Proverbs 30:22 Commentary and Bible Study

The servant reigns but it is utterly inappropriate. This is not a matter of resisting social mobility or of preserving the class system, but of someone completely unsuitable being given the position. The servant does not know how to conduct himself in this situation. He does not understand the affairs of state and what needs to be done. He has not been trained for such a great responsibility. He does not know how to conduct himself, how to relate to his civil servants, how to defend the nation, manage the economy, administer justice, setup education programs, care for the health of the people. In the situation described, the servant’s mind is still concerned about what occupied him as a servant. He does not have the dignity of a king or the breadth of mind. He is unworthy of such a high calling. This is a picture of what the world does. It elevates those who are unworthy and ill equipped to be recognised as great. Morally and spiritually, they are pigmies, but the world sees a material, short term advantage in having such people rule, and for the sake of some unspiritual gift – shrewdness, ruthlessness, cunning, stubbornness – it elevates them to the highest position because of what they will achieve of a purely material nature. It does not choose men who are righteous, honest, god-fearing, faithful, kind, except where such qualities happen to coincide. It is the true church of God which chooses such qualities and not the world.‘For a fool when he is filled with meat.’ Here is someone who has profited through no merit of his own. Circumstances have caused riches to fall into his hands, and in fact he deserves something very different. This, however, does not stop him congratulating himself on his achievements. He cannot see what any outsider can see: that he is utterly unworthy and undeserving of such things. What is so unbearable about the situation is that he tells himself how well he has done, and, in his mind, nothing can contradict the evidence which his happenstance profits seem to confirm to him. If there are any who do not immediately accept the message of his newfound wealth, then he regards them as unpleasant naysayers, or jealous malcontents, or even as potential threats. Here is a description of someone who has found their feet in this world and concludes that all is well not only with body but with soul. If there is a God, then their riches are a confirmation of his favour, for they are sure that God has no other way of showing his approval. Everything is measured by external success. Yet the fool remains a fool and their sudden gains have not changed anything. They will naturally be interpreted within the explanatory powers of the fool. The idea that God may allow a temporal gain in this world only to take all away from a man, and that his final state is a much better indication of God’s true verdict towards him than his first state, is something that never enters his mind.