Agur, the Prophets, and the God Who Reveals Himself in Time
One of the most fascinating passages in Scripture comes from the otherwise mysterious Agur in Proverbs 30.
He asks:
“Who has gone up to heaven and come down again—
who has cupped the wind in the hollow of the hand?
Who has bound up the waters in a cloak—
who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is that person’s name, or the name of his son?”
As Christians, we read this and immediately think:
"The Father and the Son."
We know the answer.
His name is God.
His Son is Jesus Christ.
But Agur did not stand where we stand.
He was looking into a mystery that had not yet fully unfolded.
And that realization has changed the way I read Scripture.
God Reveals Himself in Time
One temptation for modern Christians is to read the Old Testament as though everyone already knew everything.
But they didn't.
Abraham did not have the Gospel of John.
Moses did not have Pentecost.
David did not have the Nicene Creed.
Agur did not know the name Jesus.
They possessed real revelation, but not complete revelation.
The Lord was teaching His people step by step.
First, He taught them there is one God.
Then He taught them His holiness.
Then His covenant.
Then His mercy.
Then His promises.
Then His kingdom.
Then His Messiah.
Only when Christ arrived did the full picture begin to emerge.
What had been hidden became visible.
What had been hinted at became flesh.
What had been promised stood before them.
The Prophets Saw Peaks in the Distance
This is why I love St. Peter's description of the prophets.
Speaking of the Old Testament saints, he writes:
“Concerning this salvation, prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and investigated it, investigating the time and circumstances that the Spirit of Christ within them indicated when it testified in advance to the sufferings destined for Christ and the glories to follow them. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you with regard to the things that have now been announced to you by those who preached the good news to you [through] the holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels longed to look.”
Think about that.
The prophets were studying their own prophecies.
They knew God was showing them something.
They knew it was important.
They knew it pointed toward salvation.
But they were still asking:
"What exactly am I seeing?"
Imagine Isaiah realizing that parts of what he was writing would be understood more clearly by Christians thousands of years later than by himself.
The prophets saw mountain peaks.
The Apostles walked among them.
Even the Angels Were Watching
Then Peter adds something astonishing.
“12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you with regard to the things that have now been announced to you by those who preached the good news to you [through] the holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels longed to look.”
That line stops me every time.
Angels longed to look.
The angels were present at creation.
They witnessed the covenant with Abraham.
They saw Moses, David, Elijah, and the prophets.
Yet Peter says they longed to look into these mysteries.
Why?
Because salvation history was not merely revealing something about man.
It was revealing the heart of God.
The angels knew God was wise.
They knew He was powerful.
They knew He was holy.
But who could have imagined that the eternal Word would become an infant?
That God would take flesh?
That the Creator would suffer for His creatures?
That the Son would die and rise again?
The angels were not ignorant of God.
But they stood in awe of what God was doing.
Agur's Question and Our Answer
This is why Proverbs 30 strikes me differently now.
Agur asks:
"What is his name, and what is his son's name?"
He is standing in the dawn.
He sees outlines.
He senses mysteries.
He knows there is more.
But he does not yet know what we know.
The Christian reads that passage after Bethlehem.
After Calvary.
After the Resurrection.
After Pentecost.
We already know the answer.
The answer is Jesus Christ.
Not because we were wiser than Agur.
Not because we searched harder than the prophets.
Not because we were more deserving than the saints of old.
But because God chose to reveal Himself in time.
They Shall All Be Taught by God
Recently, one verse from John's Gospel has stayed with me:
"They shall all be taught by God." (John 6:45)
Agur was being taught by God.
David was being taught by God.
Isaiah was being taught by God.
The Apostles were being taught by God.
And so are we.
That may be one of the most humbling truths in the Christian life.
We do not discover God.
God reveals Himself.
We do not climb to heaven.
He descends to us.
We do not illuminate ourselves.
We are taught.
Sometimes slowly.
Sometimes painfully.
Sometimes through questions that remain unanswered for years.
But always by grace.
The mystery is not that Agur did not know everything.
The mystery is that God eventually answered his question.
And by His mercy, we are among those privileged to hear the answer.
His name is Jesus Christ.
And every generation before Him was waiting for His coming, whether they fully understood it or not.