TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Morning Manna - July 10, 2025 - Proverbs 6:16-19 - What God Hates—and Why It Matters

Episode Date: July 10, 2025

In today’s Morning Manna, we uncover the chilling profile of the one Solomon calls a “perverse man”—a man whose words are twisted, whose actions are subtle, and whose heart is set on sowing division. Proverbs 6:12–15 warns us that not all danger wears a villain’s mask—some plot quietly with gestures, whispers, and deceit. But Scripture assures us: their end is certain, sudden, and without remedy. Join us as we explore how to recognize, avoid, and guard against the spirit of discord in our own hearts and in our communities.Join the leading community for Conservative Christians! https://www.FaithandValues.comYou can partner with us by visiting https://www.FaithandValues.com/donate, calling 1-800-576-2116, or by mail at PO Box 399 Vero Beach, FL 32961.Get high-quality emergency preparedness food today from American Reserves!https://www.AmericanReserves.comIt’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!https://www.amazon.com/Final-Day-Characteristics-Second-Coming/dp/0578260816/Apple users, you can download the audio version on Apple Books! https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/final-day-10-characteristics-of-the-second-coming/id1687129858Purchase the 4-part DVD set or start streaming Sacrificing Liberty today. https://www.sacrificingliberty.com/watchThe Fauci Elf is a hilarious gift guaranteed to make your friends laugh! Order yours today! https://tru.news/faucielf

Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Morning Manna. It's Thursday, and that means tomorrow's Faith Friday. And we'll be studying faith tomorrow. We're studying faith every day, but we put a special emphasis on faith on Fridays, and we also participate in the Lord's Supper, Holy Communion. So we invite you to be with us tomorrow for the Lord's Supper. We are in the Book of Proverbs, we're in chapter six, and today we're studying verses 16 through 19. Let's invite the Holy Spirit, then Doc can read the Word.

We'll begin our lesson. Almighty God, dear Heavenly Father, thank You for this beautiful day. Thank You for Your care, Your protection, Your provision. Thank You for gathering us together as brothers and sisters from around the world in this virtual Bible study class, Father. Thank you for the technology that allows us to do it. So Father, we invite the Holy Spirit to take His seat at the head of the table and lead this Bible study. Teach all of us the principles of Your Word. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. A.D. Amen. Well, God bless you, and we welcome you here to this edition of Morning Man. We're live right now at the eight o'clock hour on the East Coast here in the U.S., but

we have friends from all over the world that are joining us, Malaysia, Brazil, of course, Switzerland, South Korea, Philippines. Rick, we have someone from Scotland here with us today. Fantastic. So we send greetings to you and to everyone that's joining us across the U.S. and Canada. We are live right now. This is the Ministry of Faith and Values Fellowship. You know, one of the cries of many in the church, especially if they're left leaning today, is that God is love. God is love. God is love. And there is truth in that. God is love, but that's not the only truth from the Bible.

There are some things that God hates, and we'll be talking about that today. So if you've got your Bibles, we're in Proverbs chapter 6, continuing our study of wisdom. Picking back up at verse 16, we're going to learn today about things that God hates, things that God hates. Verse 16, These six things doth the Lord hate, yea, seven are an abomination to him. A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren." God bless the reading of His word today. Amen. Verse 16, Proverbs 6.16, These six things doth the Lord hate,

yea, seven are an abomination unto him. So the opening phrase of verse 16 marks a significant shift in the text that we've been studying so far in chapter 6. It's stating with divine authority that certain actions and dispositions of the heart and the mind are not merely displeasing to the Lord, but vehemently detested by him. Yes.

The explicit mention of the Lord, other versions will say Yahweh, but the mention of the Lord tells the reader that this is not a human opinion. This is not a cultural preference. This is a direct statement of God's immutable character of God's immutable character and his standards. So the word hate in this context signifies God's absolute moral opposition and indignation towards specific sins. Not an emotional dislike, but a holy righteous abhorrence. Yes. Verses 16 to 19 are extremely serious. 16 to 19 are extremely serious.

If you could put flashing lights in your Bible, these verses should be flashing. Like pay attention to this one. I mean, all the scriptures are important, but this one's really important. But this one's really important. Imagine having a face-to-face conversation with Almighty God and you're talking to Him about all kinds of things. And you say, what is it that you don't dislike? And He goes, well, I'm not going to tell you what I dislike, I'm going to tell you what I hate.

They're six-thinkers. No, no, no, wait. Yeah. Do you see the Lord going, this day, I'm counting them. One, two, three, four, five, six things. Oh, no, wait, there's seven. There's seven. I love the way it's done in this verse. So, there is a There is a foundational theological truth in this verse God is not merely indifferent to evil His very nature is antithetical to these seven specific behaviors.

Right. Making them, marking them, marking them as deeply offensive to Almighty God. So again, the word hate, it's used here to signify God's absolute moral opposition and indignation towards seven sins. It's a holy hatred of these sins, not an irrational emotion. I mean, you know, humans, we use the word hate so casually. I'll tell you, I hate that.

I hate that, yeah. I hate onions on my sandwich. That's a misuse of this word. When God hates something, He's not talking about onions on a sandwich. Okay. This is Almighty God saying, I'm gonna tell you, I'm gonna tell you seven things that will get me upset. Because they go directly against the character of God. Each one. Yes, that's why, Doc.

That's precisely why he hates it. It's in direct opposition to his divine character. So his hatred of these seven sins reflects his perfect holiness. He cannot tolerate what destroys his creation or defies His character. Amen. Yesterday we said in the lesson, the sooner you comprehend that creation was perfect. The entire universe was created perfectly. Everything's in order. How do the planets stay in orbit?

How do the moons stay in orbit around the planets? How do the stars hang on nothing? What's a star hanging on? Is there a hook? God placed stars in, He created the universe out of nothing, spoke the existence of stars out of nothing, then hung those stars on nothing and said stay there until I come back. Perfect order. Then you get to planet earth. Garden of Eden was perfect order. But God had previously experienced some disorder in heaven rebellion. Yes

One angel Lucifer God found iniquity in him and what was the iniquity? pride Pride okay. Now you're gonna you're gonna understand where I'm going with this here. Okay God found pride in lucifer Lucifer desired to be adored like god's only begotten son jesus christ So lucifer got the boot Along with about a third of all the angels in heaven, who sided with him, took the side of a loser.

See, there was insurrection. That was insurrection. There was an attempt to overthrow God in heaven. God's never gotten over it. I'm going to tell you right now, he's never gotten over it. And he said to himself, that's never going to happen again. That's right. I will crush that spirit wherever I see it. He hates it so much that he's going to burn up heaven.

Yep. Just to get rid of the memory of it. That's right. It's not going to be a remodel. I get so frustrated when I see that. The renewed earth and the renewed heaven. No, no, no, no, no. God hates sin so much, he's going to have to burn heaven and earth no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, Jesus said it's going to burn up. Why? It reminds him of Lucifer. Okay, it reminds

him of the birthplace of sin. Sin was born in heaven in Lucifer. God had to remove Lucifer and the angels that sided with Lucifer had to remove them. He had to get the cancer out of heaven. So what what did Lucifer do? He's cast out of heaven. He now sees God has made. A garden on Earth. And he's made a man. Adam. He has a garden on earth.

And he has made a man. Adam. Mankind Adam. In his likeness and image. And gave him a soul. And then took from Adam's rib. a rib and created a woman, a womb man, a man with a womb. And Lucifer looked at this and he's watching it and he sees how God loves this man and woman and how they walk together in the garden. They talk. God

Himself is in the garden. The Garden of Eden was a… let's see, how do I put this? This This was kind of like a retreat for God. He had a retreat. It was fit for a king. He created a retreat for himself and the man and woman that he made. It was beautiful. And Lucifer was observing this But he's got seething hatred in him towards God forecasting him out of heaven And Lucifer comes, you know, he pondered he said what can I do to get even?

How can I make God hurt I want to inflict pain on him. I really want to get even. I've got revenge in my heart. What could I do? This idea came into Lucifer's mind. Well, I know God's standards. They're holy, and there can be no sin in His presence. I've learned that lesson. He kicked me out of heaven because He found sin in me. So therefore, He is obligated to uphold His standard. He has to remove sin from his presence. Therefore, I will deceive Adam and Eve to sin against their maker. And he'll have to kick them out of the garden

and out of his presence. Folks, that is the essence of what happened to mankind. And the rest of human history is just filler. It's just filler. The wars, the empires, it's all filler. Where this is going is God is going to restore the Garden of Eden. It's called New Jerusalem. On a new earth.

And he's going to live. What's that? Under a new heaven. Under a new heaven. And the tree of life will be there. And God is going to place his sons and daughters in New Jerusalem, those who have believed upon the name of his son, and he is going to leave heaven and move to New Jerusalem. Papa is going to live with his children. And he's not going home. He's staying. Dad's gonna move in and he's not leaving. It's an it is an incredible amazing story of love. He will get the last word.

Okay, so you keep this in mind as we're studying these words, these scriptures today. What is it that got Satan in trouble? Pride. So now we get who commit the sin. Notice he doesn't say, six sinners, no, seven sinners I hate. Don't get this confused. He hates to sin. However, there are profound consequences for the people who persistently commit these sins and do not repent and do not change their ways. It's like, okay, I've told you what I hate. If you continue to do what I hate,

then you own the consequences. Because I've told you what I hate. So the disciples of Christ should understand that this list is a clear ethical moral guide for our lives, outlining seven behaviors that actively resist God's holy nature and his desire for humankind. The number six introduces a structured list. The ox six is the number for mankind, right?

Yeah, that seven is the number for God. Yes. So he introduces six as a structured list, preparing the audience for a specific enumeration of detestable practices. And so this highlights the gravity of these sins. They're not just minor transgressions, but they are fundamental affronts against God's divine order and His holiness. So it's teaching us, this is in the book of Proverbs, it's teaching us that true wisdom requires an understanding of what God loves and hates.

Right. And that we align our lives to fit his viewpoint. That's what we were talking about yesterday. There is a divine plan, a divine will. There is a divine plan, a divine will. There was order in creation. There is still order in creation. Sin disrupted the order on earth for mankind. God's plan, the thing that He thinks about every day is,

I'm going to restore order. And for you and me, the smartest thing that we can do is discover that plan, that divine will, and put our lives in direct alignment with His will. Amen. When we are out of alignment, things don't go well. Right. And so the Lord expresses, these are things that are outside of my will. These are things that I hate.

But it's more than outside of it. These are seven things that are in direct opposition of his will. There are other things that are outside of his will, but these seven are enemies of his will. God must hate what contradicts his character. It defines, it demonstrates, it proves God's active moral governance of the world. He is asserting his authority to define good and evil. He's not allowing human philosophers, politicians, or judges to define good and evil. He said, no, I'm going to tell you what's good, I'm going to tell you what's evil.

Again, these are not just seven bad human character traits. These are not seven things you should go to a self-improvement class and say, I'm trying to get over lying. These are direct affronts to God's person, and a direct affront to His divine order. So we get to the second segment of verse 16. It said, There are six things I hate.

Yeah, no, wait a minute. Yeah, seven are an abomination unto me, unto Him. So He further intensifies the declaration and he adds a climactic seventh sin to the list, which signals an even greater degree of divine revulsion. It's yeh seven, six yes seven. It's a common Hebrew poetic device called a numerical proverb. Yeh is X plus one. So the seven implies a sense of totality, completeness.

So what it's saying, what Proverbs 16 is saying, is that this list of seven covers a comprehensive range of behaviors that are fundamentally opposed to God's holiness. That everything that makes him disgusted are wrapped up in these seven. So again, there's a numerical progression. Six,, seven. What's actually six? Yes, seven. So it's done to add rhetorical emphasis, force, building suspense, drawing more intensified attention to the list, to the ultimate object of God's strongest displeasure. So again, this literary device, six plus one,

implies that all six are hated, but the seventh exceeds the others. Pay attention to what I just said. He hates all six, but the seventh is worse than all six combined. That's right. All right, this gets serious now. Abomination, it's a biblical term, strong biblical term, describes something that is utterly repugnant, loathsome to God, something that defiles and pollutes, something that is pure. Abomination throughout the Bible is always associated with idolatry and moral corruption. Why? Because these actions represent a complete rejection of divine authority. This literary this literary structure, six plus one, the purpose of it is to draw attention to the one.

Not that the first six aren't important, of course they are, they're on the list, but the way it's done is to draw your attention to the fact that the last one is to draw your attention to the fact that the last one is far worse than the first six. Right. And what is the last one? We will read it in verse 19, And he who sows discord among brothers. That is telling you that the person who sows discord among brothers and sisters, among the family, and that can be a human family, the family unit, you've divided the family, you've lied about people in the family, you've caused division and strife in the family, but it also applies to the church family. Right. And, you know, churches go through splits and stuff, but

understand God knows that feeling. Satan took a third of heaven with him. Yes, he was able to convince that was a turkey, but one third of the congregation of heaven to go with it. I haven't thought about that doc. Lucifer's re revolt was the first church split. Yes. Oh, that's why this reminds him. It reminds God of Lucifer's sedition. Every time he sees a family split, every time he sees a church split, every time he sees a ministry split, he thinks of Satan. Said that's happening because of Lucifer. He said, that's happening because of Lucifer. And so God's attitude is, I'm going to crush it like a bug.

That's why it's not, it's beyond being stupid to do these things. So the way that this is set up, six plus one, suggests that sowing discord among the brethren has a uniquely detestable quality and serves as the culmination of the preceding six. So there's a progression from hate to abomination. We start out with hate, he hates these six, but by the time you get to the seventh, it's an abomination. He more than hates sowing discord. It's beyond hating. It's now metastasized into an abomination. It's showing us an escalating degree of divine revulsion. That sowing discord among the brethren is extremely odious in God's sight. It is the final item, the number seven, sowing discord,

is the ultimate expression of wickedness. The ultimate expression of wickedness. See, if you ask Christians, you ask religious people, hey, what's at the top of the list? What's really wicked? They wouldn't put sowing discord. No, they wouldn't consider it. Wouldn't even be on the list.

But God says, nah, this is at the top of my list. And Doc hit the nail on the head. It was the first church split. So the final item represents the ultimate expression of wickedness.cores the severity of all and that we must avoid them at all cost. So God is not an ambivalent to sin. He hates certain things. All sin displeases him but he hates seven, and one is an abomination. This is a biblical red flag. That's what I'm telling you.

When you open up your Bible, it should be like a red flag pops up on a little stick and waves. Like, you better read this one. Better keep this one front and center. He's, the Father Himself is explicitly stating His hatred for seven actions and attitudes. seven actions and attitudes. So there's no there's no excuse for doing them. So on judgment day you can't say I didn't know I put it in writing. It's going to be his his attitude his response. I put it in writing. Well I didn't read it? Well, whose fault is that? Our church never taught on it. And what's your excuse? There's no excuse. Then we get to to verse 17 a proud look a lying tongue hands that shed innocent blood

Three things a proud look a lying tongue hands that shed innocent blood This is the first item on the list Okay This is the first item on the list Okay We're now looking at the at Let's go back and look at it What are the what are the seven things a proud look a lying tongue hands of shed innocent blood, than a heart that devise of wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among the brethren.

So we start with a phrase that identifies the first tier of things on God's list. Notice he starts out with a proud look. Haughty eyes. Yes. What are we back to? Pride. Pride, arrogance, superiority. These sins are expressed through the person's eyes, through the person's gaze. What did we study yesterday?

The wink, the signals with the fingers, the secret signs with the feet. We learned yesterday, pay attention to eyes. Yes. So God pays attention to eyes. Because, well, let me tell you on this list of seven things. I'll tell you right now. I look at the eyes. I look at the eyes. That's what he's saying here. I look at people's eyes. Have you thought about that? When's the last time you thought that God's looking at your eyes?

Or, it's going to shake up some people today. At 24-7, His eyes are on your eyes. It's on the top of the list. Notice that this list doesn't say, I'll tell you six things, I'll tell you seven, I hate. Cigars. Smoky cigars. Beer. Cigars and beer. I hate those two things. Liverwurst. Yeah. I hate it. No, none of those things are on the list. But you can go to churches and you would think by the super righteous religious attitude

of some church people, God hates, he hates people who smoke cigars. He hates people that drink beer. No, he doesn't. He doesn't even hate the cigar. Am I telling you to smoke a cigar? No cigar. Am I telling you to smoke a cigar? No, I'm not telling you to smoke a cigar. I'm just telling you it's not on the list of sins.

Get real. All the things that religious church peoples think God hates is not on the list. All sin is in opposition to him, all sin. But he's got a top seven list. And the things that are on the top seven never show up in church meetings, never show up in religious TV and radio shows. So at the top of the list, he starts out with, I look at their eyes. I look to see if there's arrogance, pride. I look at their gaze. So we're being told as disciples that a person's...

if they're practicing this sin, it will be visible through their eyes. This goes with yesterday's lesson. Watch for nonverbal signs. Yes. This is body language. And arrogant gaze. and Eric in Gaze. So pride is the foundational sin. It goes back to Lucifer's rebellion in heaven. Pride precedes and enables other forms of wickedness.

Yes. Pride, pride is the foundation. That's the main ingredient that's got to go into a batch of sin. You're going to whip up a batch of sin, you got to start with pride. Because pride elevates the person above God and other people who are made in the likeness and image of God. And the worst pride is spiritual arrogance. because people take on a haughty, self-righteous attitude, and they hide their sins while they're condemning others.

So that's pride. A true disciple has to remain humble, must show meekness, brokenness. A person who's broken is a person who's been crushed by God. By who? By God. Yes, He crushes us. What's he squeezing out?

Pride. It's like putting oranges in an orange juice presser. Right. Well, got to get it out of you. Got to get that proud look out of you. Got to get that pride out of you. Got to get that proud look out of you. Got to get that pride out of you. Got to get rid of those haughty eyes. Haughty eyes are disdainful. They're contemptuous. They're self-exalting. Have you ever had anybody, what do we say, look down on me?

What does that mean? Well, he looked down on me. She stared at me with contempt. What does that say? That person is full of pride and sees you as less lower than them. Right. I don't know why I'm thinking of this. I guess I just had this flash in my mind. This probably happened, oh, probably, I don't know, 15 years ago. You have these little memories, you know, when I first came to Florida, we've

been here about 18, 19 years, but I was down in West Palm Beach. And there's a lot of rich people in Palm Beach. There are two Palm Beaches. There's Palm Beach and there's West Palm Beach. All right. Palm Beach is where the super rich live. West Palm Beach is where the people who work for the super rich live. Yeah, you got it. Okay. And you don't cross lines. Okay. You don't cross the boundary lines. Okay? So Mar-a-Lago is in Palm Beach. It's not in West Palm Beach. It's in Palm Beach. The people that work at Mar-a-Lago live in West Palm Beach. The maids that work there live in West Palm Beach. Okay? Anyhow, I was in Palm Beach, Doc. And I was driving through a parking lot, and I'm going the right direction.

You know, it's like one lane, you can only go one direction in a parking lot, the way that they park the cars on the angle. And I was going the right way. But this woman in a luxury car decided to go the other way. And I remember, I remember the glare in her eyes towards me. Because one of us has got to back up. There's no way to pass each other.

And I remember the glare, I mean, absolute disdain on that woman's eyes as she glared through that windshield at me, saying it with her eyes, do you not know who I am, you little peon? Back up. See, that's a proud, haughty look. Now that's a real extreme case, but there are people all the time, you meet people every week that have a proud, haughty look.

You just feel it when you're talking to them. They're looking down on you. They're better than you. And they don't mind telling other people they're better than you. But God says, I despise that look because you're making my sons and daughters feel inferior and they are made in my likeness and image. How dare you do that to them? So your father will protect you.

He will defend you. He will take care of you because you're his. So pride is a spiritual disease. So, pride is a spiritual disease. It stems from an attitude of self-sufficiency. I don't need other people. I don't need a God. I am my own God. Yeah, that's what you're saying. You're saying, I'm replacing God. That's at the heart of pride. Remember, back in, I guess, 2016 when Donald Trump, when he was running the first time, said he had never repented because he couldn't think of anything he needed to repent for.

I would classify that as pride. That's pride. That's arrogance. I don't know where he's at now, but I hope he's made progress. But we have to understand that pride, even subtle, non-verbal cues like a gaze from the eyes is antithetical to humility, which is the core virtue of godliness. So pride leads a person to the inability to receive correction or counsel. They're unteachable. Why? They don't need it. They believe that they are beyond reproach. approach. Haughty eyes refuse to see things as they are, especially God's sovereignty. They don't even think about God's sovereignty. What do you mean somebody has a will that's superior to my will?

What it's telling us is that God scrutinizes the looks and the eyes. So then a lying tongue. Yes. Then a lying tongue. Yes So number two is a lying tongue corrupt speech So verse 17 presents a Juxtaposition it places haughty eyes side by side with a lying tongue for our comparison. It implies that a person whose entire communication, verbal and non-verbal, that that person is tainted by sin.

The eyes are non-verbal, the tongue is verbal. That's why it's put together like this. Pride comes first and the pride is visible through the eyes. A proud person lies. There are people who are liars that you don't necessarily think of them as being proud. Because we have a wrong definition of what a proud person is like. What this is telling us that pride precedes lying. You can have little grandmothers who are liars because they conceal, they mask their pride. On the surface, you wouldn't think, oh, it's just a little grandma. But their speech intentionally misrepresent facts, deceives others, and speaks falsehoods about other people maliciously, meaning they do it with

intent. It's not just an error, a misstep, a mistake. It's a deliberate act of deception, aimed at gaining advantage over another person, to harm another person, and to avoid personal accountability. Why else do they lie? So this sin is Reprehensible to God it's abhorrent to him because lying is the opposite of him He is true. He's not just truthful. He is truth and Satan is not just a liar. He is the father of lies And Satan is not just a liar. He is the father of lies Every lie is a descendant of Satan. There you go

Every lie comes out of the the womb of Satan's mouth. Lies are born in Satan's mouth. Lying undermines trust. It destroys relationships. It distorts reality. It's a destructive force in society. It's an assault on truth. And again, God Himself is truth.

So any deliberate deviation from truth is a serious offense against God's character. offense against God's character. Then, and the hands that shed innocent blood. So now we move to the third most grievous item. See, we're, we're, we're having a progression. It starts with pride. Almost like you had to have a drum roll. Right.

Okay, number seven. It's actually we reverse this. All right. Number seven is haughty eyes. Okay. You actually doing a descending order because the number one sin on this seven is the one that's listed seventh, but that's the number one, which is sowing discord. So we're working our way to number one. So this is the third most grievous item. It's the ultimate act of malice and violence,

the murder of a human life made in the image and likeness of God. The act of murder, taking of a blameless innocent life. Innocent blood. Yes, which goes into the soil and the soil cries out to God. Right. What we're being told here is that killing innocent people is an extreme form of wickedness. It violates the sanctity of life, life, human life made in the likeness, the image of God. It's why abortion is a grievous sin to God. Yes. There's hardly any

a grievous sin to God. Yes. There's hardly any moral conviction in America anymore about abortion. The church accepts it now. Yeah. They're okay with it. Not that they approve of it, but they're okay. We're not going to fight it. We're not going to do anything about it. We're going to stand for Israel. That's the important thing. We stand for Israel. We're not going to stand for innocent, unborn babies, but we are going to stand for Israel. They won't even stand for Israeli babies, Rick. I know. In Israel abortion is common.

Yes. The Israelis kill their own children. Oh, well. But it tells you how the modern church ranks sin. Yes, there you go. And what they think is important to God, they think they get a badge, a cookie, if they stand for Israel, and yet they don't stand for an unborn child. It is a, like I said, it's an extreme act of wickedness. I'm talking about murder, killing. Okay. Innocent blood, innocent blood.

Okay, so we've gone from eyes, we've gone to tongue, now we're talking about hands. See the progression? Proud eyes, fuel lying tongues, lying tongues justify murderers hands. Yes. the murder. The murder. Justify murderers hands. Yes. You know, lie about the murder. A lie about genocide.

So the reason hands is there is because it's telling us that there's an active deliberate agency in the act of murder. Wasn't an accidental death. These hands committed murder. But hurry up, we're over, okay. Verse 18, a heart that diviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief. Okay, so look at the progression. Haughty eyes, lying tongue, murderous hands, heart, the deviseless, wicked schemes and

imaginations, feet that run quickly to mischief. The whole body's involved here, isn't it? So, a heart that diviseth wicked imaginations, a heart that devises wicked schemes and plans. part that devises wicked schemes and plans. This is a declaration pointing to the inner chamber of the wicked person. The seat of their mind and will where evil thoughts are not just fleeting temptations, but are actively conceived and formed into specific designs.

See, this is different from momentarily falling for a temptation. This is a person- No, you're devising, you're planning. You're planning. You've got a wicked scheme to do something wrong. Wicked plans, deliberate mental crafting of harmful, mal-violent, sinful schemes. Pre-meditation, not impulsive action. Again, falling momentarily in temptation, weakness of temptation. That's not what this is about. This is pre-meditated sin.

The heart, the seat of the intellect, emotion, will, thoughts, the core of the person's being, is dedicated to producing evil schemes. So this is a sin of intentionality. The wicked person is expending mental energy, The wicked person is expending mental energy, creativity on plotting and preparing for wrongdoing. That's why God hates us, Sid. Feet that are swift to running to mischief. This conveys a sense of eagerness, zeal, promptness. They can't wait to carry out this evil plan.

Yeah, they don't just accidentally fall into evil. They run to it. Running. Active, swift pursuit of evil. Get out of bed in the morning, can't wait to do bad things. They've got their mind full of schemes and plots. See, for most of us in this, I would say everybody in this class, it's hard to comprehend that people live like this. But obviously they do. You and I, we don't associate with people like this, but the Bible is telling us there are a lot of people like this. Yes. They have no moral restraint. They're driven by a powerful impulse toward destructive behavior. They have a soul that's completely yielded to sin, submitted to Satan.

But what the Scripture is telling us is to recognize that such speed indicates a heart already set on evil. This is emphasizing the speed by which evil people run to carry out their wicked plans. They're quick to inflict harm on others. They get pleasure from it. Again, we'll get back to narcissists. Narcissists gain spiritual, emotional energy by hurting people, not necessarily physical violence. They seek emotional violence on people. They feed on the energy of other people. They need to see their victims squirming, hurting, just becoming weaker and weaker and weaker

month by month, year by year. Like yes, I've drained the life out of you. That's what a malignant narcissist does to a person. I'm reducing you to nothing, and I'm enjoying every minute of it." There are people who think like that. And they'll do things you may not even know that they're doing. Right. Yes, behind your back. You're inflicting pain on you. And you're getting pleasure from it. That's just sick. I'm sorry. It is. It is sick. It is definitely a sickness.

So what we're seeing here is that the entire person, from mind to hand, the feet, mouth, everything, the entire person is engaged in the pursuit and service of evil. engaged in the pursuit and service of evil. All right, one more, verse 19. I'll get you out of here in a couple of minutes here. And a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren. Now, I suppose the question would be, Rick, what's the difference between this false witness here

and the lying tongue up in verse 16-17. What's the difference there? A false witness is someone who testifies falsely in a legal or public context. A false witness. This is somebody that would say, I swear I heard Doc Burkhart say this. See, knowing that you didn't say it, but telling others in a more formal setting, like a courtroom or an inquiry,

an investigation, a committee. Oh, I'm telling you the truth. At Doc Burkhart, you don't know that man. I know him. I'll tell you what he does. And you see, they're intentionally lying about you. God says, I hate it because God knows you, Doc, and God knows you don't do those things, and he knows that you didn't say those things, and he hates the fact that a wicked person has maligned your character. And I'm telling you, people that do this and narcissists are at the top. They're at the top of, they are character assassinations, reputation assassins. They are character assassinations, reputation assassins. They all day long look for opportunities to go from person to person to lie about their victim.

I think there are people in our class right now, you're going, oh my, that's what's happening to me. I have a person in my life who's doing this to me. Right. Yes. Yes. That's what they're doing. They're spreading false witness about you, telling people what I'm telling you is the truth. But the scripture is telling us people who commit this sin will have grave consequences. They will face judgment for it. This is not an, again, it's not an accidental slip of the tongue. It's in a deliberate act of intentional deception to harm somebody. So it's a profound violation of the Ninth Commandment.

Yes. The irony is a lot of these folks will use a false witness to do something legal. Yes. Jesus was condemned to cross legally. Yes, condemned to by false witness. Yes, but by false witness. The Sanhedrin guys had to go out and find, they searched Jerusalem, try to find two or more people who'd lie about Jesus. Because they had the Jewish law required that they have two or more witnesses.

So it was legal. It was legal, but it wasn't true. So what happens when somebody bears false witness like in a courtroom? I'll tell you what can happen. An innocent person can be convicted and sent to prison. Or a guilty person could be acquitted and released. That's done every day in the world. There are today somewhere right now, there's a court convening somewhere in the world right now, and there's a lying convening somewhere in the world right now, and there's

a lying witness on the stand. It's happening right now somewhere in the world. And some innocent person is going to be sent away to prison or lose a lawsuit that they should have won. Or the reverse, a wicked person is going to be set free somebody murdered someone robbed somebody they're going to be set free or maybe they committed theft in business and they've been sued and they're going to get away with it because they found somebody to go on the witness stand and lie. What makes us sin grievous to God is its potential to destroy

reputations, to ruin lives, to undermine social order, and to corrupt justice. Yes, that's the biggest thing, the corruption of justice. God really, boy, He does not like that at all. Because He's the just judge. Yes. The last one, so with discord among the brethren. So this is the seventh on the list, but in order of severity, it's number one. If you flip it around, we're doing the top seven countdown. We start with number six.

We work our ways, all right, we're working our way up, okay? So, he that soweth discord among the brethren. This is a person who actively, intentionally creates conflict, animosity, division, in a family, in a church, in a company, in any organization. They intentionally do it. That doesn't mean they get up in the morning and say to themselves, I am going to sow conflict. No, their heart is evil. They get fun, they get pleasure from this. It's their life.

Sewing discord. They've got an enemy. They're going to create strife in an organization, in a family. They're going to get somebody... They're going to get people not talking to somebody else. They're gonna get somebody booted out, kicked out, ostracized. They're gonna split something down the middle, divide it. When something's divided, it loses its effectiveness, its power. So here the Brethren is telling you,

he that soweth discord among Brethren. This is talking about sacred relationships. In particular, the family of God, the church. the family of God, the church. Sowing discord is a deliberate strategic effort like planting seeds. Seeds of resentment, seeds of suspicion, seeds of strife, seeds of division. They deliberately plant these seeds and water them and nourish them. Let those seeds come up inside that family or that church. And this sin is singled out as the culminating abomination. It's not just God hates it. This is an abomination.

He's saying this is the ultimate expression of perversity. You don't see any of the big sins that people say, oh, this is really the worst thing you can do. Not even on the list. worst thing you can do. Not even on the list. God says, I'll tell you what makes me angry. Splitting my brethren. Okay. That's what makes me angry. Breaking the harmony, the peace among my children, Yes, going discord and chaos undermining fellowship and harmony People that gossip spread rumors misrepresentation Instigate to pit brother against brother, sister against sister

for their own perverse entertainment. That's what narcissists do. They're entertained by these things. They gain emotional energy by draining emotional energy from other souls. And God says, this is detestable. emotional energy by draining emotional energy from other souls. God says this is detestable. This is at the top of the list. This is detestable to me.

All right. That's it, Doc. I've got more, but it's 18 minutes over the hour. Well, we appreciate the lesson today, Rick. And I'm sure we're taking many of these items to heart, keeping our eyes open, being discerning of the things, the world around us. Make sure, first of all, none of these things are showing up in our own lives, but then also

being able to recognize those things in the world around us as well. We appreciate you being here with us on Morning Manna. We invite you to be here with us again tomorrow. Tomorrow is Faith Friday, and all throughout 2025, we're doing a special emphasis on Fridays on faith and building up your faith. Like Rick said, we talk about faith every day, but we have a special focus on Fridays. We also, on Fridays, participate in the Lord's Supper, and we invite you to be with us as well. And if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, a

confessing believer in Jesus Christ, and you've been baptized in water according to Scripture, then we invite you to participate in the Lord's Table with either with bread and either red wine or grape juice. And we usually do that at the end of our Faith Friday lesson. So we invite you to participate in that. Rick, any final words before we let everyone go for this morning? I'm just, why are you talking?

I'm just reading the comments. I love reading the chat comments during the class. And yeah, so people mentioning you know in families in-laws can be particularly guilty of this sin or they are deliberately dividing a husband and wife. Right and that's going against scripture by the way because, well, we won't get into it right now, but I can do a whole lesson on that. Alright. Okay, well, listen, we love you very much. We want you to hear tomorrow on Faith Friday and help us out by sharing this content on various platforms throughout today's chat.

I've posted several links of different places where we share the content on a daily basis. If you happen to be on one of those platforms, help us out by getting the word out about Morning Manit. We would really, really appreciate it. God bless you. We love you very much, and we'll see you on the Friday edition of Morning Manit.