Proverbs 30:24-28

Proverbs 30:24-28​
English Standard Version
24 Four things on earth are small,
    but they are exceedingly wise:
25 the ants are a people not strong,
    yet they provide their food in the summer;
26 the rock badgers are a people not mighty,
    yet they make their homes in the cliffs;
27 the locusts have no king,
    yet all of them march in rank;
28 the lizard you can take in your hands,
    yet it is in kings' palaces.

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The beginning of this one reads differently as the author doesn't say three.....yet four, they just start off with four.  We are going to talk in this passage about things that are small, but wise.

First is the ant.  We've already spoken a few times about the ant in the book of Proverbs to contrast it with the sloth or sluggard.  The ant stores away its food in the summer so that it has an ample supply in the winter.  Second is an animal called the rock badger.  It knows that it is small and weak, but it can climb to the top of the rocky areas and find its home in the cliffs where it is safe and secure from its enemies.  We too are wise if we find our safety and protection in the Rock that is Christ.

The third example from nature is the locust.  They swarm together as a unit with no king or queen of their colony.  No one commands them, yet they all move like an army marching together in ranks.  They are of one mind.  Last, but not least are the tiny lizards that could be found anywhere that were so small they could even make their way past all the of king's guards so that you could find them in the king's palace.  There was nothing that could be done to stop them from coming or going as they pleased.  They were everywhere.  The author finds this to be a noble trait that the wise could learn from.