Read
18There are three or four things
I cannot understand:
19 How eagles fly so high
or snakes crawl on rocks,
how ships sail the ocean
or people fall in love.
Reflect
What is the author trying to accomplish by comparing these four things? The least we can say is that the point he wants to stand out is really not that evident at all. So then, what can we observe in this comparison between things that are so fundamentally different? What, if anything, do they have in common?
One part of the answer to this question would be the fact that all the subjects compared in the passage never leave a trace of their movements. For instance, when the eagle glides majestically through the skies, there is never a visible trace to be found. Likewise, no trace is left on the rock after the snake crawls over it. No trace will be found in the waters of the boat that sailed by. Similarly, the love that develops between a man and a woman still falls in the category of the invisible and intangible. Remarkably, all these movements leave no visible traces, yet, we cannot deny their reality, in spite of the lack of physical, visible evidence.
We can easily draw a spiritual analogy for our lives from these examples. Let me ask you: What is it, that in a subtle and unapparent way, negatively influences and affects your faith in God? Could it be technology, capturing all our attention? Are worldly advertisements influencing or infecting our desires? Has life’s whirlpool of activities dragged us irresistibly into a place where we no longer can even stop to reflect anymore?
The enemy of our soul seeks to draw us far from God without the appearance of anything happening at all . . . not a trace, not even a whiff that would betray his passing by . . . exactly like the movements described by Agur! It’s only the knowledge of Jesus Christ and God’s word that can open our eyes spiritually, alerting and enabling us to rightly decipher the enemy’s pernicious activity against our soul.
So then, let us be vigilant! for our adversary, the devil, prowls . . .seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).
Respond
Lord Jesus, I am grateful to you for your victory over Satan on Calvary’s cross. To the one who believes in your name, you have shed light on what the enemy endeavours to accomplish in darkness. Thank you for opening my spiritual eyes so that I may discern his snares. Amen.
Donald Tardif
Donald has worked as a custom broker and international freight forwarder. His Biblical training was with L’Institut Biblique du Québec. In 2006, he took an early retirement and assumed the leadership of La Ligue pour la lecture de la Bible in Quebec, after having been on the board of directors for a few years. He retired from Laligue pour la lecture de la Bible in 2017. Donald is married to Jeannine and they have 3 adult children and 8 grandchildren.