TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Date: August 20, 2026. Lesson 164-2026. Title: Know What God Has Entrusted to You

Episode Date: August 20, 2026

In today’s Morning Manna, Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart examine Proverbs 27:20–22 and three stubborn realities of the human heart: desire that is never satisfied, praise that exposes character, and folly that punishment alone cannot remove. Solomon shows that getting more cannot cure uncontrolled desire, applause can test us more severely than criticism, and external correction can restrain behavior without transforming the heart. Ultimately, these verses point beyond human remedies to the work only God can accomplish—contentment, humility, and the inward transformation of a new heart. Lesson 164-2026 Teachers: Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart You can partner with us by visiting MannaNation.com, calling 1-888-519-4935, or by mail at PO Box 399 Vero Beach, FL 32961 MEGA FIRE reveals the ancient recurring cycles of war and economic collapse that have shaped history for 600 years. These patterns predict America is now entering its most dangerous period since World War II. Get your copy today! www.megafire.world Get high-quality emergency preparedness food today from American Reserves! www.AmericanReserves.com It’s the Final Day! The day Jesus Christ bursts into our dimension of time, space, and matter. Now available in eBook and audio formats! Order Final Day from Amazon today! www.Amazon.com/Final-Day Apple users, you can download the audio version on Apple Books! www.books.apple.com/final-day Purchase the 4-part DVD set or start streaming Sacrificing Liberty today. www.Sacrificingliberty.com

Welcome to Morning Manor. Welcome to Morning Manas. Your teachers, Rackwiles and Dr. Burkla. Get your Bible and get ready to hear as you've never heard it before. I've got some questions for you this morning. Do you own a business? Do you have investments? Do you have a portfolio?

Are you an executive or a supervisor with fiduciary responsibilities for someone else's company? Well, if you answered yes to one or more of those questions, today's Bible lesson will be especially helpful to you. And if these questions do not apply to you, the knowledge you will gain today will be beneficial in other areas of your light. Hello, I'm Rick Wiles, and this is Morning Manna. This is a weekday Bible teaching ministry, along with Dr. Raymond Burckhardt. We bring the Word of God to you in a fresh new way. We teach old doctrine in a new way. We're not teaching anything new.

We're just going back hundreds of years to see what the great preachers called congregations hundreds of years ago. And we refresh it and bring it to you. days a week. Now, our lessons are archived at manna nation.com. That's manna nation.com. They're also on YouTube, on my channel, Rick Walsh today. And the lesson number for today is 164-2026. 164-226. All right. Let's pray and invite the precious Holy Spirit to lead this class. and then Dr. Raymond Burkhart will introduce today's lesson. Let's pray.

Almighty God, our Father in heaven. Father, we are blessed to be your sons and daughters, and we are grateful for your kindness and goodness to us as your children. Father, your sons and daughters have gathered together right now on many continents around the world

because we are hungry for your words. So we invite the Holy Spirit to take charge of this class and bring forth wisdom and understanding and knowledge and revelation. I pray, Father, for your anointing upon Dr. Berhard and me to teach. And, Father, that your anointing would be upon all the people watching and listening, that their spiritual eyes and ears would be open to receive wisdom and knowledge and understanding. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Amen. Welcome to the One of Manna, everyone.

We're so glad to have you here with us once again as we continue our journey through Proverbs. We're in chapter 27, and today we'll be looking in verses 23 and 24. And these verses are familiar probably to many of you, but we're going to do a deep dive on them and see what else we can glean from the scriptures here today. Let's read. I'll start off with the King James first and then the Septuagint. Verse 23 of chapter 27, Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks and look well to thy herds,

for riches are not forever, and doth the crown endure to every generation. The Septuagint reads, Do thou thoroughly know the number of thy flock and pay attention to thy herds? For a man has not strength and power forever, neither does he transmit it from generation to generation. I'm going to start off by saying,

this is one of my favorite verses. There are a handful of verses in the book, Bible that I can point to that change the direction of my life and this passage of scripture is one of them. So Proverbs chapter 27 verses 23 and 24 opens the chapter closing movement here. What we're going to see as we finish out this chapter here is a sustained pastoral poem that runs from verse 23 all the way through 27. And that concludes not with a warning but actually with a vision of provision, abundance, and a well-fed household. So all the character development we've been looking at here up to this point,

now we're going to get a vision for the life that you should be living as a result of it. And so the shift in tone from what preceded is delivered and notable. Versus 22-22 examined that insatiable desire, that crucible of praise, and folly that no correction can remove. And those sobering examinations of the human interior revealed much. Now the chapter turns outward toward flocks and fields and ordinary work of faithful stewardship, and it will close there.

Now, verse 23 issues the command. Be diligent to know the state of your flocks and look well to your herds. Now, this is not a general encouragement toward hard work but a specific instruction toward knowledge. The shepherd must actually know the condition of what has been entrusted to him. Then as we get into verse 24, we find that it supplies the reason for this. Riches are not forever,

and the crown does not endure to every generation. Diligent attention is required precisely because wealth and position are temporary. The very impermanence of possessions is the argument for tending them carefully rather than presuming upon them. And so the logic of this pairing is worth stating clearly at the outset, because it runs counter to a common assumption. One might expect impermanence to argue for indifference. If riches do not last, why bother tending them? But notice that King Solomon argues the reverse. Precisely because wealth is not self-sustaining and position is not inherited automatically, the faithful steward must attend to what he has been given rather than assuming it's going to maintain itself.

So this is the chapter's closing wisdom on the ordinary life. Know what you have, tend it faithfully, and hold it with the recognition that stewardship, not accumulation, is the calling that God is actually assigned. I'm looking forward to hearing what Rick has to say as we start with verse 23. Rick? Doc, I share with you your fondness and appreciation for these two verses. And every time I read them,

they challenge me, they convict me because I don't think you ever master them in life. but you need to keep these verses in front of your eyes continuously remind yourself about these verses. Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks. The verse uses an emphatic double verb that intensifies the command. Know thoroughly, no certainly. make it your business to know the literal phrase in Hebrew

is know the faces of your flock now we're talking a Solomon is using the imagery of shepherd with she or a shepherd with any kind of livestock or goat or cattle whatever

Solomon was saying, remember this was written 3,000 years ago, Solomon was saying to the shepherds, not only do you need to know the number of sheep in your flock and on your farm, you actually need to recognize the faces of every single sheep. Yes. You need to be able to call them by name.

that you recognize each individual animal that's in your flock. That's the kind of knowledge Solomon is saying that you must possess about whatever God puts in your hand. Now, if you're not a farmer, it doesn't apply to you, but you may be a business owner or a business supervisor. But these principles apply in many areas of your life. So just because you don't own a business or you're not a corporate executive supervisor, It doesn't say, well, it doesn't apply to me. Yes, it does. There are principles in these proverbs that apply to every one of us.

So a good shepherd does not just merely count his sheep. Okay, I've got 352 sheep. And today, you know, tomorrow I've got 352. I got it checked off. I've got it all done. I know my flock. That's not what he's saying. A good shepherd recognizes everything.

every individual member of the flock. They know which U is lambing. They know which animal has been favoring a leg because another leg is injured. They know which animal has a tendency to wander off from the flock. They know the habits. They know the physical conditions

of every single animal. Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks. This kind of knowledge is specific. It's personal. It's particular. It's current. Because if you're just talking about livestock, one animal that's healthy yesterday could be sick today.

And you can't assume all my livestock are in good health. because it could change. And you need to know. You need to know the state of Bid Floss. Okay. So it is not the knowledge of a accounting ledger, an entry on an accounting ledger that records a certain number of animals. It is the knowledge of a man or woman who has walked among them recently today.

and walked among them enough to know their actual condition today. And look well to thy herds. And look well to thy herds. Set your heart to the herds. It's ascribing a deliberate, focused attention. Look well to your herds. It's not a casual awareness, but it is an intentional direction

of your mind and your care towards something that's in your realm of responsibility. The instruction assumes something important about the nature of entrusted things. And that is that they do not tend to themselves. Anybody that's ever had a farm, you know, livestock don't take care of themselves. Blocks require attention, or they diminish.

they could diminish through unnoticed disease. If you're not paying attention to your flock, there could be a disease that's gradually growing in your flock and one by one, your cattle or your sheep are dying. Or if you don't know your flock, predators like coyotes and wolves, mountain lions can devour your flock. You don't know your flunk, you know, you can have unmanaged breeding.

You could have untreated injuries. Doc, there was a, there's a farm near our home. And it grieved a citizen of me. This was last year. It grieved us. We would drive by that farm, and there was a, there was a sick cow that was in, in the pasture and you knew just by the way the cattle, a cow was positioned that it was not well.

And then one day we noticed the cow had died. And doctor, that cow laid there for weeks. That cow's carcass laid there for weeks. And it grieved me that this farmer doesn't even know that this cow has died. That was a farmer who did not know the condition, of his herd and didn't care. Whatever is neglected, here's a principle. Whatever is neglected declines quietly and steadily until the decline becomes visible

at a stage when it is far more costly to reverse. Now, you don't have to be a farmer or you don't have to be a business owner to a to apply that principle in your life. Whatever is neglected will decline steadily, quietly, until the decline becomes visible, but it becomes visible at the stage when it's too costly to reverse it. And the damage is done.

And you didn't catch it because you weren't paying attention. So the application extends beyond livestock, It goes to every domain of entrusted responsibility. What is domain? It's the area where we have dominion. That's where the word comes from. Dominion. You have responsibility for a domain.

God gave Adam and Eve dominion over the earth. It was their domain. And God deputized them and said, I give you dominion over the earth. That's earth I made. So a business, a successful growing business requires the owner's actual hands-on knowledge of its condition. Doc, I don't know if there's any such thing as a successful business owned by an absentee owner. I see advertisements, you know, business for sale, absentee owner desires to sell.

to sell. And I'm saying, yeah, you're selling because you've been absentee. You've been absent for so long, your business is in trouble and you want to get out of it now. What about a church congregation where the pastor doesn't know anything about his people? I've seen church. I've been in churches where the pastor actually didn't like the people. Doc, I remember that. Very vividly as a young Christian, we attended the church. and it was very obvious the pastor did not like people. Aren't you in the wrong work? I've seen it too.

Yeah, I know what you mean. Aren't you in the wrong line of work? And he would have an exit door behind the stage of the pulpit, and his car was sitting there at that exit door, and when the service was over, he bolted out that door and left. I've known him like that too, Rick. Well, how could he know the state of his congregation? He didn't even like his congregation.

Now, does this start to make sense? What about a family, father, moms and dads, you have to have a current awareness of each child's actual state. We see too much tragic news where a child, maybe commits suicide, a teenager commits suicide, or commits a horrible crime. And the parents say, well, I didn't know that my child was,

didn't know that my teenage son was, was suffering with depression. Well, how could that be? Yeah. How could your son be suffering with depression and you don't know it and it gets to the state that they killed themselves? I'll tell you what,

you were not paying attention to the state of your, fuck, your children. Maybe you saw it, but you ignored it. You didn't want to deal with it. Dr. Matthew Henry, he has something to say about everything in the Bible. Matthew Henry said that those who have estates should not think it beneath them to look into their own affairs.

And that the master's eye on his own business accomplishes what no amount of delegated oversight can substitute for. Because no one else's attention carries the same investment as that of the one to whom the trust actually belongs. And when I was studying and preparing for this lesson, I don't know why it came to mind. I thought about King Charles. And I thought, I would love to have a conversation

with King Charles and ask him, how do you apply this verse in your life? Because the king has his many domains, Doc. Yes. And the monarchy has its own business operations. You know, the monarchy family generates revenue through their own businesses. How are you a king and you manage those businesses

at the same time? You know, I'm just curious, Doc, does he ever pop into one of his businesses and check the books up to the employees? Taste the product? Right? If he's successful, then I'm going to say, yes, he does. Because if he doesn't, eventually the business is going to decline. Right. Okay.

So I think a lot of successful business people, whether they're Christians or not, whether they know this verse even exists, I think that they operate with this principle, whether they know it's in the Bible or not. They know it is wise to know the state of your flock, whatever your flock is, okay, that you know, you know the condition. I mean, Doc, how does Jamie Diamond, how does he know the state of the flock that he's been given to manage at J.P. Morgan Chase? That's a huge responsibility. But how does he know the state of his flock? I'm fascinated to know how people at that level apply these principles. Yes. Because if he's not doing it,

then you would see it. You'd see the decline, the decay in the business. So, Doc, this, the principle that we're talking about here today is linked very closely to the principle of stewardship. Yes. And so what is stewardship? Well, stewardship is that conviction that what a person possesses is not ultimately his own, but has been entrusted to end by God with the corresponding accountability for how it's tended.

So in Psalm 24, verse 1, there's a foundational principle there that will give us some guidance on this. It says, the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. So every flock, a shepherd tends, every business and owner operates,

It's every congregation of pastor-sourers ultimately belongs to God and is held in trust rather than owned absolute. So 1 Corinthians 4-2 states the corresponding statement from the New Testament. Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. That a man be found faithful. And so the steward's obligation is faithfulness with what belongs to somebody else, to another. And that faithfulness necessarily requires the knowledge that verse 23 commands, because no one can faithfully tend to what he does not actually know the condition of.

I think any of us would agree with that. So the shepherd image is present throughout Scripture. God repeatedly identifies himself as the shepherd of his people. Think about that. Do you think God knows the number of his flock? I bet he does. and he holds human shepherds accountable by that same standard, by that same comparison, Rick.

And so this really is a telling verse. And we're going to get deeper into it here as we move along. All right, so, Doc, Jesus is the good shepherd, and not only does he know the number of his flock, he knows the number of hairs on their head. you could ask Jesus any hour of the day, how many hairs are on Dr. Burkart's head, and he would tell you the number.

Is that knowing the state of your flock? Okay, if our Lord Jesus can count the hairs on our head, then why do we think that we get a pass from being responsible for those things that he has entrusted to us? Amen. If you've never read in 34th chapter of the book of Ezekiel, Oh, I'd recommend that you do it. Ezekiel, speaking for God, delivered one of the most severe indictments ever spoken against religious shepherds who do not take care of their flock.

If it applied to the Jewish priests thousands of years ago, it applies to the Christian pastors today. God forbid that you're one of them. Ezekiel said, and again, he's speaking for the Lord, the diseased, have you not strengthened? Neither have you healed that which was sick. But with force and with cruelty, have you ruled them? Doc, that's brutal. God said to the priest,

you've not strengthened the people. who are sick, who are disease. You've not healed those who are sick. You've treated them with force and cruelty. You've ruled over them. But you're the religious leader. You're the spiritual leader. So their failure was precisely the failure that verse 23 forbids,

not knowing and not attending to the actual condition of the sheep under your care. In the New Testament, John chapter 10, verse 14, Jesus said, I am the good shepherd and know my sheep. Listen to what Jesus said. I am the good shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine. The good shepherd, the shepherd's knowledge of his flock is personal. It's particular. It's intimate. The very quality that Proverbs 27 verse 23 is commanding of every human steward modeled perfectly by the one who knows the name of every one of his sheep, knows their name, knows their face, and knows how many hairs are on their head. And you know, Doc, I think about the lesson on Faith Friday we did a couple months ago, where the Lord assures us that Jesus assures us, that even, you know, even when you're persecuted, and he said, some of you may die, but not one hair will be lost.

And then I always puzzled me. Well, wait a minute. If some are being persecuted and some are killed, how could they not lose some hair? It's like, that does it, how do you keep that promise? And then I realized, that what he was saying is, though you may be persecuted, even killed for my sake, I, the good shepherd, know precisely how many hairs were on your head at the peak of your hair season.

And when I resurrect your body, I personally will see to it that every one of those hairs will be back on your resurrected, glorified body. Well, that's an incredible. encouragement for a lot of people right there, Rick. He loves us so much.

Doc, he loves us so much. So a shepherd who does not know his people's actual condition, their struggles, their growth, their wandering, cannot feed them appropriately. No matter how faithfully he may prepare his sermons, he's got to know the state of his sheep. Let's go to the Septuagint translation. Verse 23, King James says,

Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks and look well to thy herds. Septuagint, do thou thoroughly know the number of thy flock and pay attention to thine herds? So the King James has the faces of the flock, the Septuagin has the number of the flock. King James faces as personal, individual knowledge, recognizing each animal, knowing his particular condition, Septuagint using number emphasizes accurate accounting, knowing exactly how many there are,

and therefore immediately noticing when one is missing. Okay, so what did Jesus say about the sheep? When one is missing, the good shepherd does what? leaves them 99 to go looking for the one that is missing. Right. If you don't know, if you're not paying attention, you won't even know when it's missing. So I don't say it as treating these as competing.

I think that they describe a complementary dimension, faithful oversight. So, Doc, again, I got to go back with church So somebody's been going to church faithfully and they stopped going. And, you know, after four or five Sundays and not going to the church, they say, you know what? Nobody's contacted me. Right. Nobody's even noticed I'm not there.

I guess they filled my seat with somebody else, and I'm history now. See, nobody reached out. Nobody said, hey, I noticed you haven't come in church late. is there a problem? Is there something that we could talk about? Does that ever happen to you? Listen, it goes on all the time because shepherds become too busy with other things

rather than just caring for the sheep that they're supposed to be shepherd. They become business managers, real estate developers. There's a lot of pressure on, to do things that they were, I don't think, ever meant to do, and I'm not condemning, I'm not condemning because there's a lot of pressure on and take on responsibilities that pastors in the past never had this kind of,

you know, if you've never built a five, six, seven million dollar building, you have no idea how complicated it is, how much pressure is involved. and those things eat up the time and the attention of pastures. So, Doc, with the Septuagint, the King James says know the face. The Septuagin says know the number. Right. And so the way the Septuagint puts it, Rick, is a good steward must know both the count, the accurate quantitative accounting that reveals loss of media.

immediately, and the condition, the personal qualitative knowledge that reveals need before it becomes a crisis. Now, if you leave either one of those just by themselves, okay, and I've seen this in business, I've seen this in pastors with churches, where they focus one or the other, either, for instance, in a pastor, worried about the number of people, but then missed the condition. Whereas somebody else, and you would think that this would be a good thing, knowing the condition of your flock, I'm not concerned about the number and the growth.

I think there's a balance here between the two. So either alone leaves a big gap. Numbers without faces, you produce a manager who never notices suffering. I've seen that happen. While faces without numbers produce a shepherd who never

notices absence. He focuses on just certain ones. So the Septuagint and its emphasis on the number carries a little bit of an additional resonance in light of the parable that Christ gave on the lost sheep in Luke chapter 15, the shepherd who having a hundred sheep if he lose one of them. Now think about that. Have you ever thought about that before today that he said, I have a hundred sheep? He knew the count, didn't he, and leaves the 90 and nine to seek the one? He knew the count. So the parable depends entirely on the shepherd knowing the number.

The loss of one is noticed only by a shepherd who was counting. Think about that. The loss of one is noticed only by a shepherd who was counting. Now, if we put the Hebrew and the Septuagint together, they describe the full scope of this, the full duty. Know the faces so that the need is met before it becomes an emergency and know the number. So do that absence is noticed before the wanderer is beyond reach, Rick.

All right. We're going to move on to the next proverb. Verse 24, for riches are not forever, and doth the crown endure to every generation? This is the question. Does the crown endure to every generation? is saying, Solomon, this is the richest man who ever lived. And he's telling you, wealth is not forever.

Okay, so this supplies the reason behind verse 23's command to possess diligent knowledge of your flock. Now, at first glance, this may seem contradictory. Wait a minute. Solomon says, in verse 23, know the state of your flock. And then in verse 24, he goes, but it's not going to last forever. Well, which one is it? Because some people could say, well, it's not going to last forever. Why? Why put all that effort into knowing the state of your flock? Right. Okay. There's a Hebrew word here that we got to take a look at. This is the King James to Hossin. It describes stored up wealth, accumulated resources, treasury of possessions.

The problem is plainly declared. Cumulation does not possess permanence in itself. It is not self-sustaining. And it does not maintain its own value across time without attention. Yes. And does the crown endure to every generation? Solomon asks this question. He's asking a rhetorical question,

and Solomon expects the answer is no. I imagine what was like there in Jerusalem with Solomon teaching these proverbs to a classroom with students. Imagine, Doc, sitting there listening to Solomon, and he asks, he looks you in the eye, and he goes, and does the crown endure to every generation? What do you say? And he knew that the answer would be, no, sir, does not.

He was saying even the crown, and the man was wearing a crown. He was the king. He's wearing a crown. Maybe he's pointing to his crown as he speaks to the students. Does this crown endure to every generation? What happened to Solomon's crown? It didn't last, did it, Doc? No, it did not.

He's saying the crown, which is the ultimate symbol of establishment. position. You and I don't wear crowns. But the, the, it is a, it is a, a metaphor for inherited status, secured authority. And what he's saying is that this does not automatically transmit itself intact from generation to generation. Doc, I have talked to wealthy people. who have said their greatest struggle or their greatest challenge is how do they pass their wealth onto their generations and it stays in time and they they know it won't like their children will will handle it well, but their grandchildren will then inherit that wealth, and they will, they will handle it less wealth than their parents. And then the next generation, which would be

the wealthy person's great-grandchildren, that's usually where they just waste it. They know. It doesn't get past the third generation. And what does God tell us that we are to, that good man, leaves an inheritance to who, his children and his grandchildren, his children and his children. It never says, and to your great-grandchildren and your great-great-grandchildren. And I realized that one day. So, wait a minute, I'm only responsible. God says I'm only responsible to leave something to my children and grandchildren. I can't think about great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

because the crown will not endure. Your estate will not last that long. So the logic connecting the two verses inverts a natural assumption. One might reason that if riches are temporary and crowns do not endure, the sensible response is detachment. Why invests attention in what will not last?

Solomon reasons the opposite. What Solomon is saying is, because these things are not self-sustaining, they require the diligent tending that verse 23 commands know the stated by false. The flock in this reasoning is the model of all wealth. It is a living, changing thing that grows under attention

and diminishes under. neglect. Unlike a chest of buried gold coins, a flock cannot simply be stored and forgotten. It requires daily engagement and it rewards that engagement or it punishes its absence. Yes. So Solomon holds up this image precisely. And I mean, like you said, he's sitting right there. He's got a crown, right? The crown doesn't last forever, my son. So Solomon's holding up this image precisely because it teaches the true nature of all wealth, probably more honestly than static images of treasure ever could. And the proverb also delivers a quiet warning against presumption,

particularly generational presumption. What do we mean by that? It says that the crown does not endure to every generation. The family fortune, the established business, the inherited reputation, the congregation built by a previous pastor, none of these transmit themselves automatically. Each generation must tend to what it received or watch it diminish. Adam Clark observed that the proverb is named particularly at those who inherit rather than build, warning them that possession without attention, is a temporary condition, and that the estate received from a diligent father will not survive an indolent son merely because it just simply existed once in the family. And so there's

a stewardship, a diligence, and accountability that needs to be in place. And it's a heart-provoking thought here, Rick. The theological significance of verse 24 connects to Scripture's consistent teaching on the impermanence of earthly wealth and the corresponding priority of faithful stewardship over anxious accumulation. Proverbs 23, verse 5 says, will thou set thy eyes upon that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings. They fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

I remember that lesson once ago. That was a fascinating proverb to teach. Will you set your eyes upon those things which are not? Riches certainly make themselves wings. They fly away as an eagle toward heaven. God can make your riches row wings and fly away. And he's done it to more than one man or woman who got too cocky, too arrogant, too puffed up with pride, thinking that they did it, they built this great empire. They accumulated all these things, and they squandered their resources on luxurious living and didn't help anybody.

You know what? One day God said, you know, I think your estate has wings. I think your estate's going to fly away. Wow. You ever seen that happen to somebody? So in Proverbs 23, God was creating an image of Solomon, you know, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,

was picturing wealth as mobile, capable of flying away at the party without warning. 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 17 this is the apostolic instruction charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living god who gives us richly all things to enjoy that word uncertain trust in uncertain riches. That word means that these things are unstable. There's instability and trusty. And then Jesus himself. Of course, all these verses are Jesus himself because he is the word.

But in Matthew 6, verses 19, 2021, he said, lay up not for yourselves treasures upon your where mothed rusts doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Earthly holdings are not subject to decay and loss. Their very nature,

the treasure that endures must be laid up elsewhere. So, Doug, Jesus never said, don't lay out treasures. That's right. He just said, make sure you do your banking in heaven. In other words, put your riches in heaven's central bank. Don't put your riches in the world's banks. Okay.

What does that mean? That you invest in the kingdom. That your earthly wealth is actually held in escrow in heaven. And that you are, you recognize that you are a steward on earth for heaven's purposes on earth. that God's will be done in the earth as it is in heaven. And that you have resources stored in heaven's bank that you can use to do God's will here today. That's right.

Now, these passages together, Rick, they prevent a misreading of verse 23's command to diligence. So King Solomon is not commending ancient. accumulation or the pursuit of wealth as security. That's not what he's saying here. The very next clause denies wealth any permanence at all. It's transitory. It's mobile. He is commending faithful stewardship of what has been entrusted, held with an open hand and tended with genuine care, precisely because it belongs finally to God rather than to the one tending it. right so scripture forbids both careless neglect of what god has entrusted and anxious clinging to what god has declared temporary you got to balance these two so the faithful steward works diligently and holds loosely

tending carefully to the flock while remembering that both the flock and the shepherd and the shepherd belong to someone else All right, so now we're going to close today's lesson by taking a look at the Septuagint translation of verse 24. The King James says, for riches are not forever and doth the crown endure to every generation. Septuagin says, for man has not strength and power forever, neither does he transmit it from generation to generation. So the Septuagint shifts the subject of impermanence from riches, to the man himself, the man or woman. King James is talking about the wealth. The Septuagin's talking about the person who possesses the wealth.

Right. And not merely this person's wealth, but their strength and power, their human strength and energy in power. That's what is, that's what's going to eventually fail. How often do we read? hear about or know some wealthy person who eventually becomes so old and frail and feeble that they can't manage their business holdings any longer.

This is what Solomon is saying. He's saying, hey, right now you're young and you're strong. And even in your older age, you've got energy and strength and you're still going. But there's a day coming you won't be able to go. It's just the fact of life. You will slow down. It's a very significant reframing that deepens. It doesn't contradict the King James.

It deepens the King James. The King James observes that possessions are temporary. The situaget observes that the capacity to hold and manage possessions are temporary. Yes. That a man or woman's physical strength, declines, that his or her mental sharpness diminishes over time, that his or her years run out, and the flock that required that person's diligent attention will one day require someone else's work. It's just a fact of light that you will eventually run out a railroad track.

I mean, Doc, I don't care. you know, you can be even an older person in good health and energy, and I guess I'm there at that point, you have to realize that there's a date the railroad track just stops. And the engine doesn't have any, it can't go on any further.

Because the track disappeared. Okay. And this is what Sama is saying. So the Septuagin, the Greek Septuagin translation is adding urgency to verse 23's command to tend to the flock now, tend to your flock now while you have the strength and the energy to pay attention to it, while you have the energy in the middle capacity to tend to your flock, because that strength that you have now is temporary in the window of, capable stewardship is limited and it eventually closes.

Yes. I think, oh, I think this is speaking to some people today. You need, if you're, Doc, you know, I don't know what, you know, at what age, you know, but definitely when you, you know, I'm 73 now. So when, when you reach that age in the 70s, if you're not thinking about how, Things will continue after you're gone, then you are in denial. You've got to be, you've got to be planning and making the adjustments that if you want your work to continue, you have to be making the adjustments now. Because even if God gives you another 10, 15 years to work, it's still, you're declining gradually, right?

you're declining right you're i'm talking about your energy level your your physical strength you're declining and so you've got to be in that stage right now where you're transferring things to others but even that you know the crowd doesn't endure forever that's right where are the ministries that were started in the 1700s talk how many of them are here today How many ministries, and are they the same ministry if they have survived? Yes. Okay, Salvation Army started in the 1800s. What is it today?

It's a clothing store. It's a resell store. What was it in the 1800s? It was a preaching machine. When's the last time you've seen Salvation Army people out on the street declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ? No, you see them. receiving donated clothing and furniture. Right.

I'm not criticized, but I'm just saying, the crown does not endure forever. Amen. And eventually will wear out. Right. And neither does it transmit from generation to generation. So the Septuagint makes explicit with the King James crown image implies

that the personal capability cannot be bequeathed. Okay. A father may leave his son or daughter, a flock, a business, or a fortune, but he can't leave them the diligence, the wisdom, and attentiveness that built and maintained it. Other than by example, that's the only way. So each generation has to develop its own capacity. And inherited assets and capable hands do not survive. and I, we're fascinated with cycles and generations. In fact, I got a book on my shelf right here. I'm looking at it right now called Generations by Neil Howe and Dr. Strauss's first name. And I've read that book, I think, three times now. Talking about the generational cycles.

And this verse here just lays it out clearly here. Each generation forgets what the previous generation learned. And they have to learn it again. That's why there's cycle. You know, you can lay out in history these cycles because people forget things and they have to relearn it again. And then the cycle starts all over again. And so it doesn't transmit from generation to generation.

Each generation has to find its own way. You see biblical examples of this. You see historical examples of this. And, of course, Rick and I, we've talked about it extensively in the past. Something to think about. And so really, this should be a lesson to us that this should sharpen our parenting skills and our mentoring skills considerably. What is it that most needs transmitting? Is it wealth?

Is it money? Is it power? what most needs transmitting from generation to generation is not assets or wealth or power, but really the character that tends it. And once again, history shows us, Rick, that rarely happens. And those that understand it succeed, but it rarely happens. And so the father, who leaves his children a well-managed estate, let's say, but no capacity for management has less than something that's not going to last.

While the Father who transmits diligence, faithfulness, and the fear of the Lord has left them with the very thing that they can build in a state again that the first one's lost. And so that's the real asset, if you will, of, you know, here in the West, they have what is called the asset class, the asset class. the groups of people that have the inherited wealth from the Carnegie's, the Melons, you know, the Fords and, you know, everybody, and that generational wealth that exists, the asset class there. And it's a rare thing to see that third generation really have a handle on the original foundational principles that generated that wealth in the first place. So it's really a fascinating study to observe, isn't it, Rick? It is, and, Doc, as you were talking about the book Generations. Just last night, I saw online an old video of former President Dwight Eisenhower, commander of Allied forces in World War II.

And, Doc, he was at Normandy for a memorial. service. This is after he left the White House. So he left the White House in January 1961. So I don't know which year this was recorded. But President Eisenhower was at Normandy sitting there talking and he was saying, he was talking about the sacrifice, how many men died there and why they died, why it was necessary for the fight to take place. And Doc, he said, and let's hope and let's pray. That what we've learned here will be remembered and that we'll never have another war like this again. And I'm watching that last night.

I'm thinking, we didn't learn anything. The human race, we didn't learn anything because we're about to have another war. And that is an example of how things are lost over time. And people just repeat the same things over and over. So any of, I hope this has been an eye-opening. Yeah, go ahead. You got something? Well, yeah, I just want to give a quick, like two-minute personal testimony about this passage

because as I mentioned when we started, this has been one of those passages of scripture that radically changed my life. In 2007, when I was probably at the lowest point in my life, and I'm talking relationships, career, finances, everything. I mean, seriously, in really, really bad shape. And basically, I had to rebuild my life. One of these verses that I hung on was this passage, these two verses here.

And what I learned early on, and the Lord had to teach me and had to bring people in my life to help build upon it, but this verse, know the state of thy flocks. and know the number of your hurt, know the state of your flocks and the number of your herd. And the Lord applied that to my personal finances in my life. And I made a commitment based on that one verse,

just that one passage here, verses 23 and 24, every week I would sit down with my money and see where it is. All right. I didn't have any sheep or goats or anything, but I had a little bit of money coming in. I had a salary. I had a paycheck. I had a lot of bills, had a lot of obligations. I had a lot of commitments that had to be fulfilled, and it seemed overwhelming. But these verses sustained me. And I can honestly say, Rick, that since about, I think it was about April. It might be May of 2007. week, every week I sit down with my budget, every week, sit down with my budget and look at what I owe and what I have. And what the Lord has taught me over all that time is that faithfulness pays off. Okay. I'm not rich by any means, but neither am I broke. I paid off bills that seemed impossible to pay off, but paid them off. I knocked out. I knocked out. debts that at the time, you know, this was now, it's hard to believe, 20 years ago almost,

I was 43 years old. You would think somebody would have taught me this, or I would have learned it prior to being 43 years old, but there's a timing for all things. And the Lord applied this directly to my personal finances in my life. Every week, usually on Sunday evening, if I'm traveling, it'll be a Saturday evening. Every Sunday evening, I'll sit down and I'll just look at my budget. I'll look at my bank accounts and see what bills have gone out, what charges have been paid. I have a couple limited investments. I see what's happened in the past week. And every week, I would make small adjustments, small adjustments. And that same year, I read a book called the Kaizen principle. And for a lot of people that may not know it, the reason why a lot of these Japanese

motor companies, the reason why they grew so much, especially in the 60s and 70s and 80s, was using what's called the Kaizen principle. What is that? Every week, they just improved by 1%, by 1%, or every cycle they improved just by 1%. But let's just use the principle of a week. Well, if you improve by 1% every week, you don't improve by 52% after the end of the year because it accumulates. By the end of the year, you've improved by close to 180% and then you keep accumulating those changes and everything. And so between, you know, and I think that directly relates to know the state of your flocks and everything. Because every week I was looking, all right, there's that sheet there.

What's it doing? There's that sheep there. What's it doing? Do I need to do something with it? Are they getting enough food? Are they getting enough water? Do I need to shear some sheep? What do I need to do?

Do I need to find another pasture? Do I need to find better water? What do I need to do? But every week, Rick, I sit down and go through our family's budget. Rick, I have to say that it changed my life. It really, really did. It took so much pressure off my life. When you're not having to constantly worry about money and bills and everything,

it takes so much pressure off of you because then you can focus on the things God called you to do. Amen? And I want to share that one because this passage is so very, very important in my life, Rick. And I'll say this as a friend and co-worker, a former employer, and not your employer now, because I'm retired from the ministry and not on the board of directors anymore. But I will say this about that. In what's it been now, 12 years,

I have witnessed tremendous personal growth in Doc. I've watched it. I've seen it. Where you started and where you were today. Different person. The growth, maturity, wisdom. And it's obvious you're putting these principles to work in your life. No doubt in my mind that you are buying these principles.

You're someone that's, you read it and you go, wait a minute, that's what Jesus said we're supposed to do. Okay, I'm going to do it. And you're doing it. And the Lord is blessing. He's blessing your life. And that's the message we want to get across to everybody. Take Jesus at his word. Take him at his word.

He desires you to take him out his word. Believe him. If he says, I'll do this. You know he will do it. Do it. So you just need to do what he tells you to do because it's an if and then. If you do this, then I'll do this.

You do the if part. He says, if you do this, then I'll do this. So what you and I need to do is that part that says if you do this. There are things that we have to do. And when we do it, he does what he says he's going to do. You've got to take him in his word. His word is true forever.

and it applies to everyone who believes him, who comes to him by faith. He has no favorites. I'd like to joke that on his favorite boy, but I'm joking about it. He has no favorites. He's not a respecter of persons. He will bless anyone and everyone

who believes him and obeys him. And I'm saying this to encourage you that your life can change. It may not change radically tomorrow, but if you do what Doug has done, you apply the principles over time, year after year, there's a gradual improvement in your life. Doc, are you better off today that you were 12 years ago? Mentally, emotionally, spiritually, financially, yes, all those areas. And, but it required, it's stopping, every week, you know, because when you're reviewing your budget, your budget, it really is your spiritual life. I learned that early on too.

Your budget is your spiritual life. And it changed everything. And I'm thankful that because of those decisions I made there, seven years later, I was able to come and start working alongside. you and that was a whole new direction in my life. And so, but it started with a decision. It was a decision and desperation. I will say that. But every week I saw a little change, just a little change.

And I still remember those mountains of debt, Rick. There would be times where I would weep. I would like, how did I let this happen? How did this happen in my life? But you know what? The Lord encouraged me through it. And he just said every week, every week, every week. And Rick, I have an Excel spreadsheet that goes all the way back to 2007.

And I can show you the journey. And so it really is. If someone, if an archaeologist ever digs it up and wonders what it is, you know, he'll say, wow, this guy, he really puts some effort into this. But all glory goes to God because it is the Lord. It's the Lord that did the work. It was that teaching from this that started that journey. Praise God.

I hope this has been an encouragement to everybody. Again, share the 80s morning manna classes with your friends and relatives and coworkers and folks at church. Just tell them, you've got to watch this Bible lesson. It's going to change you. And you can help us grow. sharing with others what Morning Manna has meant to you and how God has used as Bible teaching ministry to bless you.

That's it for today. We'll be back tomorrow. God bless. God bless you. Thank you for watching Morning Manner. We hope your soul has been nourished today. We welcome and appreciate your prayers and financial support for our international Bible teaching ministry.

Visit manor nation.com and kind of send a gift of appreciation and encouragement for our work for Christ and his kingdom, manoration.com, where souls are nourished. Goodbye. Please return for more soul food. We love you.