The Horseleach, The Person That Sucks Your Life Dry

“The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough” (Proverbs 30:15-16).

This is a fascinating proverb. It is of depth most infinite. But what first may seem confusing or complex is actually simple. These are principles (and origins) we must know and understand. But first, there needs to be a little bit of explaining of some of the words and terminology.

A “Horseleach” is a parasite, a leech. It lives in waters and marshes. A worm like creature with mouth and teeth suited for grabbing, biting and sucking blood out of animals and people. It is so called a “Horseleach” due to its ability to latch a hold of the nose of a drinking horse.

Horseleach is transliterated from the Hebrew word, “aluwqah”. It is only used just this one time in all of the Bible. It has many meanings and inferences in many cultures. But in short the word horseleach is a reference to a person (usually female) who metaphorically is a “blood sucker”. It is someone who will use another person and take everything they have including money, possessions, dignity and humanity. The horseleach will suck its victim dry of their physical and emotional life.

Adam Clarke explains the horseleach thusly, “There are persons so excessively covetous and greedy, that they will scarcely let any live but themselves; and when they lay hold of any thing by which they may profit, they never let go their hold till they have extracted the last portion of good from it."

The horseleach has been compared to a vampire or a succubus.

“The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give”. The daughters in this metaphor are diminutive to the horseleach. Well taught and well bred, they possess the true nature of the parent. They exhort, expect and even demand to receive.

“Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied” (Proverbs 27:20).

Hell and destruction (avarice) are never full and never satisfied. Both hell and sinful man take and consume constantly. But what the earthy, sinful man does not realize, (or does not care about) is that his lust and desires acted upon are actually his path to hell and destruction. He is joyful in his sins. Metaphorically speaking his car is sin, the cliff is life and righteousness (truth). Man is singing at the top of his lungs with a smile on his face as he drives off the cliff into the pit of Hell and destruction. So joyful in his sin, earthy man is still singing at the top of his lungs all the way down to his eventual and fatal crash.

“There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough” Four in total that are never satiated.

“The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough”

The grave. More than the shallow pit we are placed in at death, the grave is “Sheol”. It is the underworld of death and absolute despair and despondency. No hope of God or salvation. All is lost. All is pain.

Job describes Sheol like this: “Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death; A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness” (Job 10:21-22).

Bound in affliction and oppression, this is Hades. It is never full. It is never satisfied. There are never enough sinners to fill the infinite abyss of this darkness and “Hell” beyond comprehension. The desire, lust and lasciviousness of man are but Hell’s invitation and calling card. The earthy man will always respond and go the route of the wide gate of Hell, gleefully riding to his own destruction.

The man of God will not do this. He chose God, and God’s will and way. The man of God does not lean on his own understanding but at all times trust’s the Father. The man of God knows that sin is easy, generally requires no effort and is often quite pleasurable. But he also knows that, “wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7: 13-14).

The grave allures man with sin. It is in a very real sense suicide when he indulges in the forbidden fruit.

The barren womb. It may be difficult to comprehend how something barren could want more. But the death and riddance of children has been the devil’s desire ever since the news that Jesus Christ was born. Herod filled with the devil wanted to know where Christ was. When he couldn’t find him Herod had all children of age of two and under to be killed.

“Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not” (Matthew 2:16-18).

The barren womb crying “not enough” is demonstrated today by the worldwide acceptance and practice of abortion. At the time of this writing there have been over 1.3 billion abortions worldwide since 1980.

“Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward” (Psalm 127:3).

That verse from psalm could not have stated it more clearly. Children are God’s continuance and reward. They are the result of man being obedient, fruitful and multiplying. God is always about life and creation and abundance. The devil does all that he can to prevent it.

God knows us and handcrafts each and every one of us in our mother’s womb. God knows our inner being our “self” even before we are born!

“For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!” (Psalm 139:13-17).

The horrors of our time; a child of any age can get birth control pills from organizations such as Planned Parenthood. Parental knowledge or consent is not required for a minor child to have an abortion.

In some states no parental knowledge or consent is required for a child to have an abortion. In other states parents must be notified if a minor wants an abortion but parental consent is not needed for the procedure. Few states require parental permission for a minor to have an abortion.

Planned Parenthood is a federally funded organization receiving $528.4 million in 2014 from the government. It performs a third of all abortions in the United States. Planned Parenthood clinics did 327,653 abortions in 2014.

Abortion is death. It is murder. It is answering the call of the barren womb. It is a device of the devil to work against God and His reward. God loves children. Abortion is eliminating the very child that is most precious to Him.

“The earth that is not filled with water”. Water is essential. It is the element made by God that is the very essence of this planet.

“And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:6-10).

The earth is more than just covered in water. It is composed of it. Literally the continents are floating on water. New research has discovered a mineral called ringwoodite which is said to hold ocean’s woth of water underground.

"The surface water we have now came from degassing of molten rock. It came from the original rock ingredients of Earth," says Brandon Schmandt, a seismologist at the University of New Mexico

This adds credence to the Biblical accounting of the great flood of Noah.

“In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened” (Genesis 7:11).

Water is essential to human existence. The human body is composed of approximately 60 percent water. Although humans can go three weeks without food, they can only go 3 days without water.

But may we not see the water has the living water and word of Jesus Christ? We like the earth will be dead and parched without it. And no matter how much of the living waters are poured upon us we can never have enough while we are on this.

“Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:13-14)

We can only drink and retain so much of the living waters of truth while we are in our earthen vessel. But when we are made whole, when we are made compete, we will become the whole body of living waters.

“The fire that saith not, It is enough” Fire consumes everything. In this respects it is identical to sin. Sin will consume everything and rages all the more as it feeds.

If fire (like sin) is not fed then it will not exist. The more it consumes the hotter the flames the more it must consume to maintain itself. Fire is just like the desiring eyes of man. Sin is never satisfied regardless how hot it burns.

The horseleach epitomizes sin. It consumes, wants and takes. It is selfish and self centered. It denies all others and serves itself and its own purpose.

Hell is a horseleach. The grave is a horseleach. And those who rebel against God, a sinner, are a horseleach. Their interest is you and what they can subtract from you be it money, possession, by ruining your life on earth or your by damning your life for eternity.

Those who love, edify, uplift all others are of God. They give, not take. They have love, joy and peace here on earth and for life ever after.

Bill Hitchcock