Sin--The Bloodsucking Leech--Defeated!

Proverbs 30:15-16--"The leech has two daughters--Give and Give! There are three things that are never satisfied, Four never say, “Enough!”: The grave, The barren womb, The earth that is not satisfied with water--And the fire never says, “Enough!”"

I have been meditating on these two verses for some time now. Each time I read them I see and understand something new. It's as if I have read them for the the first time each time. It has been difficult to understand them but I will try to express to you as clearly as I know how, what I have learned from meditating on them.

The book of Proverbs talks alot about what we desire and what satisfies us. In this proverb written by Agur, I believe he is painting a hopeless picture of the reality of sin. Agur gives us three examples of things that are never satisfied and one that never says enough.

The three things in this passage that are never satisfied are: The grave, The barren womb, and The earth that is not satisfied with water. The example given in this passage that never says enough is: Fire.

All four of these examples are directly related to sin and have been the exact result of sin.

1. The grave. The grave would not exist if it were not for sin. Genesis 3:3--"but of thr fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die." Job 25:19--"As the drought and heat consume the snow waters, so the grave consumes those who have sinned." Proverbs 27:20--"Hell and Destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied."

2. The barren womb. The barren womb was a direct result of Abraham's sin. His sin caused King Abimelech's wife and maid servants to become barren. Genesis 20:[17-18]--"So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children' for the Lord had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife."

3. The earth that is never satisfied with water. God consistantly waters the earth and satisfies it's thirst for water so--Psalm 104:13a--"He waters the hills from His upper chambers."--I believe Agur is describing a land that has experienced drought that is dry and not satisfied with water. In the Old testament there are examples of drought being a covenant curse directly relating drought to sin. God brought drought upon the Babylonians as an expression of His wrath against their sin. Jeremiah 50:[12b-13a]--"Behold the least of the nations shall be a wilderness, A dry land and a desert. Because of the wrath of the Lord She shall not be inhabited, But wholly desolate."

4. The fire. The fire never says enough! The fire is never quenched. The fire in this verse is refering to hell. Hell is the ultimate punishment for sin. Isaiah 66:24--"And they shall go forth and look Upon the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, And their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh."

I believe Agur is using the leech in this verse as a metaphor for sin. I only came to understand how the leech related to sin after doing a little research on the leech. I felt I needed to do some research because I wasn't sure how the leech related to The grave, The barren womb, The earth that is not satisfied with water and fire.

The Leech--is a bloodsucking parasite. It lives in water and attaches itself to any living creature that passes by and feeds on it's blood. The leech has a sucking disk at each end of it's body. It has three toothplates in it's mouth which are used to pierce its hosts' skin. Once they sink their teeth into the skin they can begin to feed on the blood of the host. The leech can eat for long periods of time because of the substance hirudin that is produced in it's salavia. Hirudin prevents the host's blood from clotting. A leech can survive for several months just on one feeding. Leeches are greedy creatures. Their whole purpose is to take more and more so that they can reproduce more and more of their own kind. Their purpose is to take and command others to give.

Agur saysin verse 15 that,"The leech has two daughters--Give and Give!". I believe the daughters spoken of here is not used literally but figuratively. I believe he is refering to a single leech not a mother leech and her two daughters. I think he is refering to the two body parts--the sucking disks at each end of the body--of the leech not literally the two daughters of the leech. The sucking disks are two body parts of the leech that cry give! give!

What all four of these examples and the leech teach us is that sin is an endless cycle. Sin takes all it can from us and gives us absolutely nothing in return. Sin demands more and more of us until it totally consumes our life. If it were not for Christ sin would have consumed our whole life and being. We do not have to allow sin to consume us because we have hope in Christ. With Christ's perfect sacrifice of blood on the cross, there is satisfaction.

There is nothing in this world that will truely bring anyone satisfaction apart from Christ. In fact, most people try to find there satisfaction in a bigger house, a better car, more money etc....and become consumed with greed, when the satisfaction that they seek can only be found in Christ. Through Christ our dissatisfaction has turned to satisfaction. We as Christians need to be finding our contentment and satisfaction in Christ alone. Sin is a parasite just like the leech. Without Christ sin will suck you dry until it kills you. Sin will suck your spiritual blood dry if you allow it to control you.

We will struggle daily with sin in our life but if we willing submit to our lives to God's word and obey it we will have freedom to over come it through Christ. We must put to death our sinful nature. We can do this by getting self out of the way and putting God first in our life. We as Christians must put off the the old sinful nature and put on our new nature. We have been given the power to put off the old sinful nature through the Holy Spirit because we are dead to sin. We have been given the ability to put on our new nature because in Christ we have been made alive from the dead and have become instruments of God's righteousness. Sin no longer has power or domination over us because we are in Christ, Paul tells us this in Romans chapter six. Our desire needs to be more of Christ and less of us. Our attitude should be more and more of God and less and less of ourselves only then will we be truely satisfied.

"God is the most satisfied in us when we are the most satisfied in Him."--John Piper

Are we feeding the sin in our life? or are we feeding on the bread of life, Jesus Christ? Where are we finding our satisfaction?

Sin and all the results of sin are like the greedy leech that will always demand more. Sin will always demand more and more and wants us to give and give! We need to abide in Christ and seek to starve sin by submitting our lives to Christ by persuing holiness. We are no longer enslaved to sin but rather have become slaves to God. Sin no longer has claim over us, we are free!!!!! Romans 6:22--"But now having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life."

I thank and praise God for making satisfaction for my sin through Jesus Christ. I am thankful that the benefit of being a slave to God is my sanctification, and the outcome of my sanctification is to live forever in His presence perfect just as christ is perfect.

Serving Our Lord Together,
Michelle Harrison