Shaking the World

I felt like I received great insight about Proverbs 30:21-23 while reading my Bible this morning and I wanted to share it. Before I did, however, I checked with some Bible commentaries (on biblecc.com) to see if anyone else discussed it the way it was revealed to me and I was surprised to find that very little was similar to what I believe I was shown this morning.

Here is the passage: Under two things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up: a servant who becomes king, a fool who is full of food, an unloved woman who is married, and a maidservant who displaces her mistress.

Other Bible commentaries pointed out that the person in each example is in a position in which they shouldn't be. For example, Barnes' Notes on the Bible says that "each has its examples of power and prosperity misused because they fall to the lot of those who have no training for them, and are therefore in the wrong place."

Barnes' Notes on the Bible also pointed out that the four things are divided equally by gender - two male and two female. I found this an interesting observation.

The Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament says earth itself, and not its inhabitants, "feels oppressed as by an insufferable burden" and "the arrangement of society is shattered."

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible and the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary briefly mention Genesis 16:4 the situation with Hagar being in the place of her mistress, Sarah, and "she began to despise her mistress" (quoted section from Genesis 16:4).

Still, none of what I found from multiple commentaries came close to what came to me this morning and actually had some of it backward from what I got from these verses. I think some of what I discovered is just the way I try to find connections and parallels between the stories God has given us, and some of it has been influenced by The Jesus Storybook Bible written by Sally Lloyd-Jones where "every story whispers his name." It connects the story of Jesus, God's ultimate story and plan, through many other stories in the Bible, throughout the Old Testament.

Here is what I got this morning. Verse 21: Under two things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up. The things described in the next couple verses are going to be things that shake the whole earth and the way things are seen and done, like what the Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament said (which, by the way, I loved that they included many of the Hebrew words in their discussion). You know, when Jesus died on the cross, that shook the whole world (Matthew 27:15, Luke 23:44-45). In the Jesus Storybook Bible, it describes it in this way: "Even though it was midday, a dreadful darkness covered the face of the world. The sun could not shine. The earth trembled and quaked. The great mountains shook. Rocks split in two. Until it seems that the whole world would break. That creation itself would tear apart." Jesus dying on the cross was definitely an event that caused the earth to tremble, which leads me into the next verse.

The first part of verse 22 says a servant who becomes a king. Is this not what Jesus did? Isn't it possible that this could refer to Jesus? While here on earth, he did what he could to serve people, regardless of their position, nationality, gender, etc. Read John 13:3-17 where Jesus served his disciples by washing their feet, one of the lowliest servant jobs there was. And where is Jesus now? Reigning with his Father in heaven. The King of the Jews, the Lion of Judah, King of kings and Lord of lords.

The second part of verse 22 says a fool full of food. Do you remember the story of Esau and Jacob in Genesis 25? Esau gave up his birthright to Jacob in exchange for a bowl of stew (verses 29 through 34). One meal. Just one. He was full of food, but he lost so much in place of that. Now, notice verses 22 and 23 in Genesis 25: The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, "Why is this happening to me?" So she went to inquire of the Lord. The Lord said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two people from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger. Hmm, I have a feeling Rebecca liked Jacob better than Esau because she had a word from the Lord saying that Esau (the older) would some day serve Jacob (the younger). But that is off-topic.

The first part of verse 23 says an unloved woman who is married. This made me think of Leah (Genesis 29 and 30). Jacob loved Rachel. He had no intention to marry Leah but was tricked by her father to marry her before Rachel. Genesis 29:30 says he loved Rachel more than Leah. Verses 31-34 talk about Leah being unloved. Here is a fantastic passage from the Jesus Storybook Bible about Leah:

          "No one loves me, " Leah said. "I'm too ugly."
          But God didn't think she was ugly. And when he saw that Leah was not loved and that no one wanted her, God chose her - to love her specially, to give her a very important job. One day, God was going to rescue the whole world - through Leah's family.
          ...
          And you'll never guess what job God gave Leah. You see, when God looked at Leah, he saw a princess. And sure enough, that's exactly what she became. One of Leah's children's children's children would be a prince - the Prince of Heaven - God's Son.
          This Prince would love God's people. They wouldn't need to be beautiful for him to love them. He would love them with all of his heart. And they would be beautiful because he loved them.
          Like Leah.

The last part of verse 23 says a maidservant who displaces her mistress. This is where I recalled Hagar, the maidservant of Sarai/Sarah, Abram/Abraham's wife. In Genesis 15, God promises offspring to Abram. He and Sarai took the situation into their own hands, rather than waiting on God's timing. Sarah, in effect, displaced herself by sending Abram to Hagar and telling him to sleep with her. Hagar's son Ishmael is the beginning of nations, as is Isaac. These nations will always war. Consider the next passages. Genesis 16:12 says (referring to Ishmael) He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers. Genesis 17:18-21 says And Abraham said to God, "If only Ishmael might live under your blessing?" Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year." It is not something I myself have studied, but I have heard that Muslims believe that Ishmael is the son Abraham almost sacrificed, not Isaac. Could they be the "descendants" or "nations" of Ishmael? Think of the middle-eastern countries constantly battling and the current problems between Christians and radical Muslims. Sounds like nations at war, just as God said it would be between the descendants of Ishmael and Isaac.

So, in an effort to bring this all together: Jesus dying on the cross and going from servant to king; Esau turning his birthright over to Jacob, Leah being the unloved wife (and ancestor of Jesus), and Hagar bearing Ishmael - all of these events in history caused the course of the world to change. God's ultimate plan has not changed and he will continue to fulfill the revelation and prophesies until the end of time as we know it. The choices of human beings have altered some of the circumstances of this life, have brought some consequences that we all have to deal with that God did not choose for us himself. Due to our free choice, humans brought them on ourselves. But they have shaken the world. The earth has trembled.