TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Morning Manna - July 22, 2025 - Proverbs 7:6-10 - The Corner of Seduction

Episode Date: July 22, 2025

In today’s episode of Morning Manna, we explore Proverbs 7:6–10, where Solomon peers through his window and witnesses a young man drifting toward destruction. What begins as innocent curiosity leads to the very doorstep of temptation. We examine the dangers of spiritual naiveté, the seductive pull of compromise, and the need for vigilance in a darkening world. This timeless warning reminds us to guard our steps, our hearts, and the paths we choose to walk. Teachers:  Rick Wiles & Doc Burkhart.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 Tuesday, and we are studying the Book of Proverbs. We're in the seventh chapter, and today we're looking at verses six through ten. Let's invite the Holy Spirit, and then we begin the study of the Word of God. Almighty God, our wonderful Father in Heaven, thank you for this beautiful day. Thank you for life and the promise of eternal life through faith in your Son Jesus. Father, we invite the Holy Spirit

to take charge of this morning manna Bible study and teach us your Word, enlighten us, and illuminate our hearts to see the glory of You, Your Son, Your Kingdom, that we may be brighter witnesses for You in this world. In the name of Jesus, amen. Amen. God bless you and welcome class to another edition of Morning Manna where we continue our study in Proverbs. We are in chapter 7. We're going to pick back up today on verses 6 through 10. So if you'll turn there in your Bibles this morning and follow along with me, we have class members checking in from Switzerland, Germany, Japan, Malaysia. We have someone from Kuala Lumpur today that's tuning in.

So Philippines, of course, and Japan. We appreciate you joining us across the US and Canada as well. Picking back up in verse 6 today of chapter 7 in Proverbs, for at the window of my house I looked through my casement and beheld among the simple ones I discerned among the youth a young man void of understanding passing through the street near her corner and he went the way to her house in the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night. And behold, there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot and the subtlety

of heart. Rick, there's something poetic poetic about verse nine there. It is my light in the evening in the black and dark night. That's almost Shakespearean in tone, isn't it? Yes. A lot of meaning packed in these five verses. We'll start with verse six. For at the window of my house I looked through my casement. Who's the speaker? The father. It's wisdom. The father is speaking to his son and he's giving his wisdom to his son and he's saying to his son, I was at my window of my house. I was looking through the casement, and then the verses go on to tell us what he saw. So the segment focuses on the teacher's vantage point from a place of authority, a place of security, and it starts with the word four. The word four directly connects this observation in verse six to the preceding warnings in verses one through five about the strange woman,

the foreigner and the benefits of wisdom. So the father says he was at the window of my house. Again, this represents home base, a place of security. the house. The house represents a place of order. A place of security. An objective, unbiased observation of the foolishness

going on outside the house. The house represents a place of order, safety, established wisdom, standards. Again, the father is inside the house. He's looking through the window. It's his house. But he's observing what's happening out on the street. He's looking at the immorality that's outside of his home.

So the vantage point, the security of his house, it represents a life ordered by wisdom. We know when we talk about God's house, we're talking about the church. So he's looking out the window of his house. The church, not a building in our sense, it's the church represents the place where the word of God is taught.

So it then says, I looked through my casement. Well, what is a casement? It's a lattice. So what's a lattice? Doc, how would you describe a lattice? Okay. Like a screen, like a screen over a window, but you see through it, but at the same time, it's a protection over a window. Right. And it's, it's made of wood. You think of a lattice like for vines to climb up, they climb up a lattice. You know, it's, it's, you can see through it. It's not solid. So there, this is a lattice over the window. And you get the impression he's, he's crouching down, he's looking through the holes of this lattice. He's partially concealed from the outside. You're looking in, you can't see the full figure of the father who's watching. He's looking.

He's finding a vantage point to look through a hole in the lattice. And he's watching what's going on outside on the street. So you've got an active, careful, discerning observation. And it's, it's hinting at what is about to be revealed. Why, why is the father looking through the lattice? I kind of get the impression, Doc, somebody kind of standing to the side of the window to not be fully observed.

Like there are curtains there. There's a lattice the people outside. He's not fully observed. There are curtains there. He's got enough view that he can see, but people outside can't see him. Right. So he looked through my casement. I looked through my casement, my lattice. This is a deliberate, careful observation. It wasn't, I was walking by the window and I saw something. Now this is a father who has paused

to observe something wrong. He's watching. He's looking. Casement, again, the lattice, that implies partial view. He's watching the scene unfold. Wisdom can perceive the subtle beginnings and the dangerous progressions of foolishness. But wisdom knows in advance where it will end. So the teacher is not merely, like I said, not just passing by the window,

but has paused, has made a deliberate stop at the window, pause has made a deliberate stop at the window, concealed himself from people on the outside, see him. He's, he's looking through the holes of this lattice. He's going, what is going on out there? Yeah. What is that? Yeah. What is that young man doing?

What is he up to? I'm gonna watch him. See, this is, it's like watching, you know, a drug deal going down on the sidewalk. You're in your house and you're watching, you're going, they're up to something. What are they doing? They're passing something to each other.

This is the kind of image we see taking place here. The act of scrutiny is preparing us for the detailed account of what is about to follow. Right. The teacher is learning here. Yes. So what are we being taught? The two cultivate a discerning eye. To actively observe. Don't always make yourself visible. Notice the teacher didn't run out on the street. The father didn't run out on the street and go, hey, get out of here. Yeah. Get off my sidewalk.

No, watching, observing. It's not your duty to stop other people from what they're doing. Unless they're harming somebody that's innocent. So what we're going to learn here in this proverb is to learn from the mistakes of others. Yes. Okay. This is a lifelong process. You're always learning. You're always saying, okay, what can I get out of that? What lesson can I get from this? Verse 7, and beheld among the simple ones. the simple ones. I discerned among the youths a young man void of understanding." So let's break it down into parts here. And beheld among the youths. So this segment of verse 7 describes the teacher's keen observation of the general demographic group that's most vulnerable to temptation

And you've got the words beheld Beheld and discerned I beheld and then I discerned I looked and then I discerned. I looked and then I discerned what was going on. Right. I understood. I understood. So we're, it's emphasizing

the wise person's active, careful, insightful observation of things going on around him or her. You should always be aware of your surroundings. Always. That should just look, especially in today's world, there's so many criminals, you should be aware of your surroundings. For me, it's just a habit. I'm always looking around, I'm not paranoid.

You know, I'm not frightened, I'm not paranoid. In fact, you don't to look frightened or paranoid that attracts that will attract the people to you But you want to be careful you want to carefully look around who's around you? Okay, who's in the room when you go into a room of strangers take a? Census take a look. You know, get a feel of the atmosphere of the room. You know, when I'm driving, I'm using all my mirrors. I'm looking ahead, but I'm looking in my mirrors. Why? I want to know who's around me. I want to

know who's behind me. I want to see the cars that are coming towards me. I'm constantly in my mind is constantly processing. The environment that I'm in. When you go to a public event. You should definitely be aware of who's there If you see somebody a first thing you should do is you should you should look at the exit doors Where are the exit doors? Why? We you just had a shooting in a church a week or two ago. Yes

To two Christians shot to death in church Why? Well, you just had a shooting in a church a week or two ago. Yes. Two, two Christians shot to death in church, mom and daughter in a small church, it probably helped 200 people. And that was a, just a random shooting. That was not a targeted toward the church. Guy was running away from the cops, went into a church. And so the church wasn't targeted, but still it was a target from the cops, went into a church, and so the church wasn't targeted, but still it was a target of the enemy.

You've got to be aware of your surroundings and aware of what's going on. Whether it's at home or a public place. Take your seating in a place that makes not make it makes you the least vulnerable to a surprise attack. Okay, again, this is the wisdom of observing, paying attention. And so that's what we see here. This this man who represents wisdom is peering out his window. There's a lattice. All right, it's thin wood. It has openings. There's solid wood and then there's openings and he can peer through it and he can see what's going on on the outside. And he sees, he sees two groups, simple ones and youths. So there are some older fools.

The simple ones are of different ages. They're described as simple ones. They're lacking wisdom. And among the simple ones are young people. You got to see the difference here. This is a diverse group that's standing on the sidewalk. Different ages. different ages, but they are characterized by being simple, meaning they lack wisdom.

They're fools. This is a congregation of fools. Among the congregation of fools are some young people. A congregation of fools. the older fools. The older fools. The older fools. The older fools. The older fools. The older fools.

The older fools. The older fools. The older fools. The older fools. The older fools. The older fools. The older fools. these older fools. I never thought about fools being trained before, but they generally are aren't they? Yes. So you have here, let's say, yeah, these are young men and women in

their teens, early 20s, the youth, and they're looking up to these older fools who could be in their late 20s early 30s 40s They're looking up to them. Oh, you're cool. I Like hanging out with you. You're really cool The older fools are training the young Fools to be are training the young fools to be. The young people are the fool's farm team. Isn't this what happens in life? Young people get around.

We always think that it's the other young people that made them bad. No, it's older fools. Somewhere they got tutored in foolishness by senior I want to say senior, I don't mean elderly. I'm talking about just people that are older than them. Say, hey, let me teach you some stuff. You know, you're not a kid anymore. Let me let me break you in. I'll make you a man. Watch this. You're not a kid anymore. Let me break you in. I'll make you a man.

Watch this. Among the youth, these are impressionable young people. They are hungry, eager for new experiences. They're untested. Life is new. They're still in their late teens, early twenties. Life is new. They're learning. They have an appetite for excitement, for new experiences. They're processing what is this thing called life. And now they're hanging around some cool, older fools who are teaching them things. One observation we have here in this verse is that people who are susceptible to temptation,

to the allure of the tempter, often frequent the places where the temptation is readily found. In other words, they know where to go to find it. They know what they're looking for and they know where to find it. So, all of them, the simple ones and the youth, all of them are immature. The older ones, I would it, to see if they like it. They're there to be taught. Wow. So, this is a warning

This is a warning that those who do not actively pursue wisdom automatically are vulnerable to deception. Beheld among the simple, discerned among the youths. What I see there, Doc, is this is telling us the comprehensive nature of the Father's insight. I beheld the simple, I discerned the youth. And then I saw one in particular. Then one in particular. All the others watched this one.

What we're going to see here, and I think what happened was the older simple ones were nudging him saying, go on, go on, go in that house. Yeah. Go in that house. He knows it's there. We've been there. We've all been in there. You go in there too. It's your turn. It's time. You're old enough. Go in that house. So we get to the next part, a young man void of understanding. So among the youth is this one particular young man,

and he's void, empty. Void means empty of understanding. Yes. It's interesting that that phrase void of understanding in the Hebrew slash Aramaic is the word lib. And what is is is the word heart. Lacking heart. Now what does that mean? Not love, but lacking discernment about morality, not having any kind of, you know, a spiritual compass in their life at all. It means you have no discernment really of right and wrong. Okay. So void of understanding means this young man lacked discernment,

he lacked insight, he lacked discernment, he lacked insight, he lacked sound judgment, and he lacked the ability to perceive the danger that he was getting in. Again, we see here that phrase, he lacked a young man void of understanding. There's a direct link between lack of wisdom and vulnerability to temptation. Right. Now, keep in mind, even though we're talking about, I mean, this passage on the surface

level, it sounds like we're just talking about, you know, a young man being tempted to do some immoral thing. But really, this is about the spiritual idolatry as well. I mean, that's the deeper meaning here. Anytime we have these references in Proverbs about sexual immorality, they really are about the spiritual idolatry, the breaking of the covenant. So once again, as we talked about yesterday in that breaking of the covenant, here's a group of fools, simple ones,

one man in particular, young man in particular, void of understanding that doesn't understand the consequences of going outside of the covenant. That's right. So this young man is being tempted by the lust of his own heart, by the encouragement of older young men, by the pressure of his peers who were there. Like he's been selected. Right. You're the one. Tonight's your night. You're going to go in tonight. Again, this does not necessarily mean, I mean, it does, but it doesn't, it's not

confined to somebody going into the house of a sexually loose woman, you know, with a red light in her window. But this can apply to many situations where a person's being tempted to enter in, to go into a place where they know it's not right. But there's something pushing, something pulling and pushing. See, there's a pull and a push. the the the

the the the the the the lust for the money. You're being lured to come in and join that inner circle. It could be the pressure to join a Masonic Lodge. I don't wanna go in there. Yeah, but you know what's waiting for you in there? Connections.

You'll be connected to every powerful person in this state. This seduction takes many forms, but the components of the seduction, it's all the same. You're being pulled by your lust, you're being pushed by those outside the covenant who are looking for more members. They're recruiting members. Join our society. We violate the word of God. Join us. And so what we see here is this young man,

he's not mature enough. He's young. We don't know age here, 17, 18. We don't know. He's a young man. To be 16, we don't know. But he's not mature. And he is being sent in,

I say sent, he's being pushed in by the people there. Again, I see it as both the older fools saying, hey, it's your day. This is your time. We've already been there. It's your time. When you come out, you're one of us. This is your rite of passage. How many people at college have joined a secret society in college?

Why? It's a rite of passage. You've got to do this. And when you do it, you're one of us. You've been initiated into our society. These older fools are saying, when you do this, you're going to be initiated into our brotherhood. Right. And then you've got the peer pressure of young people his age saying, go on, do it, do it. Don't be a chicken. But this young man is not prepared. He's not equipped for what he is about to encounter once he crosses that door. Because inside that house is an older, cunning, deceptive, immoral woman who's going to eat him up like lunch. What were we told in yesterday, Proverbs 7 verses 1 through 5, to keep the Father's words, to lay up the commandments, to be ready, to be equipped, to deal with the flattery of the tongue. So this boy has no idea what he's about to encounter.

Yes. And his curiosity, his love, he's driven to go inside. He's driven to go inside. So his spiritual ignorance makes him a perfect, easy target for seduction. He's lost the moment he opens the door. I also think, doc, void of understanding, you've got a contrast with lamp and light. A person void of understanding has no light. They're operating in darkness. So verse 8, passing through the street near her corner, and he went the way to her house. Now again, remember here's this wise father, remember, here's this wise father, not the father of this boy, father of the student he's teaching. And he's saying, son, I watched. I watched these simple ones. I watched these young people. I was peering through the lattice of my house. And He knew where he

lived. Oh yeah. Because the older fools told him. and the peer pressure, the group of the teens his age or young they said, hey, down on this corner is where the fun happens. So the father says he watched him pass through the street near her corner. So he's, again, get this picture. He's watching this gathering outside of his home and he watches.

Now, this woman's house is not right there. It's not across the street from this father. It's down the street. So the father watches what's going on near his home, and then he watches this young man pass through the street and go near the corner. So she's close, she's living close to an intersection. And he went the way to her house. So somebody said when you get down to the corner,

you make a left, you go two doors, and you're there. He passed through the street near her corner, went into her house. This is giving the details of this young man's, it seems like a casual walk. He's not running, he's just walking. He's walking casually, leisurely down the street. And yet it's a dangerous movement. Because every step takes him closer

to the proximity of the seducer. Every step of his foot was taking him closer to the seducer. So he deliberately placed himself within the reach of his soul's predator. Passing through the street again movement through through the public this is out in the public this is visible for everybody to see this is everyday life he's just pat hey what are you doing I's just, Hey, what are you doing? I'm just walking down the street. Where are you going? I

don't know. I'm just walking down the street. He knew where he's going. But if you didn't know anything, you would just say, Oh, where are you going, Joe? I'm just walking down the street. It's visible. But only the discerning eye knew what was going on. So near her corner signifies his dangerous proximity to the immoral woman's dwelling. The corner, to me, it's portrayed as a place of lurking danger. Yes. That's how it's used in other places in the Bible.

How's that, Doc? Like a hidden place. If you've ever gone hunting or know people who hunt, they'll have a blind, a place where they hide so they can hunt game, whether it be a duck or goose or deer or something like that. So you have a blind that you're in. And so that's uh in other places in the old testament, that word corner is used like a trap or blind. That's good. It's a turning point. Right? You make a decision when you get to the corner, don't you? That's right.

you get to the corner, don't you? That's right. Whenever you come to a corner, it means that there are multiple options for the direction you can go. You have a choice. You have to make a choice. So he went to the corner. He knew he was gonna make a choice

when he got to the corner. And he made the choice. And he made the choice. And he made the choice. He went. Have you ever heard. I know, Doc, I know you know the phrase. You say he went down to the crossroads. Yes.

In the entertainment. Industry. People know what that means. went down to the crossroads there was a there was a uh i guess mississippi mississippi delta jazz uh blues singer yeah i can't think of who it was. Robert Johnson, wasn't it? I think you're right. Was it Robert Johnson? And he had very little, this was like 100 years ago, he had very little talent, but he wanted to be famous.

He wanted to play, he dreamed of being a jazz blues player, his blues, a Delta blues. And I don't know how he knew about it. The legend is he went down to the crossroads. There was a specific place, and I'm certain it was Mississippi, and he went to a crossroads where he met Satan. He sold his soul. Folks, you can look this up. I think it's Robert Johnson. If you just Google, went down to the crossroads, you'll find it.

But he sold his soul to Satan. Of course, Wikipedia and everything's gonna tell you, this is just a legend. But when he came back, he could play music. And he became famous. Again, it's over a hundred years ago. He went to the crossroads and he knew why he was going and he made the wrong turn.

When he got to the crossroads, he made the turn where he met Lucifer. So the crossroads, the corner here represents the place where you have to make a choice in the direction you're going. There will always be a crossroads. There will always be a corner. There will always be an intersection. The Bible is always talking about two paths. We are to stay on the old path. So this is a turning point.

He had a choice to linger. Just lingering will get you in trouble. the enemy. The lingering there opens you up. To being pulled in. Because the lingering reveals to the enemy you thinking about it. You're pondering it. you haven't just turned your head and walked by. So even being near temptation, even without the direct intent to sin,

puts you at a severe risk of falling for the sin, just being near it. We see here the insidious beginnings of falling into sin. beginnings of falling into sin. It's initiated by seemingly harmless choices about one's locations, your associations. It's like, we could be wrong. I'm out here in the street. There's a crowd. What's wrong with this? I'm just hanging out with friends. Right. You know, they're not all bad people. I know these people. We're just out here laughing, having fun.

But it's when you're, we all know this, when you're with the wrong people in the wrong place, something wrong is going to happen. You know, I get this analogy many times. A man who says he doesn't want a haircut, but he goes and sits in a barbershop all day, I guarantee he's going to have a haircut before the barbershop closes. What are you doing there? If you say you don't want a haircut, why are you in the barber shop?

So where we hang out will affect us. And if there are certain temptations, certain laws, certain things, you can't handle, you just can't handle it. You just can't handle it. You should not go near any place or anybody that amplifies that desire, because temptation has a slippery slope. Just being in the proximity of the sin that you are vulnerable to is endangering you. Because you're not equipped to handle these things. And so now we see, and he went into her house. All right, he didn't have the strength. He wasn't equipped, he didn't have the Word of God in him.

He didn't have the strength, he's a youth. He's hearing the voices of the older guys saying, go on, when you come out, you're one of us. We'll go get you a beer. The younger ones, his his age are saying, prove to us you're our leader. We'll make you our leader if you do this. We'll elevate you.

So he went in. He went the way to her house. So there's a progression here, there's a transition. First, he's farther back on the street where this wise father is watching. Again, it's not the father of the young man. Right. The father represents wisdom. This young the father is the one talking to us as our he's our father. Okay. So we see this progression, this transition. First, this young man is he's he's farther back on the street near

this this father's house. He's watching out the window, he sees a group of people out there and they're laughing and joking and having fun and so forth. Then he watches the young man walk away from the group. He's just casually walking down the street. Again, think of the father. He's now, he's now leaning back and looking through the lattice to keep his eye on this guy's walking down the street now. I think I know where he's going. Oh, I hope he doesn't do this. I think I know where he's going. Yep, he's going to the corner. Yeah. But see, he's just, the young man's just casually walking step by step. And this is the way temptation takes you, casually.

Just take another step. You're not doing anything wrong. You're just walking. That's right. See, this is what Satan is saying to us. You're not doing anything wrong. There's nothing immoral about walking, is it? And how religious are you? Are you against walking? You're just walking down the public street. But the young man knew where he was going. He knew the older guy said, when you get to the corner, there's a house real close to the corner,

you're going to find some fun. He knew that. But again, it's a casual walk and This is the way it is in life. We are casually walking towards the sin, right? The problem our problem began the moment we took the first step No, the problem began when we were associating with the wrong people, right? That's when it began Then we're taking the wrong steps. Then we go to the wrong place. So now he goes into the house. Notice and, you got the word and, you got this conjunction. This marks a very clear progression from passive proximity to active, intentional movement to the house of temptation. Now his heart's racing.

His palms are sweating now. He's at the house, and he went away to her house. Not in it yet. He now made a beeline to her house. So the house represents the place of illicit intimacy. Where he can consummate the temptation that's in his heart, where he can find what he's looking for. Again, this is not confined to sexual behavior. It has to do with any kind of lost, any kind of illicit appeal to your

carnal nature. But he made a deliberate movement to the place where he could find what he knew was wrong. So he's not innocent anymore. Because his heart overtook his mind. His his heart was sending messages to the brain, move my feet. Yes. Sin is a journey, not a single act. That's really important to understand. Sin is a journey, not a singular act. By the time you get to the act, you have been walking that direction casually. It's just casual walk. Nothing looks out of place.

You're just walking. So we see the doorstep of sin. So what's the warning here? Avoid the peril of proximity. Get that in your head, the peril of proximity. It's not enough to avoid the act of sin, you have to guard against passing through the street toward the corner. That's where you've got to cut it off. A young man still had, he still had an opportunity to turn around.

But he started down the street and he was headed to the corner. First nine. Verse 9. Look at this. In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night. Here's your poetry, Doc. It illustrates the progression of sin. Yes, the twilight. Gets a little darker. The evening.

Gets a little darker. In the black. Gets a little darker in the black. Gets a little darker the dark night. Just sends progression. It begins in the twilight and ends up in the dark night. Oh, this is beautiful writing. I love it as a writer. I just like saying it out loud. in the twilight, in the evening,

in the black and dark night. If just saying that makes you sound profound. It does. So we have a transitional time of day. So, we have a transitional time of day. When this young man is first observed, the blurring of lines of morality, the increasing opportunity for hidden sin. Twilight represents the fading light of day. Twilight is that space each day between clarity of vision and obscurity. While it was still day, he could see. Clearly he could see. But in the twilight, your clarity has been reduced. Things are more obscure now.

You can still see, but less so. So it's a blurring of the boundaries of morality. It entered the twilight. The evening, of course, represents dusk. The sun has now gone down. It's no longer twilight. The sun has gone down. the sun has now gone down. It's no longer twilight. The sun has gone down. And it's the time when, in most societies, it's the time when legitimate

open activities wind down and when illicit activities start to wind up. Why do bad people do things at night? Why is crime up at night? When's the scariest time to walk down a public street? At night. And the later it is, the scarier it is. What is it about darkness? What brings evil out at night? Your deeds are hidden.

The lack of light. The lack of light is what evil needs. So you get this transitional time of day. where the Twilight, now the darkness, provides a cover for activities that would have been shunned in the daytime. Young men didn't go to her house at two o'clock in the afternoon. Why? Too many people were out on the street and could see it. At dark, when it's black, people have gone home, the shops have closed, there's no traffic on the street, the kids are in bed. Now's the time to do this in the blackness of the night.

So daylight represents moral accountability, darkness, the opposite. This also, again, represents, it signifies that temptation works incrementally. Again, we see the progression, daylight, twilight, dark, black. There was a progression. Maybe a lot of those young people that were on the street with him, while it was still daylight, maybe they went home.

They hadn't been fully brought into sin yet. Maybe they went home, except this one young man. He stayed. It was too tempting. He had to wait for darkness to cover his tracks. He needed the darkness to cover his tracks. He needed the darkness to cover his tracks. His tracks would be visible in the light, his movement. So what's it tell us? We have to be careful about the environment that we're in,

the people that we're around, the timing. the the ultimate concealment of illegal acts in the absence of light. So you've got, again, the progression from daylight, twilight, darkness, black, and dark night. So now you've got a deepening moral compromise, a greater distance away from the light of wisdom. It's because evil seeks concealment. It operates in the shadows, seeks concealment, it operates in the shadows, undetected by most people. So the black and dark night signifies deep, complete obscurity, but moral ignorance, a lack of spiritual light.

Remember he's one void of understanding. Remember that at the beginning? This young man is void of understanding. That's how he got here. He was void of understanding, and the result is he's in the house of this harlot. Then our last verse, verse 10. And behold, there met him a woman

with the attire of a harlot and subtle of heart, meaning cunning, a cunning heart. And behold, there met him a woman. So now we have the scene has now shifted. You've got the direct encounter between the vulnerable young man who is being lured by his own temptations to the place where there is an immoral person who will satisfy his immoral temptations. Takes both. Right. What's a whore without somebody who wants a whore?

I mean, if there are no, nobody looking for a whore, a whore's out of business. It takes both. The prostitute is simply supplying what the customer is looking for. Starts with behold, lo, look, look at this. Pay attention to this scene. This is what I've been leading you to in the other

nine verses. We now at the behold part of the story. And when you behold, when you look, what did you see? There met him a woman. She was not just passively sitting there. It wasn't like she was It wasn't like she was baking an apple pie. She was actively waiting for her prey. Yes. It's interesting, and I'm not sure what the other translations said, but that word subtle that's used in the King James.

You ever heard the King James translators? Sometimes I wonder what went through their minds in their translation. But they couldn't find the right English word that matched what came out of the original Hebrew and then translated into the Septuagint. But that word subtle there means to watch out like you're looking for. It's used in other places in the Old Testament like a watchman.

Someone that's looking for the enemy. But in this case, it's someone that's looking for their prey. Yes, it's like a lion laying in the grass waiting on a young gazelle to come walking by. So she's not passively waiting, she's actively seeking. Yes. And the meeting, see, this is described as a meeting. There's a cunning strategic approach of the woman with this young man, It's a meeting.

She has a predatory instinct. She knows that when a young man comes to her door at night in the black of the night, she knows what he's after. He's not selling magazine subscriptions. I was going to say he's not selling soap folks. You know, it's midnight. There's a knock at her door. She knows I got a customer. She knows, I got a customer.

So this highlights the active aggressive nature of temptation, which does not wait to be stumbled upon but actively seeks out its victims. This was her corner and her house. The meeting is the culmination of his progression into her corner and her house in the black and dark night. And now he's face to face with imminent danger. It's a meeting that's been orchestrated and yet he participated in it. Temptation is not always static or hidden. the So, we've now, we've got the scene is set for a dramatic unfolding of her seductive tactics. So she is wearing the attire of a harlot.

It's easy to discern who and what she is. She's dressed differently in the daytime. She wears her professional clothes at night. In the black dark dress. She's dressed differently in the daytime. She's dressed differently in the daytime. She's dressed differently in the daytime. She's dressed differently in the daytime. She's dressed differently in the daytime. She's dressed differently in the daytime. She's dressed differently in the daytime.

She's dressed differently in the daytime. She's dressed differently in the daytime. She's dressed differently in the daytime. She's dressed differently in the daytime. She wears her professional clothes at night in the black, dark night. She changed her attire. Maybe during the daytime she was employed somewhere, had a business. Who knows? she's a very nice person. She's a very nice person. She's a very nice person. She's a very nice person. She's a very nice person.

She's a very nice person. She's a very nice person. She's a very nice person. She's a very nice person. She's a very nice person. She's a very nice person. She's a very nice person. She's a very nice person. the so her dress.

Is intended to be overtly. Alluring provocative. She's clearly advertising to this young man. she can offer forbidden pleasures. So this reinforces the idea that temptation uses sensory appeal. The tempter uses outward sensory tools to lure the vulnerable closer. It's like the last the last steps. See, he's taken various steps, but now he's in the house. There's still an opportunity for him to run. He can still but she has the clothing on. This is the clothing, the provocative sensual clothing overpowers him. This sensory environment,

what his eyes are now seeing. It overpowers him. He doesn't have the strength to defeat what he's now seeing. Her clothing is the bait for the final step. What do hunters do? They put out a scent. The scent does what to the deer? Makes the deer walk in a certain direction, seeking the place where the hunter is waiting for it, the hunter has bait.

There's a deer feeder. There's corn. There's something there that the deer goes, oh, right now I'm going to stop and eat. I smell the scent all around me. The de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de de the scent. He smelled the scent blocks away. But now she's wearing the bait. That bait is the temptation. Take the last steps. You're only five steps away. See, hours earlier he was thousands of steps away. Yes. He couldn't see her clothing, but now he's right there in front of her and the clothing is saying, take the last steps.

Come closer. And she's using her eyes. She's using body language, she's using every tool she's got. And every hormone in his body is firing. And he's in trouble. So this young man, devoid of understanding, doesn't recognize the danger that he's in. All he can think about is, this is what I was looking for. I'm here.

Why not go for it? This is it. And the subtle, the cunning of heart. The woman is deceptive. She's malicious. She has a motive. I'm going to defile your soul and your body. That's what's going on here. For her,

her lust is not his body. Her lust is his soul. You need to think about that one all day. She's not lusting for his body, she's lusting for his soul. He's lusting for her body, she's lusting for his soul. She's cunning Her true inner character is to manipulate, to shrewdly deceive, to bring about malicious harm to this victim. Her actions are premeditated, they're calculated. They are designed to lead the victim to sin She she's clever in devising schemes in hiding her true motivation she wears a mask She traps her victim through elaborate plots

Perhaps her victim, through elaborate plots. Actually, what I'm describing here is a covert narcissist. Covert narcissists wear masks. Covert narcissists hide their true motivation. Covert narcissists manipulate people. They offer them something many times in a sexual way, but the purpose is always to hurt their heart, hurt their soul, hurt them. Because they have no desire for them. It's all a lie.

It's all a lie. It's all a lie. So this woman is not just a figure of lust. She is an agent of destruction. Her outward superficial beauty conceals her inward ugliness. She's ugly to the bone. Outwardly, she's beautiful, but inwardly, she is ugly to the bone. Why? Because she's wicked. She's deceptive. She's a liar. She's a deceiver. She wears a mask. She conceals her motivations. Again, this can be male or female. This doesn't have to be sexual. It can be in business. It can be in a lot of different things. But

there are people out there who deliberately conceal their face with a mask in order to lure you into their trap. Okay, I'm, oh man, I'm 20 minutes over. I'm sorry. Anybody still here? I'm just talking away. Only more than 300 people. That's all.

Okay. No, it's a great lesson today and we needed to go into all of it without missing any part of the passage there because it all fits together. We're going to continue on this theme tomorrow. And so be sure to tune in on the Wednesday edition of Morning Manor. We appreciate you being here. We generally have anywhere from three to four hundred people with us live each weekday morning for our live edition of Morning Man. And we always invite you to be a part of that. The live edition is on faithandvalues.com. That's faithandvalues.com. And we'd love to have you participate. And if you do, you also get to participate in our ongoing chat that's live during the lesson as well. And so that's part

of the benefit of being on the live edition of Morning Manate. You can also watch this at other times throughout the day on various social media channels, and we archive all the content on faithandvalues.com as well. So we invite you to be here tomorrow as we continue this study in Proverbs chapter 7 and would like for you to be a part. Rick, any final words before we sign off for this Tuesday edition of Morning Manna? No, I've held everybody longer than I wanted to. I would like maybe one day, I'd love to find out how these Proverbs are helping you in real life. Are you spotting people in your life? Is the light coming on? You go, oh my, this makes sense now. Are you thinking about something in the

past where you got hurt, you got trapped, and you're like, now I get it. I see it. I'd really be I see it. I'd really be interested in knowing, you know, how is this helping you? So I'm getting a lot of yeses. That's good. Laurie said, yes, every day I see people in things differently. That's good.

That's good. All right. It'll spare you from future pain. All right, let's go. See you tomorrow. God bless you. We'll see you on the next edition.