Title: Let's Learn Animal Wisdom
[Min Byeong-seok's Proverbs Exposition] 68
learn the wisdom of animals
Text: (Proverbs 30:24 - 28)
Today's text introduces four small and wise animals. To the human eye, these animals are nothing but insignificant creatures. However, God has given them amazing wisdom, and through them, he is teaching foolish people a lot of wisdom in life. There are four kinds of animals introduced to us here. If you look at their names, they are ants, savannah, grasshoppers, and lizards. So what can we learn from these animals? What does God exhort us to learn from these tiny animals? Tonight we will learn the wisdom of these little animals from the book of Proverbs.
1. Wisdom of Ants
Then let's take a look at the wisdom of ants. In today's text, we are talking about ants like this. It is called “an ant without strength, but preparing food in summer.” Here is the wisdom of ants and what we can learn from them. Ants are very small and very weak insects.
However, this ant lives with the wisdom of preparing the food it needs in the summer. The characteristic of ants in the Bible is their diligence and wisdom to prepare food. Proverbs 6:6 tells us to learn from the ants. “Go to the ants, you lazy, and see what they do, and be wise. The ants have no commander, no servants, and no ruler, but prepare their food in the summer and gather bread at the harvest time. You lazy person, when will you wake up from your sleep? Sleep a little longer, sleep a little longer, put your hands together and lie down a little longer, and your poverty will come like a robber, and your poverty like a soldier.”
In this way, it is diligence that we can learn from ants. What does God hate? You say you are a lazy person. The characteristic of a lazy person is lying down, sleeping for a long time, and he hates to be zealous in everything. So what is the income that will return to them? He said, “Poverty comes like a robber, and poverty like a soldier.”
Our Lord wants us to be able to do His work with sincerity and diligence like ants. Romans 12:11 says, “Do not be lazy in diligence, but be zealous and serve the Lord.” How we serve the Lord really matters. He told me to be diligent and not to be lazy. In 2 Peter 1:8, Jesus said not to be lazy in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Revelation 2, among the praised works of the church in Ephesus, there are these words. He said, “I know that you have persevered and have persevered for the sake of my name, and have not been sluggish.” The Lord knows all of our dedication, service, and efforts for the Church of God. You said I know.
And these lazy crowds were saying things they shouldn't have said. You are good at spreading secrets. He is quick to gossip about secret things that only he knows. These are things that God hates, and because lazy people act like this, when a person is lazy, God hates him.
Ants are very cooperative insects that help each other. If you look closely at the ants carrying their luggage, you will be amazed. When one ant is carrying a load, the other ant carries it on its back. If you go carrying a load that is too large, many friend ants will come to help you with this load. Although the ants have such a strong spirit of cooperation and cooperation, it is surprising that this happens peacefully and naturally, with no babbling, shouting, swearing, or nagging.
The church needs to know that this spirit of cooperation is needed. Regarding this, 1 Corinthians 12:4 tells us that since we are members of one another in Christ and become one body, we can build up the body of Christ when we work together according to the gifts we have received.
Ants work in the summer for winter farming. When we were young, we heard a funny story about an ant and a grasshopper. Ants have the wisdom to prepare like this. The Christian life of faith must also have the wisdom to prepare. We can learn the wisdom of preparation from ants. Jesus taught this in Luke 12:35 about this. Look at verses 35 and 40.
There are three prerequisites for Christians to prepare for the coming of the Lord. He told me to put a belt around my waist. This belt is the belt of truth. Just as when a person's belt is pulled from his waist, his strength is lost and his clothes are taken off, when he takes off the truth from a Christian, he is left with only a scarecrow of faith. He told me to turn on the lamp next time. We are the light of the world. We who have received the light must radiate that light. This refers to the life of the saints who bear fruit. He told me to stand next. This command to stand is to show you how to work. Christians who work diligently for the Lord can welcome the bridegroom as a bride preparing to welcome the returning Lord.
2. Shaphan's Wisdom
Next we will look at the beast called Shaphan. Saban is a rabbit that lives in the mountains that we are familiar with and often see. Regarding the wisdom of this Shaphan, he said, Shaphan is a weak kind, but he builds his house among the rocks. Since earthenware is a fearsome and weak animal, you have to hold its ears when raising it. If you hold on to the waist, you will break the lumbar bone and die.
This rabbit is aware of his weakness, so he builds a house among the rocks to protect himself. A weak rabbit is therefore able to deter attacks from other animals in its home. Therefore, Christians should have the wisdom to escape our lives in Christ who is our rock. The Bible tells us that God is the rock of our refuge. <I am hiding in the open place of the rock, so please hide me until the storms and storms pass by.> Our Lord is the rock of our lives. Those who make this person their companion in life can be protected from the harm of death and from the waves of sin. Hallelujah ! David praised God in Psalm 23, saying, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
As long as God is the rock of our lives, though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no harm and your mercy and goodness will follow me all my life. <If you believe, please answer with Amen> As Psalm 41 says, God is our refuge and our strength. When you make this person your eternal companion, trust that he will be the rock of your life, and I hope you will learn the wisdom of this rabbit and live a beautiful life.
3. Locust Wisdom
He told me to see the grasshopper next time. It is said of the locusts that they have no commanders, but they all go out in groups. Grasshoppers are pests that harm humans, but we can learn orderliness from them. Each locust is nothing and is very weak, but when it forms a large group, it becomes a great army and can accomplish a great work.
Each Christian may seem as weak as a grasshopper, but when one's strength is combined, amazing works can be accomplished. When it came to building our new church, we joined forces. Looking at each member of the church, who will build the temple and how will it be built? It was impossible to even dare to do it, but it was a small number, but when we became one through prayer, one through love, and one through zeal, a wonderful miracle was born. Syngman Rhee's famous saying that if we unite we live and if we disperse, we die. We believe that the great work of God's power will be revealed when our new church unites as one through faith, love, and hope.
4. The Wisdom of the Wholesale Snake
Finally, we are talking about lizards. It was said to be a lizard that could be held by hand. Although small in size, these lizards are witty, preying on flies and other insects, and in some cases even making their home in royal palaces. The lizards living in the royal palace do not have to worry about being captured by the enemies, and they travel around the palace to secure their territory. Although Christians live in weakness and insignificance on this earth, they live in the palace of God, the royal palace, and have the hope of ascending to heaven in the future.
Conclusion: Ladies and gentlemen, we need various wisdoms in the way we live. God teaches wisdom to life even through the smallest microorganisms or insects. We should learn and learn the wisdom of life through the Word of God and apply it to our religious life so that our lives will be worthwhile, our hopes will come true, and we will receive a reward before God. Christians in our new church are diligent and zealous like ants, serving the Lord with zeal, making our Lord, who is the rock of life, as a refuge in our lives, like locusts, forming the body of Christ in all things to show amazing works, like lizards. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will become saints who can live the life of hope by making their residence in the royal palace.