“Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.” Proverbs 6: 6-11 ESV
I want to start off with saying I have come to love what is to be found in proverbs. Many joke about wishing there was an instruction manual to life, and yet I believe that is exactly what this book is intended to be. The words found here, “the words of the wise and their riddles” (Proverbs 1: 6 ESV), cover every aspect of life I have yet encountered or been able to imagine. Now I am only really beginning to really dive into these riddles of the wise, and to allow the Spirit to show me the truth within, but I am daily astounded at what I find. I also want to start off with something else that caught my eye, something that shows beyond a doubt in my mind that these words are those inspired by the Spirit of God.
Now, I love nature. God’s creation has been inspiring me my entire life, and for many years I wanted nothing more than to study it. Insects and reptiles caught my interest the most, and near the top of that list were ants. So when I read about considering her ways, and how she prepares her bread in summer, the use of the feminine descriptive term caught my eye immediately. So I looked at the Hebrew. This is the word used: də·rā·ḵe·hā. Now don’t ask me how to pronounce that, I have no idea. However I was able to research the meaning, to see if it was a word that specified the feminine use, or if that was a byproduct of our translation to English, as some texts use gender neutral terms. This word is used a few times in scriptures. It means “her ways”. And is definitely purposefully using the feminine structure. This blew my mind. This is a truth in the scriptures once again showing that this knowledge comes from a source greater than man. You see, this is accurate. Most of an ant colony, in fact, all those that we usually see, with the exception of a few of the winged ones, are indeed sterile females. However, these “drones” weren’t proven to be female until we could look at them with genetics. Which we all know is not a possibility at the time the proverbs were written. So already, even before diving into the meaning of the scriptures, God is astounding me and preparing my heart to receive the instruction of one much wiser than any man. Showing me that even though the author of these sayings is considered the wisest man ever, the wisdom comes not from himself, but from God.
I want to take going to the ant very seriously in this review of text, because we are indeed told to “Go to the ant”. God has provided His creation for our enjoyment, benefit, and even to teach us. We all know that ant colonies have queens. But these are not leaders like we find in human society. They are simply breeding females which allow the colony to sustain and grow in population. The queen is only important in the fact that there are few within the colony, as a function they are simply one cog like any other. If you remove any of the worker “caste” types in the colony, the entire colony will crumble. So here ant structure is showing that all are of equal importance to the health of the structure as a whole. And every single ant does its function without receiving any order or command to do so. They in fact act as one unit, almost like a single living entity, each a part of the larger body, unable to survive or function alone. Does this sound familiar? Let us look at 1 Corinthians 12:12-31:
“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, ‘because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members to it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way” (ESV)
The Church follows a similar structure to that of the ants. Showing again that what God teaches in the Old Testament scriptures was always meant simply to prepare the way for Christ. Simply by looking at the social structure of the ant we can see how the Church should behave. No single ant values its own life as higher than that of any other. In fact at any point any ant of any caste willingly sacrifices their own life for the good of the colony as a whole; altruism at its finest. As the body of Christ we need to be this willing to sacrifice everything. Any one of us should be willing to die a physical death for the greater good of the body, which is to say, for Christ. We are called to be a “living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1 ESV). And Christ tells us “Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” (Matthew 5:39 ESV) So, this willingness to sacrifice extends not just to protecting the other members of the body as they currently exist, but also to furthering its goals. Christ has asked us to show love even to our enemies:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:43-45 ESV)
Christ has called us to be sacrificial to the point of death even for those who do not accept Him. He himself did this very same thing, allowing those who did not believe in Him to crucify him. This level of altruism confounds most of us as it is completely contrary to human nature. Defending ourselves and our friends is part of basic human instinct, and feels like the right thing to do. And you may be saying that even the ants violently defend themselves, so it should be ok for us too yes? Quite the contrary, the ants fight with violence as part of a fallen world, and because that is the means by which the colonies goals are furthered. The goals of Christ are not furthered by violence, our body does not risk failing to reach its goals in death, in fact, Christians have nothing to lose in death. “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21 ESV). Our willingness to die so that those who are causing us to suffer may yet find life is one of the most powerful ways to spread the Love of Christ to those who have not found it.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am not telling you all to go out and find ways to die for Christ. Because “to live is Christ” comes as the first part of that sentence. I am simply using what is usually viewed as the most extreme to show that if we are willing to suffer that, then how much more should we be willing to suffer verbal abuse, estrangement, loneliness, and anger for Christ? We should not retaliate in like manner for any of these offenses. In fact I want to return to Romans 12 to further flesh out this model:
“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise ion your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ To the contrary, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:9-21 ESV)
Altruism, the way of the ant, the way of Christ. When we are willing to sacrifice our fleshly nature the Spirit will empower us to live in this manner. But we must let go of our past, trust in God. Now all of this that I have gone over so far just stems from the first two verses in the original text we were studying. Now I want to go farther, to see what else God is teaching us through the ant.
“she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.” (Proverbs 6:8-11 ESV)
This next bit has to deal with our natural desire to be lazy, and unproductive. This can both be physically and spiritually. On one hand we may be lazy in terms of work. Maybe we are not happy with our job, or perhaps your employer is rude, or ungrateful. Maybe you have a great employer, but the work you do is not exactly glorious. Maybe you just don’t feel as though you are doing much good where you are, or that you can’t. And thus you fall into the mindset of not really caring, or not giving it your all because there is no point. If you are not recognized for your efforts, or even a lack of effort, what is the point of even trying? This mindset traps us in mediocrity. Did Joseph lament being thrown into slavery? Or into prison? Did he bemoan his bad luck and just give up, and labor to the status quo? Certainly not! Joseph trusted in God, and labored his hardest for the sake of God wherever he was, and he was pulled from what seemed to be an impossible situation to one of the most powerful. He saved his entire people. (for a more complete review of Joseph’s life see Genesis ch 37-50) Now I don’t bring this up to say that God is going to rip you from mediocrity to become president and the one that solves the world’s problems, although that is always a possibility. But By serving God with our whole heart where we are, we allow him to use us in big ways right where we are. The example you set in how you live your life can change the lives of those that surround you:
“Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.” (Ephesians 6:5-8 ESV)
The word slaves in some manuscripts reads as bondservants, and can just as easily mean workers in the world systems of today. We are called to serve in any position we take up as though we are serving Christ, and with a sincere heart. This takes work, hard work, not slothfulness. The ants are not seeking to please any master, simply to serve the body as a whole. Insomuch we should work hard, not to serve our employer, but to serve the body, that is, Christ. There is a promise here too. “knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord,” This promise tells us that God will look out for us, no matter how bleak or mediocre our circumstances may seem. As further evidence I want to show more from the book of Matthew:
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if god so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ’What shall we wear?’ For the gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:25-33 ESV)
God will provide what we need to live. We just need to seek after the kingdom, forgo our laziness and work with all we have for His sake, and the furthering of the kingdom. Now there is one last part to this passage that I want to go over, and that is spiritual slothfulness.
“Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” (Romans 13: 11-14 ESV)
This passage even opens with something similar to what we find in Proverbs six. We are told to wake from our sleep. And labor to cast off our worldliness and fleshly desires. We want to seek Christ, with everything we have. I love the part telling us to make no provision for the flesh. No compromise! We can’t even indulge the flesh a little bit, because even that small foothold gives it strength. Our God is greater, and what He provides is so much better, it is just hard to understand until it is experienced. The sinful and fleshly desires of the heart cloud the truth, and make it difficult to understand the freedom gained from what seems to be the denial of pleasure. We are not truly denying pleasure at all! In fact I have found more freedom and joy in my life every time I have found more of the flesh to leave behind. Every day the joy of the Lord becomes clearer. I still have so far to go but I’ve received a taste of what is currently beyond the capacity of my mind to understand, and all I can say is I want more, and I am willing to wake from my nap and work for it. So please, look to the ant.
“Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.” Proverbs 6: 6-11 ESV
