iii. 13); and speaks of it as being where the Man Christ Jesus was
not, viz., in Heaven. But the fourth verse of this chapter mentions both Father and Son; and therefore in this, which is so near it, it is not necessary to distinguish. _The Strong Man_ speaks to the _God_ which was _with_ (Him), and calls Him _Ucal,_ which means _I-am-able._ There was a powerful Divinity in Christ, and that He was wondering about. His mother repeats the wonder in the after case (chap. xxxi. 2). The whole is a grand _Prophecy_ of Christ in the form of a grand inquiry. _Agur_ makes it of _Ithiel._ That is, the _Man, I-fear,_ goes searching into the _God-with-me._ There is an _I-fear_ part and an _I-am-able_ part, of His one Grand Person; and these parts speak even in the New Testament with the humility (John v. 19) and with the splendour (John viii. 58) that belong to each. _Forasmuch as;_ the simple particle _because. I am more brutish, i.e._ more the mere untaught animal. _As to Myself, i.e._ as to my human self; for it is the _Strong Man_ that speaks. The emphasis is laid by the mere expression of the pronoun. _Than a man of the better sort;_ than an educated, refined man, which Christ was not. _And have not the intelligence of a common man._ That is, he had not the education usually given to the more lowly. The _commonness_ of the humanity is expressed again by the noun. _And have not been taught wisdom._ Here the emphasis is on _taught. And yet know the knowledge of holy things._ The meaning of the whole is, that he has singular light. He confronted the doctors in the temple, and, as a little child, was a miracle. Whence came this? This is what the prophecy represents as a surprise. _Who has gone up to Heaven and come down?_ Somebody has. _The Strong Man_ addresses this appeal to the _God-with-me;_ and ends it significantly;--Who is it? _Because Thou knowest._ One word back in the third verse:--_know the knowledge._ We have not altered this, nor said _have the knowledge,_ which would be better English, because this seems the intentional form. The words that Christ gave to His disciples, God gave to Him; and Christ, in saying so, would include all senses; the outer word; the inner word; the outward blessed revelation, and the inner teaching. _He knew the knowledge; i.e.,_ He discerned in perfect ways what the Spirit without measure was there to impart. _Going up to heaven, gathering the wind, binding the waters, and setting firm the extremities of the earth,_ were the work of a Divinity. Some Divinity had been at work upon Him. He applies to the _Able One,_ to the _God with Him,_ to explain a low man's wonderful knowledge, and then adds, as significant of the reply, _Because Thou knowest._"
The extract is given here, not because we agree with Miller's view of the passage, but as affording a specimen of the mode of interpretation which he adopts throughout the book.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-9.
THE SOURCE OF TRUE HUMILITY.
+I. In proportion as men know God they confess they know Him not.+ A child looks above his head at the midnight sky and he concludes that the stars that he sees are only so many shining points which have no use beyond that of beautifying the heavens and giving a little light to our world. He does not think that there is any more to know about the stars, but this conclusion of his is based upon complete ignorance. How different is the attitude of the astronomer in relation to the stars. He has good reason to believe that each one is a sun like unto that which makes the centre of our own system of planets, and this enlarged knowledge enables him to form some idea of how much he has to learn about them, and so draws from him such a confession of ignorance as a child would never utter. He realises that what he knows is nothing in comparison with what there is to know, and it is his increased knowledge which makes him feel thus. So men who never reflect upon the nature or character of God have no conception of the height and depth of the knowledge of the Infinite, and hence have no conception of their ignorance concerning Him. It is only the man who has in some degree apprehended the greatness of his Maker that has any idea of how far he is from comprehending Him, and his consciousness of ignorance increases with his growth in the knowledge of God. Agur, who here declares that he has no "knowledge of the Holy," and is "without understanding" on the highest and deepest subjects, was evidently a man who had endeavoured by searching to find out God, and his confession is the result of his knowledge and not of his ignorance. But what he knew only served to show him how much remained unknown.
+II. Therefore humility is the great sign of high attainments in Divine knowledge, and those who know most will be the most able and willing to be taught more.+ Humility is the effect of the most thorough acquaintance with any subject, and of the most profound meditation upon it. When men utter their opinions in the spirit of self-conceit, and are lifted up by their acquirements, we must ascribe it to their ignorance and not to their knowledge. Those who have learned most are the most teachable scholars and the first to welcome instruction from whatever source it may come. If we were to tell a savage of the wonderful capabilities of electricity he would most likely look upon us with contempt, and refuse to believe our statements; but if we were to speak to an experienced electrician about some new theory or discovery in relation to it he would not turn from us in disdain simply because he was unacquainted with it, but would gladly welcome any new light upon the subject. This is pre-eminently the case in the knowledge of all that relates to the Divine Being. When He becomes the object and subject of study and contemplation--when a creature who had no existence a few years ago seeks to know Him who is God _from everlasting to everlasting_ he finds himself embarked upon an ocean without a shore, and is compelled to exclaim: _"Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, it is high, I cannot attain unto it"_ (Psa. cxxxix. 6). His humble reverence will always be in proportion to the progress that he has made. He who knew as much about God and His dealings as any man who ever lived, gave, as the result of his researches, that _"His ways are past finding out,"_ and was led by it to ascribe to Him _"glory for ever"_ (Rom. xi. 33-36); and all who have trodden the same path, either before or after him, have arrived at the same conclusion, and have acquired the same spirit of humility. And this is the spirit which makes a man willing and therefore able to receive a higher and deeper revelation. Because he knows that he has not "already attained"--that there is no comparison between what he knows and what there is to know--his mind is ever open to receive new instruction, and he welcomes any means by which he can advance a step nearer to that _"light which no man can approach unto,"_ and catch a fresh glimpse of Him _"whom no man hath seen or can see"_ (1 Tim. vi. 16).
+III. The unsearchableness of God is no hindrance to practical godliness.+ If Agur could not know all that he desired about God, he knew enough to trust Him, and enough to make him desire to serve Him. He could from experience testify that God had spoken to men, and that His word was to be depended on, and that there was a reward to those who kept it. If God is unknowable in some aspects of His nature, godly men in all ages have found him a shield in danger, and a rock of certainty, upon which it is safe to rest. Although Agur could not ascend into heaven and read the secrets of the other world, he felt that he could strive to walk with God in this world, and the effect of a real conviction of the greatness and majesty of God is not to drive men from Him but to draw them near in holy living as well as in humble adoration.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Verse 2. This was true humility, that like true balm ever sinks to the bottom, when hypocritical, as oil, swims on the top. . . . He that looks intently on the sun hath his eyes dazzled; so he that beholds the infinite excellencies of God, considers the distance, cannot but be sensible of his own naughtiness, nothingness. It is fit the foundation should be laid deep, where the building is so high! Agur's humility was not more low than his aims lofty: "Who hath ascended up to heaven?" It is a high pitch that he flies, for he knew well that godliness, as it begins in a right knowledge of ourselves, so it ends in a right knowledge of God.--_Trapp._
Verse 4. The discourse is philosophically accurate, as well as religiously devout. It is through the mutual relations of air, earth, and water, that the Supreme Ruler gives or withholds the food of man (verse 8). These three, each in its own place and proportion, are alike necessary to the growth of grain, and consequently to the sustenance of life. . . . The earth is the basis of the whole operation. . . . Alike in its creation and its arrangement, its material and its form, the final cause of the earth has obviously been the growth of vegetation and the support of life. But the earth could not bear fruit at any portion of its surface without the concurrence of water; and how shall the supply of this necessary element be obtained? "Who hath bound the waters in a garment?" Again the clouds and showers, the springs and streams, with one voice answer, "God." So wide is the dry land, and so low lies the water in its ocean storehouse, that we could not even conceive how the two could be made to meet, unless we had seen the cosmical hydraulics in actual operation from day to day and from year to year. Here lies the earth, rising into mountains and stretching away in valleys, but absolutely incapable, by itself, of producing food for any living thing. There lies the sea, held by its own gravity helpless in its place, heaving and beating on the walls of its prison-house, but unable to rise and go to the help of a barren land. . . . In this strait--when the land could not come to the water and the water could not come to the land--a Mediator was found, perfectly qualified for the task. "Who hath gathered the wind in His fists?" The air goes between the two, and brings them together for beneficent ends. The atmosphere softly leans on the bosom of the deep, and silently sucks itself full. The portion so charged then moves away with its precious burden, and pours it out partly on the plains but chiefly on the vertebral mountain ranges. Thus the continents are watered from their centres to the sea.--_Arnot._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 5 _and_ 6.
THE WORD OF GOD.
+I. God has given man a knowledge of His Character and Will.+ Although, as we have just seen from the preceding verses, God is so great and incomprehensible in His nature, there is a knowledge of Him which is possible to man and which he possesses. This seems reasonable before experience. If a man built a vessel which he intended to send his son to navigate across an unknown sea, we should conclude beforehand that he would put a compass in the vessel. And we should likewise conclude before experience that a just God would not build a world, and call into existence a creature like man to dwell in it, without furnishing him with a compass by which to guide his life--a revelation and a law by obedience to which he can be blest and saved. And what might have been expected has come to pass. God has spoken, and has thus met human expectation and human need. Agur recognised this fact in the days of old, and we, to whom in these last days God has spoken by His Son (Heb. i. 1), have a clearer revelation. In answer to Agur's question, _"Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended,"_ we can bring the words of Christ, _"No man hath ascended up to heaven but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven"_ (John iii. 13), and in the record of His life and death obtain the fullest and clearest revelation of God that it is possible for Him to give and for us to receive.
+II. The Word of God is what of necessity it must be.+ The sun is in its nature light, and therefore rays of light must proceed from it. That which flows from it must of necessity be of the same nature as the sun whence it comes, and the fountain of natural light being pure the streams which flow from it must be pure also. When human words are a reflection of the human soul, and _"out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh"_ (Matt. xii. 34), the spoken word must be of the same nature and character as the inward feelings. The purity of the outward word will be in proportion to the purity of the inner life. God is moral light--_"In Him is no darkness at all"_ (1 John