Proverbs 30:11
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There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.
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Agur taught inspired wisdom for your life through sets of four things (30:11-31). Here is the first of four kinds of men, identified by particular sins. All children dishonor their parents to varying degrees, but there are some who are exceptionally perverse and profane. They curse their father and will not bless their mother. They are cruel monsters.
The word "generation" is used here to describe a kind of man, a kind of person, a specific type of individual. It is not a prophecy about all the people born at some time in the future, when children would be rebellious, for all ages have had such sinners. It is not a direct reference to the evil men living at the time of Jesus Christ, for such a use would be unique in the book of Proverbs and without practical wisdom for life.
The four generations might be loosely connected to the four temperament types - sanguine, choleric, melancholy, and phlegmatic - for each temperament has instinctive tendencies. But the wisdom taught is more than temperamental disposition: the four lessons are specific sins and their related duties. Rather than assigning temperaments to each generation, learn the sin and corresponding wisdom of each generation.
The first generation, or kind of evil person, is cruel and rebellious to parents. He, or she, shows a vile heart toward authority, specifically the first and most tender one we meet in life. His profane rebellion forms and delivers a curse against his father - a desire or intent for his injury or death. And he will not say or do anything kind to the woman who gave birth to him. This devil is not worthy of the air it pollutes. The holy God considers the crime to deserve horrific judgment (20:20; 30:17; Ex 21:17; Lev 20:9; Deut 27:16).
There are lessons to be discovered by study (1:6). The world has always had ungrateful children. What should you learn? There are at least five lessons: God honors parents highly; wisdom identifies these wicked brats as brute beasts, deserving severe judgment; you must avoid any tendency toward this sin; you must train it out of your children; and you must see the same lesson applying to all spheres of human authority from God.
God created the man and woman, designed their desire for sexual intimacy and its reproductive results, limited both things to marriage, ordained the office of parent, divided it between fathers and mothers, gave them great authority and honor, chose the specific man and woman for your parents, and gave you to them helpless and ignorant. He did not ask your opinion before His choice, and He does not care about it now. Parental validity and authority are derived from God, and the Bible reveals these facts.
Reproduction and the office of parent did not evolve from primordial slime, as educated idiots propose today in profane hatred for God and the Bible. The concept of parental authority is by divine wisdom. Jehovah ordained the office of parent, and He gave strict laws to define it, severe punishments for infractions, and great rewards for compliance (20:20; 23:22; 30:17; Ex 20:12; 21:15,17; Lev 20:9; Deut 21:18-21; 27:16; Eph 6:1-3).
You must obey and honor your parents, regardless of age (23:22). It does not matter how they treated you, for God ordained the office and person in it (Rom 13:1-7; I Pet 2:18-21). Honor is broader than obedience, and it means treating them with special regard. Since they took care of you when you were helpless, you owe the same to them in old age (I Tim 5:4). Do you treat your parents totally different than the evil generation described?
You must also teach this rule of wisdom to your children and enforce their obedience to it, lest they destroy your peace and bring God's curse on their dysfunctional lives (13:24; 19:18; 22:6,15; 23:13-14; 29:15). God gave them to you totally ignorant and morally depraved, and it is your duty to conform their will to submit to His ordained authority. If you neglect this duty, you hate your children and yourself (3:12; 10:1; 13:24; 17:21,25).
The lesson extends beyond parents to all authority. The wicked wretch that resents and defies his parents will have problems with authority in marriage, in the workplace, in society, and in the church. God considers him no better than a rabid dog (Jude 1:8-10; II Pet 2:10-12). The Darwinists are often shocked by brutality in the world, but they are too arrogant and ignorant to admit their failure to follow God's laws for parental honor.
You live in the perilous times of the last days, when an effeminate brand of Christianity has corrupted Bible godliness, and one of its dangerous traits is disobedience to parents (II Tim 3:1-7). What is the cure? The sound preaching of God's inspired word (II Tim 3:14 - 4:4). How should it be preached? With thundering power, as John the Baptist did to reconcile parents and children in his generation (Mal 4:5-6; Luke 1:17).
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