Proverbs 30:11

The prophet Agur taught inspired wisdom for your life by sets of four things (Pr 30:11-31). He began with four kinds of people, identified by particular sins. Children foolishly dishonor parents to varying degrees, but some are exceptionally perverse and profane. They curse their father, and they will not bless their mother. They are cruel monsters.

Generation here means a kind of person, for it lacks demonstrative pronouns or other modifiers for a period of time. It is not a prophecy of the future, when children would be rebellious, for all ages have such sinners. It is not a prophecy of bad men in Jesus Christ’s time, for such a use would be unique in Proverbs and without practical wisdom for life.

The four generations are more than four temperament types – melancholy, phlegmatic, sanguine, and choleric – though each has sinful tendencies. The lesson here is beyond disposition: it is four kinds of people with specific sins. Rather than assign temperaments to each generation, learn the sin and the corrective wisdom for each kind of person.

The first generation, or kind of evil person, is cruel and rebellious to parents. He, or she, shows a vile heart toward authority, specifically the first and most tender one you have in life. Your parents hold an office God requires you to honor and respect. If you cannot learn this first, simple lesson of authority, your life will certainly be hard and painful.

This kind of person’s profane rebellion causes him to curse his father – a desire or intent for his injury or death. Neither will he say or do anything kind to the woman who gave birth to him. This devil is not worthy of the air it pollutes. The holy God considers such crimes to deserve severe punishment (Pr 20:20; 30:17; Ex 21:17; Lev 20:9; Deut 27:16).

Children today honor and obey parents less than ever. This proverb’s wisdom is essential for the world to take warning, but the vast majority will never take the time to even know it exists. Your future prosperity and success before God and men depend on careful obedience and honor to parents. Will you learn wisdom and condemn this generation?

Proverbs often have obscure lessons to discover (Pr 1:6). There are five lessons here to learn: God honors parents highly; wisdom condemns these brats to severe judgment; you must avoid any tendency toward this sin; you must train it out of your children; and you must apply the same lesson to all spheres of human authority ordained by God.

God created the man and the woman, designed their desire for sexual intimacy and its reproductive potential, limited both things to marriage, ordained the office of parent, divided it between fathers and mothers, gave them great authority and honor, chose the specific man and woman for your parents, and gave you to them helpless and ignorant.

They had life and death power over you for years, and your life today is almost entirely a result of their genetic combination, their example and training, and their provision for your needs and education. God’s sovereignty over your life is seen by the consequences of His choice of parents for you. He knows He made the perfect choice for you. Do you?

God did not ask your opinion before He chose your parents, and He does not care about it now. Parental authority is from God, and the Bible clearly reveals this basic fact. Since God ordained this intimate and personal office of parent over you, and since it involves obedience and honor you need to give for the rest of your life, it is a serious matter.

Reproduction and parents did not evolve from primordial slime or monkeys swinging in trees, as educated idiots propose today in hatred of God and the Bible. Parental authority is by perfect divine wisdom. Jehovah ordained the office of parent, and He gave strict laws to define it, severe punishments for infractions, and great rewards for compliance (Pr 20:20; 23:22; 30:17; Ex 20:12; 21:15,17; Lev 20:9; Deut 21:18-21; 27:16; Eph 6:1-3).

You must obey and honor your parents, regardless of age (Pr 23:22). It matters little how they treated you, for God ordained the office and person in it (Rom 13:1-7; I Pet 2:18-21). Honor is broader than obedience, and it means treating them with reverent care. Since they took care of you when you were helpless, you owe the same to them in old age (I Tim 5:4). Do you treat your parents totally different than the evil generation described?

You must also teach this wisdom to your children and enforce their obedience, lest they destroy your peace and bring God’s curse on their dysfunctional lives (Pr 13:24; 19:18; 22:6,15; 23:13-14; 29:15). God gave them to you totally ignorant and morally depraved, and it is your duty to conform their will to submit to His ordained authority. If you neglect this duty, you hate your children and yourself (Pr 3:12; 10:1; 13:24; 17:21,25).

Wisdom has rewards (Pr 3:13-18; 4:5-9). Obeying the Bible has rewards (Ps 19:11; Jas 1:25). God never forgets your good works (Ps 112:1-3; Heb 6:10). He promised a reward for honoring parents, and it is the first command He did this for (Eph 6:1-3). Disobeying parents is lose-lose, for you will lose His blessing and will also be painfully destroyed.

What is the promised reward for reading this proverb and honoring your parents better? God promised to bless you with a long life and things will work out well for you (Eph 6:1-3). If you want great health, spouse, job, children, protection, etc., then honor your parents contrary to this wicked generation. What a simple rule for your certain blessing!

The lesson extends beyond parents to all authority. The wicked wretch that resents and defies his parents will have problems with authority in marriage, in the workplace, in society, and in the church. God considers him no better than a rabid dog (Jude 1:8-10; II Pet 2:10-12). The Darwinists are often shocked by brutality in the world, but they are too arrogant and ignorant to admit their failure to follow God’s laws for parental honor.

You live in the perilous times of the last days, when an effeminate brand of Christianity has corrupted Bible godliness, and one of its dangerous traits is disobedience to parents (II Tim 3:1-7). What is the cure? The sound preaching of God’s inspired word (II Tim 3:14 – 4:4). How should it be preached? With thundering power, as John the Baptist did to reconcile parents and children in his generation (Mal 4:5-6; Luke 1:17).

Jesus of Nazareth, though Creator in His divine nature, the beloved Son of God, and the Prince of the kings of the earth, chose to submit to His poor and obscure earthly parents, Joseph and Mary (Luke 2:51). Even when dying on the cruel Roman cross at Calvary, He assigned John to take care of his mother for the rest of her life (John 19:26-27). Let this holy example convict and guide you in blessing both of your parents in word and deed.