Four things on earth are small,
but they are exceedingly wise:
the ants are a people not strong,
yet they provide their food in the summer;

the rock badgers are a people not mighty,
yet they make their homes in the cliffs;
the locusts have no king,
yet all of them march in rank;
the lizard you can take in your hands,
yet it is in kings’ palaces. (Prov. 30:24-28, ESV)

Last week we looked at the first of four creatures, the ants, and were reminded of the importance of disciplined foresight—of being a goal-oriented person who is prepared for the future. This week we will continue to pursue clarity of vision by looking at a second, the rock badger.

The hyrax or rock badger is found in the Middle East and much of Africa. It looks a little bit like a guinea pig on steroids. Full grown, they are about two-feet long and their fur is thick and fine. They are soft gray in color and have webbed feet like suction cups.

When the King James Bible was being completed in the 1600’s, the European translators didn’t know what the hyrax was, so they used the word “coney,” which is a hare, or rabbit. Although rock badgers are rodents, they are different from a rabbit in that they have short ears, short legs, and no tail.

They are extremely timid creatures.  I read an account by a hunter about how difficult it was to get close enough to shoot one. Why? Because they stay near the cliffs or rocks and immediately hide at the slightest danger. Besides humans, their primary predators are leopards, large birds, and snakes like pythons.

Their limitation is that they can’t meet the enemy head on and hope to win the battle. They are “a people not mighty” and are examples of dependency. The big lesson they teach is this:

Remember your strength comes from keeping close to God.

 Psalm 62:5-8 comes to mind:

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah. (ESV)

Friends, the rock badgers remind us that when there’s no hope of holding our ground on the open field we can find our refuge in the Rock of Ages.  Clint Eastwood got it right when he said, “A man’s got to know his limitations.”

We are weak but He is our Rock:

• “He knows how we are made; he remembers that we are dust.” (Psa. 103:14, NRSV)
• “The name of the LORD is a strong tower. The righteous man runs to it and is safe.” (Prov. 18:10, ESV)
• “A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.” (Prov. 22:3, NIV)

Remember what Jesus said in John 15:5: “Without me you can do nothing.”

Tim Keller explains how dependency relates faith and the gospel:

“Saving faith isn’t a level of psychological certainty; it is an act of the will in which we rest in Jesus.”[1] He goes on to say, “The power of the gospel comes in two movements.  It first says, ‘I am more sinful and flawed that I ever dared believe,’ but then quickly follows with, ‘I am more accepted and loved than I ever dared hope.’”[2]

Many of us come to Christ realizing our spiritual bankruptcy—“nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling”—then we forget the gospel. We try to do life in our own strength. At the installation service of the last church I pastored full-time in Willow Grove, Dr. Paul Tripp said to me: “Greg, it’s not your weaknesses we fear.  It is your delusions of strength.” Thats was a powerful reminder and it applies to you as well!

As Christians, we constantly need to repent of our unbelief and self-reliance, determining afresh to trust God and run to him daily:

“Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually.” (Psa. 105:4, NRSV)

Going back to last week’s big lesson of disciplined foresight from the ant, the rock badger is a critical counter-balance and reminder that we need to add dependency to our intentionality. One of the ways I have done this is by taping a quote under a picture I have in my office titled “The Essence of Discipline.” The framed poster is of a man running, despite snow, in the dead of winter and the saying below the picture is the familiar one I mentioned last week: “Some people dream of worthy accomplishments while others stay awake and do them.” Again, under this statement I placed a quote from the great Puritan intellectual, John Owen, and it’s the lesson of the rock badger in a nutshell:

“To suppose that whatever God requires of us we have the power of ourselves to do, is to make the cross and grace of Jesus Christ of none effect.”

Friend, read Owen’s quote again slowly. Be humbled, encouraged, and take it to heart.

Next week, we’ll build further on this great wisdom by looking at the third of our four creatures, the locusts.

 

 

[1] City Church, 36

[2] Ibid., 48.