TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Morning Manna - Dec 3, 2025 - Proverbs 17:14-16 - Stop Before the Break: Wisdom Prevents Disaster

Episode Date: December 3, 2025

Proverbs 17:14–16 warns how quickly foolishness escalates into destruction. The beginning of strife is like opening a floodgate—once the waters break loose, the damage becomes uncontrollable. Only a fool justifies wickedness or condemns the righteous, and the one who lacks wisdom wastes every opportunity placed in his hands. In today’s Morning Manna, Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart examine the danger of unchecked conflict, the moral clarity God requires, and the tragedy of a fool holding resources he cannot use. This passage calls listeners to restraint, discernment, and a heart trained in true wisdom. Teachers: Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart You can partner with us by visiting FaithandValues.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

Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Morning Manna. We are just happy to have you here today as we finish out 2025. It's been an amazing year. Just, Doc, it's just, I don't know by you, but this Morning Manna class has changed me this year. This has been a spiritual transformation year. And it's hard to believe that we're in the final weeks of the 12th month of the year. We're going to be taking a break on December 19. We'll be back on January 3rd. And when we come back, there will be a brand new platform. Faith and Values is going to fade away. And Mana Nation is going to take its place. That's our new home. manna nation because it's it's where the people gather the citizens of the kingdom who are in this

manna nation they come together to receive manna every morning in the morning manna Bible study so we're building an entire platform around this concept of manna and it will be up in running in on January 1st actually a little bit earlier than that And your account with faith and values will just roll over into the new Manna Nation platform. There will not be any monthly subscriptions. From time to time, there will be some content that will have a video on demand fee or audio on demand fee or something like that because we will have some third-party content producers that we need to compensate for them producing. content for us. But overall, everything will be free and open to the public. We will have, there will be audio books. There will be a Manna Nation radio station. In fact, God willing,

throughout 2026, we will be adding numerous Manna Nation radio stations, different types of formats. I'm really excited about it. We're racing to get things ready to open. It's not going to be completed by the time we get it open in late December. That's just the way it is. But I'm doing my best to be relaxed about it, Doc, and just say, it's not going to be perfect. There's going to be some dust on the floor. There are going to be some ladders in the rooms. There's still going to be painting. The workers are still going to be putting up drywall. That's the way it is. We're going to get in and we're going to move in. in late December, early January.

And then on February 3rd, we, Morning Manna will expand to television. We're not going to go off the Internet. We're just going to expand to old legacy media, television. And we'll be on direct TV in North America and Sky TV in Great Britain and Western Europe and Ireland and DSTV over most of Africa. Africa that you change us. Blessings from the Lord. We'll keep you posted. We'll keep you informed.

Just be flexible. Give us some grace as we make these changes. It'll take a few days or weeks to get used to the new system. But you'll like it. You're going to like it. Well, today we are going to keep moving into our study of Proverbs chapter 17. And we're looking at verses 14 through 16. Yes. All right. Only three verses 14, 15, 16. I would pray, invite the Holy Spirit to guide this class and to speak through Doc and me and bless you with grace to receive the word. Father, our Father in heaven. Oh, we love your Father. Father, thank you for sending your word. in human flesh, Jesus Christ, who is the door, the way, the truth and the life who made a way for us to be reconciled to you. Father, we praise you and glorify you and exalt you. You brought

us through another year and we're going into a new year and we are expecting more light from your word to illuminate our path. Father, we invite the Holy Spirit. We invite the Holy spirit to take charge of this morning manna class and to illuminate our hearts and minds with knowledge of your word and understanding and revelation in the name of jesus amen amen and what a privilege to be here with you with hundreds of people from all over the world uh everywhere from russia and switzerland and ireland places in africa across southeast asia south america and across the u.s and Canada, we welcome you to this morning's Bible study that we call morning manna. We're continuing our journey in Proverbs. We're in Proverbs chapter 17. We're going to be

focusing on just three verses today, verses 14 through 16. So if you've got your Bibles, read along with me today. I'm reading from the King James this morning. The beginning of strife is as when one leteth out water. Therefore leave off contention before it be meddled with. He that justify it the wicked and he that condemneth the just, even though they both are an abomination to the Lord. And then verse 60, wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it. God bless the reading of his word today. Okay, this one's going to be interesting. This is probably going to hit home for a lot of folks, beginning with verse 14. The King James translation says, the beginning of strife is as when one leteth out water. Therefore, leave

off contention before it be meddled with. Yes. The World English Bible translation puts it this way. The beginning of strife is like breaching a dam. Therefore, stop contention before quarreling breaks out. The Aramaic Peshida translation says, the beginning of strife is like the letting out of water, therefore leave off contention before he becomes heated. And the English translation of the Greek Septuagint puts it this way. The origin of strife is like the letting out of water, therefore before reviling begins, leave of contention

oh doc this one's going to this one's going to step on a lot of toes yeah we'll hit a nerve or two today on all of us on all of us you know the beginning of strife the beginning of strife is as when one let it out water

okay what does this mean the tiniest spark the littlest spark of contention is compared to the first crack in a dam that's what this means think of a dam holding back water there are no cracks in it but when the first crack appears

that's the moment trouble begins because the crack has to be stopped right away. Right. Okay. The first crack seemed harmless. And yet that crack dock is filled with destruction. Right. And a structural engineer who sees a crack in a dam doesn't brush it off and go,

no big deal. A structural engineer says, we've got problems. If we don't fix that crack now, this entire dam can come down. So when a dam comes down, entire villages can be wiped out. We see it in the news every year. Some place in the world, a dam breaks and villages and towns flooded. Many people die, livestock, killed. why because the crack appeared and nobody did anything about it so the the parable this this

proverb it's not a parable it's a proverb the proverb is teaching us that strife arguments begin with a single word yes that's the crack that's the crack in the dam it can be a single word it can be a look, a glare, a mean stare at somebody. It can be a rolling of the eyes, like, oh, brother. It is something that that's the first crack in the harmony between two people or more. There's the crack. And if it's not dealt with immediately, the crack will get bigger and the dam will come down and the water will come out and flood.

That's the message in this proverb. So it's teaching us that lifelong feuds, family feuds, arguments between business partners, political feud, whatever it is, broken marriages, okay, divided churches, separated friends, All of them started with one small crack in the relationship. You're thinking right now about broken relationships that you have. Can you think back when did the first breach appear? Just one word.

Yeah. When was that first breach between two friends? when was the first breach between a husband and wife? When was the first breach between business partners? When was the first breach among the brethren at a church congregation? Somebody said something. Somebody gave a mean, dirty look. Somebody insulted other people.

And that was the breach. So once the breach widened, expands no human power can contain it when you see a crack in a dam and it goes from a few inches to a foot two feet three feet there's trouble how are you going to fix it it's getting worse by the day it's enlarging that's the message of this proverb the time to act and to fix it

is at the first appearance of a breach I think this is convicting on all of us we all have broken relationships we all have relationships that just went sour where did it start

What was the first word, the first look, the first action? They brought a crack in the relationship. Where was the first offense? Have you ever had somebody that just walks away from you, turns against you? You try to find out what's wrong, and they won't tell you. But Doc, somewhere in their heart there was a first offense. Right. And they built upon it.

And in their heart, they increase the size of the crack in the dam in their heart. They made it bigger. They magnified it. Right. And you may not have even known that they were offended. It may be weeks, months, even years later that you find out that they were offended a long time ago. And it had been carrying that offense for a long time. but the damage was done.

So once the breach widens, it's almost impossible to fix it. Why? Because water finds its own level. Water is going to, it is going to flow. So people think, if I justify just one more word,

if I respond to you, What you just said demands a response. Every time, every response, every rebuttal is another hammer blow on the dam. Yes. You're making the crack bigger. Yes, but what you just said is wrong. And I'm going to, I have to respond. I can't let you just walk away getting that last word in.

I'm going to have the last word. Then that person says, no, I'm going to have the last word. Yes. Every last word is a hammer blow against the dam. The crack is getting bigger. Neither side has enough sense to just shut up. Just walk away. Zip your lips.

Find space. Make some space between you and that person. Don't make the crack bigger. We're all guilty of it. We've all paid this price. and yet the word, the proverb is telling us here's the answer first of all the answer

is don't make the breach to start with okay, right? But if you do, fix it right away. Fix it right away. So you know the devil's involved in us, okay? Because his strategy is to get

the first drop of water flow through the dam. All he needs is a drop of water. He's already ahead. Hey, look, there's a leak. Doc, have you ever had something in your house with a small leak and you ignored it? And then one day you discovered,

ooh, behind the wall, it's been leaking a lot. Well, Rick, my dad was a plumber. And so, you know this story. Yeah, I would go out on work assignments with him when I was a kid and teenager. And I can't tell you how many times you'd have one little leak that people, well, I'm not too worried about it. But behind the wall above the ceiling, there might be a whole pool of water that's there just waiting to burst through. You only see a drop. But the damage really has already been done.

And so, yeah, I've witnessed that. I've seen that before. You know, it's like drain pans in the ceiling from an air conditioner. Right. And you don't realize it's absolutely full and has been overflowing for quite some time until it starts to drip through the ceiling now, towel. And then you open up the towel and you find out, oh, there's all there's water up there. By then it's too late.

It's too late. That's what this proverb is teaching us. Once that crack happens and the water starts flowing, it's impossible to put the water back in place. And it's our mouths that cause these cracks. So, what is the command? You know, the next part of this verse is, Therefore, leave off contention before it's mettle with.

What's the command to leave off? And so, and this is a direct command, and it's an urgent command. In other words, when you're aware of strife developing, you need to do everything as a believer. You need to do everything in your power to abandon, to drop it. You need to forsake the quarrel at once. Quarling is not, you know, a blue ribbon quality for a believer. Okay. Coral, we should not be quarreling with one another, especially, but also with anyone in the world as well.

We need to forsake quarreling. It's interesting that it says there before it be meddled with. It's the picture there, Rick, before it flashes forth like a drawn sword, before the dam burst, before it escalates beyond control. So really, the only safe place to be in this in a quarrel is the quarrel that never starts or the contention that never starts,

the strife that never starts. Once engaged, the fight fights back. So this leaving off, you know, to some, it would be perceived as a weakness. Hey, yellow, old yeller, aren't you going to fight? Aren't you going to defend your position? Actually, for the believer, this is not a weakness. It is wisdom.

And it takes great courage because you're fighting against your very nature. Your very nature wants to defend your position. And it takes courage to state it to yourself. Doc, how many times in the gospel do we read where the Pharisees and the Sadducees would provoke Jesus, try to entrap him, make false accusations, and he would just walk away. Yes. Yes. You know, this phrase here, Rick, is teaching us that timing is everything in this process.

You've got to stop this at the first drop, not when the deluge arrives. By then, it's too late. And the biggest problem that we deal with in dealing with strife, Rick, whether it's with a relative, whether it's with a business associate, whether it's with someone that's an accuser, is that we feel like we have to defend our position, that we have to defend ourselves, or that somehow we have to defend God, too. But really, that's an earmark of pride, and pride tends to meddle, whereas humility takes a step back. the wise man considers peace more precious than victory. That's a tough thing for a lot of people, Rick. So this command is based on covenant. What am I talking about?

Well, let's go with the sermon on the Mount. What did Jesus say? Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are the peacemakers. It wasn't a suggestion. It's part of that new covenant. It's part of that new commandments that have been issued. from the from the mill by jesus himself and so this verse operates like a diagnostic tool

now listen carefully to this because oftentimes we feel like we have to defend our position or make an argument and everything to clear things up but if i keep talking to clear things up what this verse is saying is i'm meddling with the dam the more i try to clear things up or to fix it, the more I am risking, the damn bursting. And so as disciples, and I know this is difficult for a lot of people, it was difficult for me. I'm just going to be up front. Disciples are challenged to swallow their pride, bite their tongue, and walk away. Consider the cross before the crown.

And so ultimately, leaving off strife and and contention is at the very heart of the gospel. Christ himself is our example. Christ absorbed evil. To do what? To end strife. He took evil on himself to bring peace between heaven and earth. Not to win, but to end the strife, to end the warfare.

How? By humbling himself and absorbing the evil. This is a very difficult thing for a lot of people, especially, you know, in Western society because we're built on argument and defense and, you know, having what would we call a robust exchange on particular issues. And so this is a challenge for me because, you know, every once in a while, I'll be accused of something online and I'll feel like I've got to defend my position. I've got to defend my argument.

But I've learned, Rick, especially over the past two years, that even if I engage in that strife and that contention, I win very few arguments. And when I win, it has a bad taste in my mouth. Right. Because I worried that I was presenting a bad witness for Christ. Yes. And so that's where I'm at on it, Rick. especially the past two years, I can be passionate in defending what I believe, but now I've learned, you know, if God can't change them, I'm probably not going to be able to either.

That's right. So, Doc, I've never really been interested in psychology. But this year, the Lord has prompted me to study some aspects of psychology, particularly personalities. And it comes from our study in the book of Proverbs because the book of Proverbs has a lot to say about

personalities about behavior. And one thing that I've learned I've learned a lot about covert passive aggressive narcissists And Doc, one of the things that they do is when they have a target to attack, they are very sly, very shrewd in choosing the place for the attack. And usually, almost always, I would say 99% of the time, they do it in a setting where nobody else is an eyewitness to the crime.

And they will manipulate you to get you into a setting where they can do their attack in secrecy. And then walk away like nothing happened. Just walk away like nothing happened. And then you're there trying to cope with the attack, what just happened. Okay. You can't tell anybody because nobody saw it. Nobody would believe you. But one of the, they particularly like to get you in a situation where there's no escape.

In an environment where there are no exit doors. You're trapped. Whether it's for two minutes or 30 minutes. They want to get you in a place where you just can't get out of that room or the car or the plane or whatever they get you into. Okay. That's where they're going to carry out the attack. Okay, so it's something I've, so what does that have to do with this verse? Those situations are very challenging to keep your mouth shut and not respond.

Right. When you are being deliberately provoked, when somebody is intentionally trying to get you to say something for what purpose, to accuse you to others. They're going to go to other people and accuse you, and they're going to play the very victim. Because the covert passive aggressive narcissus is skillful in being the slasher and then being the victim. Right. They're like nothing more than the damned break. Yes. But then they like to tell people they're the victim of the damn breaking. That's right. They're the one that calls the crack and then when the crack breaks open, they tell everybody else, I'm the victim. I'm the victim. look what happened to me right when you start to see this pattern in people you will become much wiser

but it is still difficult to keep your mouth shut as we study these proverbs you're going to understand why it is absolutely essential that you stay quiet so what are we learning here in this verse we're learning that god hates strife and He hates even the beginning of strife because he's the God of peace. And so strife is opposite his nature. Strife is opposite the gospel. Jesus came to make peace between God and mankind. When he said, when you quoted the sermon on the Mount,

Blessed are the peacemakers, the word blessed means happy. Right. Jesus said, peacemakers shall be happy. Do you want to be happy? Be a peacemaker. See, you can be a person who starts arguments and be a peacemaker at the same time. You can't be a person who participates in an argument, even if you didn't start it. You can't participate in it and be a peacemaker at the same time.

Yes. You have to draw the line. You just have to say, I am not going to participate in this drama with this quarrelsome, argumentative, contentious person who loves to fight. Folks, you've got to realize there are people, there are a lot of people on Earth who love to fight. They love it. They thrive on it. They get energy. They get a negative energy by causing strife and argument.

it's really stick and twisted and pervert it but that's how they exist in life it's a negative energy that feeds their their warped souls so don't feed them you got you got to starve them dog yes absolutely so what we're being told here is that one drop of strife eventually becomes a flood Yes. And the beginning, the beginning of the strife is the critical moment. If you've missed that moment, you lose everything. You have one opportunity to stop that fight. It's the beginning.

Don't try to get in your critical point. Don't say, I got to say this. I got to put you straight. No, walk away. Zip your lips and walk away. Refuse to participate in it. if you're in a if you're trapped in a situation where you can't even get away from a person just go silent yes go silent go completely and don't take their bait to get engaged

reengaged that's right well let's let's take a look duck at at the commentators and see what the grand old men of the church said hundreds of years ago about this first i'll tell you what I'll start off with Matthew Henry here. He said many a fire has been kindled by one spark and many a war by just one angry word. And he's right about that. Absolutely. Alexander McLaren said,

The beginning of strife is as when one leteth out water. A tiny streamlet becomes a destroying flood. Yes. And then there's a great one here, Doc, by Charles Spurgeon. He said, many a fire has been quenched by a bucket of water at the beginning. None ever was by a bucket when the house was in flames. That's good. I like that.

Think about that's a really good statement. A lot of fires had been put out with one bucket of water at the beginning of the flame. But never has one bucket of water. put out a fire that an entire house was burning. It's impossible. So the same is the same principle applies to arguments that strike. First 15, he that justifies the wicked and he that condemneth the just, even they both are an abomination to the Lord. Wow. The Septuagint translation says, he that justifies the ungodly, and he that condemns the just, both are abominable before God. Amen.

Okay, this one, now this was going to be intense for people to understand, to comprehend. He that justifies the wicked. What does this mean? It means to declare guilty, innocent people. that comes by bribes by fear, by favoritism, where people say, in their heart, in their mind, they know somebody's guilty,

but they're afraid to say it. Or they've been bribed to say, no, they're innocent. We see it with very powerful political leaders where people know they're corrupt. they won't say it because they fear the power that man or woman has right and so they declare him innocent god says this is a sin to declare a wicked person to be innocent and not just a sin that is an abomination it's at the top of the stink list it's a stink it's a stint it's a stint it's a stint it's a stint to God, okay? It's a sin that turns justice into injustice because it calls evil good.

It's an inversion of God's moral order when you call something that evil and you declare to be good. It's not a mistake. It's not an error. I should say like this, it's more than a mistake, more than an error. It's deliberate perversion. The person knows what he or she is doing. They know the truth, but they suppress the truth. We see it all the time in court decision. Or you know, like, everybody knew, okay,

that person's guilty. And that judge just declared them innocent. And you just shove your shoulders, say, oh, well, can't do anything about it. But God says, that's an abomination. God's going to do something about it. He may not do anything about it in our lifetime and a way that we see. But he will do something about it on Judgment Day. That's right.

They will be held accountable on Judgment Day. So what this does is that it protects the predators and it oppresses the victims. Let's just say it, Jeffrey Epstein, he was protected by the legal and judicial system, the political system, the news media, and yet his victims were victimized. Some of them were driven to suicide. That's an example of this proverb. So, God is the judge, and to insert yourself as a judge and do something corrupt means that you're blaspheming against God. That's right.

You're taking on his role and saying, I'm going to declare the guilty to be innocent. It's really treason. It's treason against God. Why? His throne is founded on justice and righteousness. People don't think about that they commit treason against God. They say they're in His kingdom, and yet they commit treason against His kingdom. And when you declare the guilty to be innocent, you are committing treason against God's kingdom.

Because His kingdom stands on justice. and righteousness I mean look at the example in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ who did the who did the crowd demand to be released Barabbas the killer convicted

convicted killer but they said give us Barabbas crucify Jesus and Jesus was not only innocent he was sinless he was beyond innocent he was sinless

And yet the crowd said, we want Morabas released. And why did he even propose that for political gain? Yes. To please the people. Yes. To be on the side of a majority of a people in Jerusalem that day. It was just for his benefit. So, Doc, ultimately justifying the wicked.

is to repeat the crucifixion. Amen. At the ultimate level, that's what this is about. You're siding with the mob against the righteous one. That's right. Yes. Now, if we look at the flip sign of that, the second part of that verse, it says, and he that condemneth the just. And so we talked about making the guilty innocent,

but what about making the innocent guilt? So to condemn the just is to, declare the innocent, the guilty partying. So this is the perversion of justice, that mirror image perversion of justice that we're talking about. So the righteous man is God's own verdict walking on earth. To condemn him is to condemn God himself. So this spirit that exists, it's that same spirit that was in Cain, that same spirit of Jezebel, that the same spirit, uh, spirit that we saw with the Sanhedric. Hating the light,

Rick, because it exposes the darkness. And so condemning the just is the ultimate act of rebellion. It's to overthrow God's all approval. And so this condemnation is often a popular thing. Crown always seems to prefer Barabbas, Rick. And so this phrase here,

he that condemns the just, teaches that condemning the righteous is deicide in Slovo's. We're trying to kill God, killing those who bear God's image. So the image here is of a judge, flogging the innocent while the guilty go free. Justice murdered right in the courtroom. So disciples are warrant. Every slander, every false accusation, every one of those participates in this abomination. now there's another way to look at this the sin does provide redemption in it as well so it's redemptive

in reverse crucifies christ brand new afresh in his members so ultimately condemning the just is temporary there will be a reckoning for this the just judge himself is going to one day reverse every single wrongful verdict in one court trial called judgment day so we have two sins in this proverb the sin of declaring

the wicked to be innocent and the sin of declaring the innocent to be wicked the next part of this verse says even they the two sins even they both are abomination to the Lord so this is the strongest condemnation that God can proclaim over a sin yes you know I've said in the past I mean obviously the Lord doesn't

throw up we all know that but if he did an abomination is something it makes him It's something that we're giving the dry heat. Okay, it's like that is so disgusting, I'm going to throw up. So it's the strongest expression of divine revulsion. And it's a double sin here, okay, both, no lesser or greater evil. Both are an abomination. Justifying the wicked and condemning the just are equally abhorrent to God.

And he finds them disgusting. You think about it the next time you hear about a really wicked person being set free by a court. Or a politician issuing a pardon for somebody. You just know, person, guilty, they did to crimes, and now they got a pardon? Right. Well, you think about the next time you read these kind of news stories, okay? See, these two sins are twins, the twin sins. They're not mistakes. They're not errors in judgment.

They are deliberate blasphemies against God's throne, justice, and righteousness. And God condemns them in the harshest terms. Israel, Israel was told in ancient Israel, the judges were commanded never to pervert justice. You can read about it in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 16 and chapter 27. God warned the judges of ancient Israel, not to pervert justice.

Right. One of the condemnations on Jerusalem, Doc. I'm trying to think of it's a, Jeremiah or Ezekiel, God condemned Israel. He condemned Jerusalem and said, your judges are corrupt. Yes. It was one of the reasons that divine judgment was brought upon Jerusalem because of corrupt judges.

Well, if that's the case, we're in trouble. Yes. It's one of the last stages of broken society, Rick. Yeah. Yeah, because corrupt. judges rule over a corrupt people. And corrupt judges are one of the judgments that a nation gets. You're ruled by corrupt people. So this double abomination is at the root of every corrupt society. When justice falls, the nation falls. How do you know when a nation is ready

to fall. Corruption is rampant. That's how you know. Corruption is rampant. That's why I'm saying we here in America, we're in trouble because corruption is rampant in our country right now. And there are powerful people who are defending the corruption on all sides. And nobody seems to be shocked by the level of corruption.

I'll get down to the Bible commentators. Let's see who we have here. I'll let you build up with Alexander McLaurin. All right. He said to accept the wicked person is to fight against God's justice himself. So William R. Not, who was a leader in the Free Church of Scotland back in. the 1800s. This is what he said. I'm going to combine three statements. To accept the wicked person is to reject gods. To overthrow the righteous is to overthrow justice. Both

sins cry to heaven. Yes. All right, we'll go to the next verse. Verse 16. This is our last one for today's lesson. King James, wherefore Is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it? The Aramaic, well, I'll read the World English Bible says, why is there money in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom when he has no sense? I don't like that. That just dropped to the point right there.

That says it all. The Aramaic Peshita translation says, why is there a price in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom when he has no heart for it? And the subtuagent says, why hath the full wealth? For a senseless man cannot purchase wisdom. All right, this has got a lot of meaning packed in and a dot. The first part of the proverb, Wherefore, is there a price in the hand of a fool?

Wherefore? Why? You know, this is like Solomon saying, why on earth does a fool have money to buy wisdom and doesn't have the sense to do it? That's really what he's saying. Why on earth would this happen? So the price is talking about, what is the, you know, the King James says, why, therefore is there a price in the hand of a fool? I mean, in our modern day, we're thinking, like a price tag. That's not what it means.

Not that the fool has a price tag in his hand. He has money. He has an opportunity in his hand. And he has every possible means to buy books, to hire teachers, to acquire teachers, to acquire information, to acquire information. information and wisdom. He has the means to do it. He has the gospel too, Rick, the gospel and the gospel and the gospel. So the fool possesses the currency. He stands at the market door with his gold,

his silver, his money, his bitcoin, whatever you want to call it. He's got it in his hand. and yet he doesn't have the desire to buy the wisdom how sad the opportunity is there he's not poor he has the resources to acquire wisdom folks wisdom has a price this class god bless you you're spending one hour day five days a week to acquire wisdom you are spending you are spending your time. Time is money. Time is valuable. You, you have decided getting wisdom is worth one hour of my day. See, you have currency, time, and you're spending it to get wisdom. What this is talking about is a fool has the currency, has the means to get the wisdom, but doesn't have the desire to make the purchase.

He doesn't complete the transaction. He gets to the checkout counter and says, I don't think I'll want this. Right. Okay. God's standing there. He's got the wisdom in the bag. Here, I'm ready to give it to you.

And the fool says, I don't think so. I'm just going to leave. Goes right to the checkout line and doesn't complete the transaction. So it's telling us that opportunity without appetite is a judgment that God will place a judgment on people who are given a divine opportunity but they express no appetite for what God has offered them.

Right. That sentence alone, Doc, sobers me. Because I have to reflect. I have to think back over my lifetime. What opportunities did God send my way, and I didn't act on it? I'm with you, Rick. I think of the same thing. Thank God that he's merciful, and he sends more opportunities.

But to the fool, he stopped sending them. At some point, God stops sending the opportunities to the fool. So the fool is not poor. He is rich in means. When I say rich, he has, he or she has the money, but they are bankrupt in motive, in appetite, in desire. You got it. Yes. And so it's like being.

invited to a banquet and the person goes to the banquet holding the invitation and then refuses to sit down at the table. What are you doing? Why are you refusing to eat? Right. So, Doc, the next part of this verse says, to get wisdom, see, he hath no heart to right what does this mean in that phrase there ripped get wisdom so here we have presented to us the greatest burden in the universe it cost everything but really it costs nothing out of pocket

other than your desire to find that says there no heart to it me literally no heart no desire no sense absolutely no inclination toward wisdom so the problem really is a heart problem. The fool's will is dead to what is best for his life, so the lack of heart is willful. Wisdom is standing at the door, knocking,

but the fool refuses to open. And the phrase teaches that wisdom isn't being forced on anyone. God offers, but man must hunger for it. So the fool's heart is a locked ball. It's full of incredible resource, full of the money, if you will, to purchase wisdom and yet completely empty of understanding. And so the great physician uses this verse to point out those things in our life rate and gives us this diagnosis.

Indifference to wisdom is the fool's fatal disease. So this image is a man with a map to treasure and then just uses the map to start a word. fire. Oh, yeah. Oh, man, that one's smarts. You've got a treasure map in your hand and you're using a start a fire. So disciples are a challenge to cultivate this hard hunt. It is really incredible, Rick, to see people who are supposedly been serving the Lord for decades and yet have no wisdom, nor do they desire. But as disciples, that should be one of the earmark. marks of a disciple, that they're crying after wisdom like that. We cry after silver or gold. So ultimately, no heart to wisdom is written all the fools' tombstone. They had everything,

and they wanted nothing that really matters. Yes. Doc, right now, at this time, as we were recording this lesson, silver, physical silver, is sky. rocketing in price and a lot of people are clamoring to get their hands on silver and there's a silver shortage in the world yes and people want silver they're they're hungering for silver many of the same people who are hungering for silver don't hunger for wisdom yes but proverbs tells you that if you hunger for wisdom and seek wisdom, wisdom will give you gold and silver. Absolutely. And fill your treasures.

So you seek wisdom and let wisdom bring the gold and silver to you. Yes. And I can tell you that happens. God will bless you. He will bless you when you seek, when you seek wisdom with all your. heart. He'll bring the gold and silver to you. It is a promise from the Lord, and it's real. So what we have here is we close this lesson. At Proverbs 1716 is really the heartbreak of wisdom crying out. That the fool has the money to acquire the wisdom, but lacks the heart,

lacks the desire to complete the transaction. Wisdom standing there at the checkout counter saying, are you going to pay for it or not? And the fool says, now I've changed the mind. I'm going to leave. I'm going to go get silver. I'm going to go get gold.

You know, I'm going to go get something else. And wisdom's heart is broken over this. God offers wisdom to us freely and yet it calls it calls to heart there is a price to pay to pursue to acquire there is a price to pay

and you have to you have to exert effort to get the free gift I know that sounds contradictory it's a free gift but you have to exert effort to receive the free gift Right. You have to go get it. Doc, if I told you,

Doc, I've got a treasure box buried in Montana. I'll give you the address. I eat yours. You have to travel to Montana and go get it. The treasure box is not going to walk its way to you.

You have to expend effort and energy to go. get the free gift. That's what this is teaching. And that God's heart is broken that people don't have the desire to receive the free gift. They don't have enough gumption to get up and just receive something that he's offering to them. So the opportunity is abundant, but there's no heart, no desire and therefore the gift is given to somebody else now there's one that make you stop and think has any of the gifts that god desired to give you been given to somebody else because you didn't pick it up right that'll make you stop and ponder and think about

the ways that you've lived right have you missed opportunities because you didn't have enough sense, enough ambition, enough drive, enough heart to go pick up the gift that God was trying to give you. There's too much of this thinking in the church that, well, if God wants me to have it, it'll just happen. Folks, the people that think that way have never read the book of Proverbs.

Right. Access to truth is not enough. Just the access is not enough. You have to pursue it. have to grab it. What do we say all the time? Pursuit is the proof of desire. Whatever you're pursuing, that's what you desire.

Okay. That's it for today. Thank you so much. We appreciate you spending time pursuing wisdom. Yes. All right. And if I could drop a personal testimony here. Sure.

Don't put yourself in a place where you get to a point of desperation in seeking wisdom. I know I've gotten to that point in the past in my life. Thank God that God redeemed me in those situations. But there was a time in the early 2000s where I finally was so broken before God I cried out, Lord, what I'm doing is not working. I need your wisdom. I cried out to him. Mercifully, he responded and provided first it was a drop and then it was a glass and then it was a stream of wisdom in my life but it took me crying out and saying Lord I'm an idiot I need your wisdom Lord but I encourage all of you today don't don't put yourself in that position you have the

opportunity now you have the price in your hand right now for wisdom don't neglect this to take wisdom to heart and make it part of your life. Don't get to a point where it's the last resort. No, make it the first opportunity. It'll definitely change your perspective online. Well, Doc, I can tell you this for a fact. You are not the same person I hired nearly 12 years ago. I hope I'm better looking.

I have watched. Hey, by the way, a couple days ago, I was going through some old files in my office, and I found the resume you sent when you applied for the job, okay? I found your resume. I got a chuckle out of it. So, but, yeah, Doc, I watched Doc grow and mature and expand his knowledge and his quest for knowledge and wisdom. And, no, it's very visible in your lifetime. And for me, Rick, what I do.

did is I started, you know, a lot of people listened to you over the years. I mean, you've been involved as a citizen reporter for decades and now Bible teaching, but a lot of people didn't take what you were saying to hurt. I believe that God brought me here, not just to support and to work alongside you, but to learn. And that God spoke to you to put wisdom into my own life. And I want to encourage everyone else here today. You know, Rick has invested an incredible amount of time and effort in learning things about the world, about finances, now about technology and about all the changes that are taking place. And I want to encourage every one of you as it relates to whether it's the Bible study

or its insights into finance or insights into technology. Don't just, brush it off. Take it to hurt because I really believe the Lord has been directing Rick and this ministry to speak to things that other ministries don't talk about, don't speak about. And so God is handing you opportunities to learn about things like, you know, what about cryptocurrency? How does that affect the believer? What impact will artificial intelligence have in the presentation of the gospel or how to end a quarrel before it even begins. So these are all practical things that the Holy Spirit is doing through this ministry in order to transform believers into being better prepared for times that are coming. And that's really what we're about. We're a preparation

ministry. That's what we're really all about. And I can say this with dog. There are times He and I just together in my office, one to two hours will go by, and we're discussing various revelations that the Lord has given us into, it could be the Word of God, it could be in politics, in science, technology, and we'll realize an hour has gone by. Maybe sometimes two hours has gone by, but we've had deep, rich conversations on, and so that's evidence that the Lord is working in. both of us to expand our knowledge and understanding and wisdom of the times. So let the Lord give you what he desires to get ill. Amen. He's standing at the checkout counter. He's at the register saying, let's complete this transaction.

All right. What part do you pay? You show the heart's desire for the wisdom. He'll give it to you. He'll put it in a bag and hand it to you. Amen. That's what he's looking for. The heart's desire.

desire for the wisdom. And he will complete the transaction and give you his wisdom. You come back tomorrow, he'll give you some more. That's the cool date. All right, we got to go. We'll see it tomorrow. Thank you for being here on Morning Manor. God bless you. We love you.