TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Morning Manna - July 14, 2025 - Proverbs 6:20-24 - The Godly Instruction of a Father and Mother

Episode Date: July 14, 2025

In today’s Morning Manna, we turn to Proverbs 6:20–24 to discover how God’s wisdom—handed down through parental instruction and Scripture—acts as both a guide and a guard. This passage shows us that truth is meant to be tied to our hearts and visible in our lives. We explore how God's commandments walk with us, watch over us, and even whisper to us in the quiet moments—keeping us from destruction and lighting the way forward.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, welcome to Morning Manor. It's Monday and we are excited to be here to start a new week studying the Word of God. We are in the Book of Proverbs chapter 6 and today we're going to tackle verses 20 through 24. Let's pray and invite the wonderful Holy Spirit. Almighty God, our heavenly Father, we pray in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior. Father, your word declares that your Son Jesus and your word are one and the same.

So Father, we have gathered here to feast on Jesus. By faith, we feast on him. And Father, we ask the Holy Spirit to spoon feed us with wisdom and understanding and discernment and discretion and revelation so that we would be brighter lights, saltier witnesses and more loving disciples. In the name of Jesus, amen. Amen. And welcome to Morning Manna. It's the eight o'clock hour here on the East Coast and you're joining us live here this morning on faithandvalues.com. So privileged to have you with us. We have students that are checking in from the Middle East, Switzerland,

Australia, Germany, the Philippines, Japan, the Congo, and Malaysia today. And so we welcome you, our international students, and of course our students across the US and Canada. Welcome here to the Monday edition of Morning Manna. So glad to have you with us. We are continuing our journey through Proverbs, Proverbs chapter six. We're gonna pick back up on verse 20 today, Proverbs six, verse 20 through 24.

Give you a chance to turn there real quick. Morning Manor is an outreach of faith and values fellowship here in Bureau Beach, Florida. And this is our way to minister to those people that are seeking a deeper relationship with Jesus and have are here faithfully. Usually we have about three to four hundred people join us live each day plus innumerable people that join us throughout the day on various social media platforms and repeats. So glad to have you here. Proverbs chapter six, verse 20, read along with me, if you will,

my son keep thy father's commandment and forsake not the law of thy mother. Bind them continually upon thine heart and tie them about thy neck. When thou goest, it shall lead thee. When thou sleepest, it shall keep thee. And when thou wakest, it shall talk with thee. For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life. To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman." God bless the reading of his word today. Verse 20, my son, keep thy father's commandments, forsake not the law of thy mother.

forsake not the law of thy mother." This verse, this phrase, as normal, I break up verses into segments. And so the first segment is, my son keep thy father's commandment. And this segment introduces the instruction with deep affection, establishing the authority of a father and the importance of his specific commands in the life of the disciple. My son, we've seen this throughout the Proverbs, establishes an intimate, affectionate relationship between the teacher and the student, which grounds the instruction in love and care. It emphasizes the sacred duty of honoring and obeying parental authority. It underscores a vital link

between honoring parents and receiving wisdom. honoring parents and receiving wisdom. So this instruction is a divine order established in the family unit where the father and mother's roles are crucial in imparting moral and ethical principles. So disciples of Christ are taught that respect for parental, in this case, I'll qualify it. Respect for paternal instruction is not only a matter of family honor, but a primary act of wisdom and submission to divine order.

So this first segment of verse 20 underlines that the father's wisdom underlines that the Father's wisdom is a valuable inheritance to be carefully guarded and acted upon. Now, before I go any farther, let's take a break. What has happened in the past, well, decades have gone by. The past 40, 50 years in this country, it's hard to believe, we're talking four or five decades, of an unrelenting attack, at least here in America, and I know in other Western societies, an unrelenting attack against the role, the duty, the position of the husband father in the family unit.

Absolutely. I think it's by design. I think it's by design. Absolutely. And look, yes, we know at the head of this attack is Satan. But he has a lot of humans who are willingly participating with him knowing what they're doing. They are in full knowledge and awareness that they are destroying God's divine order of the family unit. They know it. And that makes their actions wicked. family unit, they know it. And that makes their actions wicked. Right.

This has been plotted and planned, carried out, choreographed, implemented by government agencies, by foundations, by think tanks, by universities, by the entertainment media, the news media, by social influencers, by authors. I believe that there is a secretive network in this country that has an agenda. They know each other. They are in a communion against Christ. Amen. They are in a communion against Christ Amen

And they somebody a Think tank a Philosopher somebody said to them years ago you are not going to destroy the Church of God and you're not going to change the moral order of America until you weaken and destroy the family unit. Yes. That's at the core of what's been going on in this country.

There's a documentary, if you haven't seen it, The Grinding of America. It's a good documentary, The Grinding of America. Yeah, think of our society like in a bowl and somebody's using a, you know, stone mallet just to grind and break up and crush the moral fabric of this society. Doc, you know, I come from old German Reformed Church, which doesn't exist anymore. It went away years ago. I did some studying about the church where my family attended, which was built in 1747. I'm talking about the church building in the community where my family attended. All right, 1747. That was a long time ago.

And the only people there were settlers. Right. The United States of America didn't exist. It was a it was Maryland was a colony. Maryland. It was a colony. It was a colony. Some of the things I learned about the early church talk is that the people gathered the German reformed Christians. When they went to church on Sunday, they didn't go in for Sunday school and 20 minute sermon. They stayed all day. Right.

First of all, they traveled by horse. They were on horses, carriages, wagons, by foot. There was a lot of effort just to get to church. There were Native Americans who were not overly thrilled about the presence of the Germans. So you were at risk of losing your hair on your way to church or getting some arrows in your chest. It wasn't your typical Sunday afternoon drive or Sunday morning drive to church. But what I learned, Doc, is that they stayed all day

from early morning and they would depart in time for everyone to get home before dark. So in the summertime, maybe they stayed till 6, 7 p.m. In the wintertime, perhaps they were leaving by, you know, three or four. But there was intense instruction going on. They had their church service, but the rest of the day was intense instruction in the word. The catechism, the instructions to the children. Women were instructed to be godly women.

Men were instructed to be godly men. Children were instructed to be obedient to their parents. This was Sunday after Sunday after Sunday, year after year after year. Imagine trying to get that that method implemented in modern churches today. Imagine the pastor says, hey, we're gonna meet Sunday at 7 a.m. We'll be here till 7 p.m. We're gonna study the word of God. We'll break for lunch.

How many people do you think would stay? How many people you think would stay? See the church has allowed itself to be weakened. Sideline. Because the Christians have said, we don't think being instructed in the Word of God is that important. We have other things to do. The mall's open. There's a great football game on later today. I mean, we bought a boat. We just bought a boat. Yeah, there's all kinds of things that compete what all those things are saying to God They're more important than you and your word

Are we as a nation different than we were in the 19th century and the 18th century You better believe we're different 18th century. You better believe we're different. If those Christians were here today, they would think that they went into Babylon. What changed? The Christians stopped being instructed in the Word. Again, if I had a hat, I'd take it off to the morning man of classmates. I take my hat off to you. You spend an hour every day, five days a week in the Word. 99.999% of the Christians in the world do not do what you're doing.

This is talking about honoring your parents. What's the message I have here? The parents today don't know the word of God, right? How can they pass on the word of God to their children and grandchildren? They don't know the word of God. Right? How can they pass on the word of God to their children and grandchildren? They don't know the word. To me, the biggest gaping hole I see here in Proverbs 20 is that modern American Christians, and I can't speak for other countries, I only speak in the country I live in, have forsaken the teaching of the word of God. And because they've forsaken it,

their families are dysfunctional. You wanna get rid of family dysfunction? Get back to teaching the word of God in the family. But then we get into the topic, we talked about last week, how society has targeted men. Yes. We're going to bring down men. Yes. We're going to bring down men. We're going to make them either abusers or mice,

or turn them into something other than a godly man. And this attack is on feminism. Feminism is from hell. Look at today. It's so strange in the world today defending well-known feminists who are saying transgenderism is anti-woman. Something I agree with. Feminists now are out. Yeah, I mean, it makes sense. It is anti-woman. Yes, but, Doc, we're so far out in the outer space now as a society that even feminists are freaked out by what's going on.

Yes. So, it starts with, my son, keep thy father's commandment. This is submission to the divine order. God created the family unit and he placed the man, the husband, the father at the head of the family unit. Not as a tyrant, but as the leader. And so the father's commandment refers to specific directives, rules, guidance that the family's paternal figure provides to children and grandchildren.

children. To keep means actively observing, retaining, obeying. The act of keeping the commandment is an ongoing process. It's not a one-time event. It's ongoing to keep the Father's commandment. It requires intentional effort, diligence on the part of the disciple, the student, the child. So in this verse, obedience to the Father is presented as the foundational step in a life of righteousness, and it's crucial to avoid the path of the wicked. Yes. So the Bible establishes the Father's role as the primary guide for moral direction and to set ethical boundaries for the family. Now I will tell you right now there are men listening to this Bible class and you're getting it and you're saying yes I get it I understand it and I understand it. And I am going to assert my godly ordained position

in my family. And I am going to teach my family. And I am going to set boundaries. And I'm gonna tell you right now, some of you are going to encounter intense opposition from inside your family. intense opposition from inside your family. And oftentimes it's going to come from your wife or an in-law.

Somebody is going to rebel against you being a godly man. Right. Not going to it's not going to be pretty if you're fortunate to have a wife who says, thank you Jesus, you answered my prayer, my husband is taking on his godly role and I am going to back him and support, praise God, you'd be grateful. But the feminism in today's society has trained a lot of young women to never ever allow a husband to lead. Right. Sad, it's wicked. It's wicked. It's evil.

Yes. And I'll tell you who gets hurt, the children. And then the grandchildren because it's passed on down through society. And I would say it hurts women too. Of course it does. And you know, more than they would ever care to admit or the feminists would care to admit, because basically they're told we don't you don't need men, you don't need them. They're an option.

And they are for a lot of women, men are optional. You don't need them. They're an option. And they are for a lot of women. Men are optional. You don't need it. In fact, they're women becoming men. So, you know, it's just nuts this world that we're living in. And yet the scripture has always affirmed the standard, a father and a mother teaching the word, a father and a mother teaching the word, a father and a mother teaching the word,

a father and a mother teaching the word. That's the standard. I saw, I read an article several weeks ago, Doc. I don't recall the exact numbers. I don't wanna quote numbers, but a shocking high percentage of young men, and I'm talking like under age 25, let's say 18 to 25, I don't know if those are the exact ages, but it was a young audience, a shocking number of young men in America have not dated

in years. Right. They're afraid. They're afraid of the women. Okay. They just, they, in that article, they were, they, they interviewed various young men and they just said, it's too much trouble, it's not worth it. Right. Not worth it. Too much, I mean, they didn't use the word spiritual warfare but that's really what it was. Yeah.

Too much emotional confusion, baggage, confrontation. confusion, baggage, confrontation. And they're also, they don't even know who they are as a man, they don't know. That's the biggest issue right there. And you're being told by society, you're worthless, you're an option. You're an option. Right.

Now, let's get to the next part. Forsake not the law of thy mother. I'll notice the first part. Keep thy father's commandment. Second part, forsake not the law of thy mother. The mother's not giving commandments. the mother is laying down the law. Father is giving commandments. Father is giving principles to live by. The mother says, we're going to implement them. Here's the law. This is the way it is in our house.

Forsake not the law of thy mother. It refers to a broader instruction. Now, it sounds like I'm saying that the mother is tired. That's not what I'm saying. The mother is teaching gentleness. The mother is teaching the subtleties of daily living, relationships, having a well-rounded and compassionate character. These are the laws of the mother.

She's teaching the children. Here's how to be kind. Here's how to be affectionate. Here's how to be empathetic. Here's how to be empathetic. Here's how to be generous So the law the mother is not a hammer it's it's a velvet glove So the the mother's instruction is a spiritual anchor And it's there to prevent the children from falling into temptations, pitfalls, but here's the interesting thing. The wisdom imparted by the mother is just as authoritative and essential as the father's

commandment. Yes. They go hand in hand, right? They're not separate. The father and the mother have to be unified. There can't be division between the husband and the wife, the father and the mother. They have to be unified to present the commandments and the law for the family. That's not the case in most homes today. They're split apart. Husbands and wives at each other's throats. Or divorced and separated and the children are growing up with a single parent. And or one member of the family has just checked out, not doing his or her duty.

Look, this is for the ideal family. Right. So the mother's instruction holds just as much vital authority as the Father's commandment, and it is to be cherished. Including both the Father and the Mother in this verse is a biblical principle of honoring both parents. If you desire a life, a blessing, If you desire a life of blessing, the commandment to honor your mother and father is the only commandment that comes with a blessing, comes with a promise. What's the promise, Doc?

You live long. That's right. Long life. It's the commandment with promise. Bless you. Honor your father and mother and you live long. What's the reverse? Dishonor your father and mother, you may not live long. Your days will be cut short. Yeah, your days will be cut

short. you may not live long. And your days will be cut short, yeah. Your days will be cut short. So, disrespecting or neglecting your mother's instruction exposes one to moral danger. That's assuming that your mother gave you instructions. This is all based on the assumption that the parents are doing what they're supposed to do.

If the parents abdicate their responsibility, all of this falls apart. And that's why society falls apart. That's right. Verse 21, bind them continually upon thine heart and tie them about thy neck. So this phrase, the first phrase, first segment, bind them continually upon thy heart. It speaks of the necessity of internalizing parental and divine instruction.

Bind them. This speaks specifically to the father's commandment and the mother's law. We're being told in the ideal family that children should have their father's commandments and their mother's instructions tied around their neck in the ideal family. It says, bind them, excuse me, I'm jumping because this says, bind them continually to thine heart. We'll get to the neck in a minute.

Okay. I'm jumping. Tie them about my neck as a second part, but we're looking right now upon the first part, bind them continually upon my heart. So the heart is the seat of your will, your emotions, your desires. It's the center of your being. It's where you are enthroned, your heart. Yes. It's the seat of who you are. The instruction is to bind them upon your heart.

Internalize wisdom. Make it central to your thoughts, your emotions, your will. Internalizing means transforming knowledge into obedience that is lived. Whatever's in your heart, all right, this is what drives your actions. So binding wisdom to the heart creates a moral compass. We are to do it continually. This is not a one-time act.

This is not to say, hey, I passed catechism, I'm in. No? You'd be wise to study catechism the rest of your life. Bind the Word of God continually in your heart. The continuous nature speaks of spiritual discipline and an ongoing effort that's required to maintain a wise heart. Binding wisdom to your heart is the antidote to forwardness, to perverseness, to wicked imaginations, all the other things in the first five chapters of Proverbs. Right. And now we're being told how to avoid the things that we read in the other chapters.

Bind the instructions, commandments to your heart continually. And then, segment two, and tie them about your neck. This is now an external manifestation of wisdom. Right. I bind them to your heart is internal. Tie them around your neck is external. That's right. This isn't a private faith that we have. How many times in your life have you said, well, you know, I have a very private devotional life? It's kind of their way of saying I get away with everything. Isn't it? Or I'm not going to act in any way that gives away the secret that I'm a believer of Christ. Right. Doesn't mean that they're necessarily doing anything wrong, they're just not doing anything

right. There you go. And they can skate through life. Yeah, I'm saved. I'm a Christian, but I don't let anybody know about it, especially at work. Yes, secret agent Christians, I call them. Yeah. They're so secret, they don't even know it.

Why the neck? The neck connects the mind and the heart. You bind them to the neck. You're connecting the mind and the heart. Spent a lot of time yesterday, Doc, studying neuroplasticity. Here's a word I haven't used for a while. Doesn't generally come up in casual conversation. But I was, yeah, but your brain, your brain is mushy and and and able to be molded.

That's basically what it is. You got it. That's exactly what it is. You got it. That's exactly what it means. Your neural pathways are neutral. Your mind is neutral. It'll do whatever your heart tells it to do. You program your mind. So this tells us to tie the commandments around our neck, connect our mind and our heart, integrate intellectual understanding and moral commitment. Make the commandments visible to others. Publicly declare that you are committed to God's ways.

Let people know it's part of your daily life. Verse 22, When thou goest, it shall lead thee. When thou sleepest, it shall keep thee. And when thou awakeest, it shall lead thee. When you walk, it will lead you. So now it's talking about your active life, your daily walk, your decisions, your professional and social interactions every day. That's what this means. When you go, when you go out into the world to live every day, the commandments, the instructions

will go with you. The instructions are now internalized and bound to the heart and tied about your neck. One reason people don't tie them about their neck is so that they can get away with things and no one says, hey, wait a minute. I see you have the word of God tied around your neck. What you just said, what you just did, that doesn't compute. There's something that's not right here. That's the reason for the instruction. Right. It's to keep you in line.

It's not to brag. It's not to say, I'm better than you. You see, I got the word of God. I'm publicly wearing it because I'm telling you I'm better than, that's not the reason. It's to keep you straight. It's to keep you straight. It's to keep you in line. We need reminders.

It's wisdom is your compass. It gives you clear direction. When you go, let wisdom be your compass. When you go, let wisdom be your compass. You know, if you're flying a plane and you're just a few degrees off course, you're going to miss the airport you're going to by 100 miles. Just one degree. Yes. You're going to miss the airport you're going to by a hundred miles. Just one degree. Yes, you're going to miss it by a hundred miles.

At least 60. You're going to arrive there and go, where's the airport? I'm lost. The purpose of the Word of God is to keep us from getting lost in the daily active affairs of life. And so we are to have it available every day in everything that we do. You know, there's something I had a friend of mine that was going through flight training that shared with me one time that, you know, when you plot a course to go somewhere else, and I don't know all the particulars and everything. But it's not just, well, you point the plane and then it goes to it. You're constantly adjusting along the trip. It's not like, you know, well, I pointed I'm heading to Orlando, go, play and go. No, because there's wind that happens, but coming

at you, coming behind you, pushing to your left to your right. That will blow you off course. Just the even the air itself, sometimes air is light, sometimes air is heavy. So you're constantly making adjustments. And that should be the same thing that the word of God is doing to us each and every day as well. It's not that there's just one destination

which we're trying to get to, which is of course our goal, but it's a thousand little decisions along the way, a thousand little course corrections. Otherwise, if you don't make those little course corrections on the way, at some point you either miss the destination or you have to make a major course correction. And so the word of God working in us, those commandments, those laws in us are those small course corrections

that occur each and every moment of the day as the word of God is working through us. That's right. So, when I was in my 20s and early 30s, I had a close friend who was a pilot. And we would often, you know, on a weekend, take a trip, you know trip for a couple hours in a plane. We'd rent a plane a Cessna and just fly around for the fun of it. And so I would be seated in the co-pilot seat.

And times Drew would say, here Rick, I'm gonna let go of the stick here. I want you to fly it. Just keep the plane right there in the center on this gauge. See, look at the gauge, just keep it centered. It was difficult. It was difficult to keep that plane flying in a straight line.

Even with autopilot, the autopilot is making the adjustments. That's right. But the adjustments are still taking place That's the way it is with life, okay There are winds that blow There are trimmers that shake there are boulders that fall down in our path. There's all kinds of things that happen in life And we have to work at at going in a straight line And sometimes we we suddenly wake up and realize I am way off course. How did I get here? What happened?

If you find yourself in that situation, you simply go to the Lord and say, Father, I'm lost. Get me back on the right path. Lead me. Get me back. His desire is for you to be on the right path. He's not gonna paddle you all the way back to the right path. Lead me. Get me back. His desire is for you to be on the right path. He's not going to paddle you all the way back to the right path. I mean, that's not his, it's

just not the Father's way. His desire is for you to be on the right path of life. So there's some things here I want you to see in this. First is, when you go, it shall lead you. So this is talking about the daily affairs of life. You go, you've left your house, you're going to work, you're going to school, you're going to church, you're going to social club, whatever it is, you're going, you're outside of your home, you're going. Wisdom shall lead you. Segment two, when you sleep, it shall keep you. So now wisdom is a protector during times of rest,

during times of vulnerability, during times of vulnerability, during times of unconsciousness. We have John Mark here today. You know, a month ago, he was in a coma for six days from an accident, but the Lord kept him in his state of unconsciousness. He was vulnerable. He couldn't wake up.

But wisdom was there to watch over him. Yes. So when you sleep, even if you sleep for six days. Wisdom shall keep you. To me, that is a great thought of reassurance. That when I'm vulnerable, when I'm physically and mentally inactive and unable to function at my best, wisdom shall keep me. When life has beat me up so bad that I'm lying on the ground, bleeding, moaning, hurting, wisdom shall keep me. Wisdom is a guardian that provides protection even

when you are unable to protect yourself. Even when you're unaware that you need this protection, wisdom is protecting you. It is both a physical protection and a spiritual protection. It protects you during, and it gives you, not only protects you, but it gives you a deep, peaceful rest because you can go to sleep knowing wisdom is protecting you You know, I made a joke at the beginning about the lightning yesterday, you know So hey I ran inside and no actually I like storms. I like to be on the porch.

I like to be on the porch and watch. But even though the lightning was extremely close and sharp, I knew I was protected. You have that peaceful assurance. Who is directing the lightning? Amen. All right. So this is what wisdom does for us.

It gives us that assurance. Even when we're asleep, even when we're unconscious, even when we're too weak and vulnerable to take care of ourselves. Wisdom is there to protect. Then the third one is, and when thou awake us, it shall talk with thee. Wisdom is a constant companion.

Wisdom is a constant companion. When you awake the dawning of a new day. Your eyes have opened. You've come out of the sleep state. And guess who's there? The Word. The Word, wisdom. The wisdom watched over you through the night while you slept. Yes.

Oh. Good morning, sunshine. I've been here all night long. Amen. Get that down in your spirit. Get it down in your spirit. When you go to sleep, wisdom is there at your bedside watching over you. I think there are some elderly, frail people listening to us right now, Doc, who live alone. And you needed to hear that.

Wisdom is by your bedside while you sleep. Amen. Protecting you. And when you wake up, wisdom's there. Say, hey, good morning. Good morning. I'm telling you the very, very first thing, the moment my eyes open, I say, good morning, Papa. Thank you for a new day. I say it the moment I wake up. Good morning, Papa.

It shall talk with thee. Wisdom immediately communicates with you upon waking. Why? To provide you counsel and guidance throughout the day. Wisdom is saying, Good morning, I'm here. I've been here all night glad to see you awake I've got I've got good things for you today we're gonna get through some difficult times I've got some surprises I've got some blood let's go get up let's go have you thought about wisdom as your companion? Think of wisdom. The embodiment is the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is in you. The Holy Spirit is the one who provides this wisdom to you. Wisdom is talking. The Holy Spirit is talking, the Holy Spirit is talking. There's an intimate ongoing relationship with God, with his Spirit, a source of continuous counsel, guidance, advice. This intimate relationship is not just some religious concept, but this is a real life active conversational presence in your spirit, in your heart, your mind. I don't know what to do with religious Christians who scoff at… I've had them scoff at me when I've said I talk with the Lord or I heard the Lord say, and they go, hmm, do you hear voices?

I'm like, you mean the Lord doesn't talk to you? Don't look at me like that. Like I'm the oddball. I'm looking at you. You're the oddball. You don't hear the Lord. Well, you're not talking to him. Your ears are stuffed up.

He's talking. How do I know the word says so? Yes. That's how you know. He's talking when you wake up. He's reminding you to engage with the truth before you start the day. So, let's look at verse 22 again. When thou goest, it shall lead thee. When thou sleepeth, it shall keep thee.

When thou awaketh, it shall talk with thee. So there's a threefold promise in this verse. Wisdom offers continuous guidance, protection and companionship. It leads us when we go, it keeps us when we sleep, it talks with us when we awake. Amen. Have you ever thought of it this way? This threefold promise about wisdom. It travels with us when we go. It stays by our bedside while we sleep. It communicates with us immediately when we awake. Verse 23, "'For the commandment is a lamp and the law is light, "'and reproofs of instruction are the way of life.'"

For the commandment is a lamp and the law is light. This segment explains the purpose of both parental and divine instruction. That it has a power to illuminate the path that we walk upon in a morally dark world. The world is dark. The word for, for the commandment is. Four connects verse 23 with verse 22. Explaining why wisdom provides guidance and protection throughout the day and night for the commandment is a lamp, the law is light.

So the scripture is using this powerful imagery to describe the illuminating nature of divine instruction. See, the instruction that a mother and father give to their children should be divine, meaning they got it from the word of God. That's right. I hate to say it, I received no instruction from my father and mother. Whatever godly influence I received was from my grandparents and from other relatives who were strong German reformed Christians. But that didn't happen in my immediate family. So I have no memories of my father or mother imparting to me wisdom or instructions, even

bad advice. I didn't even get bad advice, doc. A disconnect, detached from reality. Children need their parents to instruct them. Right. But the parents need instruction. That's to do. Well, they need instructions because they didn't get instructed. Right. Once this chain is broken, it just continues to produce dysfunctional families. Yes.

I mean, it's difficult enough, even when you had families that were in church for most of the day on Sundays, and even then they had to deal with real issues of sin and everything else involved in it. How much more so today should the priority on the Word of God and teaching, not just for children, but for the adults as well, should be? But there's no emphasis on that, Rick. It's all about lifestyle. It's all about, let's have fun with God. You know. God's a fun God. If God isn't exciting, then no one will come to church. That's the idea.

And most of the music that is passed on as worship is really entertainment. It's to make the congregation feel good about being in church. And even the people that write the songs admit that. Yes. They admit it. They're writing to the audience, not to the Lord. That's right. I want you to notice something. For the commandment is a lamp and the law is light.

They're not the same. Yes. What's the difference? A lamp, think about you're holding a lantern. Same would be for flashlight. Today we have a flashlight, but let's say a lantern. A lantern is providing immediate illumination for the steps directly ahead of you.

I can see my feet and just a few feet ahead, but everything else is dark. But the light, the light provides broader illumination, lights up a bigger landscape, exposes hidden dangers. See, if I go outside with just a flashlight. Yes, they don't do me any good. All right. So I've got a large creek that runs through my property and it's got alligators. When I go outside at night, I got to have more than a flashlight.

I have to turn on lights. I have to light up the yard. Why? I need to know if there's an alligator 10 feet away. If I have just a flashlight, I'm not going to see it. Turn on the lights now. Hey, I can see the whole yard now. This is the difference. This is why it says one is a lamp, one is a light. So wisdom exposes the darkness of ignorance, the darkness of ignorance, the darkness of temptation. It enables us to walk with clarity and confidence. And then Segment Two says, and the reproofs of instruction are the way of life.

Boy, people don't like that word, do they? Reprove. No, that means sometimes your high end is gonna sting and burn because your father's gonna give you a loving slap. Not cruel, Not destructive. But a wake up. Hey, remember whose boss? Remember whose rules run this show? These are reproofs of instruction. Discipline, correction, rebukes, warnings. Why? Because the Father loves us. It's not His anger.

He doesn't shame us. He doesn't humiliate us, but he will take us aside and say, look, I can't tolerate this, can't permit this. You should never punish children in front of other people. Should always be taken aside. If you do it in front, you're humiliating them. You're shaming them. They'll remember the shame for years. Now I used that thread on my son Jeremy

and when he was in the, what grade was that? I want to say the fifth grade. I used the thread of a doc. The principal, this was elementary school, the principal called me and said, Mr. Wiles, I need you to come over to the school, talk to me about your son. And I did. And I had to leave work, and this was back when leaving work in the middle of the day was a big deal, okay? And employers didn't like it. Okay? And I remember, I say, oh, I got to leave work.

And I had a grouchy boss at that time, and he was, you know, giving me the evil look for doing this. So, I wasn't in a good mood to start with. So, I went over to the school and met with the principal and found out what Jeremy was doing, you know, and then the principal brought Jeremy into the office. And I looked at Jeremy and I said, Jeremy, if Mr. So-and-so, the principal, if he ever calls me again,

I'm telling you, I'm gonna come to the school and I am going to punish you in front of all the students. And if you run away from me, I'm gonna chase you down the hallways. If you go into the cafeteria, I'm going to jump over lunch tables. I don't care where you're going to go. I'm going to upset desk. I'm going to find you."

And he and Jeremy were sitting there literally turning white and shaking. And the principal was doing his best not to laugh. Okay. And kind of putting his head down, you know, with a grin on his face, you know. And, you know, and I said, Jeremy, you get the message? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. All right. So I did use that threat, you know. I don't know if that was good parenting skills. It was the best I had at the time, Doc. But the point I'm making is I would never do something like that. I would never do something like that. I wouldn't carry out that threat.

Okay. But he didn't know that. He didn't know it. He didn't know it. And he thought my dad's crazy enough to do this. He didn't know it and he thought my dad's crazy enough to do this. You know, I am I I will never have the principal call my dad again. Okay, and it didn't happen again. It never happened Okay But the father reproves us and he doesn't shame us. He doesn't do this in front. He takes us aside

why because Although he expresses his displeasure, he does not express rejection. The Father doesn't reject you. He reproves and gets you back on the right path. Amen. Okay, so. Okay. So, you know, one time when Jeremy's daughter, Avalon, how old is she now? She's grown up. But this was back when she was about three years old. And I was, Susan and I were at

Jeremy and Teyana's house and I don't know, I don't recall what Avalon did. But you know, Jeremy punished her for whatever she did. And, and I kind of- Sweet Avalon, sweet. Yeah, yeah, sweet little Avalon. Avalon. Oh yeah, her. And, and I kind her. And I didn't interrupt Jeremy punishing her, because I wouldn't do that when a parent's carrying out discipline.

But after he did, I took him aside and I said, hey, I think you're a little hard on her. OK? And he said, dad, why weren't you this patient with me when I was three years old? And I said, because I was in my 20s. And he had a shocked look on his face. I said, have you never done the math? Have you never figured this out?

I was in my 20s when you were three. I was foolish myself. Yeah. And he goes, no. I said no. So now I'm older and I'm more patient. And obviously, he smiled and said, well, I'll take that lesson, okay? So we grow as we age, we mature as we age. And what I'm saying is, our heavenly father is the most mature one in the room. Amen. He's not going to humiliate you.

He's not gonna reject you. He's not going to make you feel like trash. He's not gonna do any of those things. His reproofs are gentle. His reproofs are loving. His reproofs are meant to keep you from straying toward destruction because he loves you. His goal is always restoration,

always reconciliation, always to get back on the right path. Why? He's got a family reunion up ahead. His end game is the family reunion. And he's not gonna lose you on the path to the reunion. Amen. Okay, verse 24, over time.

To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of the strange woman. Okay, we're back to her. Here we go again. The strange woman. Remember, the strange woman is a person outside the covenant, not necessarily a woman, not necessarily a hooker with heavy makeup. It is anybody and anything that is enticing you away from obedience to God's commandments. There you go. Okay.

It's a constant draw of idolatry. And idolatry means worshipping anything other than God. Yes. So, the evil woman in this verse represents all forms of immorality, sin, loss, whatever it is. Anything that's a threat to your wellbeing and would bring about a rupture in your relationship with God. So the purpose of wisdom is preventive to keep you from that temptation.

Because it will bring harm to your life from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman so it identifies the primary tool of an immoral person deceptive seductive speech and it's telling us it's so powerful to humans that divine wisdom is necessary to resist it. God knows it. He gives you a tool to resist the tools of the devil. The devil's got a tool in his hand and and God hands you a tool and says here here's your tool. So this person that represents immorality uses the flattery of the tongue as the primary instrument of seduction. Deceptive words that are smooth and enticing. All right, so

it is teaching us that temptation often comes disguised in smooth words. Smooth words are pleasing. That's what makes them so dangerous. That's why you need wisdom to identify them. But flattery is insincere, it's manipulative. It's designed to appeal to your vanity, to make you drop your guard, to lead you into a trap. It's cunning, it's persuasive, but the aim is to lead you to a trap. is to lead you to a trap. Okay, I got a lot more but let's I'm gonna wrap it up here doc. We got a whole week to talk about

it. So I know. Praise the Lord. Well, hope you've gained some wisdom today from this passage of Scripture and both serving as a warning and a reproof, maybe for some, but an encouragement for others. And so, lean on the Word, folks. Don't neglect the commandments of your father and your mother. Praise God. And so, well, we appreciate you being here today, and we invite you to be back here tomorrow morning during our live edition of Morning Manna, 8 a.m. on faithandvalues.com. And just a reminder that you can listen to previous editions of Morning Manna here on faithandvalues.com but also on various social media platforms like X, Rumble, YouTube, and others as well. And we encourage you to help us to share this content. And let's

bless others with the instruction in the Word of God. Rick, any final words before we dismiss our class for today? I just hope overall that morning manna is helping you have a deeper, closer relationship with the Lord. That's the reason I do this. Amen. That's what I want to hear from people. You're not the same. You've gotten closer to your Father. Praise God. All right. Well, praise the Lord. We invite you to be back here with us same time tomorrow, 8 a.m. for our live edition. And like I said, be sure to help us share this content with your friends and neighbors as well. God bless you. We love you and we'll see you on the next edition

of Morning Manna.