Day 310: Proverbs 25-27 | Read The Bible In A Year | Bible Study with Commentary by Dr. Manny Arango — Transcript

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1. 0:00Hey Bible nerds, this is Dr. Manny
2. 0:02Orango. Welcome to the Bible department
3. 0:04podcast powered by Arma. We are walking
4. 0:08through the entire Bible in a year. You
5. 0:10can go to the description or the bible
6. 0:13department.com to download a reading
7. 0:15plan and join the journey.
8. 0:24Emily, welcome to day 310.
9. 0:27WE ARE ALMOST [screaming] AT THE END OF
10. 0:29THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. Can you believe
11. 0:30it? It feels like that has flown by.
12. 0:33Well, we got today and tomorrow left to
13. 0:36dig into the book of Proverbs. I've been
14. 0:38loving our time together studying this
15. 0:41book of wisdom. Today we've got three
16. 0:44Proverbs. Proverbs 25, 26, and 27. If
17. 0:49you haven't done the reading, this is
18. 0:52your chance to stop the video, pause the
19. 0:54audio, go get the reading done. We want
20. 0:58this podcast to supplement your Bible
21. 1:01reading, not substitute for it. So, go
22. 1:04get Proverbs 25 through 27 done and
23. 1:08read. Let's cross it off the to-do list.
24. 1:11Not like a chore, but you know what I
25. 1:13mean. We're going to cross it off the
26. 1:14to-do list and then come back and we can
27. 1:17uh enjoy the episode together. Uh for
28. 1:19everyone who's done the reading, let me
29. 1:21jump into context clues, then nerdy
30. 1:23nuggets, and then our timeless truth. I
31. 1:25want to kind of give a big picture. So,
32. 1:28what are the proverbs actually doing?
33. 1:31Okay, obviously we don't have like
34. 1:33historical context or author context or
35. 1:37audience context or anything like that
36. 1:39today, but what I do want to do is just
37. 1:42give you a 30,000 ft idea of what the
38. 1:46proverbs are trying to accomplish. And I
39. 1:48think I can say it in this one sentence
40. 1:50that the goal of the proverbs are to
41. 1:52teach you, train you, instruct you on
42. 1:57how to think, not what to think. I
43. 2:00actually think that's the goal of
44. 2:02wisdom. Generally speaking, that wisdom
45. 2:05doesn't just tell you what to think, but
46. 2:09how to think. I don't know if you've
47. 2:10ever interacted with someone who's truly
48. 2:13wise and you've asked them for advice.
49. 2:15If someone's really, really wise and you
50. 2:17ask them for advice, they'll ask you a
51. 2:19million questions and they'll kind of
52. 2:22lead you to an answer. And by the time
53. 2:24you get to that answer, you'll feel like
54. 2:26you discovered the answer on your own. I
55. 2:29do that all the time. Okay. My goal
56. 2:32isn't to make people dependent on me.
57. 2:35And if I just tell people what I think,
58. 2:37but never help them to understand how I
59. 2:40think. I've trained them to just be
60. 2:42dependent on asking me for wisdom. But
61. 2:44the goal is not to be wise in my own
62. 2:48eyes. The goal is to help another person
63. 2:51to actually be wise and attain wisdom.
64. 2:53And so we can see that in two little
65. 2:57lines that we've got from today's
66. 2:59reading. And I want to like highlight
67. 3:01this. We're going to get into my top.
68. 3:03We'll try to do top seven, maybe top
69. 3:06eight. We'll see. We'll see. We'll see.
70. 3:07Uh I've got 10 written down, but you
71. 3:09know, I don't want this episode to be
72. 3:11too long, okay? But I want to give us a
73. 3:14proverb that really unlocks what the
74. 3:17book of Proverbs is doing as a whole.
75. 3:20And that's Proverbs chapter 26. So this
76. 3:22our context clue for the day. Proverbs
77. 3:24chapter 26, we're going to read verse 4
78. 3:26and then we're going to read verse 5.
79. 3:28And from the outside, it's going to look
80. 3:30like these lines don't agree with each
81. 3:32other. Okay? Proverbs 26:4 says this,
82. 3:36"Do not answer a fool according to his
83. 3:39folly." Pretty clear. Do what? Do not do
84. 3:44not don't do not. Nope. Don't do it. Do
85. 3:49not answer a fool according to his
86. 3:51folly, or you yourself will be just like
87. 3:53him. All right. Verse five. Answer a
88. 3:56fool according to his folly, or he will
89. 3:59be wise in his own eyes. What? How do we
90. 4:02have two verses here that contradict,
91. 4:05that disagree? Well, it's because the
92. 4:08goal of wisdom literature is not to tell
93. 4:10you what to think, but how to think. And
94. 4:13Proverbs can't teach you how to think
95. 4:16unless it gives you two pieces of advice
96. 4:19that are in contradiction to each other.
97. 4:22So what is Proverbs chapter 26 actually
98. 4:25saying? Well, it's saying sometimes you
99. 4:28shouldn't answer a fool and then
100. 4:30sometimes you should. Which means wisdom
101. 4:32is not one sizefits-all. Wisdom actually
102. 4:35requires that you know the circumstance,
103. 4:39know what's happening, know what's going
104. 4:40on, that you have an intimate awareness
105. 4:44of, you know, a scenario and then can
106. 4:48apply not just general wisdom but
107. 4:51specific advice for specific scenarios.
108. 4:54So there are times where answering a
109. 4:56fool according to his folly, bad idea.
110. 4:58Sometimes answering a fool according to
111. 5:00their folly, it's a good idea. depends
112. 5:03on the situation. That does not mean
113. 5:05that truth is relative. That doesn't
114. 5:08mean any of that. That's wild. That that
115. 5:10idea is crazy. But what it does mean is
116. 5:13that I don't have the same answer every
117. 5:17time for this seemingly similar
118. 5:20situations. I, as a leader, have to take
119. 5:22into account that there are different
120. 5:24nuances that require nuanced answers and
121. 5:29responses from me. And I would say this
122. 5:33verse or these two verses are proof that
123. 5:36what Proverbs is really trying to get
124. 5:38you to do is to learn how to think, not
125. 5:43what to think. Cuz that is what it means
126. 5:46to actually be wise. Family, the wait is
127. 5:49over. My brand new book, Crushing
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149. 6:43right, back to the episode. All right,
150. 6:45let's dive into our We're going to say
151. 6:48top 10. We'll see how many we can get
152. 6:49through. Our top 10. Top 10. Air quotes.
153. 6:52Top 10. We'll see how many we can we can
154. 6:54handle today. Uh, Proverbs 25:2
155. 6:58says this, "It is the glory of God to
156. 7:02conceal a matter." So, God likes to
157. 7:05conceal stuff. Okay. Go uh it's the
158. 7:08glory of God to conceal a matter. To
159. 7:10search out a matter is the glory of
160. 7:12kings. Okay. Now, here's another thing
161. 7:14that I do when I read Proverbs.
162. 7:17Obviously, we don't live in a world with
163. 7:18kings. So, I just kind of substitute the
164. 7:20word leader. Leader. it I by by by
165. 7:24subbing out the word king and putting in
166. 7:26the word leader it actually helps me to
167. 7:29contextualize the proverbs in a really
168. 7:31really helpful way. So Proverbs 25:2
169. 7:35what does it mean? It means that God
170. 7:36hides stuff and we seek it out. That's
171. 7:39right. Hide and seek. Okay. So if wisdom
172. 7:41is worth having, it's worth digging up,
173. 7:44unbearing. Wisdom is always going to be
174. 7:46buried. It's always going to be hidden.
175. 7:48The best things in life have to be
176. 7:50revealed. They have to be searched out.
177. 7:53Okay? And you got to kind of know that
178. 7:55that like the best ideas aren't just
179. 7:58going to appear out of thin air. Like
180. 8:00you're going to have to search for the
181. 8:03truth and that there's glory in that.
182. 8:06God's glory is in hiding stuff. Our
183. 8:08glory is in finding stuff. And that
184. 8:11should shape your life. When you're
185. 8:13frustrated, you should actually realize
186. 8:15or remember, no, it's the glory of a
187. 8:18leader to find the answer. Discovery,
188. 8:22that's there's glory in just discovering
189. 8:25things. How lazy would we be if God just
190. 8:28gave us all the answers to everything
191. 8:30really, really easy. The muscles that it
192. 8:32takes for a little baby bird to break
193. 8:35out of its shell, those are muscles that
194. 8:38are necessary for it growth and
195. 8:39development. I just watched a
196. 8:41chiropractor, you know, help kids that
197. 8:44were C-section babies because when kids
198. 8:47come out of the birth canal, they're
199. 8:50actually like shaping their head and
200. 8:52their their muscles like right here in
201. 8:54their forehead. But in a C-section, by
202. 8:57removing the struggle, we actually could
203. 9:00weaken the child. And so, I love this.
204. 9:03God could just give you answers, but
205. 9:05it's the glory of a leader to seek it
206. 9:07out. I'm enjoying f figuring out how to
207. 9:10plant a church. Sure, God could just
208. 9:14wave a magic wand and bippity boppity
209. 9:16boo the answers into my brain, but
210. 9:18that's not the glory of there's no glory
211. 9:20in that for God. And there's definitely
212. 9:22no glory in that for me. So, uh, of
213. 9:24course, God could give me the cheat
214. 9:26codes on marriage, but there's no glory
215. 9:30in that for him. There's no glory in
216. 9:31that for me and my wife. So the glory of
217. 9:34a leader is to find the answers,
218. 9:36discover it because who you become on
219. 9:38the process of trying to find those
220. 9:40answers is actually the goal of wisdom.
221. 9:43All right. Proverbs 25 11. It's another
222. 9:47good one. Uh says this, like apples of
223. 9:50gold in settings of silver is a ruling
224. 9:54rightly given. So I'm going to
225. 9:55contextualize this one too because uh I
226. 9:58don't give a rulings, but I do make
227. 10:00decisions. Okay? and I can experience
228. 10:03decision fatigue. So the same way that
229. 10:05I'm taking out the word king and I'm
230. 10:06putting in the word leader, I'm going to
231. 10:08go ahead and take out the word ruling
232. 10:10and put the word decision. So like
233. 10:13apples and sorry like apples of gold in
234. 10:16settings of silver is a decision rightly
235. 10:19given. I make a lot of decisions every
236. 10:21day. I bet you do too. And when you make
237. 10:24the right decisions, oh man, it's a
238. 10:26glorious thing. And so what you want to
239. 10:29do is you want to grow your capacity.
240. 10:30How do you grow your capacity? Well,
241. 10:32that's your ability to make good
242. 10:34decisions. The moment I I know like when
243. 10:37I think about someone's capacity, I
244. 10:40think about their ability to make
245. 10:41decisions. Okay? Elijah Gaither is
246. 10:44higher on the org chart than Cam because
247. 10:47of Elijah's ability to make decisions.
248. 10:50Okay? The moment Cam is able to make the
249. 10:54level of decisions that Elijah can make,
250. 10:57he is going to get moved up in the or
251. 10:59chart. Okay, your ability to make
252. 11:01decisions. It's a glorious thing. It's a
253. 11:03good It's a good thing. And it's an
254. 11:05indicator of your capacity. Okay. Next
255. 11:08one. Proverbs 25:15.
256. 11:11Through patience, a ruler can be
257. 11:14persuaded. So let's say uh let's about
258. 11:17the word ruler. Let's put it in the word
259. 11:19pastor or leader. Okay. Through
260. 11:22patience, a leader can be persuaded and
261. 11:25a gentle tongue can break a bone. That
262. 11:28means that uh you can do more uh with a
263. 11:32gentle spirit than you can with trying
264. 11:34to dominate a leader, right? Especially
265. 11:36if you're leading in an organization and
266. 11:39there's someone who's above you on the
267. 11:41org chart, then that means you don't
268. 11:42have authority over that person, but you
269. 11:44do have influence and you want to use
270. 11:47that influence the right way. It's funny
271. 11:49on our team, Tess Gaither does a
272. 11:52brilliant job of this. She's actually
273. 11:54done it two times in the last meetings
274. 11:56that we've been in, you know, whereas,
275. 11:58you know, sometimes I can tend to go
276. 11:59over time when it comes to preaching and
277. 12:02and the way that she leads up. Somehow
278. 12:05it gets me to agree with her, but it's
279. 12:08not by strongarmming me. It's it's
280. 12:11finesse, man. It's it's killing them
281. 12:13softly. Literally, you know, we were
282. 12:15talking about a sermon series idea and
283. 12:18her ability to like say something that
284. 12:21is her getting her way, but she's saying
285. 12:24it in a way that's honoring and that
286. 12:27makes my guard go down. And that's
287. 12:30that's a wise way to lead, especially
288. 12:32when you have influence with someone,
289. 12:34but you don't have authority over that
290. 12:36person. This is a great proverb. Okay.
291. 12:39Through patience, a ruler can be
292. 12:42persuaded. Through patience, your pastor
293. 12:45can be persuaded. Through patience, you
294. 12:48know, a police officer in your
295. 12:50neighborhood can be persuaded. You know,
296. 12:52through patience, okay, think about
297. 12:54someone who is in authority over you and
298. 12:57you may have some influence there, but
299. 12:58no authority. That person can be
300. 13:00persuaded. And a gentle tongue can break
301. 13:04a bone. I mean, a gentle tongue can do
302. 13:06more damage than than yelling or
303. 13:09screaming and getting an attitude or or
304. 13:11or disrespecting or dishonoring that
305. 13:13person. Okay. Next, Proverbs chapter 25
306. 13:16verse 28. This is a life verse for Dr.
307. 13:20Manny. Okay. Chapter 25 28. Like a city
308. 13:24whose walls are broken through. Okay.
309. 13:26Like a city, a city with no walls is a
310. 13:29vulnerable city. That's a city that's
311. 13:31about to get sacked. That's a city
312. 13:33that's about to get pillaged. That's a
313. 13:35city that's about to get attacked.
314. 13:37That's a city that's about to have its
315. 13:39citizens carded off into slavery. That's
316. 13:42a city that's under captivity. All
317. 13:44right. That that that city is in
318. 13:48failure. Big trouble if your walls are
319. 13:51broken through. Like a city whose walls
320. 13:53are broken through is a person who lacks
321. 13:56self-control. So if you have no
322. 13:59self-control, you're like an unarmed
323. 14:01city. You're you're like you're like
324. 14:04something with no safety, man. You're a
325. 14:07threat to yourself with no self-control.
326. 14:09That's what that's saying. That's a good
327. 14:11verse, man. Tattoo that one on your
328. 14:14chest. That's a good one right there.
329. 14:16Like a city whose walls are broken
330. 14:18through is a person who lacks
331. 14:20self-control. Very, very, very good
332. 14:22verse. I don't even need to say anything
333. 14:23else about that. Proverbs 26 4-5 is
334. 14:27again two verses that seem like they
335. 14:29contradict, but they don't contradict.
336. 14:31They're actually telling you how to
337. 14:33think, not what to think. We already
338. 14:34looked at those. Okay. Number six,
339. 14:37Proverbs chapter 26:7
340. 14:39says this, "Like the useless legs of one
341. 14:43who is lame is a proverb in the mouth of
342. 14:46a fool."
343. 14:48Man, the Bible is dangerous in the hands
344. 14:51of idiots. That's what that's saying. A
345. 14:54proverb in the mouth of a fool. Oh, man.
346. 14:58Cuz anyone can quote the Bible. Not
347. 15:00everybody has a spirit of wisdom. It's
348. 15:02easy to quote the Bible and there's a
349. 15:04whole bunch of people who quote the
350. 15:05Bible and they're still fools. Uh
351. 15:08somebody asked me recently about a
352. 15:09family member in my life and I said,
353. 15:11"Yeah, man. That person was manipulative
354. 15:13and then they got saved. Now they're
355. 15:15spiritually manipulative. They've always
356. 15:16been manipulatives since since I've
357. 15:19known they've been manipulative. Now
358. 15:21they manipulate scripture." Okay. So
359. 15:24this proverb is that's good, man. It's
360. 15:26saying giving people the Bible is not
361. 15:30the thing that's actually going to help
362. 15:32them. The Bible is a tool for
363. 15:35disciplehip. And really, people need to
364. 15:38be discipled. And once people are
365. 15:41discipled, this will no longer be a
366. 15:43weapon in their hands. The Pharisees had
367. 15:46the Bible, and you know, it didn't make
368. 15:48them any better off, you know. So, you
369. 15:51you would think that on the Bible
370. 15:52department we would say, "No, the
371. 15:54Bible's the answer." No, no, no. Jesus
372. 15:56is the answer. Adopting a godlike
373. 15:58attitude is the answer. And the Bible,
374. 16:02you're just gonna you're just gonna if
375. 16:03you're mean and we give you the Bible,
376. 16:05now you're just going to be a mean
377. 16:07person who quotes the Bible. Okay? If
378. 16:09you're manipulative and we give you the
379. 16:10Bible, now you're just going to be a
380. 16:11manipulative person who quotes the
381. 16:13Bible. So, a proverb in the mouth of a
382. 16:16fool
383. 16:18is is like useless legs of one who is
384. 16:21lame. It's [snorts] like, okay, you got
385. 16:23you have legs, but you're paralyzed. And
386. 16:27so they Yes, you have the Bible, but the
387. 16:31power of the Bible is actually in
388. 16:34surrender in in in the person who's
389. 16:37using the Bible having a surrendered
390. 16:39heart before the Lord. That's a good
391. 16:41proverb right there. Proverbs 26 11. As
392. 16:44a dog returns to its vomit, so fools
393. 16:47repeat their folly. That's a good
394. 16:48visual. Can you imagine a dog going back
395. 16:51to its vomit licking it up? Can you
396. 16:53imagine, you know, let's take say, and
397. 16:55this is the point of Proverbs, by the
398. 16:57way, to to to sear a mental image on
399. 17:01your mind so that you can't forget it.
400. 17:03You may forget a law, you may forget a
401. 17:05story. You're not going to forget the
402. 17:06image of a dog on the sidewalk licking
403. 17:08up its vomit. Okay, so here we go.
404. 17:11Imagine, imagine, you know, you dated
405. 17:14someone who was an idiot and it ruined
406. 17:16your life and uh you were under their
407. 17:19spell and then you know you broke up and
408. 17:21you got free. You were free for 6
409. 17:24months, 8 months, 10 months and then all
410. 17:26of a sudden they DM'd you out of the
411. 17:28blue and now in 48 hours you're back
412. 17:31under their spell. Well, guess what?
413. 17:34You're a dog licking up vomit. That's
414. 17:36what you are. A person who goes back to
415. 17:39their dumb ways. A person who goes back
416. 17:41into a relationship that God rescued
417. 17:43them from. You're you're vomit vomit
418. 17:45vomit liquor. That's you're a vomit
419. 17:47liquor. You're licking up vomit. Can you
420. 17:50imagine? Can you imagine? You know, just
421. 17:53imagine the last time you threw up. Just
422. 17:54imagine the last time you vomited. Okay?
423. 17:56Imagine you go to the toilet, you vomit,
424. 17:58and then imagine you go get some
425. 18:00Tupperware, scoop the vomit up out of
426. 18:01the toilet, and then later on you were
427. 18:04hungry. So you you microwaved the vomit,
428. 18:06got it all hot. You know what I'm
429. 18:08saying? And then you got a spoon started
430. 18:10started eating your vomit. Yep. That's
431. 18:12what a lot of us are doing. You got free
432. 18:14from porn, now you're back to porn. You
433. 18:16licking up vomit. You microwaving vomit.
434. 18:18You got free from a relationship, now
435. 18:20you're back in that same dumb
436. 18:21relationship. You're licking up vomit.
437. 18:23You You got free from, you know,
438. 18:26spiritual abuse at a church. Now you're
439. 18:28back at that same church. You're licking
440. 18:30up vomit. Just someone who returns to
441. 18:33their vomit. That's the image that that
442. 18:37God wants you to have when you return
443. 18:39back to foolish ways that he through his
444. 18:42providence and powers rescued you from.
445. 18:44That's good. This is the point of
446. 18:46Proverbs to say things in such a way
447. 18:49that's like ah I can never forget that.
448. 18:51That's that's that is a memorable image,
449. 18:54man. That that is seared onto my mind.
450. 18:57You're never going to forget microwave
451. 18:59vomit. Never going to forget it.
452. 19:01scooping up vomit out the toilet,
453. 19:03putting it in the microwave, getting a
454. 19:04spoon, slurping that joint up like a
455. 19:06soup. You're never gonna forget that.
456. 19:08That's the whole point. That's the whole
457. 19:10point. That's what wisdom does. All
458. 19:11right. 26
459. 19:13uh 17 says this. Like one who grabs a
460. 19:18stray dog by the ears, aka about to get
461. 19:21bit, is someone who rushes into a coral
462. 19:24not their own. So this is essentially
463. 19:26the Bible saying, "Mind your business.
464. 19:28Mind your business unless you need to
465. 19:32intervene, you know, for godly purpose,
466. 19:35but no need to enter yourself into a
467. 19:37quarrel that has nothing to do with you.
468. 19:39Let me keep moving. 27:6
469. 19:42says this, "Wounds from a friend can be
470. 19:45trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.
471. 19:49Wounds from a friend can be trusted."
472. 19:51One of the ways that you know that
473. 19:52someone's actually your friend is that
474. 19:54they should wound you with their words.
475. 19:58They should tell you things that are
476. 19:59hard to hear. They should tell you like,
477. 20:01"Yeah, dude. That that girl's bad for
478. 20:04you. Hey, man. Like, you got an attitude
479. 20:07problem. Yo, you be late for work. They
480. 20:09about to fire you." A a good friend
481. 20:12tells you about you. And if you're
482. 20:16insecure, you'll surround yourself with
483. 20:19yesmen. You'll surround yourself with
484. 20:21hype men. You'll surround yourself with
485. 20:23people who never wound you, who only
486. 20:25ever kiss you. But what does the Bible
487. 20:27say? Wounds from a friend can actually
488. 20:30be trusted. And an enemy multiplies
489. 20:33kisses. Enemies love to flatter you.
490. 20:36They love to tell you all the things
491. 20:37that you're awesome at, you know? And
492. 20:40that's not the culture. Nothing wrong
493. 20:42with encouragement, but but anytime
494. 20:45someone's like overly flattering,
495. 20:48there's a small part of me that's like,
496. 20:49"Yeah, what are you what are you trying
497. 20:50to what are you trying to convince me
498. 20:52of? You know, why are you trying to win
499. 20:53favor with me? What do you want? What's
500. 20:56your angle? Whereas when people are able
501. 20:58to share harsh truths with me right
502. 21:02there, that tells me this relationship's
503. 21:04got some substance. This is this got
504. 21:06potential for for a real friendship. I
505. 21:09don't want the kinds of friends who, you
506. 21:12know, could watch me, you know what I
507. 21:14mean, with my zipper down and something
508. 21:17in my teeth and not say nothing. If
509. 21:19you're around me and I got something in
510. 21:21my teeth and my shirt is is misaligned
511. 21:25or the buttons ain't like help me out.
512. 21:28Cut me. The wounds of a friend can be
513. 21:30trusted. Cut me. I I'd rather you wound
514. 21:33me than let me be out here looking
515. 21:35crazy. But there's a lot of people who
516. 21:37they don't want wounds of a friend. They
517. 21:39just want everybody to tell them how
518. 21:40awesome they are, which means there's
519. 21:42insecurity there. That person's not
520. 21:44secure enough to handle the wounds of a
521. 21:47friend. Okay, here we go. 276, last one.
522. 21:5127
523. 21:5223- 27. We get a parable here at the end
524. 21:56of chapter 27. And for sake of time, I
525. 21:58won't read the whole thing. But what
526. 22:00it's saying is, hey, man, the economy
527. 22:02goes up and down. But if you're going to
528. 22:04create financial stability, then there's
529. 22:07got to be some things that you have
530. 22:09financially that are predictable. Okay?
531. 22:13There's a level of unpredictable that's
532. 22:14okay, but then there's a level of
533. 22:16predictable. Before I started uh the
534. 22:19garden, I felt like starting a church
535. 22:20was about to be financially
536. 22:22unpredictable. And it is. It is
537. 22:24financially unpredictable. I didn't know
538. 22:26how large the church is going to be. I
539. 22:27didn't know whether or not how much
540. 22:29teaching I was going to have to do
541. 22:31getting people to adopt and understand
542. 22:33tithing. Just unpredictable.
543. 22:35Unpredictable. You know, we didn't know
544. 22:37how much a venue is going to cost. We
545. 22:39didn't know this. We didn't know.
546. 22:40Unpredictable. Everything's
547. 22:41unpredictable. So, you want to know what
548. 22:43I did? I did a threebook deal. I did a a
549. 22:47book deal for three books because I
550. 22:50needed to create some predictable income
551. 22:52because this area is unpredictable.
552. 22:55Great leaders, great people, good
553. 22:58stewards are always mixing in
554. 23:01predictable with unpredictable. Okay?
555. 23:04And as an entrepreneur, as someone who
556. 23:06runs multiple businesses, who now is
557. 23:09starting a church, who's got, you know,
558. 23:13book deals, like you just want to make
559. 23:16sure it says this, "Be sure you know the
560. 23:19condition of your flocks. Give careful
561. 23:22attention to your herds, for riches do
562. 23:24not endure forever, and a crown is not
563. 23:27secure for all generations." Okay, it's
564. 23:30saying this. Hey, there may be a day
565. 23:32where this basket that you got your eggs
566. 23:35in that the bottom falls out. You got to
567. 23:37make sure that are your flocks good?
568. 23:40Like, are your herds good? I know you're
569. 23:42not out in the field every day because
570. 23:44there's some other things. There's some
571. 23:46other irons you got in the fire, but you
572. 23:48got to be someone who makes sure that
573. 23:50you never abandon the main thing. Okay?
574. 23:53What is your bread and butter? What
575. 23:56makes you money? Okay? And that thing,
576. 23:59you got to make sure that that thing is
577. 24:00secure, that it's that it's okay. You
578. 24:03can't overextend yourself and neglect
579. 24:06the the core basis of how your business
580. 24:10makes money. Man, what good wisdom. All
581. 24:13right. Proverbs, this is our Thomas
582. 24:15tree. I got through all 10. That's
583. 24:17crazy. We're overtime, but says this.
584. 24:19Proverbs 25 6 and 7 is a warning around
585. 24:23where to sit when you're at a banquet or
586. 24:25an event with the king. Proverbs chapter
587. 24:2825 67. Do not exalt yourself in the
588. 24:31king's presence and do not claim a place
589. 24:34among his great men. It is better for
590. 24:36him to say to you, "Come up here," than
591. 24:40for him to humiliate you before his
592. 24:43nobles. Well, guess what? Jesus says the
593. 24:45exact same thing in Luke 14:es 7-11. So
594. 24:50that's our timeless truth for the day
595. 24:52because Jesus was clearly familiar with
596. 24:55this passage here in Proverbs and
597. 24:59interpreted it for us, added some more
598. 25:02context, like beefed it up a little bit.
599. 25:05And uh I think it's a great passage. And
600. 25:07I'm just going to read to you Jesus's
601. 25:10version, okay, of this. Here's what it
602. 25:12says in Luke chapter 14, starting in
603. 25:14verse 7. When Jesus noticed how the
604. 25:16guests picked the places of honor at the
605. 25:17table, he told him this parable. When
606. 25:20someone invites you to a wedding feast,
607. 25:21do not take the place of honor. For a
608. 25:23person more distinguished than you may
609. 25:25have been invited, if so, the host who
610. 25:27invited both of you will come and say to
611. 25:30you, "Give this person your seat." Then
612. 25:32humiliated, you will have to take the
613. 25:34less important place. But when you're
614. 25:36invited, take the lowest place so that
615. 25:39when the host comes, he will say to you,
616. 25:40"Friend, move up to a better place. Then
617. 25:44you will be honored in the presence of
618. 25:46all the other guests. For all those who
619. 25:48exalt themselves will be humbled, and
620. 25:50those who humble themselves will be
621. 25:52exalted." And that right there is a
622. 25:54timeless truth. So Jesus clearly was
623. 25:57familiar with with Proverbs 27 and
624. 26:01reinterprets it, puts it in a parable
625. 26:03form and then adds the timeless truth at
626. 26:05the end that those who exalt themselves
627. 26:07will be humbled and those who humble
628. 26:09themselves will be exalted. That's our
629. 26:11timeless truth for today. TOMORROW IS
630. 26:14OUR LAST DAY IN THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. We
631. 26:16got day 3:11. Tomorrow we're going to be
632. 26:18looking at Proverbs chapters 28-31.
633. 26:22I am super excited. cannot wait to uh
634. 26:26camp out tomorrow in Proverbs and then
635. 26:27be done. And then after that, I think we
636. 26:29got the book of Job. It's going to be
637. 26:30fantastic. I'll see you right here. Same
638. 26:33time, same place. Can't wait to see you.
639. 26:36Proud of you. Love you. Till next time.
640. 26:39Peace.
641. 26:41Thanks so much for joining us on the
642. 26:42Bible Department podcast. If this
643. 26:44episode was helpful, how about you leave
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