If Agur, son of Jakeh, had been Canadian

Have you ever heard of Agur, son of Jakeh?

You may not think so, but you actually have if you’ve read the book of Proverbs.  Agur is the sage who is credited with the collection of sayings in Proverbs 30.  He’s not exactly famous, but some of the proverbs he penned are.

“Four things on earth are small,
yet they are extremely wise:
²⁵ Ants are creatures of little strength,
yet they store up their food in the summer;
²⁶ hyraxes are creatures of little power,
yet they make their home in the crags;
²⁷ locusts have no king,
yet they advance together in ranks;
²⁸ a lizard can be caught with the hand,
yet it is found in kings’ palaces.”

Each creature he mentions was one he could have seen in Israel.  Ants, hyraxes (rock badgers), locusts and lizards were part of his world.

Imagine if Agur had lived in Canada.  If he had, he may have added another animal to his list of extremely wise creatures:  the beaver.

Recently, Linda and I watched a National Geographic special on the beaver.  Talk about an enjoyable hour of information and education.  More than that, it was an hour of worship as we marvelled at the wisdom of God in creating the beaver.

God designed beavers to have webbed hind feet (ideal for swimming), a paddle-like tail (for sounding the alarm), front paws like a raccoon (for nimbly gripping twigs and sticks) and killer front teeth (for chainsawing through trees).

They are wise enough to engineer dams that turn a stream into a pond, complete with side canals to float fallen trees to their lodge.  They work tirelessly (“busy as a beaver”) and eventually create a whole eco-system that provides an ideal habitat for a host of birds and animals.

Beavers didn’t make Agur son of Jaketh’s list of extremely wise creatures.  But they make mine.

(Enjoy watching the National Geographic special and worshiping the wisdom of our Creator.)