- 2 months ago
The Common Sense Bible Study crew discuss Proverbs 18, the destructive nature of isolation, the importance of humility, the power of words, and the dynamics of relationships in and out of the family. We also explored the practical applications of these proverbs in everyday life, including work, marriage, and community interactions.
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
Send me a friend request on The Torah Network: https://jaycarper.com/ttn
Follow me on X: https://jaycarper.com/twitter
Follow me on Facebook: https://jaycarper.com/fbat
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
Send me a friend request on The Torah Network: https://jaycarper.com/ttn
Follow me on X: https://jaycarper.com/twitter
Follow me on Facebook: https://jaycarper.com/fbat
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00:00We are talking about Proverbs 18, a steward of words, wealth, and wisdom, because so many
00:00:08of the Proverbs in this chapter talk about using your resources wisely, whether that's
00:00:13material resources like wealth or land or property, or it's your words, your intellect,
00:00:21your wisdom, anything that God gives you, he expects you to use it, not just for your
00:00:26own benefit, but for the benefit of the people around you, for the kingdom, he expects you
00:00:31to use it to get more resources.
00:00:34That's really our responsibility.
00:00:36It's part of the command that God gave to Adam and Eve in the garden to multiply and
00:00:42have dominion over the earth, and that includes all of the skills and the resources that God
00:00:47gives each one of us.
00:00:49And since there's so much in this chapter about that very topic, that's why I put that
00:00:53there.
00:00:54Proverbs 18.
00:00:55Whoever isolates himself, seeks his own desire, he breaks out against all sound judgment.
00:01:00A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
00:01:05When wickedness comes, contempt comes also, and with dishonor comes disgrace.
00:01:09The words of a man's mouth are deep waters.
00:01:11The fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.
00:01:14It is not good to be partial to the wicked or to deprive the righteous of justice.
00:01:19A fool's lips walk into a fight, and his mouth invites a beating.
00:01:22A fool's mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul.
00:01:28The words of a whisper are like delicious morsels that go down into the inner parts of the body.
00:01:34Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys.
00:01:38The name of the Lord is a strong tower.
00:01:40The righteous man runs into it and is safe.
00:01:42A rich man's wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall in his imagination.
00:01:48Before destruction, a man's heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.
00:01:52If one gives an answer before he hears it, it is folly, it is his folly and shame.
00:01:58A man's spirit will endure sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear.
00:02:02An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
00:02:07A man's gift makes room for him, and brings him before the great.
00:02:11The one who states his case first seems right until the other comes and examines him.
00:02:16The lot puts an end to quarrels and decides between powerful contenders.
00:02:19A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city, and quarreling is like the bars of a castle.
00:02:27From the fruit of a man's mouth his stomach is satisfied.
00:02:30He is satisfied by the yield of his lips.
00:02:33Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
00:02:37He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the Lord.
00:02:42The poor use entreaties, but the rich answer roughly.
00:02:46A man of many companions may come to ruin,
00:02:48but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
00:02:52There are famous proverbs in every chapter.
00:02:55You know, that last one.
00:02:56There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
00:02:59That's one of the most famous proverbs there is.
00:03:02But let's start with verse one.
00:03:05Whoever isolates himself, seeks his own desire.
00:03:08He breaks out against all sound judgment.
00:03:09We aren't meant to be alone.
00:03:13We are meant to be part of a community.
00:03:15And, you know, Adam created, God created Adam.
00:03:19And one of the very first things he did was to bring all the animals to Adam.
00:03:23And in naming them, Adam was examining their character, because that's part of naming something.
00:03:30You know, think about God's name.
00:03:31His name, we say his name is Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh.
00:03:36And that's true, but that's more of a label.
00:03:39It's a label that describes his name.
00:03:41His name is really the totality of who he is.
00:03:44His character, his reputation, his power and authority.
00:03:47All of those things are his name.
00:03:49And so when Adam was naming the individual animals, he was testing them, examining them to see their character, what they were like, what they could do, their power in the world.
00:04:00And none of them met his needs.
00:04:04While he was looking for them, he was looking for somebody who could be a companion to him, who could help him in his mission.
00:04:11And of course, you know, all the animals can help mankind to some extent.
00:04:14But nobody can really be a companion to mankind, except mankind, which is why God gave him Eve.
00:04:22Eve was created from Adam in the image of Adam.
00:04:27And she was to be a helper like him.
00:04:32And that doesn't mean exactly like him, not a mirror image, but on a par with him.
00:04:37Somebody who he can relate to, he can communicate with, and they can be a team.
00:04:41And this is the way that mankind was created to be.
00:04:45Nobody was created to be a lone wolf.
00:04:48There's something I heard recently is that I had to go check.
00:04:52And I don't think that this is explicit, but the fig tree that Yeshua cursed was standing all by itself.
00:04:58It wasn't part of an orchard like a fig tree normally is.
00:05:01Just a lone fig tree.
00:05:02So it was cursed.
00:05:04It withered and died.
00:05:06Also, it wasn't bearing good fruit.
00:05:08Yeah.
00:05:09And that's a problem that for a lot of plants, if you don't have a companion plant with it, it's never going to bear fruit.
00:05:15That's not true of all.
00:05:17I mean, things like peppers and tomatoes, they're self-pollinating.
00:05:19But a lot of trees, especially, you know, nut trees and fruit trees, they need other trees nearby to cross-pollinate in order to create fruit.
00:05:28Yeah, but, you know, some trees have this symbiotic relationship with the ground, mushrooms, insects, other things together as well.
00:05:36But, yeah, this is one of the ones that definitely speaks to me and not necessarily offends me, but it kind of stirs my spirit a little bit because, like we talked before, when you're an introvert, you want to isolate yourself.
00:05:50And I find more and more with time as you get older, especially when you see the world around you just completely collapsing and giving itself over to unrighteousness and not wanting to be part of that unrighteousness for two reasons.
00:06:10One, you don't want to be a part of it.
00:06:12But two, you don't want to be tempted to be there.
00:06:15Wow. So there's this challenge of as much as I want to be by myself, I do have to surround myself around other people.
00:06:25They have good news to give, they have encouragement, they can provide assistance for you in many ways.
00:06:32It's good to have somebody there at all times.
00:06:34I'd rather be around people when I think about it, right, if I don't let my flesh take over to isolating, I'd rather be around good people.
00:06:43And I think that may be one of the problems is that it's hard to find good people around you all the time.
00:06:50And I think that's a struggle that many have.
00:06:52People may not want to admit it, but it is, man.
00:06:55It's hard.
00:06:57Yeah, you don't always get to pick who you're going to be working with or fellowshipping with.
00:07:02In fact, you almost never do.
00:07:04Yeah.
00:07:04I mean, you can usually choose your inner circle, but on a day-to-day basis, the world chooses for you.
00:07:09But yeah, I think you can do the best job you can, especially in this community that we have.
00:07:16Like I told you, the way I came across you guys, it was research.
00:07:19I had to go online and find who was around me.
00:07:23It would have been easier for me to find somebody close by instead of you guys 45 minutes away, an hour away, hour 15.
00:07:29But even by doing all that research, you can find a community and complain about it as well.
00:07:37And so this is not exactly how it is, but that's not the way it is.
00:07:41You know, our instruments, we all kind of help each other, encourage each other and lift each other up.
00:07:46And even if we have differences here and there, all those things kind of help us grow.
00:07:50So, yeah, I think I've mentioned this before, but I've been working for home for about three years now and being an introvert, I'm okay with that.
00:07:59I can sit here by myself in work.
00:08:02When I worked on campus, I worked in an office and my door wasn't closed, but people didn't just pop into my office and talk all the time.
00:08:11So I mostly worked alone there too.
00:08:13I did get to see people.
00:08:15Now, mostly I just talk to people over the computer, lots of video calls, right?
00:08:19But I still, as introverted as I am, I still miss that human connection.
00:08:25I have to get out sometimes.
00:08:26I look forward to Shabbat.
00:08:28Shabbat is the highlight of the entire week because I get to see other people who are like-minded and actually look at people face-to-face and talk to them.
00:08:36And I also try to get out of the house and work from somewhere else at least once a week.
00:08:42It doesn't always happen, but I try.
00:08:45Because just being in a room with other people walking by, even if I don't talk to them, it's something that we need.
00:08:52At least I need it.
00:08:54I do as well.
00:08:55As much as I'm an introvert, I do need to be around people.
00:08:58Yeah, I think Paula's been working from home a lot longer than I have.
00:09:01And she's not an introvert.
00:09:03And that can be pretty hard on her sometimes.
00:09:05She meets clients at her sister's studio in town.
00:09:09And she's got an ongoing Thursday morning date with some friends.
00:09:13They go have coffee.
00:09:14She gets into town to see people multiple times a week.
00:09:18And that's nowhere near enough.
00:09:21For us, yeah, it can be pretty frustrating for her to be just sitting here at the house with me all the time.
00:09:27Okay, so let's move on to verse 2.
00:09:30A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
00:09:34Let me tell you what I think about that.
00:09:37Kidding.
00:09:38Not kidding, really, because that's what I'm here for.
00:09:41The irony.
00:09:43Yeah.
00:09:43May I tell you why my son keeps popping up here?
00:09:47Sure.
00:09:48Because there's a verse in there about finding a wife.
00:09:51Mm-hmm.
00:09:51In there.
00:09:52My son and I were listening to it on YouTube today while he was playing.
00:09:56And that's the one that meant the most to him.
00:10:00He was very excited about it.
00:10:01And he wanted to know that.
00:10:03He said that's his favorite verse.
00:10:05And that might, he said, and my daddy's very lucky.
00:10:07Which I thought was a really sweet thing to say.
00:10:09Yeah.
00:10:10That's nice.
00:10:11Well, it can't hurt to plan ahead either.
00:10:14Well, we won't be working to see if we can do courting.
00:10:17Because daddy and I didn't do things that way.
00:10:20We met in the worldly, normal, American way.
00:10:25And so we're going to work on our children learning in another way how to find a spouse.
00:10:29And being more involved.
00:10:30Which will be kind of hard where we live.
00:10:31Because there's not a lot of people like us around here.
00:10:35Yeah.
00:10:35I understand that.
00:10:38Everybody has that, in the Torah movement, has that same problem.
00:10:42My son is 27.
00:10:43We struggled with that issue.
00:10:45I'm an introvert.
00:10:46His mother is an introvert.
00:10:47And he was homeschooled for, not his entire education, but for a good part of it, up through
00:10:53by like fifth grade.
00:10:55So he is more of an introvert than either one of us.
00:10:59And so it is very difficult for him to connect to people.
00:11:02So one of the things that we decided had to happen is that he had to get out of the house.
00:11:07He had to go.
00:11:08I mean, kind of like sending Jacob off to Uncle Laban.
00:11:10He doesn't have an Uncle Laban.
00:11:12And I wouldn't send him off to marry one of his cousins if he did.
00:11:16But he does have to get out and meet other people.
00:11:19Because there just isn't anybody here locally.
00:11:22We have a very small fellowship in a small town.
00:11:26And it's very difficult.
00:11:28Our community here is getting younger.
00:11:30Which is a great thing.
00:11:31We've got some families with young kids.
00:11:34Cameron's obviously not a young kid.
00:11:36But it's great that our community is getting younger.
00:11:39Because that gives opportunities for those younger people, those children, when they get older.
00:11:45But, you know, if you don't have that, you got to find alternative ways.
00:11:50And my son, when he was realizing the difficulty he was in, he asked me if I would find a wife for him.
00:11:57And, you know, it's great that you're thinking biblically.
00:12:01But, you know, we're going to have a really hard time finding someone out there to go along with that idea.
00:12:07And even if we're even going to get close to that, you still have to get out of the house and go make something that I can sell.
00:12:14If you don't have something that some other family or a woman out there is going to find attractive as a husband, there's not much I can do to help you.
00:12:26You've got to fix that problem first.
00:12:27So, somebody has to come out with a Torah dating app, man, and I'm sure it's going to have a high success rate.
00:12:37Yeah, you know, I saw somebody on the Torah network who was asking people, hey, is anybody interested in this?
00:12:44The global community even is still so small that it's difficult.
00:12:50You have to move to a big city and meet people because that's where most people live.
00:12:54Yeah, that's definitely a longer conversation for another day.
00:12:58And I've put a lot of thought into that.
00:13:01And I'll share my thoughts with you some other time.
00:13:04But, yeah, I find it because we have an 18-year-old girl, you know, that and I just it's difficult, man.
00:13:12Very difficult.
00:13:12Yeah, this is one of those areas where I do have some unpopular opinions that I usually keep to myself.
00:13:19So do I.
00:13:20All right.
00:13:21So let's just keep that to ourself and move right along.
00:13:23Yeah, yeah.
00:13:24Go ahead.
00:13:25I know you were saying that there was there's another verse that kind of goes with this one.
00:13:29I just find it while.
00:13:31Yeah.
00:13:31Verse 13.
00:13:33Verse 2 is a fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
00:13:38In verse 13, if one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.
00:13:43And that's because he's only waiting to give his opinion rather than to hear what the other person is trying to actually say.
00:13:49Instead of understanding and then responding to what was intended to be said, even not necessarily what was said, because you have to look beyond the actual words to find the meaning.
00:14:02That people are trying to convey frequently they don't express themselves well.
00:14:07You know, I frequently stutter over my words.
00:14:10I repeat myself.
00:14:11I kind of talk in circles sometimes.
00:14:12But if someone is going to refute an argument that I'm making.
00:14:18It's really helpful and they're going to get a whole lot better response from me if they actually understand my argument first and then actually respond to the argument I'm making.
00:14:30If they don't, I don't even know who they're talking to.
00:14:33They're looking foolish and I'm moving on.
00:14:38Yeah, it's almost like a precursor of the 80-20 rule.
00:14:41Listen 80% of the time and only speak 20.
00:14:44I'm really bad at that.
00:14:47I listen when I have someone that's in need of a listening ear.
00:14:50I'm there.
00:14:51But most of the time, I'm just like all day my kids do this and you got to stop and you got to be like, oh, wait, maybe I'm missing why they're behaving this way.
00:15:00And I got to like hear them out, you know, and it actually works.
00:15:05I think there's two.
00:15:06I think there's people that talk over you, but one is out of their pride and the other one is out of excitement.
00:15:14I think they just excited to help you or excited to express their opinions or, you know, maybe they haven't talked to somebody in a long time.
00:15:23So they just talk over you.
00:15:24But then there's the other nasty ones where they just really don't care about listening to you.
00:15:28And I think they're more referring to that one.
00:15:30And parents tend to do that sometimes because they already know the answer.
00:15:34And I feel that even if they already know the answer, kids just want to be listened to.
00:15:39They just want to express themselves.
00:15:41They just want to say what they got to say.
00:15:44So even with kids, you got to do the 80-20 rule.
00:15:46You just got to let them get it out of their system.
00:15:49And then you have to figure out a way to tell them, yes, your feelings are valid, but.
00:15:56And then hopefully in a biblical manner, able to explain to them why or why not.
00:16:01So, yeah.
00:16:01Yeah, what you're saying about how we frequently know what it is they're going to say before they say it.
00:16:08But there's a temptation to assume that we know what people are going to say.
00:16:13And the closer they are to us, the bigger that temptation is.
00:16:16Because we know them or we think we do.
00:16:18And I find myself doing that with Paula frequently.
00:16:21That she's trying to tell me something.
00:16:23And I'm jumping in there and trying to answer before she's done.
00:16:26And it's like, hold on.
00:16:27That's not what I'm trying to say.
00:16:29It works the other way too.
00:16:31But familiarity breeds contempt and breeds a deaf ear, apparently.
00:16:36Yeah.
00:16:36I do that with Daniel too.
00:16:38And I'm trying to get better at not doing that.
00:16:41But more than anything else, I do it just because I like to guess
00:16:44what the other person is going to say, not to really stop them.
00:16:47It's just something dumb that I like to do.
00:16:49But, yeah, it just makes things worse.
00:16:51So, the best thing to do is just pay attention.
00:16:55Listen.
00:16:55Absolutely.
00:16:57All right.
00:16:57So, going back up to the top.
00:16:59When wickedness comes, contempt comes also.
00:17:01And with dishonor comes disgrace.
00:17:04This is another one of those proverbs that I think is more valid in a generally righteous society.
00:17:10If a society honors God and is keeping his commandments, then this will be true.
00:17:17In our current society, people have contempt for righteousness.
00:17:22And they feel no shame at all about openly living in the most depraved lifestyles.
00:17:30So, honor comes with their disgrace because they just don't care.
00:17:35And the culture rewards them for their wickedness.
00:17:38And it's disheartening.
00:17:42It doesn't, you know, I was tempted to put this for my offends one.
00:17:46But the proverb doesn't offend me.
00:17:48It's the way that our culture is completely backwards that offends me.
00:17:53So, it's really just disheartening instead of offensive.
00:17:56Yeah.
00:17:56And I think it's important what you said about the culture piece of it.
00:17:59And as you read Proverbs and other parts of the scripture, and, you know, that's the part
00:18:05I tell people that when you read the scripture, you have to get it, you got to piece it all
00:18:09together in a historical, contextual, literal, linguistic manner.
00:18:15You have to mesh all three of them together.
00:18:17And all the times we don't understand what we're reading because we're so far removed from that
00:18:22time and from that culture that we just don't get it.
00:18:25And that's why it's important just to go back and read the scriptures from beginning to end
00:18:31because that gives you a little bit better context of what they're talking about in Proverbs.
00:18:36You know, when you hear something like verse 10, it says the name of the Lord is a strong
00:18:41tower, unless you understand, like you were explaining before, the whole thing about names,
00:18:46you know, because we're so far removed away from that too.
00:18:49At some point, if you look at other cultures, like definitely the American Indians, right?
00:18:55Like they had, their names meant something.
00:18:59And other cultures as well have the name always, you know, they actually mean something.
00:19:04Hebrew, you know, those names mean something.
00:19:06But when you say J or Carlos, I mean, nobody knows your name doesn't mean anything, but
00:19:12like you said, it has to be a character, right?
00:19:15Like I had to Google my name and end up finding out that it has, it's linked back to being like
00:19:20a free man, right?
00:19:22But if I just tell you my name, it doesn't mean anything.
00:19:25So we're so far removed from that, that we don't understand exactly what they're saying
00:19:31here.
00:19:32So, yeah, I think that's, it's important to keep that in mind as you read the scriptures.
00:19:37Yeah.
00:19:37And I think at least in the context of verse 10, there is power in just the label in saying
00:19:44the name of God or in the name of Yeshua or Jesus, whichever label, there is some power
00:19:49in that, but it's not like a magic spell.
00:19:52It's power because it reminds people of who he is.
00:19:56And, you know, God has made promises and he has power and he wants to act through us in
00:20:02the world.
00:20:03So when we act in his name, as long as we are really acting in his name and not just
00:20:08under the color of his name, then there is power in that.
00:20:14And I don't know if everybody's familiar with the concept of in the color of something.
00:20:17I think it's most common used in law enforcement and in military circles where if you are operating
00:20:24under the color of law, it means that you are acting as if you are enforcing the law or
00:20:31acting according to the law, when you're really just acting on your own ideas and you're using
00:20:38a badge or a uniform to bully people into believing that that's the right thing.
00:20:43So when a, and I think this really goes to the heart of what it means to use God's name
00:20:49in vain.
00:20:49If somebody is saying God said this and God didn't say that first off, they're being a
00:20:55false prophet because they're saying that God told them something that he didn't, you
00:20:59know, unless they're just basing it off of scripture and they're saying, you know, the
00:21:02Bible says God said this, but if they are wrong, they're operating under the color of God's
00:21:08name, not in the actual name of God.
00:21:11And so there is no power in that other than the power of a bully of somebody who is manipulating
00:21:18and abusing people.
00:21:20So if you are, one of the defenses against that is knowing the scripture, knowing what
00:21:25God actually said.
00:21:27And so if you really know who God is and someone is bullying you or trying to convince you that
00:21:33you're supposed to do this or do that based on what they believe the scripture says, you
00:21:39run to God's name.
00:21:40God's name is a strong tower because you really know who God is.
00:21:45If you really know what he promised and what he commanded, then you're not going to be taken
00:21:50in, or at least you're not going to be taken in as easily by those kinds of people, by false
00:21:54teachers and religious bullies.
00:21:56Yeah.
00:21:58And it does say like the second part of it says the righteous man.
00:22:01So in order to, when you know his name and you live a righteous life, then you know who
00:22:07to run to.
00:22:08You run to Abba.
00:22:09You know, you run to your father, the one who protects you.
00:22:12If you, unrighteous men battle each other all the time as well.
00:22:15It's not always like the right fighting the unrighteous.
00:22:18People think that there isn't.
00:22:20And it's like, uh, like right now in Afghanistan, like the Taliban are fighting another bad group
00:22:25right now.
00:22:26So, I mean, they're two unrighteous people fighting each other.
00:22:30It doesn't matter.
00:22:31But if you're a righteous man, you can definitely count on the father as your tower of safety
00:22:35and coverage for your life.
00:22:37But you got to know what that means.
00:22:39Not just name.
00:22:41All right.
00:22:42So we're never going to get through this chapter if we go verse by verse.
00:22:45So let's go back to the four questions.
00:22:48And what speaks to you?
00:22:50Yeah, that was the one that actually, because I always wonder, because it says he who finds
00:22:54a wife finds a good thing.
00:22:56There's no qualifiers.
00:22:58And that was the part that kind of also puzzles me, surprises me and kind of offends me because
00:23:03not to be mean, but I've seen different kinds of wives and I've
00:23:07been not the right kind of wife.
00:23:10I'm feel blessed that my husband gave me chances and I gave him chances and we work together
00:23:14to stay married as long as we have because we started in all the wrong ways and changed.
00:23:20And we, we found this, the way that we should be with thank God.
00:23:25Oh, tell you what changes everything in your marriage, but like a wife finds a good thing
00:23:32and obtains favor from the Lord.
00:23:34End of story.
00:23:35Why is it?
00:23:36Is that just because the expectation of an actual biblical wife is in that?
00:23:41Yeah.
00:23:42I think that, you know, just like I was at verse two or three talking about how, you know,
00:23:47the wicked are disgraced no matter where they go.
00:23:50This proverb is assuming a righteous society that the people are obedient to God.
00:23:57They fear God.
00:23:58And so they're trying to live according to his standards.
00:24:01And, you know, even in that circumstance, it's possible to find a bad wife or a bad husband.
00:24:09It works both ways.
00:24:10There, there are no perfect people in.
00:24:13And some people are more perfect than others.
00:24:16You know, it kind of has to be understood in the light of the whole scripture and not just the categorical statement.
00:24:21Lots of the proverbs are given as if they're worded categorically, like this is the way it is.
00:24:27Raise up your child in the way you'll go and, or the way he should go.
00:24:30And when he's old, he won't depart from it.
00:24:32Well, we all know that that's not strictly true.
00:24:35It's a principle.
00:24:35In general, you know, if you raise your kids, right, they'll do well when they're older, but it's not a law.
00:24:42You can do everything right.
00:24:44And still your child will get themselves into trouble.
00:24:49Sometimes there'll be a complete disaster.
00:24:51And that's why we're, it goes back to what we were saying.
00:24:54At least to me, that's the theme is the whole culture thing, because I'm like you, like read that one.
00:25:01And I said, okay, there's no qualifier.
00:25:02Like you just get a wife and that's it.
00:25:04But, and obviously it does, it's not like that, but everybody understands what he's saying.
00:25:10I think that's the problem with like what people misunderstand Paul, right?
00:25:14Because Paul was talking to a group of people that already knew what he was talking about.
00:25:20But if, if you, if so far removed from the old Testament, so far removed from that culture, yeah, of course, you're going to get Paul confused and not going to understand what he's saying.
00:25:31And you're going to twist his words and go the other way.
00:25:34Like, and this can happen the same way too.
00:25:36So there's this movie called the book of Eli.
00:25:38If you guys have never seen it, it's kind of violent, but yeah.
00:25:41But it's definitely a good story.
00:25:43And the bad guy, he knows the power of this book and he knows it somehow.
00:25:47And he's going to grab the book and he's going to twist the words for his own advantage for power.
00:25:53But if you understand, nobody could read at that point, right?
00:25:57Only he could read.
00:25:57So it's like nobody that could grab it and read it.
00:26:00But that's what would happen when the church started.
00:26:03Nobody could read.
00:26:04Only the higher powers can do it.
00:26:06And they will twist the words.
00:26:08But the whole culture was removed.
00:26:10A lot of the times when reading this, they can, without doing it on purpose, twist this in their own mind.
00:26:15Without actually understanding the whole thing.
00:26:17But yeah, absolutely.
00:26:18You can't just get a wife and just think that your life is going to be grand.
00:26:23You're going to get yourself in a lot of trouble if you think that you can just get a wife and your life is going to be good.
00:26:29There's principles to that.
00:26:31And that's why you have to go back to the beginning of the scriptures, read that, and understand what it is to have that.
00:26:38Yeah, I put up the IMDb page for the book of Eli for a few seconds there.
00:26:43I don't want to get in any copyright trouble, though.
00:26:45So I only left it up for a few seconds.
00:26:46It's long enough for me to see that there's good acting in there.
00:26:51Oh, yeah.
00:26:52Yeah.
00:26:53All right.
00:26:54Yeah, Denzel Washington and Mila Kunis.
00:26:56I'm pronouncing that name right.
00:26:58They're both great actors.
00:27:00I never, ever watch anything that's not super pure in front of my children.
00:27:05It's very rare when I get to watch something or my husband gets to watch something because we always keep it safe in front of the kids in my house.
00:27:13Yeah.
00:27:13It's rated R for violence.
00:27:15And there are some uncomfortable situations.
00:27:18There's probably language, too, but I don't really remember.
00:27:23But it's certainly not as bad as most rated R movies.
00:27:26Well, if you can get through that with your covering and get through it for the meaning and take the meaning out of it, you know, as an adult, we can do that if we're equipped for it.
00:27:37So that's the beauty of it is if it's something that you're comfortable with, which I am because I kind of grew up that way.
00:27:42But now I see it in a different way because I have the word that I did not have and it's like a covering and I can eat through it like a filter.
00:27:54Lisa, did you have a proverb in chapter 18 that really stood out to you?
00:27:59You know what?
00:27:59I didn't.
00:28:00I have to admit, I'm driving and I'm listening because I wanted to purchase meat, but I don't really have anything to bring to the table.
00:28:12But I do have a question because I have been reading a lot of proverbs on my own and they obviously a lot of them have to do with marriage.
00:28:22And so I guess one question, I'm not sure about this proverb in particular, what it goes into with marriage.
00:28:29But I guess the question I have is, how would the book of Proverbs address, I guess what we would call an unequal yoke or a marriage between a believer and a non-believer?
00:28:44If somebody, in this case, I'm speaking about myself, comes to faith, either comes back to faith or comes to faith in the course of a marriage, how does the book of Proverbs say anything about that?
00:29:03Not explicitly, I don't think.
00:29:05The only place that I know of where scripture talks about that circumstance explicitly is in Paul's letters.
00:29:10And Paul's advice is to essentially do the best you can with what you've got.
00:29:17You don't get divorced because you've changed the rules on the other person.
00:29:20So it's not necessarily their fault.
00:29:23You fill the role that God has given you the best that you can with the most charity, not in the financial sense, but in the grace, long-suffering sense.
00:29:33Be kind, be understanding, be patient, and treat your spouse with honor in accordance with the role that God has assigned.
00:29:43I think Paul was specifically addressing a wife who came to faith, but he didn't.
00:29:49And, you know, his advice was, you love your husband, treat him the best you can, show him God's love, and, you know, maybe that will convince him too.
00:29:59Oh, I'd love that.
00:30:01It's interesting because I'm actually just about to have my 16th wedding anniversary this weekend.
00:30:08Oh, congratulations.
00:30:09I thank you.
00:30:11And my husband has been an amazing partner and has demonstrated many qualities of servanthood, being just an amazing partner and support to me.
00:30:22And he's somebody that I respect and value tremendously.
00:30:28Obviously, I also see blimpses.
00:30:31We have been watching The Chosen, or I was re-watching it, but I was very surprised that he was open and wanting to watch it.
00:30:40So I do have hope, and I just pray for him.
00:30:43But it's really about my role and how I learn to demonstrate the faith that I have and how challenging that is when that person isn't, you're not talking about it with them.
00:30:58It's just, you're just having to, you just want to be an example.
00:31:01So, thank you for bringing that to light.
00:31:05I'll look at the Paul's writing about it.
00:31:08Okay.
00:31:08Yeah, this is the passage that I was talking about in 1 Corinthians 7.
00:31:12And he says,
00:31:42I'm just going to throw this out here.
00:32:00Don't give up.
00:32:01It took 14 years.
00:32:04Okay.
00:32:0514 years before I found the Lord.
00:32:09And then my husband just one day went, well, what's different about you?
00:32:15Why are you acting funny?
00:32:16And when I'm without a word, I'll tell you what, the patience and the pain that it takes sometimes to keep my mouth and to not freak out every time something good happens.
00:32:29Because if I do, someone will take a step back.
00:32:32Oh, Lisa, don't give up.
00:32:33Don't give up.
00:32:34It's a long road sometimes.
00:32:37But in every way, it is so worth it.
00:32:41I'm telling you, I never thought it would happen.
00:32:43And then it did.
00:32:44What's funny about my husband is he knows the Bible way better than I do because I never, even when I was growing up, I never, I didn't read the Bible.
00:32:53I just went to a youth group.
00:32:54And he has quite a lot of knowledge, so it's interesting, but he lives very much in his head.
00:33:01And I don't think it's reached his heart as an adult.
00:33:04So I, I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing, but thank you for that encouragement.
00:33:10There is another passage that I was thinking of, and I can't find it right now, but seven is definitely a start.
00:33:16Yeah.
00:33:17In context, who was Paul?
00:33:19Paul was talking to the, to the creation.
00:33:21I mean, there were Gentiles, right?
00:33:23Yeah.
00:33:23And these were people that were on the move to follow the way.
00:33:29And so it was, it's a different, you know, he was definitely encouraging them as that, right?
00:33:35As they were stepping into this new faith with the Jews, they all had an understanding.
00:33:40They had a culture already.
00:33:42That culture was stable.
00:33:44Yeah.
00:33:44They didn't believe in Yeshua, but they had already a culture that's stable in, in, in marriage.
00:33:49And to this day, they have a very strong, you know, the Hasidic Jews and Orthodox Jews have a very good understanding of like marriage and how it should be.
00:33:59And they, and they stick with each other.
00:34:01I'm not saying it's perfect, but they know their roles.
00:34:03And when it comes to that, they know what each of them are doing while we live in a different culture now where it's almost like whatever floats your boat in relationships.
00:34:13You know, you can take lead one day, one lead, you can work, I don't work or vice versa.
00:34:17And that's the important, again, is the theme that I keep hitting up, it's, it's culture.
00:34:23One thing if I could mention is that as you read Proverbs, obviously it's written by a man.
00:34:27So you, you see a lot of a man saying about a woman or a wife, like you said, you know, it's better to this than being around a quarreling wife.
00:34:37Right. But it goes both ways as well.
00:34:40You know, like if you, if you read Proverbs 31 is the mother giving advice to a king on what kind of wife he should be looking for and kind of gives him that.
00:34:50So like any boy that's looking to, you know, meet his wife, he's like, well, you want a good wife?
00:34:56He's like, yeah, we'll go read Proverbs 31 and they'll, they'll let you know what it is.
00:35:00But also a lot of people say, well, you know, it's very man centric and all this other stuff.
00:35:05But if you read the song of Solomon, you see the great love that a man should have for a woman as well.
00:35:13You know, so there's definitely all through the scripture examples of how a man should love his wife and how a woman should respect and honor her husband.
00:35:25And that goes from the very beginning with our relationship with God.
00:35:30And then, you know, as we work through Yeshua as well, you know, it's all there.
00:35:33His relationship with Israel, like he made that covenant with Israel, just like you made a covenant with your wife.
00:35:40Sadly, he divorced Israel and that happens as well as in marriages.
00:35:44So you see that relationship between him and us and our spouses as well, all through the scriptures.
00:35:50Yeah.
00:35:50Thank you, Carlos.
00:35:51And part of the interesting thing that I noted when I was learning how to do all this, he's a biblical wife, which I still suck at.
00:35:57But every day I do better and I'm tired better than I was two years ago.
00:36:01Let's just put it that way.
00:36:02But God is telling the woman how to behave to her and telling the man how to behave to him, not telling one how to tell the other what to do.
00:36:13And that's the part that some people miss is that there's a commandment for wives.
00:36:18There's a commandment for husbands.
00:36:21If you obey your commandment and if you obey your commandment, it's way, way easier to do it right.
00:36:28You know, because I'm supposed to do what he's supposed to do no matter what he does, no matter what he says.
00:36:34I'm still supposed to do the right thing.
00:36:36And he is, too.
00:36:37And so we're accountable to God for what we do in our marriage, which is something I swear people tell my wife all the time, she better do this.
00:36:48I tell my husband he's supposed to do this.
00:36:50Well, did you read in the Bible that you're supposed to do what you're supposed to do when you're told what to do and he's told what to do and it's not your responsibility to make him do it?
00:36:59That's hard for us women, man.
00:37:01And ever since Adam and Eve's situation, we've been like, anyway, I got to go, though, because I got to sit down with my family and eat dinner.
00:37:11Thank you, Sarah.
00:37:12Yes.
00:37:14What Sarah just said reminds me, the passage I was looking for wasn't actually from one of Paul's letters.
00:37:20It was from one of Peter's letters.
00:37:22And it's from 1 Peter 3.
00:37:24It says,
00:37:54Peter's advice here is essentially just what Sarah was saying.
00:38:09You do what you're supposed to do.
00:38:10Don't worry about the other person.
00:38:12Don't worry about your husband or your wife.
00:38:14You do your job.
00:38:16And, you know, if you married a quality person, they'll take care of themselves.
00:38:21I am laughing so much inside right now because I have been actually looking to that verse recently.
00:38:31I think you will remember my talking about losing my hair.
00:38:35And as it turned out, I ended up shaving my head about, well, I guess it was like February 10th, around there or so, or maybe a little bit before that.
00:38:47But the biggest proponent of my doing that or support was my husband.
00:38:52It was just so interesting because, you know, my husband has only ever known me with long, thick hair.
00:39:01And he was watching the devastation of it just falling out every day.
00:39:05And he has a shaved head because he had lost his hair even, you know, when I bet it, he was losing his hair.
00:39:13It was just a very sweet thing to have him be so supportive of and suggest it that I just go ahead and take the bull by the horns.
00:39:23And so it's interesting that you say that because I have been really, you know, it's been a big adjustment and I've been really focusing on like, how do I just find all of the inner beauty within me to bring out?
00:39:38Because that's who I am.
00:39:40That's what I have.
00:39:41It was never on the outside.
00:39:43So thank you for reading that because I want to shine with the light of Christ and it's just, it's just much more necessary now because I don't have the outward duty or whatever.
00:39:59Yeah.
00:39:59Well, it sounds like you've both done well.
00:40:02Thank you for your support.
00:40:03And I'm sorry to get us away from this proverb.
00:40:05You know what?
00:40:06I'm glad that I asked how to bring this other stuff to light.
00:40:10I mean, even Sarah's testimony is helpful, but I appreciate it.
00:40:16Yeah.
00:40:16Don't, don't worry about that.
00:40:17It's all relevant.
00:40:19It's interesting that Paul would be writing about marriage.
00:40:22Paul was never married.
00:40:24Well, he was probably married because he was a, he was a Pharisee and a rabbi.
00:40:29If they wouldn't have called him rabbi at the time, they would have called him master or teacher.
00:40:33But the Pharisees believed that you had to be married in order to have any real position of authority, especially as a teacher.
00:40:42And so it's probable that Paul was married at some time and maybe he's a widower.
00:40:47That's the most common understanding is that he was probably a widower.
00:40:51But, you know, scripture doesn't say, you know, we know that at the time he was an apostle, he was not married for whatever reason.
00:40:59Yeah.
00:41:01It does give an advice later on too.
00:41:03It says that if you want to serve the father completely, it's better for you not to get married.
00:41:08Yeah.
00:41:08He's kind of, if it was a Pharisee.
00:41:11Yeah.
00:41:11And he, I don't know what are your thoughts on that?
00:41:14Well, I think that he was speaking that into a circumstance where there was imminent persecution of believers, where the situation was dangerous.
00:41:24Nero had just come to the throne and there wasn't persecution all over the empire, but there were spots of it.
00:41:31And so it's very possible that what he was saying is you guys are facing hard times.
00:41:37If you're going to serve the Lord, honestly, then if you're not married, don't, because that's just going to complicate your life.
00:41:44And if you are married, you know, stay married because it would be wrong to divorce just because your life is getting hard.
00:41:50Well, he said, that's how I interpret it.
00:41:52And that's the most common interpretation I've seen.
00:41:55From the Catholic perspective, of course, they do say that he was talking about serving in ministry and that it's definitely better to remain single.
00:42:03The whole celibate priesthood and the nuns and that kind of thing.
00:42:06But he who finds a wife finds a good thing.
00:42:09And Adam wasn't created to be alone.
00:42:11So I don't think that that was in any way meant to be normative.
00:42:15Make sense?
00:42:17Yeah.
00:42:19Okay.
00:42:20Well, the one that I've marked out is really speaking to me was verse 24.
00:42:26A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
00:42:31And this is frequently interpreted as an oblique reference to Jesus.
00:42:37And I don't think that's wrong.
00:42:38I listened to a sermon from, I think, Charles Spurgeon earlier today.
00:42:43Of course, it wasn't him being recorded.
00:42:44It was somebody reading one of the sermons.
00:42:47And he pointed out that Solomon, being the king and having been raised in the palace, probably never really had any close friends.
00:42:55So how could he really know what it was like to have a friend who sticks closer than a brother?
00:43:01He probably didn't.
00:43:03But he was aware that there was one.
00:43:06That, you know, God's promises are so certain, so sure that he will always be your friend.
00:43:12No matter how bad you are.
00:43:14No matter how heavy God's hand gets on you because of your own wickedness and your hard heart.
00:43:20He's doing it for your own good so that you will repent.
00:43:25He is closer than a brother because he loved you and wants to be with you at your worst.
00:43:32And he, you know, Yeshua is already perfect.
00:43:36He will never get better.
00:43:38You know, there are friends when you're young, you make friends.
00:43:40And then some of you, you know, you go on to a professional life.
00:43:44Some of you go on to prison, whatever.
00:43:46And you divide based on where life takes you.
00:43:49You know, one person who succeeds beyond anybody's imagination, maybe he doesn't hang out with those old friends anymore because they're, you know, a different social circle.
00:43:58And to some extent, that's understandable.
00:44:00You have different interests.
00:44:02You know, your professional connections are all different.
00:44:04You just don't have anything in common.
00:44:05Yeshua, on the other hand, was perfect from the very start.
00:44:08And he still chose to be with us.
00:44:11He still chose to go and hang out with the sinners.
00:44:14Not hang out, you know, being buddies, but, you know, he chose to go and spend time with them to love them instead of the people who were rich in what society thought was perfect.
00:44:25And so he's never going to outgrow you.
00:44:28He's never going to become more successful and leave you behind because he's already perfectly successful.
00:44:34And there is no friend that could possibly be closer than that.
00:44:38He knows who we are and he still wants to be with us.
00:44:42That says a lot.
00:44:44And I know that I've had good friends in the real world, too.
00:44:46You know, friends who have stuck by me and friends who drifted away, too.
00:44:50And there is a lot of value in a friend in the real world.
00:44:54Somebody who will, I don't know, be with you when you're sick, defend you against false accusations.
00:45:01You can't buy that kind of friendship.
00:45:03And that is there's no value that you can put on that.
00:45:06So I think this verse speaks to both of those.
00:45:10Because you can have all kinds of friends.
00:45:12And when trouble comes, nobody's going to stick by you.
00:45:16So those aren't, those are the many companions.
00:45:20Anyways, who else, who else wants to jump in here with the other three questions?
00:45:25Anybody stumped by something?
00:45:28You know, we already talked about the, you know, the man who finds a wife finds a good thing.
00:45:31Any other proverbs here that confused you or just not really sure what it's trying to say?
00:45:37I think for me, verse 23, the poor use entreaties, but the rich answer roughly.
00:45:45And the only reason I wasn't too sure about that one, because I don't, I wasn't sure what entreaties meant.
00:45:50But I believe it's appeal or petition or something like that.
00:45:55At least that's what I have in parentheses.
00:45:56And in here.
00:45:58So it's just interesting that it's almost like the poor are more humble.
00:46:05And the rich, because they are rich, they answer the way they answer in a rough manner.
00:46:12And I think that even nowadays, you can kind of see that.
00:46:16But I think we live in such an entitled country.
00:46:20And I don't mean entitled the way people use it, that even the poor are so rich that they answer roughly.
00:46:26You know, there's not that humbleness of asking for something.
00:46:29It's almost like you owe me because I'm here where I'm at and you're where you are.
00:46:34It's your fault.
00:46:35I guess it goes back to the whole culture thing that I've been on for a long time and how we as a Western society have been so far removed from the land itself.
00:46:46Like, we don't know what it is to grow a tomato.
00:46:48You know, we don't know what it is to have chickens in the backyard.
00:46:52And all those things, when you remove the mother from the household or you remove the father from the family nucleus, you separate yourself from God little by little.
00:47:05And that's why I think they had come from a country that was founded in righteousness and the scriptures to now where we are now because we have separated ourselves from it, just like Russia did at one point.
00:47:19And now we've done it in a different manner to where we have so much and we're complaining about inflation.
00:47:26And we still have so much that everybody's just harshly answering now.
00:47:31You know, there's more gentleness in the way we speak.
00:47:34So it's interesting how Proverbs, even that one verse can be expanded into your daily lives and to everything that we're going through.
00:47:42It's just what an incredible book that it can just open up to so many things.
00:47:47Who knew we were going to end up in conversations about, you know, marriage and husbands and wives and things like that to the extent that we did.
00:47:54But, you know, that's one of the things that I appreciate about meeting together because we can, we, it's structure enough, but we let enough for the set up our spirit to kind of guide us to where we need to go as well.
00:48:10Yeah.
00:48:10I think that, you know, if somebody has the freedom to speak rudely to other people, especially when they're trying to get something to demand, then that person is not oppressed under any meaningful metric.
00:48:24So we talk about, you know, underprivileged and oppressed classes, at least a lot of people talk about that, but I don't know if anybody in, at least in America, who will face any serious consequences by just being rude to people.
00:48:40I mean, you might lose friends, you might lose a business deal or something.
00:48:44This word entreaty, it, it literally means to pray, but it, yeah, it is talking about being humble and not demanding something, but, you know, begging for something.
00:48:55And the rich person can get away with answering roughly or rudely because he's got power.
00:49:02He's got leverage over the other person.
00:49:04And if you, if you're in a position where you have no power to demand anything, then you can't buy something.
00:49:13Well, you have to beg for it.
00:49:14You have to ask politely and be, be humble, flatter the other person, maybe just be kind, be a salesperson.
00:49:21You know, say great salespeople are experts at humble speech in, not in the sense that they're making themselves look lower than they are, but in making the other person feel good.
00:49:37If I can really help you, I can do great things for you.
00:49:41I'm a terrible salesman.
00:49:42So I'm probably presenting that poorly, but so many people in America just don't care what anybody else thinks about them.
00:49:49They don't care how they come across, they demand and they insult and they will justify it by claiming to be oppressed.
00:49:58But if you don't face consequences for that behavior, you're not oppressed.
00:50:04And so the proof of their liberty, their unoppression is in the very manner that they express objection to being oppressed.
00:50:13Because if you were really oppressed, you wouldn't speak that way.
00:50:17You wouldn't get away with it anyways.
00:50:20I knew it had to get political at some point.
00:50:23That was my fault.
00:50:23I kind of threw it out there a little bit.
00:50:26It's in the Proverbs.
00:50:29We're here to talk about it.
00:50:30So there's a lot of political stuff in the Proverbs.
00:50:34Yeah.
00:50:35I think there was one verse in here, I think, that kind of reminded me, not political, but it's almost a part of this.
00:50:42I don't know where the verb made you can help me find it, Jay, where it says, the first one that speaks, sounds like he's the right one until the other one speaks.
00:50:51Yeah.
00:50:52Verse 17.
00:50:5417.
00:50:54Yeah, I would say his case first.
00:50:56So case, the first thing I put them up to is, oh, these guys are going to small claims court.
00:51:03Yeah.
00:51:03Or something like that.
00:51:04It was this law.
00:51:05There was this structure already put in place in there.
00:51:07And, you know, the Proverbs are really wise.
00:51:10They tell you, look, try not to go to court.
00:51:13Like, deal with that with your neighbor.
00:51:14Because if not, he'll expose your stuff as well later on in court.
00:51:19Like, there's a benefit to that.
00:51:21And that's what I'm saying.
00:51:22Now, everybody goes to court.
00:51:24Everybody's getting sued.
00:51:25Everyone's going to hold on all these things.
00:51:27And there's no, back then, probably culture-wise, it was shameful if you ended up in court at some point.
00:51:34You know, now, you go to court, it's not a big deal.
00:51:36You know, everything is upside down.
00:51:39You know, whatever seemed abnormal.
00:51:42Like, all these laws, I am very, I feel very confident that all these laws are in place, were there.
00:51:49Of course, for the protection and God knows everything.
00:51:51But it was very, like, probably didn't happen often that you see all these punishments.
00:51:59Like, the culture at one point, at its highest peak of righteousness, you know, there was none of that going on.
00:52:06It was as, like, the law didn't fail the people.
00:52:10It was the people that failed.
00:52:11You know, and of course, they went through on righteousness and things like that.
00:52:14But there were all these measures that God put in place to make sure that we lived in a society that was as good as you can get it.
00:52:23And we, you know, as a country, we applied a lot of those things.
00:52:29You know, that's why when you file bankruptcy, right?
00:52:32Then you go, it's like seven years, right?
00:52:34That's all, like, biblical as well.
00:52:36You know, it's like, all right, seven years.
00:52:38That's kind of like your thing.
00:52:39And then after that, you're forgiven.
00:52:40And so we gather, I think probably the forefathers and everybody, like, understood those concepts of it and applied it.
00:52:49But now it's just all that stuff is just deteriorating.
00:52:52Yeah, I had a personal experience.
00:52:54There was a legal situation that I knew was going to happen.
00:52:58Everybody involved knew that it was going to go to court.
00:53:00And I was advised probably by half a dozen different people to be the first to file.
00:53:09You file your complaint first because the court's going to read your complaint first.
00:53:14And that's really going to make an impact.
00:53:16And at the time, I'm thinking, you know, they're going to read the other one.
00:53:20An honest judge is going to sit them side by side and, you know, weigh the merits of both sides.
00:53:25How much could it really matter?
00:53:26They all said it matters.
00:53:28And it's just exactly what this proverb is saying.
00:53:32But it does go way beyond legal circumstances.
00:53:36If you think of the way that our entire culture works, people believe what they see on TV because they saw it on TV.
00:53:45You know, if somebody has the money and the authority to put some fact on the television, then it must be true.
00:53:54And then if somebody later contradicts it, you say, no, no, I know better.
00:53:57I saw it on the news that this other thing is true.
00:54:01Well, just because you heard it first doesn't mean that it is true.
00:54:03It just means that you're believing it because you heard it first.
00:54:07And it's the same principle.
00:54:09Yep.
00:54:09And I think this proverb is given not just as an observation of reality, but a warning.
00:54:15It's a warning to judges first.
00:54:18Remember that you're going to give more weight to the first thing you hear.
00:54:21Calculate that into your judgment.
00:54:23And it's a warning to people, too.
00:54:27If you hear something bad about somebody, don't give it any credibility until you've heard both sides.
00:54:33And whatever other news you might hear.
00:54:35I also found interesting, like 18, where it says the lot puts an end to quarrels.
00:54:41It's like at some point, you know, it's like, look, man, just throw the dice.
00:54:44You know, let's just end this stuff.
00:54:47Instead of going like seven years ago on a court or whatever, you know, it's like, look, man, just flip a coin.
00:54:52Get out the way.
00:54:53And that's it.
00:54:54Whatever lands, it lands.
00:54:55And it was nice that people could at least do that back then.
00:54:59You know, like, you know what?
00:55:00It's here or there.
00:55:02Let's just flip a coin, man.
00:55:03And whatever it falls, you know, we call it swear.
00:55:06Well, now, can you imagine somebody said that now?
00:55:09So let's just flip a coin, man.
00:55:10And, you know, whatever happens, happens.
00:55:12Oh, my goodness.
00:55:13No way.
00:55:13We do it in sports, but not when it really counts.
00:55:16Yeah, exactly.
00:55:17People would like, no, I got to draw blood, you know, in order to let this go, which is insane.
00:55:22I think this is like the fourth time where he said, cast lots.
00:55:27You know, you can argue all day, but, you know, the lot comes from God.
00:55:31Like, well, why don't we just go to the lot first?
00:55:33Because that's not the way that God made it.
00:55:35You're supposed to use your brains and your words to work problems out.
00:55:39And when you can't work it out, if nobody can agree, even after everything is said and done,
00:55:45let's draw straws, flip a coin, roll dice, something.
00:55:48Somebody's got to break the tie.
00:55:50Yeah, I was thinking, I learned from Bill Cloud today, and he mentioned something that I thought
00:55:57about too often before is where the Torah is there and is given to us, but you can definitely
00:56:03say there's black and white, but if you look at it hard enough, there may be some gray areas.
00:56:09You can put away your wife, but it doesn't say specifically if she's not up to your standards
00:56:13or something like that.
00:56:14It doesn't give specifics.
00:56:15Or what Bill mentioned was the Sabbath, for example.
00:56:18There's definitely do's and don'ts.
00:56:21Don't buy, don't sell, don't work.
00:56:22Don't make anybody else work.
00:56:24But that's it, right?
00:56:26You've got all these little details that say you shouldn't sleep in.
00:56:30I know it's the Sabbath, but you still got to wake up at the crack of dawn and cook breakfast.
00:56:34There's not any of those things.
00:56:36You know, it's up to you.
00:56:36What constitutes work.
00:56:38Yeah, exactly.
00:56:40And work those work through those things with the father.
00:56:43Like it's almost, yes, I give you, you know, the Torah, the word of God, but I also want
00:56:48this dependency on me.
00:56:50Right.
00:56:50Which I think that's where, you know, Israel in the past failed, where they just put, you
00:56:56know, walls against God's law, where they said, don't add.
00:56:59We weren't meant to add to the word of God.
00:57:01That's for us to decide as his people, you know, to say, okay, let me pray about those
00:57:06things, you know, and go from there.
00:57:08I remember when one of the Torah speakers from back in the days that I used to listen
00:57:11to, he's like, the way I see working is if I'm not getting a paycheck, it's not working.
00:57:17Right.
00:57:17He said that.
00:57:18And this is when I was coming to learn or, right.
00:57:20I thought about that.
00:57:21I was like, yeah, well, that kind of makes sense.
00:57:23But I, I was very diligent about testing everything that I was hearing.
00:57:28And I remember one weekend as I started practicing the Sabbath, I was like, you know, I'm gonna
00:57:33cut the grass this Saturday.
00:57:35I mean, I don't have to, you know, nobody's paying me.
00:57:38And let me tell you, man, I was so miserable cutting grass that day.
00:57:43So miserable.
00:57:44It just, yes, I had a push mower, but that's not the point doing old school push mowers.
00:57:49But I just felt an unease in my heart where, you know what?
00:57:55I can't even cut grass on the Sabbath.
00:57:56But that does not mean that I judge another man for cutting his grass on the Sabbath.
00:58:02It's just, for me, I just wouldn't cut grass.
00:58:04You know, I just rather grass completely, physically, mentally, and spiritually, and not have to worry
00:58:11about those things.
00:58:12Some people are okay, we're doing a five mile run.
00:58:14Well, I'll pull my bag a few days ago, man.
00:58:16So there's no way I'm running.
00:58:17But, you know, like things like it.
00:58:19So it's the scriptures, you got to draw from it.
00:58:21And I think it talks about, he does, Solomon does use the word, like drawing wisdom from
00:58:28that.
00:58:29And that's part of it.
00:58:30You can't do that by reading it.
00:58:31Like you have to meditate, discern, and pray, and be in that relationship with him in order
00:58:37to really fully, completely understand everything that the word of God is saying to us.
00:58:43Yeah, there are gray areas that I think, in general, I think when people say, well, that's
00:58:49not what it means to me.
00:58:50This is what it means to me.
00:58:52Generally, I think that's nonsense.
00:58:54But there are some gray areas where that has to be the guideline.
00:58:58Like you're saying for you, mowing your lawn, even though it's not a commercial practice,
00:59:03and it's not really strenuous labor, you know, not for the most part.
00:59:07Is it breaking the Sabbath by labor?
00:59:10Well, I don't know.
00:59:11That's up to you.
00:59:11My landlord, you know, he's got a riding mower, of course, because he's got a ton of
00:59:15lawn to mow.
00:59:17He mows our lawn, never asks us to do it.
00:59:19And for him, even though he doesn't even keep a Sabbath, seventh or first day or anything,
00:59:24it's a meditative practice for him.
00:59:26He gets on the mower and he just takes off and he'll just mow the fence lines, mow the
00:59:31pasture, whatever, just because it's a break from doing other things.
00:59:35He can put his earmuffs on to block out the world and just go.
00:59:39I wouldn't fault him for that.
00:59:41Okay.
00:59:42Verse 20 is the one that I wrote down for what puzzles you.
00:59:47From the fruit of a man's mouth, his stomach is satisfied.
00:59:50He is satisfied by the yield of his lips.
00:59:53I don't know really what Solomon is trying to say by that.
00:59:56Well, I'm assuming the fruit.
01:00:00There's yeah, I can see it go either way.
01:00:03Go ahead, Lisa.
01:00:03I was just going to ask before it said.
01:00:07Our brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city and quarreling is like the bars
01:00:12of a castle.
01:00:12So the reason I asked was it's, it sounded to me at first, like somebody speaking and
01:00:22being satisfied with what their fruits were as a, as something about pride.
01:00:28Is that, um, or am I off base?
01:00:33It's just, that's what it struck me as is this, this a prideful satisfaction.
01:00:38Like that's what, cause there's so much about humility and pride.
01:00:42And, you know, I wonder if that's like a reference to something, prideful.
01:00:48Yeah, I think you're right on with that.
01:00:51Read these, let me read these three verses together, 19, 20, and 21.
01:00:56A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city and quarreling is like the bars
01:01:01of a castle from the fruit of a man's mouth.
01:01:04His stomach is satisfied.
01:01:05He is satisfied by the yield of his lips.
01:01:08Death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat its fruits.
01:01:12This is about his relationship with his neighbors, I think.
01:01:16And in the culture in which the Proverbs were written, this is an agrarian society.
01:01:22Most people didn't trade with people across the country.
01:01:25You didn't grow a commercial crop and sell it to a wholesaler who then carted it a thousand
01:01:30miles away and sold it in a hundred different markets.
01:01:34You harvested your crops and you took it into your local town or you took it to your neighbor
01:01:39and you traded it for something he had, or you sold it there.
01:01:43You know, if you were very wealthy, you might hire some people to distribute it for you,
01:01:47or you might sell it to a wholesaler.
01:01:49But that was pretty unusual.
01:01:51If you are prideful, if you are speaking rudely to your next door neighbor, you could end up
01:01:57starving because by the fruit of your mouth, your stomach will literally be satisfied.
01:02:04If you have a good relationship with your neighbor and you are speaking well of him and to him,
01:02:09you're going to get a better trade deal.
01:02:11You're going to get a better price for your crops and you're going to get higher quality
01:02:15goods from your neighbors because they're going to want to trade with you.
01:02:19They're going to like you.
01:02:20You know, we all talk about the friends and family discount.
01:02:22If you've got a business and you're doing business with the public and with friends and
01:02:27family, you try to give your friends and family the best deal you can.
01:02:32You give them the best of what you've got and you give them the best price
01:02:34because you've got a relationship with them.
01:02:37If your mouth is breaking your relationships, you're going to get less out of what you've
01:02:43got and you're not, your stomach isn't going to be as satisfied.
01:02:46So thank you, Lisa.
01:02:49No, you fleshed that out, but that's just what my intuition said.
01:02:54It had to do with pride.
01:02:55Those three verses in context make it make sense.
01:03:00It's like you had to read all three of them to get the whole thing.
01:03:07You're going to like, hug your friends.
01:03:16And I'm like, you know, I'm Jess.
01:03:23I saw that you were in the group and you saw that you'd like a lot of fun and I was
01:03:27around a big fan on you.
01:03:31And I'm just thinking, don't forget to, do to raise my mind, and that's all here.
Be the first to comment