinful things that we think that we might be able to hide from the eyes of God. And it was then that this whole passage became a very serious and sobering spiritual lesson to me. Some things may be untraceable to the human mind …

2. BUT SINFUL WAYS ARE NEVER UNTRACEABLE TO GOD.

As soon as the truth of that came to my mind, a whole lot of other things that the Bible tells us also came to mind that reminded me of how God thoroughly knows the paths that our ways take. I thought of what it says in Psalm 139:7-12; where King David wrote,

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.
You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You (Psalm 139:1-12).

I thought of what it says in Hebrews 4:12-13;

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:12-13).

I thought of what it says in Ephesians 5:8-14; where we’re told,

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says:

“Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light” (Ephesians 5:8-14).

And I thought of what it says in 1 John 1:5-9;

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:5-9).

Our God sees and knows all things. He sees hidden sin. And His wrath for that sin is real. But as someone once said, the safest place to run from God’s wrath is right into His arms of grace. Jesus has atoned for our sin. And if we confess it, and trust in the atonement that He has purchased for us at the cross, we are forgiven.

* * * * * * * * * *

Well; that was the process of discovery that the Lord took me through in thinking about this remarkable passage.

And the great lesson that I learned from it all—and that I pass on to you this morning—is this: Things in our lives that may be untraceable to other people are not untraceable to God. We may be able to hide things from the eyes of other fellow human beings; but we can never hide anything from the eyes of the all-seeing God before Whom we must give an account.

It has all made me think of that old song that we use to sing to children—a child’s song perhaps, but one that’s tremendously rich in grown-up practical theology:

O be careful little hands what you do.
O be careful little hands what you do.
For the Father up above
Is looking down in love;
So, be careful little hands what you do.

May it be that the Father in heaven—for whom there are no ‘untraceable ways’—help us to live in such a way that He is pleased with what He sees.

AE