Declaring War Against God
or lest I become poor and I steal, and so do violence to the name of God Proverbs 30:9
Violence – This just doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense. We can easily see how stealing breaks one of God’s laws. We can see how stealing might harm the owner of what I steal. But how does stealing do violence of God’s name? Stealing is an act of appropriating something that does not belong to me. But this doesn’t seem to do any damage at all to the name of God. What’s going on here?
First, we discover that the words “do violence to the name of God” are unique in Scripture. This is the only place that this idiom appears. The verb, “do violence,” is taphas, a word that means “to lay hold of, to capture, to seize,” and is commonly used to describe action in war. Here it is combined with the preposition be, making it a vigorous, intense action. Whatever is occurring in this phrase, it is not about simple disobedience of a commandment. Much more is involved.
The context tells us the rest of the story. This verse is all about upholding God’s honor and reputation. Agur (the author) says that he does not want to be rich to the point of forgetting his dependence on God. Then he says he does not want to be so poor that he succumbs to stealing. We see that riches can lead to self-sufficient pride. But Agur tells us that poverty might lead us to steal, and, when this happens, we portray God as unable to provide for His children. We paint God as a helpless bystander, unable or unwilling to aid those in need. This is the reason God’s name is violated. Stealing in order to provide for myself closes the door on God’s ability to provide and it slanders God’s name among all those who are watching what God will do in the midst of my need. Here the emphasis is not on breaking the commandment. It is on the public reputation about Who God is, that my actions reveal.
You and I might not be so rich we forget our finite dependence on the Father. And we might not be so poor that we steal in order to live. But there are plenty of times when we smear God’s name, declaring war on His character, because we rush to fix things on our own, without waiting for the goodness of God to demonstrate His care. I don’t have to be poor in order to find this proverb convicting. All I have to do is believe I have been deprived. In fact, the Hebrew word for “become poor” in this verse is from yarash, a verb used for driving out the Canaanites when Israel took over the Promised Land. Becoming poor in this sense means that I have been dispossessed, driven from what should be mine.
Do you have a list of what you should have? Can you name a few things that have been taken from you by the circumstances of life? If you’re like most people, you think that you have to do something about getting it back – and that means taking what’s rightfully yours no matter what. Why wait for God? I deserve this!
How much violence have we done to God’s gracious provision by taking instead of waiting?
