Wisdom in the Old Testament

by R. B. Thieme, III

Up to Lesson #478 until the beginning of Ecclesiastes.

Bobby started the book of Ecclesiastes in November 2022; and I will begin a new set of notes at that point. This is 1715 pages of notes; some are good and some are so-so.

Lesson #0001                Introduction to Wisdom in the OT            10/23/2019 Wed.

The study of the gospels took almost exactly 9 years.

Wisdom in the Old Testament is the next study. There are 5 wisdom books and that is where will go. Mostly to Psalms and Proverbs. This is the thinking of God.

So we will now study a very practical subject that can be found nowhere else and the depths of unfathomable. This is useful for our lives.

Rom. 11:33–36 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Do we advise God of what to do? Do we lend Him money or anything of substance?

We can learn to have perfect confidence in the God who knows all things.

Paul quotes from Isaiah 40, which is a wisdom text. This is also instruction in wisdom. God’s wisdom is seen in His creative work. This talks about God’s creation. Creation is the best witness of God’s wisdom. Genius architects are wise in that realm; and some are considered brilliant. Or painters or sculptures. God created all things; is he wise in His creation? Does he know all? The Lord’s creation is used often in wisdom literature to illustrate.

God’s wisdom is under attack from humanistic science. God’s creation and science are completely compatible. Science is the study of God’s creation. This earth is in the pattern of God, and that is absolute wisdom. The study of science is the study of absolute wisdom. When divine creation is left out, science degenerates into human theory with wild speculations.

Isa. 40:12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?

By studying the Lord’s creation, we learn more about God and His wisdom. God knows those things which man does not know and can never discover. Unfathomable, unimaginable. The wisdom of God is an eternal aspect of His Deity.

Wisdom is God’s thinking. The mind of Christ is all and always wisdom. Were God foolish, then God would not be God. Were God a student, there would be no ultimate knowledge.

Isa 40:13–14 Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?

The answers to these questions is, no one. God has given us understanding. To ask these questions is to answer them. True art and beauty in this literature.

If Bobby did not trust in God’s wisdom, how could he have confidence in His plan? Maybe God is not all-in on me. God’s wisdom is the knowledge that we need to live.

This will not be a 9 year study in this field. It is worthy of a lifetime study.

There is poetry that we will study in the Bible. It has a fantastic ability to communicate to us very practical divine wisdom in a very compact package. It is timeless and valuable for our lives.

This subject of wisdom is one that man has attempted to find in many different ways and in many different places. Philosophy to gain the wisdom of man from the past. Or ideology or religion. People have used all of these approaches to find wisdom.

So Bobby distinguishes between relative wisdom and God’s wisdom. Our objective is to find the absolute truth; to find God’s wisdom. What is true and absolute?

Some of what Bobby has said is, there is no such thing as absolute wisdom. Not in the human realm. Human wisdom always comes back to man himself.

Human wisdom changes; it seems wise today, and foolish tomorrow. Where is the wisdom in this relative thinking? Fleeting at best.

The idea of divine establishment, which is God’s wisdom. We need God’s wisdom today.

The book of Ecclesiastes is the experience of one man’s experiences. It is an amazing book. The pursuit of happiness, written by Kohelet, the Preacher, one who assembles things together and gives them wisdom. He can give us great wisdom because he has screwed up so much.

Lesson #0002                Introduction to Wisdom in the OT    10/24/2019 Thursday

Echoing sound to Bobby.

Our new topic is wisdom. What is it and who has it? Disagreements about what it is.

People just do ot agree on the content of wisdom. It has been endlessly debated in literature, nations, culture; and it has been sought through many avenues; or philosophy or religion all purport to contain wisdom. No consensus in the human realm as to what wisdom it.

Without such agreement, wisdom is relative, what I think it to be or what I want it to be or I find in myself what passes for wisdom. Those are all humanistic, relative statements. And there is arrogance in the person who makes the statement. This is tantamount to saying that there is no absolute wisdom; other than what I say it is. So, no objective wisdom, which has caused untold conflicts. However, there is such wisdom that exists; there is the thinking of God, which can be found only in the Bible or the Word of God. In its most concentrated form, found in the wisdom books of the Old Testament. Wisdom can be found throughout the Bible, but it is found in concentrated form in Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon. Bobby will concentrate on the Psalms and Proverbs.

Long books have been written about two lines in Proverbs. Jesus often referred to and quoted Psalms and Proverbs because these are concise statements of wisdom. Bobby will pick the most relevant to the time and circumstances in which we live. These should have a direct bearing on the time in which we live.

Wisdom is certainly Bible doctrine. These are truly synonymous. Wisdom goes further; it is very practical for everyday thinking and functioning. It is not just the knowledge of Bible doctrine that wisdom literature presents to us. It is an experience in that... This is the general understanding of the mind of God which can be translate into human experience.

Ecclesiastes contains the negative experiences of Solomon’s life. His wisdom counters the negative experiences which he had.

The laws of divine establishment insure protection of blessing of Christians and non-Christians alike. All of these law of divine establishment are foundational to a client nation to God. A client nation operates under divine establishment laws; but when these are abandoned, the client nation declines.

These are designed for the survival and prosperity of the human race. Today, these bastions of divine establishment are being ignored, suppressed, rejected; some think that they are too confining. Divine establishment is perceived as an anachronism. What was evil is now thought to be good, embodied by, if it feels good, do it.

Don’t trust your instinct and impulse in making decisions; trust divine wisdom.

The United States finds itself in this area right now, being divided and conquered as a nation, with tyranny on the rise.

The subject of sexual orientation. Homosexuality and lesbianism; these are touted as legitimate, alternative lifestyles. They are being sold as equality and a matter of civil rights. Marriages from the same gender are being sold as legitimate.

In many circles, the new definition of marriage is accepted as wisdom; but if you do not accept it, you can be called a bigot, a homophobe and even a racist. Name-calling. These labels are designed to change this range of thinking.

Evil is presented as good and the Bible is defined as hate speech; because the Bible opposes this societally accepted lifestyle as perversion. There are pastors who even want to exclude certain passages from the Bible.

Rom. 1:26–27 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

This life is seen as unnatural by the Bible. We do not follow the Mosaic Law at this point. We do not approve of what they do; but we do not hate them ever. The only way to change a person’s mind is to take in Bible doctrine and to understand the truth. It is a sin and it is a part of the sin nature. We are not hear to castigate any particular sin, as we have our own to take care of.

Rom 1:28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

The LGBT community hates this.

There is capitalism, which is related to freedom. It built this country; it is the basis for our freedom. The capitalist miracle occurred in the United States; this explosion of wealth is uniquely the result of the exercise of free will.

Wisdom today is presented as a negative thing. They worry about the rich getting richer. So the new idea is, the government must be totally in control of the wealth, in order to maintain monetary equality. Capitalism in the new wisdom must be replaced with socialism, a term we are hearing more and more. Human wisdom teaches that socialism is a worthy goal, even though it never works anywhere that it is tried. It spread equal misery and hopelessness and it stifles freedom in society.

Humans like to be rewarded, and our freedom allows for that.

Communist movements destroy human freedom. Poverty is the final end of forsaking divine establishment wisdom. Socialism ultimately turns to destroy freedom and society.

In the devil’s world has a certain amount of poverty. Poverty of spirit and poverty of material things increases with socialism. Capitalism promotes freedom of action and innovation. It is an incentive to succeed because there is the profit motive or incentive. No such incentive in socialism.

Can capitalism be abused? Of course. Capitalism can breed greed, which is what socialists say is wrong. Greed is a sin and it can be expressed in any economic system. If you don’t think that government is greedy, just look at what they do with your tax money.

This is Satan’s world; Satan is the ultimate tyrant. This is why he hates divine establishment....especially freedom.

Another example of false human wisdom: the substitution of the objective rule of law with subjective social justice.

The rule of law can be bent and perverted, but then it is no longer the rule of law. Imposing social justice destroys a nation from within. We see on the benches today, judges ruling today based upon social justice standards. Hence we are divided.

There are several more examples for the next time.

Lesson #0003                              Wisdom in the OT                  10/27/2019 1Sunday

Time change next Sunday.

The Bible is directed, primarily to the believer in Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament, His name is Y^ehowah, but the doctrine is the same.

Any passage in the Scripture about the atonement is directed towards the salvation of the unbeliever. The other exception is Old Testament wisdom, wisdom literature. This wisdom is concentrated in those books.

Divine establishment is designed for unbelievers. If a person does not believe in God, these principles reflect those things necessary in the world for the survival, perpetuation, protection of the human race. These principles are the bedrock to the client nation to God. Such precepts are embodied in the 4 divine institutions. All of them are found throughout Scripture. Legitimate authority, ethics, the rule of law, morality are all defined by those institutions and the divine establishment doctrines.

Our country is in rebellion against these institutions.

The unity of culture; not race; not illegal immigration. Immigrants have come to our country for several centuries and have become a part of our society. As we continue to bring one race back from what people think is a downtrodden situation, which was true at one time. But this foments resentment in both races. We cannot afford this kind of social judgment. Racism is incorrect. We are founded on the rule of law, which protects all citizens equally. When this is ignored and fiat is the guide, then there will be problems. We are more racially divided than we have ever been since the Civil War

These principles go back to the tower of Babel; and God destroyed that. Diverse cultural paths do not mesh; or are diametrically opposed. There is no bi-partisanship with opposing political parties. They do not practice the unity that they call for. Revolution is a very bad outcome for a nation. All of this has become the litmus test for political correctness. Opposes the absolute wisdom of Bible doctrine. To violate political correctness becomes the most heinous of crimes. This may be the vehicle for the persecution of Christians.

The LGBT group is directly attacking Christianity and the Bible. Their solution is to get rid of it or to suppress it. Rom. 1 is so politically incorrect, so it must be stopped. A candidate for president proposes to remove the tax-exempt status of churches who teach Rom. 1. This would be a complete loss of religious freedom to promote degeneracy. Not just a sin but degeneracy. There will always be a certain amount of depravity in a nation. To publically promote it as the greatest good as the litmus test of morality and good? Where there is no religious liberty, there is no freedom. Making it a crime to oppose LGBT is destructive to our society.

This favors one culture over another.

The truth of Christ violates the diversity of culture; and these other religions are taught as all being pathways to God, but they are not. Man will never live together peacefully in diversity...Angela Merkel said it.

This is a new secular religion. This religion can be extremely repressive. This is the opposite of divine establishment; and it exemplifies cosmic system thinking. What is the difference between divine establishment thinking and cosmic system thinking. You just got an example of it. Much of what is happening today that is politically correct is anti-divine establishment . So, we must know the wisdom of divine establishment.

Lesson #0004                              Wisdom in the OT                  10/27/2019 2Sunday

Wisdom in the cosmic system changes. We are in trouble as a nation. We are no longer a united nation. What unites a nation is a culture established by divine establishment. We do not have that today. We are going in the absolute opposite direction. So, what should we do, activism? If that is your bent, that does not change the human viewpoint wisdom of the opposition. Dueling protests just gather and yell at each other. Quite often, those sorts of things break the law. Is that really the best approach. As believers, we do not live apart from the rule of law; we must adhere to divine establishment. That may be hard in the coming days. It may be difficult that tyranny reigns and they try to remove our freedom of choice.

We have a voice, even if it is not in the street. We have a voice in the ballot box and through legislation, which is the rule of law. No believer has the right to violate the law because he or she disagrees with the law. We do not discredit the name of Jesus Christ before the world. God has a way of working these things out. We cannot do it in our own power. We adhere to divine wisdom.

What about the American revolution? Did that not violate nationalism? This was a separation from England, which was an outside power. No attempt was made to destroy England or the government of England. We were establishing a new nation.

The was better the states was not a revolution either. This was a war of independence. The war against slavery was a by-product of that war; but it was a good thing that slavery ended, but it was truly an economic war, as most wars are. Defense against tyranny does not violate divine establishment principles. Thus we will fall into the same trap as the anti-establishment opposition.

What do we do if they want to confiscate our guns? There is a movement today to do that, based upon things a few crazies have done. There is a constitutional right to hold and bear arms? Interesting question, isn’t it? You were expecting an answer right at this moment. This is why we need to have divine wisdom in our souls. It may border on tyranny; it may be tyranny.

The answer to all of this is very, very personal. Wisdom from the Word of God which we cannot personally ignore, regardless of whatever way the nation goes, whether tyranny or freedom. We cannot get our eyes on people or put our trust in people, friends, economists, politicians. Solomon said, there is nothing new under the sun. Everything that has happened in the past will happen in the future.

Jer 17:5 Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. If your trust is in mankind, automatically, you are turning away from the Lord. The two are opposite sides of the same coin.

What happens when a client nation rejects divine establishment and divine wisdom. Let’s look at Israel as an example; they have gone the way of apostasy. Israel of the Old Testament was in similar circumstances, in apostasy, a good bit of the time. It is always connected to their relationship with the Lord. They have turned away from God and they ended up in apostasy. Great degeneracy and national decline. The prophets of Israel came and warned the people in no uncertain terms. Jeremiah is the master of warning. As a prophet, Jeremiah speaks to us as well.

Jer. 4:22 "For my people are foolish; they know me not; they are stupid children; they have no understanding. They are 'wise'—in doing evil! But how to do good they know not."

Religious and moral degeneracy are all tied together.

Jer 6:10 To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, they cannot listen; behold, the word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it.

They cannot hear and God’s wisdom is an object of scorn; it is politically incorrect. They have no delight in it. They never give the wisdom of the Lord a thought. It is gone. What is left. Their own devices. Adversity. That is what happens. We wonder if the United States is setting up for the same kind of disaster.

Jer. 6:11 Therefore I am full of the wrath of the LORD; I am weary of holding it in. "Pour it out upon the children in the street, and upon the gatherings of young men, also; both husband and wife shall be taken, the elderly and the very aged.

This is the problem which we face. The discipline will be poured out on the children in the street. Young and old are taken in these circumstances. The old find themselves helpless.

Jer. 6:12 Their houses shall be turned over to others, their fields and wives together, for I will stretch out my hand against the inhabitants of the land," declares the LORD.

Their houses are turned over to others; the confiscation of their land and possessions. God will stretch out His hand against the people. What a description this is of the fifth cycle of discipline.

This happened in 586 b.c. and Nebuchadnezzar leveled the place. God is gracious and He sent them back, which is the story of Esther, Daniel, and Ezra and Nehemiah. They began to think with doctrine and divine establishment. We as a nation are not immune to the perils of Jeremiah’s time. We need to see how this negative volition has harmed our country. If we do not know this, then we need this study more than Bobby realizes.

The undermining of the laws of a nation; of its morality, freedom, etc.

As a sideline, Bobby is not going to espouse political candidates. He will not tell us to vote for. We should vote. A very simple formula. Some vote of a candidate based on one issue. Some like the attractiveness of a candidate, or they have a little charisma or the speak well. As a believer in Jesus Christ, we vote for the one who adhere the most to divine establishment. This is not necessarily a Christian candidate. Divine establishment is what is paramount. That is what our nation is founded on. Great if a candidate is a Christian, but that is not the criterion. We have 4 divine institutions to look at. That is Bobby’s political speech. Nothing to do with race or with gender. If you have divine establishment in your soul, then you have Bobby’s vote.

The result of national breakdown is chaos of soul. A perverted attitude; nation locked in a downward spiral.

Jer. 8:9 The wise men shall be put to shame; they shall be dismayed and taken; behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom is in them?

Reject the wisdom of the Lord means you have relative wisdom. Relative, cosmic system wisdom is no wisdom. Absolute wisdom is found in Scripture. Those who reject the Word of God have no wisdom. They are hardened that they do not even know shame. Sin no longer exists in their minds. If it feels good, do it; which Bobby heard many times in college. If I want to do it, I will do it.

Why are politicians so short-sighted. How do they not see where we are going? They do not care. It is all about where they are, where they are going, and what they have. They do not care about what happens in the future.

Jer. 6:15 Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown," says the LORD.

Hosea is a prophet to the northern kingdom, 135 years before Jeremiah. He will bring thundering words to the northern kingdom.

Bobby almost taught Hosea this time. One of the greatest books on the love of God. It is taught or written exactly the opposite of that. Hosea was told by God to marry a prostitute. Where does it go from there?

Lesson #0005                       Hosea Wisdom in the OT                  10/30/2019 Wed.

What happens to people and nations who refuse divine wisdom? Who disregard divine establishment principles; believers who are ignorant of or reject Bible doctrine. There is only human or subjective wisdom to depend upon. That is a cosmic system deception. It is a wisdom which is not wisdom; and it takes many forms: humanism is the overall; socialism, LGBTQ, climate change, etc. The theological view is, man is corrupted. Our human wisdom is truly not wisdom.

Jer 17:5 Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD.

Mankind is made the center of our world; or humanism; and such a heart turns away from the Lord. It is one or the other; hearts turn away from the Lord. Only humanism remains. Putting trust in mankind. Divine establishment principles are a curse; especially true for a client nation. Jeremiah speaks for the Lord and prophesies a coming judgment.

Jer 6:11 Therefore I am full of the wrath of the LORD; I am weary of holding it in. "Pour it out upon the children in the street, and upon the gatherings of young men, also; both husband and wife shall be taken, the elderly and the very aged.

Jer 6:12 Their houses shall be turned over to others, their fields and wives together, for I will stretch out my hand against the inhabitants of the land," declares the LORD.

God will stretch out His Own hand against the inhabitants of the land. The northern kingdom has already gone out; and this is the southern kingdom. What a description for cursing for a departure from the Lord. A description of the 5 cycles of discipline.

Jeremiah is speaking to Judah and he pronounces their fate. There is nowhere else for them to go but down. The results were graphically described 135 years by the prophet Hosea. This is also our story and the story of any client nation. There have been a number of client nations in the Church Age and they have all gone to the same end.

They will end up where Hosea says they will end up.

Hosea 4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land;...

This could be the United States today.

Hos 4:2 there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

Hos 4:3 Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, and even the fish of the sea are taken away.

Hos 4:4 Yet let no one contend, and let none accuse, for with you is my contention, O priest.

Hos 4:5 You shall stumble by day; the prophet also shall stumble with you by night; and I will destroy your mother.

Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

Wisdom and the lack of application.

England was a client nation; and look at them today. They are a disaster at this point. They are falling apart on the inside out.

Because they have reject knowledge, God will reject them as a priest nation. They have forgotten the law of God; so God would forget their children (their future generations).

No one who reads this prophecy can be blind to the repercussions to a failed client nation. It is all right here. This is a warning from Hosea. It is a fascinating and personal story.

Bobby has thought of tackling the book of Hosea. It is a most beautiful picture of the love of God. We will cover a portion of it.

Hosea’s story begins with a command from God to marry a prostitute and to have children with her.

Hosea 1:2 When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, "Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD."

This is a controversial command. God did not command Hosea to sin. He commanded him to marry; and marrying is not a sin. God had a greater purpose for the marriage of this great prophet. Hosea will be the picture of God’s faithfulness.

Hosea obeys God and marries Gomer. One of the worst names in the Bible. But Hosea loved her.

Hosea 1:3 So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

He apparently had a history together and he did love her. He married her knowing her past. Her previous sins or infidelities were not an issue.

Hosea 1:4 And the LORD said to him, "Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.

The first son is named Jezreel, which means Y^ehowah sows [seeds].

Jezreel is a place, a location, a man’s vineyard, a very fine vineyard. Naboth owned this great vineyard. King Ahab and Queen Jezebel decided to steal this vineyard. They died.

There was prosperity for a short time of prosperity after them and then Israel’s decline became unmistakable.

God would laugh at her calamity (from Proverbs).

Then there is a third child, a real terror.

The people were so evil, so negative to the Word of God, that they would not be known as God’s children.

Lev. 26 describes the judgment that they faced.

There are many parallels to our nation today.

After the birth of the 3^rd son, Gomer decided to leave Hosea. She was restless. She hated the confines of marriage. None were designed to satisfy her. They cared nothing for her and they did nothing for her.

Hosea 2:7 She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them. Then she shall say, 'I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.'

She is very frustrated in her circumstances. She decides to return to her husband; emptiness of a frantic search for happiness. Total unfaithfulness in marriage. Gomer did not return as she indicated that she would. She was sold into slavery. One of her lovers slaved her out. She was sold for cheap, as she bore the scars of her dissipation.

This is a very accurate picture of Israel.

Hosea bought her freedom and he restored her to her home.

Hosea 3:1 And the LORD said to me, "Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins."

Hosea 3:2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley.

Hosea 3:3 And I said to her, "You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you."

it can only be concluded that such an act of grace caused a love response from Gomer in Hosea 5.

Hosea 4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land;...

Israel is definition to God and in failure. If they return to their husband, God, and leave the false gods behind, they will be rescued and restored. They will no longer be cursed of God. Listen is the Qal imperative of shama. This emphasizes the importance of perception and the necessity of a positive response to God’s wisdom, His Word, His love, and His grace. No substitute for hearing and metabolizing divine establishment principles. Otherwise God has a case against the nation which commit reversionism.

Hosea 4:2 there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

This is what happens with a degenerate nation and a degenerate people.

How could a few curse words be a problem here? Epithets may be vulgar.

Swearing is so commonplace in a nation; and it is placed in a verse with murder and other heinous sins.

Next comes murder. Something clearly prohibited in the Bible and in our society. Not hard to understand God’s wrath. There are a few other things to study.

Lesson #0006                       Hosea Wisdom in the OT          10/31/2019 Thursday

The prophet Hosea, in his book, tells a tale of great woe in his personal life, and it is not a pretty sight. It is a lift designed as a message from God to an evil, degenerate kingdom of Israel. The message was, God loved them despite of their great unfaithfulness. We understand this from Hebrews, and they should have known this from their own Old Testament passages. If they did not return to God, there were would be horrible consequences, in Hosea 4:1–6.

God told Hosea to marry a prostitute and he apparently knew and loved Gomer; and she represents unfaithful Israel. Hosea represents God. They have children, and their children are a warning to nation Israel. Especially the name of the 3^rd child. His name is Lo’ami, which means, not my people. This is to nation Israel. He is a child of adultery. Gomer was not faithful before marriage or during marriage. She continued His disloyalty and wanton ways even as Hosea’s wife. They truly were whores when it came to false gods. They dabbled in the phallic cults, they sacrificed children, and they were not God’s people.

Gomer decided that she was tired of the confines of marriage and she leaves to pursue other lovers. Completely dissipated, she is sold into slavery. Gomer was restored to her station as wife of Hosea; and she will be severely disciplined. Just as Israel would be disciplined.

Nebuchadnezzar took down the southern kingdom and took those back to...and they were kept there for 70 years. They were then brought back, the story of Cyrus, Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah.

Antisemitism has never helped a nation and Germany has still not recovered from that. Israel would be restored once again.

It was this final act of restoration of Gomer to cause Hosea to challenge his nation to return to God. He saw what it was like to love a woman who was unfaithful. We know from Hosea that she responded with love, finally. Hosea represents God, Who is always there and Who always loves Israel.

There is a warning of the consequences if Israel does not return to God.

Hosea 4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land;...

V. 1 states the problem; the reason of God’s case against Israel. The high crimes are unfaithfulness, lack of love and lack of knowledge of God in the land.

God then reveals the specific charges against Israel:

Hosea 4:2 ...there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

These are the things which is happening in the northern kingdom of Israel. This is what happens to a degenerate nation. This was indicative of all that would take place. These charges can be laid on the United States just as they were laid on the northern kingdom.

We are on the brink of what might happen, when our country is on the brink of this sort of thing.

The swearing is not just taking the Lord’s name in vain; it includes using God’s name lightly, as if there is no meaning. No reverence or respect. We hear all of this all the time. Such as, Oh my God! This includes using the Lord’s name for unworthy objectives; and then they proceed to lie after swearing in God’s name. Swearing indicates no integrity and no honesty in people of a nation. They are full of deceptions as the second count against Israel is stated.

The third indictment is murder. A reversionistic nation sees a rise in murder. Examples of crime ridden cities; and this is true all over. There are the illegal aliens who have murdered and they are released onto our streets.

Jer. 4:31 is an example.

One need look only to Chicago, a truly wonderful city with much to do. It is the murder capitol of the country. The mayor is far more concerned with this being a sanctuary city.

Next indictment is stealing; authority dis-orientation. A proliferation of theft shows that people have no respect for the rights and property of others. That indicates a loss of freedom. If you have no right to property; if someone can take it at will. If theft is proliferating in a nation, you have anarchy or the beginning of anarchy. Right to property is fundamental to freedom. But it is so commonplace that much of it is ignored.

The final sign is adultery. This is a complete lack of respect for the divine institutions of marriage and family. This causes a breakdown in society. This causes the loss of a nuclear family. The artificial definition of marriage, between men or between women; this is also a part of this kind of destructiveness to the society.

There is a disregard of divine institution, morality and freedom code of the Mosaic Law results in unrestrained violence, bloodshed and anarchy. That is the horrifying part of this section of Hosea. There develops a chain of hatred and vengeance. No nation can survive such rampant lawlessness. This is not a legalistic sermon. This is the biblical results of these sins. It is a national problem, not just a personal problem.

Hosea 4:2 ...there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

Hosea 4:3 Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, and even the fish of the sea are taken away.

A Hebrew preposition and an adverb which state a conclusion based upon v. 2.

The economy of a nation is destroyed. This is the first conclusion.

This catastrophe overflows to the animals. Famine, drought and depression will affect the animals, particularly livestock in an agrarian nation. The fishing industry can be destroyed. Man’s spiritual and divine establishment failure results in economic depression. It is not Wall Street, bad investments, it is caused by following anti-establishment principles. The land mourns, all of it, in every respect.

Hosea 4:3 Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, and even the fish of the sea are taken away.

Hosea gives advice.

Hosea 4:4 Yet let no one contend, and let none accuse, for with you is my contention, O priest.

When things go bad in a national entity, finding fault and pointing the finger at everyone else. Mistrust of government is a part of it all. Ideology and corrupt politics. When it comes to mud-slinging and finger-pointing, and finding fault, it is an entire society that is on its heels. Thus, people begin to point fingers. Opposition parties point fingers and they accuse one another of being at fault. How? How to you stop this?

We tout diversity, which is divisive; and we are more divided by race than we have been in decades. American exceptionalism has made our country great; and that has no relation to race or gender.

Great parallels between our political climate and Israel.

If you can recall a few years ago, the past political campaign, both parties blamed each other for all that has gone wrong. It is happening right now. The whole idea is to discredit one’s opponent. Hosea says, “Let no one find fault.

Corruption never takes responsibility for itself; it only accuses the other side. Corruption rejects or ignores Bible doctrine. V. 2 is the corruption in a nation. Who has that corner on righteousness. Stick to the issues of divine establishment in governance. Forget mud-slinging. It is hard to distinguish truth from falsehood. Who is right? Who has the corner on truth? What is true about the impeachment; and we have no idea. It is all about hate and blame. Is the nation degenerate? It is in high places. It takes divine wisdom and Bible doctrine to function in this life.

Incivility blackmail, lies, etc. have become the tools of politics. Divine establishment itself becomes the problem. Attacking law enforcement is the destruction of divine establishment fabric of the nation. The solution to 2 or 3 corrupt police officers is not an attack on the whole system. These things are all present in the United States.

Hosea 4:4 Yet let no one contend, and let none accuse, for with you is my contention, O priest.

Lesson #0007                       Hosea Wisdom in the OT              11/3/2019 1Sunday

The importance of the acquisition of divine wisdom of the believer; but understanding and following the laws of divine establishment is also important for the unbeliever. Many principles of divine establishment in the Mosaic Law.

Since wisdom is so critical and necessary for negotiating the cosmic system. It is a bad idea to reject divine establishment. That has dire consequences for a client nation to God. It is destructive to the individual and to the nation. The very dark outcome is described in Hosea 4:1–6. This is what happens to nations without wisdom.

Hosea 4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land;...

The results of these 3 characteristics are given in v. 2. Bobby broke those down into those some very specific. These describe what is happening in our country today. This corresponds to our nation today.

Hosea 4:2 ...there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

The demise of the lawless kingdom is given in vv. 2–3 and in Lev. 26.

Hosea 4:3 Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, and even the fish of the sea are taken away.

There are individuals and the nation and even the animals suffer as a result of rejecting the laws of divine establishment.

Socialism destroys individual motivation and initiative. When things go bad in a national entity, then we have fault finding and finger pointing. The mud flies. It is swung all over the place.

Hosea 4:4 Yet let no one contend [or, find fault], and let none accuse [or, find fault], for with you is my contention, O priest.

Ignoring divine establishment is one culprit; but the rejection of believers is especially difficult for a nation. This is the downfall of a nation. This represents the downfall of any client nation. As goes the believer, so goes the client nation. If the nation goes down, then we can point our fingers around at ourselves.

The political parties seem quite happy to point fingers and blame everyone else. There is nothing else but the policies of evil. You have divine truth and wisdom and divine establishment; or you have the opposite.

Then the laws of divine establishment are replaced by humanism, socialism, by multiculturalism, by LGBTQ,

One of the greatest attacks against Christianity today, which attacks Scripture directly. They want to legislate against Scripture and one candidate wants to take money from churches.

And there is the radical feminism climate change etc. You may think these things will help us progress as a nation; and these are the downfall of a nation. These are anti-divine establishment. If you have discernment, then you can hear these things and...

There is confusion and degeneration in the US and it is described in Rom. 1:18–26 2:1–3 We have both legalism and antinomianism. It is the antinomian.

Leadership sets the tone for a nation.

Most important is the believer who should have wisdom in the soul. The believer needs impersonal love for the time in which we live. We must be able to stand for divine truth.

Activism will get a reaction, usually a negative one. But standing on the principles of divine establishment, that is blessing from the Lord. That has impact. You can scream at demonstrators all you want, and that will get you nowhere. Many politicians have reject divine establishment wisdom for relative subjective wisdom, and for power. Most politicians simply want power.

The alternative to divine wisdom is God’s corrective measures. There is a point of no return; and then God takes things into His Own hands. The first 4 cycles of disciple, all found in Lev. 26. The unbeliever must reconsider and return to these law.

Become the restored Gomer. Gomer represents the northern kingdom of Israel. She is the unfaithful wife. Whom the Lord loves, He disciplines.

The Hebrew people still have a place in God’s plan, even though they are no longer a client nation. Many Christians blame the problems of the world on the Jews. There are only 20 million Jews in the world. Compare this to the Russians, Chinese.

For most of the world, the Jews are a problem because they are God’s people. God has not yet fulfilled His promises to Israel. Satan knows that, if he can wipe out the Jews, then God cannot keep His promise. These are the last throes of Satan; the times of his desperation. Divine establishment stands in his way; and divine establishment in our souls stands in his way.

The central problem for the northern kingdom is spiritual, as we see in v. 4:

Hosea 4:4 Yet let no one contend [or, find fault], and let none accuse [or, find fault], for with you is my contention, O priest.

The priests convey God’s Word in the rituals and the festivals and through the teaching of the doctrine in the Old Testament Scripture. The priests were responsible to teach this doctrine. The priest performed the representative analogies portrayed by the Scriptures. The Pentateuch was in existence, and that is the law under which the northern kingdom lived. The doctrines were being rejected and God’s prophets as well.

The purpose of leadership was to lead. The direction the leaders go, the followers are to follow. Spiritual leaders must do that same thing. What about the spiritual leaders today? Many in the United States are leading in humanism or by political palaver. When spiritual leaders do this, Christians follow. They no longer have Bible doctrine in their souls.

There is a pastor, a woman, who calls Rom. 1:26 hate speech. She is a lesbian and she believes that is culturally unacceptable; and therefore, it is anti-progression in society.

The people were going after false gods, like Gomer going after other men; and she ends up being sold into slavery. At which point, Hosea through love and greace buys her out. He restores her to her home.

For the United States, it is open ended at this point. We could go either way.

Hosea 4:5 You shall stumble by day; the prophet also shall stumble with you by night; and I will destroy your mother.

This begins what we do not want to see in this country. This is the beginning of the end for us.

V. 5 is a result from v. 4. They stumble; the fall over, face first, into the emud. The existence...

The prophet will stumble as well. There are spiritual leaders and they go astray. They go astray just as the people do. Stumbling in false teaching. The spiritual teaching is what is key. They will come under the influence of evil and false religion. They will tell people what they believe they want to hear. Divine establishment and Bible doctrine is compromised to fit cultural and...

Ideology rather than theology. Spiritual leadership in this realm will lead away from spiritual wisdom.

The northern kingdom of Israel is pictured as a mother and an unfaithful wife. Now we stand at a crossroads.

Hosea 4:5 You shall stumble by day; the prophet also shall stumble with you by night; and I will destroy your mother.

Lesson #0008                       Hosea Wisdom in the OT              11/3/2019 2Sunday

There is true wisdom, which we may or may not have.

We are on the second half of this verse where God says, “I will destroy your mother.” This is threatened to Gomer, Hosea’s unfaithful wife. The children had names that were warning to the nation.

The 3^rd child is loʾami, which means not My people. This is a picture of a doomed motherland under the fifth cycle of discipline. All of Hosea’s life reflected the parallels to God and the northern kingdom.

Those who teach humanism hate true Christianity. It is diametrically opposed to their humanism. Humanism changes with the wind. What was evil is now good; and what was good, is now evil. If it does not agree with those teaching humanism, it will be rejected by those people. The truth will be persecuted.

Jeremiah taught exactly the same thing 135 years later; and the southern kingdom was also being threatened by Assyria. They were rescued for a short time. But Nebuchadnezzar came into town and leveled the place. Zerubbabel took them back 50,000 into the land. That is what happens with the grace of God.

Bobby will teach a small passage in Eccles. 9.

Jeremiah’s ministry could not be destroyed, despite the rejection.

When the end finally comes, the nation no longer survives.

Hosea 4:5 You shall stumble by day; the prophet also shall stumble with you by night; and I will destroy your mother.

Now we look at what happens in the very end. The people of Israel are destroyed for lack of knowledge. This is a lack of divine wisdom; a lack of Bible doctrine.

Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

Israel is a priest nation. We are a royal priesthood in this dispensation.

The people have forgotten the law of God; and God warns that He will forget their children. This a postscript from a once great client nation to God. Gomer represented unfaithful, liars and thieves. The problem is lack of knowledge. If they had knowledge, all of the other problems would have gone away.

Lo’ami, not My people. He was the worst of all the children; an unfaithful bastard to the core. Unfaithfulness begins and ends with a lack of knowledge. It means perseverance when it comes to the pursuit of Bible doctrine. It is very practical.

Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

The lack of knowledge and our need for it. Hosea 14:9 is the bottom line.

Hosea 14:9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the LORD are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.

The problem for transgressors is, they will stumble in the ways of the Lord. Stick with spiritual growth. Knowledge of Bible doctrine is the center of the Christian life. We are mandated to have wisdom. It must be the dominant thought process. When it hits the fan, we will end up thinking with something different from divine wisdom. Whatever the vacuum of our soul sucks in, that will be the thinking that we will depend upon.

There are many indicators of problems to come. Degenerate power politics, immoral degeneracy, rampant crime, all of these are harbingers of Hosea 4:6. All related to a lack of knowledge. Too many believers today put their hope in politics. Even Christian politicians do this.

A believer in politics and we who elect them; we should have no illusions. The politician should be able to function applying the laws of divine establishment. We cannot place our only hope in legislative accomplishments. Divine providence. We vote; there is divine establishment wisdom; and if there is a believer in office, that is great. But we do not vote for someone because they are a believer.

There are many pastors who are electioneering here. There is an election coming up in Houston. He is not going to vote for a particular candidate. Vote for the person who focuses on the divine establishment. There is a lot of mudslinging. Divine establishment wisdom is the key. Don’t be a one-issue voter. It does not work that way. You get all the rest of it. Divine establishment is your criterion. Only the believer remaining in the pivot and you truly influence the course of this nation.

If you will notice, the conflict is between divine establishment and anti divine establishment. We should be able to pick up on that. Bobby hopes there is enough wisdom by the time we get to the national elections. Bobby does not know the plan of God for nation USA. A politician who speaks with divine establishment has an impact. But we have an impact as well, and Bobby votes for us.

Daniel, Esther and others are great examples from the past. God can use anyone. Be wise and discerning between who is divine establishment and who is not. The choice is so clear; and you must have wisdom. Is there any wonder that we need to study divine wisdom. This is not just for us but for the life of the nation. This study will make application for us. Hear, O Berachah Church.

Lesson #0009                       Hosea Wisdom in the OT        11/6/2019 Wednesday

Rick Hughes had to escape Alabama; so he is there at Berachah.

Still in the introductory phase of this study. The source that we have is an absolute standard of wisdom; and this absolute source is the Bible. This comes from an omniscient God.

Wisdom literature is presented in the Bible in a particular literary genre. This is a style or a type of literature. Old Testament wisdom is presented in Hebrew poetry. Apparently, the only poetry that Bobby got and like was that of Robert Frost.

Poetry is the perfect genre for divine wisdom. The knowledge of wisdom and the practical use of it. It has everything that we need to live. How do we use this wisdom in our life.

Why poetry and not something else which is clear that we can understand. Why can’t the Bible just say it, this is wisdom, remember it.

This is divinely inspired, so they have value to all societies in all eras. Good for us today. Divine wisdom; absolute wisdom.

This information is designed to be artistic and memorable. If we see great art, it can be very memorable. There are great painters and statues; and you can really appreciate those things because they are the best of the best. This is an art form to be memorable. Something else, these verses are transferable. They reveal the intended purpose; and there is great applicability to many areas of life. The importance of what we are about to study and why this makes perfect sense to study after the life of Christ. This is His thinking His absolute wisdom and His life.

Wisdom literature provides one aphorism followed by another.

Eccles 1:4 A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.

Ecc 1:5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises.

Ecc 1:6 The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns.

Ecc 1:7 All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.

How many movies have been made about nuclear war ending the world? It is not going to happen. Climate change is all about grabbing power. Green manifestoes are the means to grab power. Life without wisdom.

We have wisdom; so we have no reason to be concerned about this.

The earth remains forever; but this does not mean that the earth itself is eternal. The earth is a lasting creation by God and indestructible. It is not the creative force.

This does not mean that we should just trash the earth. Destroying the earth is not what we want to do.

Bobby had to study Herman Melville in college and that was a lot to wade through. Filled with Biblical imagery. This is wisdom along with experience.

There is more than just the aphorism in Proverbs. There is extended instruction like Proverbs 1–9. The first 9 chapters are a connected whole. We need to read them and understand them as a connected discourse. The chapters follow; they build on each other. The instruction is found in the flow of the text and its setting. We need to read them as continuous wisdom discourse.

More to introduce before we get there.

The very form of poetry itself helps us how easy we can understand the poetry. It is not about rhyme and rhythm. Green poetry was rhythm.

All Hebrew poetry is parallelism. If we look to any page of Psalm or Proverbs, we see the parallelism. Somewhere in psalms or proverbs we have a first line and a second line which goes with it.

Prov. 1:2 To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight,...

Prov. 1:3 to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;...

Lesson #none                      Hosea Wisdom in the OT            11/7/2019 Thursday

Stormed out.

Lesson #0010                       Hosea Wisdom in the OT            11/10/2019 1Sunday

12x a year, we have the Communion service and remember all that He has done for us; a name above all names. This is also a fitting day today that we celebrate this, as tomorrow is Veterans Day. Sacrifice is certainly one f the aspects of that. Of the noblest of those who provide human sacrifice.

One of the greatest speeches about human freedom and sacrifice, by Abraham Lincoln, in 272 words. He was right up there with Winston Churchill as a wonderful wordsmith. “Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation...now we are engaged in a great civil war...we are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to commemorate...that battlefield...that a nation might live. In a largest sense, we cannot...hallow this ground...the world will little note or remember what we say here, but will long remember what was done here...from these honored dead,...for which they gave the full measure...that a government by the people, for the people,...shall not perish from this earth.”

Lesson #0011                       Hosea Wisdom in the OT            11/10/2019 2Sunday

If we have read through the psalms, proverbs or any wisdom literature, we find some verses which are quite clear, and we understand them very well. But others are quite obscure. They often contain various words, figures of speech, unique to the times of ancient Israel. Harder to understand what God wants us to know. We must take into account the time in which these words are written. The unique part of wisdom literature, the psalms and Proverbs, are that these are poetry.

The key to some of these are parallelism. It has nothing to do with rhyme or rhythm. It is truly and art form, and provides a powerful message.

Parallelism employs two lines; each line being of equal importance. They are parallel. Each line compliments the other and balances against the other in a similar grammatical construction. This is an art form. This is a great way for the author to give a meaning. The two lines compliment each other, and they do so in several ways. We will have to understand parallelism and poetry.

One type is called synonymous parallelism. Both lines repeat the same thought.

Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Psalm 19:2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.

Creation itself is the best witness to divine wisdom. David writes this as a psalm of worship. Who has not looked up into the sky, at some point, maybe outside of Houston, and seen the stars, the moon, and other heavenly bodies; and you have seen it and wondered and been impressed about the immensity of it all. It impressed David as he wrote this. This is David’s conclusion based upon looking up into the sky, probably as a young shepherd.

Many people have looked into the sky and have seen this as a marvelous revelation of God. When we look into the heavens and see this, we learn the great immensity, intelligence and power of God Himself.

Antithetical parallelism, parallel by contrast; two lines which are opposite but completely connected.

Psalm 1:6 for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

The way of the righteous is in contrast the way of the wicked. God also knows His Own. They are made righteous in every generation. God knows the state of our spiritual lives in any given time. The Lord also knows the ways of the wicked; God knows those who have rejected Him. Nothing is hidden from God. Nothing you do, think or say. So, God knows these ways. There is judgment involved; the judgment of all unbelievers.

The way refer to one’s own entire modus of life. The life of the wicked is the life of the cosmic system; a wicked life that will not endure. A life in the cosmic system has no meaning. The contrast simply reveals which side we are on in the sight of God.

Believers are not to be influenced by the thinking of the cosmic system. The righteous are those who are justified. They live the spiritual life of Bible doctrine; and this is the subject of all of this. The application of all of that wisdom. For the believer, human good will perish. Wood, hay and stubble. This is simply all of that.

3^rd form: climatic parallelism. It has nothing to do with climate change. This builds upon the same word found in both lines.

Psalm 39:1 I said, "I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle, so long as the wicked are in my presence."

Psalm 39:2 I was mute and silent; I held my peace to no avail, and my distress grew worse.

Wrong passage.

Psalm 29:1 Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

Psalm 29:2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.

This is a dramatic call for worship. A dramatic line of praise by the angels. They see Him, they know Him. How can we not respond to His glory. These lines reflect the mode of Israel. This lines were read in their assemblies, in their synagogues and from the Temple. We may remember this glory of the Lord from our own Communion services.

The wisdom of recognizing the glory. The Lord is worthy of that.

Synthetic parallelism. Bobby will use these words repeatedly when we examine these passages. This builds upon a thought, by adding details or dimensions. It completes a thought.

Psalm 2:6 "As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill."

The context is opposition to the king by foreign rebellious people. They are antisemitic. They are drive by the cosmic system of Satan to destroy Israel. This comes from Psalm 2:2–3 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, "Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us."

God will subjugate those who reject His king. Operation footstool. Several classes have been spent on that. All will be subject to the Lord.

A link between Old Testament Israel and future Israel. This is great encouragement for Israel, knowing the God has a plan for them and that God would not allow nation Israel to be destroyed.

Synthetic parallelism can make a parallelism or draw an analogy.

Bobby loves this:

Prov. 15:17 Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it.

A contrast between poverty and prosperity; and a person from an agrarian economy understands this perfectly. The vegetable metaphor has an historical context. The beginning of the 20^th century; and there was a blockade against Germany, which caused great starvation within Germany and they ate mostly cabbage. Ireland famine and the potato blight; a one-crop economy, which was a problem. A problem of deprivation. 20–25% of Ireland moved to the United States as a result of this.

Normally people would choose prosperity for trade by a fattened ox. The real import of this proverb is attitude. A poverty of spirit versus a poverty of strengths.

Emblematic parallelism is the next type. This uses the figure of speech, the simile. The sentence contains the word as, like.

Prov._25:28 A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.

A city will be conquered without walls; and a man without self-control will be conquered as well.

Maybe we can see the value of all this concentrated wisdom and the importance of parallelism and extracting it from the poetry. We need to make the wisdom clear, memorable, and applicable.

Lesson #0012               Proverbs 1:2–5 Wisdom in the OT11/13/2019 Wednesday

We will begin this study in the book of Proverbs; we will begin with v. 7 and then go back to v. 2.

Prov. 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

This is an antithetical parallelism. There is a parallel between those who fear God and fools who despise wisdom.

If fear is connected to knowledge of God and wisdom and instruction; it cannot mean fear in the sense of being frightened.

So, fear and understanding that is fundamental to our understanding of this chapter. By the time that we are done with this, we will understand the fundamentals of the Christian life, like no other passage in Scripture.

We are only scratching the surface of this. This is why Bobby is covering the one phrase first of all.

Bobby, with this one phrase, turned the key to the spiritual life. This is the beginning; this is the beginning of everything. When you become a believer in Jesus Christ, you are probably interested in everything. If you spent 9 years in a study of the Lord, then you want to know Him. The more you know, the more you have a personal relationship and the more you revere Him.

Having whetted our appetite, let’s back up and go begin with Prov. 1:2:

Prov. 1:1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

Prov. 1:2 To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight,...

Prov. 1:3 ...to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;...

Prov. 1:4 ...to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth—...

Prov. 1:5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,...

Bobby took a fantastic course in seminary called wisdom literature. Ron Allen, very well known; and he brought this wisdom literature alive. He had us read Wisdom in Israel written by Gerhard von Rad. He was one of those German theologians who was also very liberal; and he was open to discussion of accuracy of the wisdom literature.

He writes a great thing at the beginning of the book, v. 53: these verse become almost intertwined to the point of synonymity. Their meaning are so close as to be hard to distinguish. Taken as a whole, they may take as wisdom and how to live wisely.

He does not take them apart in order to see the nuances; but Bobby will do this. If we are to understand the mechanics of spiritual growth and how this growth is advantageous to our lives. This is about our life and living our life and living our life as believer using what we have learned. We will see the Christian way of life in all of its ways and means.

The first word is the Qal infinitive of yadah. yâdaʿ (יָדַע) [pronounced yaw-DAHĢ]

This is the complete and overall picture of knowing.

My purpose for all of you in writing these couplets, Solomon says, is yâdaʿ (יָדַע) [pronounced yaw-DAHĢ]. Then Solomon will begin to break down yâdaʿ.

To know results in wisdom. If you write these things down, you will learn the spiritual life as never before. It will go from fear of the Lord to wise behavior.

Skillful wisdom is Solomon’s ability to administer justice. He was able to administer justice as a judge. He could listen and take the wise advice of a counselor.

The next thing is to know wisdom and to know instruction.

A good illustration is the instruction of military leadership. It begins in a classroom; and it begins with classroom instruction on leadership. There are practical lessons in the classroom. What do you do with regards to discipline; how to you handle yourself as a leader. These things are discussed endlessly in the classroom. The entire Ranger could is instruction in leadership. it is leadership under pressure and adverse circumstances. We learn these and we have to put them into practice. Until we are on the ground leading a platoon, we do not get the full picture in the classroom. As an actual commander, we put the principles to work based upon what we have learned. We learn skills in leadership. This become a skill; a finely honed skill.

All of the classroom instruction does not fully prepare you to lead 30 men after that. All that you do is something that is in your thinking. You know in part what to do; and you wing it sometimes. You learn in the classroom; and you learn leadership. You receive disciplined instruction in the classroom of the church.

You develop from this a lifetime spiritual skill. You never quite understand doctrine until you have to live it and use it. This is your life and this is why Solomon wrote Proverbs. Difficult, challenging experience.

Solomon received some of his instructions from sometime a lack of wisdom; or a disregard of wisdom. He learned sometimes by trial and error; sometimes by learning the hard wya.

Bobby really enjoyed the fascinating subject of WWI. The tactics of that war were mired in the previous century; and they were being taught in the schools everywhere. The tactics were way outdated and they were murderous when assaulting into the teeth of machine gun fire, like walking into it as a line. After many hard lessons with massive casualties. 60,000 casualties on one day beginning in WWI because they used old tactics. In Vietnam, we lost about 50,000 men over 10 years.

Hard lessons, correction, reproof.

This is the big picture. Then Solomon says, you will have to discern all the sayings of wisdom.

Lesson #0013               Proverbs 1:2–5 Wisdom in the OT    11/14/2019 Thursday

Requests are being made for certain chapters of Psalms and Proverbs. No telling how long we will be in this.

These first 4 verses give the reason why Solomon writes Proverbs. The wisdom is as valid today as it was back in the days of Solomon. Solomon reveals the operational obligations of the believers in this world.

Nobody entirely exhausts the study of the Bible. Bobby has not found any passage in the Bible which lays out the spiritual life so well as vv. 2–7. In every aspect of life, this wisdom is perfect, applicable; and this is how we should be thinking. The preamble of wisdom, which is the subject of Proverbs.

Prov. 1:2 To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight,...

Prov. 1:3 ...to receive instruction in wise behavior, in righteousness, justice, and equity;...

Prov. 1:4 ...to give prudence to the naive, knowledge and discretion to the youth—...

Synonymous parallelism again.

Prov. 1:5 A wise man will hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,...

Learning, understanding, prudence, discretion, behavior. Each one of these words is nuanced. From these verses we see the foundation of the application of Bible doctrine to us.

Prov. 1:2 To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight,...

This is the big picture of knowledge. This is both academic and experiential knowledge. We learn all sorts of things by listening and by going through circumstances in life. We apply what we know. As we learn, we use what we hear. We learn life lessons. If we use doctrine, we gain in our life experiences. We progress in that life. Spiritual maturity is the progress that we make. It is learn, using and applying. Both approaches contribute to the gaining of knowledge.

Wisdom is the subject of Proverbs. Knowledge results in wisdom. We want wisdom to become a part of our thinking and a part of the thinking of divine viewpoint wisdom.

Just how much doctrine do we think and how much we apply in life; and to that extent is the extent of our maturity. When we learn, when we hear, when we experience, we become skilled in using this in our life. That is skill and wisdom in the spiritual life. Is that not what we are looking for. The ability to use these skills in our lives. Proverbs is an amazing book about the application of knowledge to our lives.

We are to know wisdom and we are to learn instruction. Discipline in the school of knowledge and wisdom. Discipline in learning is so critical. We do not learn well without the discipline to learn. How many courses did you stumble your way through it. The rest of the time you goofed off, studying the night before the final. You master the course; that is disciplined learning. Bobby is amazed how many things he has pulled up from his learning in college and in the seminary.

Training like the military. It is concentrated and tough. Discipline and instruction holds a believer together through difficult and challenging experiences. If you are in Bible class night after night, that is disciplined. It take discipline to do this over and over again. The payoff is, we are held together through difficult, challenging circumstances.

Bobby has just given us what Bob has sat and worked on for hours and hours; and here it is in half of a verse. Discern the sayings of understanding. Or, comprehend the individual statements and principles of wisdom.

Proverbs is a series of mottos, one after another and by another. Aphorisms.

Prov. 1:3 ...to receive instruction in wise behavior, in righteousness, justice, and equity;...

The believers receives instructions. The Qal infinitive construct of laqaq.

What is the wise behavior? Righteousness and justice and equity. Spiritual knowledge manifests itself in these 3 ways. You know what you are supposed to do; so what does that look like when you do it.

See how all of this is beginning to fit together? When standards are not maintained and the spiritual life falls away in carnality and in reversionism, in the times of Jeremiah and Hosea; or when divine establishment is forgotten, rejected, and mocked. Then discipline, correction and disaster.

We know that God is faithful and He restored Israel. God made a covenant with Israel; and He has not rejected them. No parameters of divine wisdom. Bad things happen in order to recover wise behavior.

The second manifestation of wise behavior, and this is justice.

This is why you practice a swing over and over again. You develop muscle memory. You no longer have to think about the mechanics of the swing. In the game, you just do it. You know how to swing. You have trained yourself to do it. It is your customary swing. If you play golf, there is a certain back swing, where your left and right arms are in a swing. A professional golfer has tremendous muscle memory. It is the same.

We should now understand the spiritual life; the spiritual life is right thinking and wise behavior from instruction and developing divine standards, which means you have the spiritual skill to live the spiritual life. Living this life is a skill. Skill requires memory and action. When you have the skill, you produce at the highest level.

The 3^rd manifestation of wise behavior is called equity, which is mashar.

This is maintaining the spiritual life. That is also a spiritual skill. These 3 characteristics are of a mature believer in action. The people during the time of Hosea and Jeremiah.

Lesson #0014                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT         11/17/2019 1Sunday

The wisdom of the book of Proverbs is truly for our lives today. It is discernment that comes directly from the veracity of God. That means that it is a part of the omniscience and veracity of God. Should these be learned and applied, we will have the operational and functional means to live in Satan’s world. There is wisdom in this book for every circumstance of life. Whatever, it is covered in the book of Proverbs. Common sense, good judgment, and good decision making capabilities. This oversees a life that is truly fulfilling and fully blessed. It is a life that we are obligated to live.

Who better than Solomon to present this wisdom to us.

This would bring up a question...why didn’t David write Proverbs rather than Solomon, since much of Proverbs comes from David originally.

David taught Solomon this information; and Solomon knew by hard knocks the problems of not following wisdom.

Prov. 1:2 To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight [or, to discern the words of understanding],...

V. 2 sums up what we are going to learn in the book of Proverbs. We have seen that instruction is discipline and training. Also the experience of wisdom, which means that we are experiencing circumstances in which this wisdom must be applied.

Discerning is distinguishing truth from falsehood.

Prov. 1:3 ...to receive instruction in wise behavior [or, good sense], in righteousness, justice, and equity;...

3 specific aspects of wise behavior. Righteousness is conforming to divine standards of correct behavior; conforming to divine standards. In order to do this, you must know these divine standards. Then justice, which means good judgment in making good decisions. We have all made good and bad decisions. People will challenge us with, what is a good decision? A good decision lines up with divine wisdom and Bible doctrine. If you do not know it, then you cannot make good decisions. Any other decision will have repercussions which are unknown, unseen or unexpected. You must develop this attitude of justice.

Equity is practical; it means being fair minded; not prejudice, judgmental or arbitrary or prone to emotionalism. The latter is happening in many churches right now. This is the way that we should think and should live.

Solomon introduces the benefits of what he will depart to us in this book.

Prov. 1:4 ...to give prudence to the simple [or, to the naive], knowledge and discretion to the youth—...

V. 4 is another reason for us to attain to wisdom. This is for the maintenance of the client nation. This verse is developed from the point of view of a teaching; the objective of the teacher. A parent, an instructor in school, or even a pastor.

One line helps us to understand the other.

Brainless or naive is not a reference to human IQ; it is low spiritual IQ.

Less we get self-righteous, who has not found themselves making decisions with bad outcomes? We just don’t care; our own objectives, desires, come first. We make decisions which limit our future options. That includes in the spiritual life. Bad decisions limit future options. The plan of God for our life is more than just taking in doctrine. That is the raw material or the resource that we need. Living the spiritual life is making good decisions which relate to good decisions which glorify God. So that we cease to be naive.

Then there is that subject of youth. Some of us are young and some of us are not. Bobby is speaking in the sense of age. The young particularly need to know that bad decisions limit their future options. Without the teaching from doctrinal parents, they will be entrapped with no discernment; by peer pressure, by self-gratification or by foolish behavior. Many young people wind up in jail for making stupid decisions. The only hope for such people is to gain wisdom. The recidivistic rate or lack of it is about 90%, which amazes wardens all over; because they do not get this same kind of success rate. We get doctrine when we are young, so that when we are old, we do not depart from it. Such young people will be entrapped and make many bad decisions; but this applies to anyone. We begin as blank slates and someone needs to write on the tablet of our souls; of our thinking. We have no doctrine and we know nothing else. We are always in need of sound teaching, of discernment.

Bobby looks out over the audience and he knows people with children and he knows the situation of their children today. Many were brought up with Bible doctrine; and that many of them stuck with it. They have the wisdom needed to grow in the spiritual life.

So many others are not in a good place; they have moved on to other areas. Some are heartbroken because their life is not one of good decisions. Learning includes both instruction and experience. That is also a road to wisdom; the hard knocks of bad decisions. By gaining divine viewpoint, those difficulties, those bad decisions. Therefore, knowledge of God includes the results of bad decisions. Wisdom must be instilled from the beginning; give them doctrine in the way that they must go.

Lesson #0015                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT         11/17/2019 2Sunday

All the wisdom of the ages in to be found in Proverbs. Many times, Jesus quoted from Proverbs and Psalms. This attests to their importance.

We find in the New Testament, John, Paul, James and Peter all expanded on much of the wisdom found in the wisdom literature. We cannot afford to overlook it. It is most condensed doctrine found anywhere in Scripture.

This is the means to the mature spiritual life. If we look at this passages, we will see that the overwhelming subject is all about learning how to live in the devil’s world. That is what this tells us. It is an overwhelming... The status of the client nation; where individual believers are moving forward spiritually.

Prov. 1:2 To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight [or, to discern the words of understanding],...

Prov. 1:3 ...to receive instruction in wise behavior [or, good sense], in righteousness, justice, and equity;...

Prov. 1:4 ...to give prudence to the simple [or, to the naive], knowledge and discretion to the youth—...

V. 5 gives advice to those who cannot be called naive. Solomon gives us the other side of the picture. There is always room for more wisdom from Bible doctrine.

Man can refer to both genders and all races.

Prov. 1:5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning [or, a wise man will hear and increase in learning], and the one who understands obtain guidance [or, will acquire Bible doctrine],...

There is that war between divine viewpoint and human viewpoint, which war takes place in your soul. Does divine viewpoint force out human viewpoint? Like in golf, you develop muscle memory until you have a swing that is second nature. You hit it the same way every time. When you deviate from that, you do not play well. It is the same with Bible doctrine. You practice it over and over again. When you practice, you mature; and you use it in every circumstance of life. If it is not 2^nd nature to you, you will have an attitude of indifference.

If a believer increases in learning, becoming a man or woman in understanding by continuing to hear wisdom...and we are then taken to v. 5b.

Prov. 1:5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning [or, a wise man will hear and increase in learning], and the one who understands obtain guidance [or, will acquire Bible doctrine],...

The urgent need for this wisdom is found in v. 6:

Prov. 1:6 to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.

Do you understand this? It is a continuation of v. 5.

Lesson #0016                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT    11/20/2019 Wednesday

Bobby likes watching people file in, night after night. Also those in the FX groups. Bobby is encouraged by this.

The believer who has acquired some wisdom has to gain more wisdom. This is a process that is open ended; it never ceases. It continues throughout your life. We can never master every aspect of God’s wisdom from the Scriptures. As we grow, things become clearer as we learn more and more doctrine. Consistency, we can master enough wisdom and we are provided with enough wisdom; and God makes this wisdom available to us. We always have that which we need when we need it. We can master enough wisdom. Wisdom gained becomes wisdom used by all of us. We simply have to metabolize it and apply it. If we hear and apply is, we will understand God’s plan for our lives.

In our study in vv. 2–4, we have already learned the basics of how to acquire wisdom and just how important that it is. We have learned the result for life in general for gaining all of this wisdom. We have learned all of this in just 3 verses.

V. 5 gives us a brief summary.

Prov. 1:5 A wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will increased his acquisition of Bible doctrine,...

V. 5 puts together everything which has gone before.

Prov. 1:6 ...to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.

There is a repetition of the Hebrew word beyn. It means to discern. The second major purpose of this book is to give mental and spiritual acumen to... The sayings of understanding are proverbs; we are to discern them. We perceive the Biblical wisdom of a proverb.

The proverbs are covered by verbal plenary inspiration. That is the importance of v. 6 for believers. We must know these things. We must learn the Hebrew words and their meanings. These words are divinely inspired. The proverbs must be seen as riddles that must be studied; puzzles which must be solved. Each proverb has one intended meaning. Because it is poetry and sometimes it is perplexing, the individual words are important.

Bobby spends so much time at his desk unraveling the riddles. Maybe we can now begin to see these proverbs as being incredibly portions of Scripture. It is the basis for good decisions and actions in our life.

Prov. 1:6 ...to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.

The theological foundation of wisdom. This might be considered the motto for proverbs.

Prov. 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

In this antithetical parallel, these who fear the Lord are the opposite those who despise wisdom. There are even believers who ignore and reject Bible doctrine. But, they do not fear the Lord.

We have to understand v. 7 as a contrast.

Worse than naive, is what they are called back in v. 4. That is exactly what Jeremiah 4:22 says: “My people are foolish because they have no understanding.” Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Prov. 1:29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,

Prov. 1:30 would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof,

Prov. 1:31 therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.

Their life is in shambles; it does not work. They keep smashing their heads into walls. They are gullible; easily enticed followers of evil. In their following of evil, they move beyond evil to becoming fools for destruction. They cannot understand the issues before them. They are confused and muddled in their thinking.

Israel was charged to fear the Lord.

What kind of life do you want? Do you want to live in fog? It is amazing how muddled thinking is. A whole generation who think that socialism is their answer.

First problem is, they have no beginning of knowledge because they do not revere the Lord; and they do not want to know Him. Wisdom gives you depth. It gives you the impetus to operate in our spiritual life.

Prov. 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Lesson #0017                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT        11/21/2019 Thursday

We will finish Prov. 1 tonite.

This entire verse might be understood to be the theme of the book of Proverbs. This phrase the fear os the Lord is found 15 times in Proverbs. This is found elsewhere in the Bible as well.

Prov. 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Job 28:28 passage: The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom.

Prov. 1:7 Fools do not fear the Lord so they cannot obtain wisdom because they despise instruction.

This is a one-verse explanation for what Proverbs is all about. Apart from this, the believer becomes the fool without knowledge.

Bobby’s caution: to be simply out of fellowship, to be in carnality, is not a loss of the fear of the Lord. This is because we have the option of rebound. The fool is the one who rejects rebound and refuses the grace of God. As you grow, you might use this less and less.

These national deities were seen as having foibles. Fear of the Hebrews throughout the Old Testament. They feared the righteous God; this fear was advanced among the Jews. Fear to reverence to the law of God.

God ruled the nation directly. God is absolute sovereignty. The fear, as found in Prov. 1:7, is not some trembling dread that paralyzes a person, hiding in a corner; nor is it just a polite respect. This fear ultimately expresses reverential obedience to the Lord’s will and plan. That includes the desire to have knowledge. That was God’s objective for Israel and it is still with us today. When we understand who God is. We are believers who study the Bible are the ones who actually know who God is. Other people simply put human attributes with God; they think of God in human terms. We understand His attributes. We understand God to the extent that He has revealed Himself to us. When you know what God is like, an inkling of Who He is and what He has done, this commands respect and reverence. That is the meaning of fear in this context. That is the beginning of knowing Him. The motivation for knowing Him, the impetus for knowing Him; it means more to us than it would mean to anyone else in the world.

We can see the correct attitude, that fear is a versatile and far-reaching word in the Old Testament. We begin to understand how God thinks and what good decisions are. This is what we come to know and how we do it.

What is the relationship between fear, respect and knowledge.

Prov. 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

If this fear is not presence, then the believer is confused, lacking divine wisdom. He only has human viewpoint and relative wisdom. Whatever great human knowledge might be gain in science, mathematics, history of philosophy; there is still ignorance, even in a highly educated person. The most brilliant of people are still lacking wisdom. Without the motive for real wisdom. The best they can do is human wisdom.

The believer who fears the Lord knows the God of the universe and he knows the origins of the universe. All science searches for the origins of the universe. We know the God of the universe and we know His creative power. We see it and we experience it. Incredible scientific advance. All of these are discoveries of what God put into motion. The universe did not create itself; its Creator is God. The godless astronomer has no understanding of anything beyond what he can see. His theories are speculative and often contradictory. Some of us may have kept up with the various theories as their continue to be developed. And all of the theories and calculations. But these ideas change constantly. All of those theories are based upon a false premise. They do not fear or reverence the God of the universe. So they cannot have the beginning of knowledge.

The mathematician only knows laws, and these laws come from God. Academic knowledge is fine, but it is incomplete without fear of the Lord.

Bobby is in awe when he sees how the universe works; or just the human body itself. We can attribute it all to the Creator Himself.

Human viewpoint possesses some fragments of the superstructure of knowledge, but not the foundation or the absolute characteristics of truth.

Where there is no fear of the Lord, those who achieve the highest of human rewards, but remain willingly ignorant, remain fools who disdain wisdom. We do not need to be a fool. Especially in the eyes of God. Those who disdain it are fools. If you do not reverence God and show Him all respect and honor, then you are the lowest of the low. We know Him. Unbelievers don’t know Him.

Application of the fear of the Lord today. There are many similarities between the United States and the northern kingdom. There are parallel times. We are a priest or a client nation, but as Israel was in those days. Missionaries have gone to many parts of the earth. From the pulpits of our country, great messages have come from the pulpits of our nation. Many develop the foundation of knowledge to build and maintain the client nation. The blessings from that have been great and many. Only those in the cosmic system are haters of this nation.

Believers in this country have grown. What is coming from the pulpits of this nation; some of it is absolute disrespect for the Lord. When there is disrespect for the Lord; found in many pulpits today. Our blessings are slipping away in the horrendous human knowledge and values of today, which is in opposition to the Word of God. Instead of reverence, there is the mocking of God; and God will not be mocked. That is wisdom. God will not be mocked ever.

Many believers have no love or reverence for the Lord because they do not know Him. They have no understanding. Biyn understanding and discernment. This does not exist today. The nation in general has become spiritually foolish and anti divine establishment. That happened in the times of Hosea and Jeremiah and it is coming to pass today.

Fools die for lack of understanding.

Is this the center to all problems and their solutions? There is no hope apart from this nation unless believers grow and advance.

Bobby is going to paraphrase these 4 verses:

Gaining knowledge and wisdom in the skills of living the spiritual life. The disciplined training or instruction in that which is worth having. Being able to discern the divine truths of wisdom. That is our objective; that is what is worth having. This is the believer advancing to maturity.

Acquiring something worth having in wise behavior; which is righteousness, justice and equity. The good judgment to make wise decisions. Equity is fair-minded, straight, not prejudice, judgmental or arbitrary or angry or prone to emotionalism. No self control comes in many forms. No control is a lack of equity.

Giving good sense to the spiritually brainless [= naive].

A wise man will hear and he will continue to increase in learning. We are wise if we continue to grow in grace and knowledge. And a man of discernment will acquire wise counsel. This is the counsel of one’s own soul developed from learning Bible doctrine. No greater description found in the Bible of the entire spiritual life.

Divine establishment wisdom for believers and unbelievers alike.

Next we will move on to the advantages of wisdom.

Lesson #0018                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT         11/24/2019 1Sunday

When Thanksgiving rolls around, we should be thankful for what we have just studied in the last 2 weeks. No greater description than what is found in Prov. 1:2–7 as a description of the spiritual life. It is not just interesting aphorisms; things we might so use on occasion. This is a description of our spiritual life and its results. We must learn, understand and apply.

Let’s move on to the advantages of this wisdom.

Personification refers to inanimate objects or abstract ideas that are endowed with human qualities. It can make some things very human. When you personalize it, it becomes much more real. The ideas of wisdom are presented as a person. People have many ideas about wisdom; but we will study a person who has wisdom.

Wisdom will be personified as a teacher, teaching a student; a father teaching his son what is important in life. This is what a father should teach to a son. This is true of chapters 1–8, as this is all about a teaching father to his son. It pounds home wisdom’s merits to a son. A child must learn wisdom in order to make good decisions in life and to expand out future options. We do not want limited future options. We want to open the way for that child.

This is not just wisdom for a son and a father; but profound wisdom for all people who must attain wisdom regardless of one’s age. There are many people who still need to grow up. For children, it is doubly important as they begin their lives without any standards. We are born without standards and we continue without standards.

Righteousness, justice and equity; these come from Prov. 1; then this is applied to the person in Prov. 3.

The rewards of virtue beginning with childhood. There is long life; this is a means of long life; and a peaceful life, even in conflict because of peace of soul. A reward of virtue is honor. Most people think of prosperity as wealth and materials goods, but that is not the heart of prosperity. Further, there is the impact of wisdom on relationships. Important for parents who care about their children. All of these virtues in Prov. 3 are based upon the fear or reverence of the Lord. The focus is more on the inner life, rather than on the outer life. How important is that today, whereas so much of life is superficial, self-centered, and materialistic.

The depth of wisdom is truly a gift from the Lord and reflects in our attitude towards Him. Yet this internal thought process, which leads to right actions, is sadly lacking to those who have an outward testimony of it. The truth that they profess has no real place in their lives. They speak of it, but they do not live it. The spiritual life is given lip service. They speak, but they do not do. They make all of the right statements. They have a holy vocabulary; and they speak in certain tones in a certain way that makes you think that they are very spiritual people.

In actual living, wisdom is removed far from them; they do not practice what they preach. This is often important when it comes to a parent and his children. A deficient life. Bobby has examined in his life, how many friends has he retained over a long period of time? These are the greatest relationships. If you are in and out of relations constantly, there may be a problem in your soul. Some of this can reflect bad decisions when it comes to making friends. How do you judge who is worth being around and who isn’t?

That is a great indicator of wisdom. Thus a practical necessity of instilling wisdom in our children. So they can make good decisions on their own lives.

A child as a blank slate; and his empty soul must be filled with something. It is our obligation to fill it with something. It must be taught and it must be lived by the parents as an example. The acquisition of wisdom is good sense in life. Living the spiritual life is key for good decisions and capacity for life. Helps to choose wise associations. Wisdom helps you to make choices that are good. What is the criteria for choices.

The proverb here is written by Solomon and he is the student/child here. He was taught a great deal of doctrine by his father, David. He taught Solomon when Solomon was young. He is passing on this phileo wisdom to all parents.

Prov. 3:1 My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments,...

Solomon commends a lifelong pursuit of wisdom. Solomon certainly had problems in his life and he tried everything else, which did not take him everywhere that he wanted to go. This was to be a lifelong pursuit. It is open-ended; it continues. The depths of wisdom are unfathomable.

Bobby began by reading the Proverbs. Great depth of wisdom there and we could study this book until the end of our lives. We could make decisions to choose wisdom.

shâkach (שָכַח) [pronounced shaw-KAHKH], which means, to forget; to forget and leave; to forsake, to abandon.

Bobby taught the teenage class for 10 years. He was teaching wisdom. He taught the Song of Solomon; calling it Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll.

Some of us provide wisdom for our children; and then they break your heart because they leave it behind. We can do nothing about that. All Bobby can do is teach wisdom and given us the tools and the options and the opportunity. But there is volition on the other side which will accept or not. Bad decisions limit future options. Narrowing the future life significantly.

There may be application for all of us, even as grown up. It is never too late.

Prov. 3:1 My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments,...

Lesson #0019                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT         11/24/2019 2Sunday

“Most of you know that I do not have children.” What qualifies you to teach parents, as you have not been one? It is what is written in the Word of God. It is wisdom. Bobby is giving what the Scripture says; he is not giving his own techniques for parenthood. Nevertheless, truth is truth.

We all need what is here. This is wisdom personified as a teacher. Wisdom is teaching us. It is good for all of us at any age.

Prov. 3:1 My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments,...

Wisdom is speaking; and this is learning and teaching. Every teacher hopes that his students will learn this. How can it be more important than what a parent tells a child. Children sometimes do not listen, and they do not always heed or retain all the teaching that they receive. It is tough sledding when you realize what you are up against. But wisdom supercedes all of it.

Bob was the most gracious, loving parent that anyone could want. But Bobby saw the Bible doctrine that he lived and applied. He did not understand it at first. He saw a gracious and grace oriented person, to this day. He went to seminary and they bad-mouthed Bobby; he was able to correct them on that subject. Bobby was taught constantly by his mother, and Bob reenforced this by the way that he lived. It is not what I say; it is what I do that matters.

Teaching is the feminine plural of a Hebrew word tôwrah (טוֹרַה or טֹרַה) [pronounced TOH-rah], which often refers to the Law of Moses. Usually, when this noun appears in a text without any qualifiers, it is divine Law.

This verse urges spiritual instruction; it does not support home schooling. This is spiritual instruction where the parents have the authority. Or also at prep school. Church instruction is not a substitute for parental teaching of a child. Do not turn over that responsibility to church. Their little souls want to be independent and they watch you constantly. Prep school is a supplement to parental teaching in the home. It should be a supplement and a reenforcement. Great teaching in prep school; but greater effect when heard at home as well.

If the children do not see the advantages of wisdom and they only see the cosmic system; and its enticements, then you have lost them to the cosmic system. Teaching is one way of protecting them from it. That is the positive side. It is a protection.

Bobby knows many times that he was faced with some very interesting situations. Bobby, when he was close to 17, allowed him to let him drive to Mexico to surf. They trusted Bobby. You can get into some serious trouble when in a car with guys of the same age. Bobby learned good standards. He had a good time; but he did not get into serious trouble. He cannot vouch for the other guys. “Go ahead, I trust you,” his dad said. At some point, you have to cut the child loose. You can only give them the tools to make good decisions.

Bobby gives this stories because some people think that he has never lived life at all. He has lived a full life; and he has made his share of decisions, good and bad. Wisdom works and doctrine works and you must give that to children. We all want this for children. This is one of the reasons that Bobby wanted to teach Proverbs. This is the operation of the spiritual life; and how we apply it and to whom we apply it. Children learn very well by our setting an example of doctrinal and practical wisdom for them.

When some driver would do something really stupid, Bob would hop out of the car and correct them. That is not very good training. That may have led him to impersonal love, being in traffic. You apply every doctrine known to man and in Scripture. Sometimes the bad examples get you into the most trouble. Not something Bob should have done; that was his nature. It was offset by so many other things. Children are more likely to follow your lead when they get on with their own life; and they know that it works to their advantage. They may sow some wild oats, but they have been given the foundation for wisdom in their growing souls. They will retain it for the future.

When you have taught and demonstrated, the children will have the information to draw upon later. They will know how to make good decisions and to draw upon to counter the bad decisions that they have made. Their rebellion will cause some pain in your life and in theirs. Anti-authority does have repercussions.

It is even more incumbent upon us to teach in the home Bible doctrine. Correct authority; not tyranny. God gives us the opportunity to make correct application; they will have the tools to do it, just as we do.

Prov. 3:1 My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments,...

Lesson #none                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT    11/27/2019 Wednesday

Thanksgiving week.

Lesson #none                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT        11/28/2019 Thursday

Thanksgiving week.

Lesson #0020             Proverbs 3:1 22:6 Wisdom in the OT    12/1/2019 1Sunday

What are you thankful for? We understand that thanksgiving is totally about the grace of God. The grace oriented believer has more to be thankful for than anyone else on this earth; and we are thankful for it every day.

Prov. 3 is a wonderful lesson in wisdom. Prov. 2–9 are addressed by a father to a son (or any parent to any child). This is specifically David’s training of Solomon. Solomon wrote 3000 proverbs himself and 1000 songs. 1Kings 4:30. His wisdom was renown. What is amazing for us; we can listen to this teaching of wisdom that took place 3000 years ago, from 2 of the wisest men who have ever lived.

Prov. 3:1 My son, do not forget My teaching, but let your heart keep My commandments,...

David is formally teaching Solomon; but this may or many not be a formal setting. To children, teaching is a necessity; but a formal setting is not always the most important aspect. A father and son can participate in a number of events together and the father can then can begin the teaching.

“Don’t blow this off, Solomon. You need to hear and remember this.” This is an authoritative warning from David. Heed the wisdom that I have. Forget and keep are both Qal imperfects. This is not simply hearing and regurgitating wisdom; it is retaining it and metabolizing it, and applying it. David hopes to inculcate wisdom into the soul of Solomon. He is not just verbally placing this into Solomon’s soul. David has lived wisdom; he began as a shepherd and he showed his wisdom early on. We do not know exactly how or when. Was there a teacher provided for him? This seems logical. Somewhere in here, David learned wisdom. He utilized this wisdom throughout his entire life.

David asks, facing Goliath, “Who is this loudmouth threatening the troops of Israel, the troops of the ever-living God.” God’s plan is not for us to cower in front of one of God’s enemies. Solomon has heard and he has observed his father’s thinking and his actions. He listens and he learns. It is not just what you say, but how you apply and how you live. And it is how your life unfolds in how you grow and apply.

There needs to be more than hearing on the part of Solomon; but he needs to accept this information as his own path and for his own benefit. He must orient to the authority of wisdom, which is personified in his father. It is not just about the wisdom that he hears but the wisdom that he applies. Solomon must hear and then apply. This is the rub. The children do not always want to heed and retain the wisdom being taught them. There is humanism which is in conflict with it; or peer pressure.

Quite often, the child rebels against the teaching and training of their parents. At some point, we have all rebelled. We must not give up as parents, in word and deed.

The most important part of our teaching, particular after the children have reached double-digits, that we are to lead them by our own example. Leading by example is far more effective. If they see this wisdom works in your life, they may learn to apply it to their own lives. When children confront various circumstances—particularly adversity—we have all been in situations where we have rebelled. We know the doctrine in our souls is what is important. If we are teens or in prep school, many children hear and pay attention even when you do not think that they are. What does this wisdom mean to you? How do you apply it? They especially notice what happens in adversity.

Some of us were young and our parents were religious about giving us doctrine; and we rejected that at some point. It is amazing how the Lord works. He directs our paths...not only in the way of righteousness and the way to get to righteousness. He can kick our butts better than anyone else than we can imagine. When we have taught and demonstrated wisdom, in the end, they can make good decisions in life and overcome the bad decisions.

Prov. 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Bobby knows people who require their children to sit down and listen to doctrine together. It might be 15 min. or 30 min. or the teen tapes. Bob calls out Bobby even at that time. Parents have done that; and that does contribute to good discipline, especially when they are young. This is something that they must do all of their lives. This is the most important thing that they have gotten in life. Some kids have grown up and attested to the effectiveness of the teaching.

Song of Songs, Bobby taught as Sex, drugs and rock’n’roll. Bible doctrine was never forced on Bobby. Stability and love of his parents was obvious and life made sense to Bobby in those circumstances, because wisdom was imparted. He heard it and he saw it as well. Much better that the parents teach it. No matter how busy you are in life, it is your obligation as a parent to teach your children.

The caveat and the full picture of Prov. 22:6. He wants us to fully understand what it means. This will give us greater understanding. And we can be relaxed about our children.

Prov. 3:1 My son, do not forget My teaching, but let your heart keep My commandments,...

Lesson #0021                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT           12/1/2019 2Sunday

Some may have been thinking, what does this mean to mean? I am not a parent? Remember, all Scripture is profitable, in some way. This information is still applicable to us. Even if your children are long-since grown, you have grandchildren and great grandchildren. It is never too late for children, grown or not.

The Proverbs passage. Train up a child, is a title for one of the Thieme books. You can train or dedicate yourself to teaching. Many have said, my kids have rebelled, and here is this passage. They are not interested now; they have rejected it for now. Many believers have been disappointed when their children do not return to Bible doctrine; or they are angry at God.

Bobby is going to define v. 6 in greater detail.

Prov. 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Bob told Bobby that he became a believer at age 4, because he could repeat the gospel and he believed it. The believer at age 30 needs the same thing as the child of age 4, if they are baby believers.

If a parent accomplishes the teaching of doctrine, no matter when the child expresses negative volition, you have done your job and it is up to them. There is a very strong possibility and the doctrine in their souls and a few hard knocks, that they might return to the accurate understanding of truth. The parent has every part to play in that.

The parent’s teaching a child when they are young gives the child the best chance of spiritual growth in the future. The child will choose the way that they will go. The parent cannot control the volition of the child. We have influence and it had better be good and it had better be wisdom.

The child who rejects the gospel. If you have imparted Bible doctrine to them and divine establishment to them, they can live a better life. You can only do your job to the best of your ability. That is what the wisdom of Solomon demands. Give them the teaching for a future successful life and wisdom. Children are really just blank slates and they are waiting to be taught. That empty soul must be filled. Without that teaching or knowledge, a vacuum opens up and sucks in all the cosmic system garbage which is all around them. Whatever impresses them is what they will inculcate. You can teach them many things about how to live life; but if you do not include doctrine in that, in one form or another, you have not given them all that is necessary. This is a constant battle for their souls.

Prov. 3:1 My son, do not forget My teaching, but let your heart keep My commandments,...

The word heart in the second part of this verse; and the Greek equivalent is καρδια. This is not the physical blood pumper, but the spiritual center of your life.

Bobby hauls out the operation Z overlay.

Keep is the Qal imperfect of natsar. This demands the retention of wisdom in your soul.

Psalm 119:11 Your Word is treasured in my heart that I might not sin against You.

You retain the doctrine in your soul so it is there so you can pull it up.

Psalm 119:11 I have stored up Your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against You.

We continue the thought of v. 1, especially if you have been on the hot seat.

Prov. 3:2 ...for length of days and years of life and peace they [the commandments of God being kept in the soul] will add to you.

This is a reward, at least one of them. This is also a reward for the child, who has been trained up in his soul. If you want a long life of peace, then make some good decisions. Now, maybe you know someone who is spiritually mature and they died at an early age.

Honor your father and mother, that your days in the land may be long.

You gain common sense and you make good decisions in your life. This is honoring father and mother. Length of days and years means living the spiritual life with doctrine. Each day is another day that the Lord has made, that the Lord has given us. It is filled with marvelous and great blessings. One of the great blessings in life is a life of peace.

Do you have peace and quiet in your home? Or do you have riot and confusion? Do you long to leave your home and enjoy peace. It is high time that you learn how to do this. The key is the blessing of Prov. 3:2.

You first must understand the Hebrew word peace, which is shalom. It is health and long life and personal peace. This is the center of your life and one of the great blessings of life.

Lesson #0022                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT      12/4/2019 Wednesday

Prov. 3:1 My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments,...

David is speaking to Solomon.

Prov. 3:2 ...for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.

This is a promise of a long life. Most people prefer to live a long and happy life. Many look towards medicine to prolong their life; or a healthy lifestyle, or doing things in moderation.

Prov. 3:2 tells us that it is the spiritual life which adds days and years to our lives. A believer’s life is extended, to live the spiritual life in wisdom, day after day.

Our life span follows the plan of God. We have volition; and we may or may not live the plan of God for our lives. We may or may not live according to God’s plan. Living the spiritual life can extend our lives. Our life can be extended to live a life of spiritual wisdom and doctrine. Each extended day is another day to serve the Lord and a day to do just that. Each day is another day to move ahead. Marvelous and wonderful blessings from the grace of God.

Gaining wisdom is the key to a long life span; an extended life span. One of the great blessings in life is the word peace, shalom is what we would hear in Israel. It has several encouraging meanings in the Old Testament

What a great word for peace. Shalom is our life. People always strive for such a life. No one is free of conflict. But one can be free of the mental attitude sins related to such conflict. There is only one way to achieve the peace of a relaxed mental attitude to the maximum. There are times that we can do that; there are times that we can have adversity and still enjoy life.

There are also those times when a brand new adversity comes to us, and we become concerned about it. Prosperity can get us off-track just as much as adversity can. Under prosperity, we might reject Bible doctrine because we don’t feel that we need any help when we are sitting pretty.

There is always conflict and something is going to bother you. Something will bother you more than anything else, and that is the test that you will get.

Prov. 3:2 ...for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.

An enjoyable life; an abundant life. That is a great life. The spiritual life is the greatest life. We are promised a life of peace of soul; you have an attitude of peace. The rest of the world does not have this. People are not in conflict inwardly, despite what is happening all around them.

You may have the question, what is a long life? Bobby saw his grandfather live to 103 and it was not a good age. In the past, a great life span might be 40.

Does everyone get to define the long life in their own mentality. The plan of God is going to run its course for every believer according to God’s good timing.

Logically, those who operate as mature believers, God will extend their lives as well. We do not have a specific spiritual gift that extends our life. All of this falls under Prov. 3:2. Whatever the span of our life on this earth.

We also have the chance to enjoy a long life with a relaxed mental attitude. You can start out going in the wrong direction; but when you return, it does not matter.

Faith rest under these circumstances is in full operation and on display.

You may have objectives for yourself; but your first objective is growing up spiritually and exploiting the spiritual life.

There is an oft-asked question, what about the wicked and evil who have long lives. God did not promise them long lives.

The politicians are insane up there; they have gone out of their minds; and they are against the rule of law.

Have you ever noticed that human activists are never satisfied. Activism never brings a peace of soul. It is constant agitation. Everything must be protested; everything must be fought. But they cannot solve the ills of mankind with humanism. They think that they are going to solve a problem, and stuff it back in the box; but out pops another problem. Never will they have a life of peace. Activism is turmoil. Christian activism is evil for that very reason. There is no peace of soul. Some of the most rabid people in the greatest turmoil are the anti-abortionists. Bobby is talking about their attitude. Their attitude is anything but peaceful. Such people are absolutely out of their minds with fear and anger and agitation. That is not shalom. They are so frustrated; but we have the personal solution.

The result, a relaxed mental attitude goes with it. Bible doctrine and divine establishment are the only permanent solutions for us in a world of constant turmoil. If you have a problem with something happening in this world, speak against it; but you might not solve the problem in the world. You cannot solve the problems of the devil’s world by your activism. If you want to see solutions for problems, often the key is prayer. We pray for so many and we see results. Prayer is the most powerful weapon; activism is not.

Prov. 3:3 Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.

This urges the development of wisdom and peace. “Do not let kindness and truth leave you.” Shalom is kindness and truth.

Lesson #0023                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT          12/5/2019 Thursday

Prov. 3:3 Do not let steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.

Writing on the tablet of your right lobe. These are two of the most beautiful poetic metaphors. There is a synonymous parallel. Let your heart keep My commandments. This is what David taught his son Solomon.

Note the parallel we have with:

Prov. 3:1 My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments,...

When you have developed this wisdom, you can review what is in your right lobe. You can use this information for making decisions. This truly is a beautiful metaphor. The teaching becomes a part of your nature, guiding your thought process, which influences your every thought and action. What you think is what you are. When you think wisdom, you are wisdom and you live wisdom. It is indelibly written on the right lobe of your soul.

The Ten Commandments are the preface for all the commandments and knowledge.

What is kindness and truth that must not leave you?

Learning and retaining this wisdom for a lifetime is what David was teaching Solomon to keep for a lifetime. These two words you must never forget and keep in the right lobe of your soul. It is the signet ring of Solomon and of David. It is their identification and ours.

So what are these two characteristics to which we are bound?

Thus the great quality of chesed is developed by binding it around your neck and writing it upon your heart.

Your vows are the beginning of a lifetime of loyalty to one another. You make sure that the relationship endures. To do so, you need loyalty and faithfulness to him.

In the context of v. 3, emeth is that which can be depended upon. These are not to be lost, forgotten or broken; as spiritual muscle memory. You bind it as it goes in. This is where you take notes and remember it. You know that you cannot think without a vocabulary. You think with words. Vocabulary is critical. Theological vocabulary from R. B. Thieme, Jr. was sheer genius. The categorical storage and the doctrines which are broken down. The parameters of the norms of your life. Then you develop momentum in the spiritual life. It ends up being wisdom in your stream of consciousness, ready to remember and to apply.

David is telling Solomon, “I want you to be great, son. I want you to bind this information to your heart. This is the signet ring that you will have and hold onto.” That would be the harbinger of great things to come for Solomon and his life.

Bobby’s parents trusted him where he was allowed to drive across Mexico. You train your children and, at some point, you have to trust them.

Prov. 3:3 Do not let steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.

Lesson #0024                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT           12/8/2019 1Sunday

There are a group of young people and teachers providing Bible doctrine to young minds. Prep school has given the foundation of Bible doctrine to those who press on. Prov. 3:1, 3 go right along with prep school. These verses urge Solomon to listen and retain the wisdom being taught to him. This is a one-on-one teaching session of David. As believing parents, there is nothing more important than teaching a child divine viewpoint. The same principle applies to any believer. No believer, no matter the age or anything but spiritual children, until they continue to grow in grace and knowledge. We all begin as children, no matter how old we are in the spiritual life.

4 times in Prov. 3:1, 3, David makes this exact point.

Prov. 3:1 My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments,...

Prov. 3:3 Do not let steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.

V. 3 repeats these same thoughts, but in a different way. The wisdom is to be kept close and taught. The signet ring was like a driver’s license to us today. Keep this close, my son, just like the royal signet ring that you carry.

Then write them on the tablet of your heart. Leb and kardia both refer to the thinking part of the soul, where such information is held. Solomon is to keep this information here so that he can hear it and retain it.

There are two characteristics that Solomon should retain. Kindness and truth. These are qualities that Solomon needs to learn. Chesed is the Hebrew word for kindness; in relation to God, it refers to God’s unfailing love. The context is being bound around the neck. Here it refers to an attribute to the son who listens, retains and applies. Here, it refers to loyalty. It is the quality that is developed; persistent fidelity. Loyalty has to be directed towards a relationship. It includes also our relations to those people with whom we do have a relation with. The results are wisdom in the soul.

When Solomon retains this loyalty to the word, he maintains this devotion to God; and this devotion to God is the stability of his life. It is the stability from his spiritual life. Especially as he becomes the king of Israel. He needs this quality desperately. Chesed indicates a binding quality based upon the parental teaching of divine wisdom between a father and a son. This can also be between a father and a son, a mother and a daughter, etc. Parents have the obligation to teach their children in general. This is under persistent divine control; and how life really works. They have no idea how life works at all as children. They need to understand how life from devotion to God and how it works and how to utilize it. It is a way of life; their way of life.

There is also truth, emeth. It is translated truth, but better translated faithfulness. It is a perfect companion to chesed. It is one who is stable. God is the epitome of faithfulness to us. We must be faithful to Him and to His Word. This is a relationship term. Not forgetting all the days of your life so that you can respond to life. It is to be characterized by loyalty and faithfulness to that which is being taught.

Solomon admires his father David because David has exhibited these qualities all of his life. How Solomon was born was not the best situation; but that was David’s old sin nature. Solomon has to be prepared for his future life as ruler of Israel. Those qualities in David that appeared to the nation when David fought Goliath. This was illustrated when David, at a very young age, stood up to Goliath, saying, “Who is the uncircumcised Philistine?”

David had practice taking care of sheep. David dealt with a lion and a bear. David could not allow this to happen; he could not be live and let live about such circumstances. When David talked about these things, Solomon listened.

So many of the psalms reflect the qualities and attitudes of David.

Parents need to teach and to live this teaching. Solomon pursued the things which were not wise and he wrote a catalogue of the things that he tried. David confessed his sins in Psalm 51. From it came Solomon. Solomon also failed; but from his failure came victory, when the spiritual life is being used. When loyalty and faithfulness are promoted.

Just look at the Apostles Paul, who was a great murderer at one time. Moses failed. They all failed at one point or another. There is Adam and the woman. Jesus came to save us; that is cursing turned to blessing. Failure? Who hasn’t? Do not ever give up. We are all examples of failure and getting back up and moving ahead. Never forget David and Solomon. The wisdom that he learned as a child; it never failed him in the end. God honors it. Ecclesiastes is Solomon cataloguing every failure of his life. He was greatly used by the Lord in spite of all of that. He was the child raised to go in the way that he should go.

This doctrine is designed for us, as parents, to never give up on teaching; and, at some point, we let these monsters loose. Solomon will make good decisions as well as bad. He will have loyalty and faithfulness to the Lord and to his people, Israel. Grace, impersonal love, etc. are some of the results.

We are to keep the commandments as stated, for a long life of loyalty and faithfulness. It is a wonderful life, the best that you can have, in spite of adversity.

In v. 4, Solomon addresses the result; the very practical side.

Prov. 3:4 So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.

This is a great outcome. If you have the characteristics of vv. 1 & 3, then you enjoy the words of v. 4. Wisdom will be recognized by those who recognize it. Do you want respect? “I don’t get any respect.” Often you don’t deserve any. They have done nothing to gain respect from others. Favor and good repute will follow.

chên (חֵן) [pronounced khayn] is the Hebrew word, which means, grace, favor, blessing. Strong’s #2580 BDB #336.

Many people may not know where all of this comes from. Not always. This is not an iron-clad promise that we will have respect from everyone.

Prov. 3:4 So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.

Lesson #0025                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT           12/8/2019 2Sunday

V. 4 is the result of vv. 1&3; it is a very relational result. It has to do with our relations in life. Relationships with people. It is critical that this verse becomes a reality in our lives.

Prov. 3:4 So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.

These are the two relationships that we need to establish. The Hebrew word for favor is chên, which means grace. This is the mature believer, would will be favored with great grace. Not everyone will bestow grace upon you. We as believers in Jesus Christ, when you realize the results of Proverbs 3:1, 3 when you continue to write and bind the Word of God on your heart, this will be a result that we will enjoy. This is truly a testimonial. This is a testimony that you have before the world.

We know early on, and we learned about Him and the birth, the great moment in human history. But we also know that Jesus learned doctrine, wisdom and prudence in His childhood. He was just like us in His humanity. He learned like no other person has learned before. Luke 2:52 and Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

Prov. 3:4 So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.

The next two verses, one of the great synonymous parallel relationship with God. This is the cent piece of any relationship, human or divine.

Prov. 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

Bobby had to memorize this verse. Trust in the Lord with all of your lêb, and do not lean upon your own understanding. It is not about what you think.

Prov. 3:6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.

God will make our paths straight. God sets the standards for our life. This is ot some legalistic idea. This is not, “Do not do the big 5 sins.”

Prov. 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

One of the most misunderstood terms in Christianity. Trusting is a total commitment to the Lord. It is faith rest in all circumstances. Trusting is relational. It is not based upon faith in the unknown. Without any knowledge in the reason for your faith. Trust is best to be placed in someone who is trustworthy. This is the first order of the day, for the person who believes in the Lord. Jesus is the unfailing and perfect object of faith.

People say, “I need to get out there and find myself.” You do not need to do that; you need to find the Lord. We come to a realization of why we are. The wisdom of Scripture allows us to know who we are. There is not human resolve or what one surmises about the Lord without evidence. Or some humanistic view of God. So many people start with humanity and try to use that to find God. That is going the wrong way. You find God first; not man.

Another problem, a momentary faith-commitment, like coming forward in church or at a Christian camp; and people come forward with great emotion to dedicate or realign themselves with God. This is a moment which needs to be extended, and emotion does not really extend a person’s spiritual life. Those who come forward; do you know how long that lasts? Not very long because it is emotion. You need to know something about what you have committed to.

You signed up to the spiritual life when you believed in Jesus Christ. What did you commit to? Good idea to find out just what you have committed to. That is the end of the day.

Lesson #0026                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT    12/11/2019 Wednesday

Prov. 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

The heart is the right lobe of the soul. We are not to lean upon our own understanding, which is human viewpoint. We must lean on divine viewpoint, which is the wisdom that comes from Proverbs.

Prov. 3:6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.

In all ways refers to every aspect of our life. To acknowledge the Lord means that you must understand Him.

His promises never fail. His unfailing promises are always available to us. Trusting in the Lord is not what you can theorize. This is what happened in theology beginning in the 18^th century when theologians began to interpret Scriptures in a more human way; superimposing upon God humanistic ideas. This has happened to many seminaries. They have reduced God’s essence to the fallible qualities of human beings. Understanding and acknowledging God and then trusting man. Many people today think that humanity and politics will deliver us. From what and how? They are just as fallible as anyone, even if they are smarter than everyone else. If they lack divine wisdom, then they are not smart. Otherwise, you cannot make the proper application in life. That is not the God of the Bible who is trustworthy. Too many have humanized God; they try to turn His love into human love. Human love fails. We all have certain failures. God’s love is unfailing. We cannot understand grace from viewing the human race. God’s method of dealing with humanity is all grace; otherwise, we would be consumed immediately.

Trusting on our own understanding is to think human viewpoint and to evaluate God through human viewpoint. If it becomes a theory of God; if it becomes human thinking. We cannot determine how God works by determining what we think should be done.

God works all things together for good to those who love God.

The spiritual life and trust do not advance through ignorant, uninformed commitment. We begin our Christian life as naive believers; and with very little understanding. We begin in the same way. The saving faith is a one-time, one moment event.

Bobby puts a diagram on the board. There is leb, the right lobe of the soul. That is an immaterial part of a person. What happens first? ἑπίγνωσις doctrine. From there, you build a frame of reference. You begin to think and you begin to remember promises from God. Then you build upon those promises and you begin to grow in those doctrines. You cannot really understand Scripture and doctrine until you develop a vocabulary. Bob was a genius developing the vocabulary that he did. Berachah is going to release a dictionary and we will learn doctrine simply from that dictionary. You have a vocabulary and you have it in your memory. This happens as a flow; it sets your norms and standards for you; how you live and it sets the parameters of your life.

Then, as this happens, you gain momentum in the spiritual life. Then it all becomes wisdom. When it becomes wisdom, this is the final stop of metabolized doctrine. The third one is faith rest; it is simple; but it is the beginning.

Use the rest of your faith rest resources; and it goes into sharing the happiness of God, which is the ultimate in a relaxed mental attitude. We can share in His happiness.

How can you commit to some course of action without knowing your resources?

The military is a good illustration. If you get an operations order, then you need to put things together. And if you have doubts, you are going to fail at it. So confidence comes that this is a doable mission. You have to determine that they have given you a feasible mission and all of the necessary resources. Then you begin to integrate all of it together. And you must commit to the success of the operation and loyalty to the soldiers who will take part in it. It is exactly the same in the spiritual life.

The spiritual life does not require you to verbalize to others.

You cannot truly trust a person unless you know them. Even people who claim to be completely trustworthy, you have to know them. People can fool you for only so long if you are paying attention. When you trust in the Lord, this is not a blind trust. You will actually experience it. There is prayer; divine guidance. There is the working of God in your life. In the end, you will experience. It. You will observe the Lord work in your life. Adversity makes you stronger; and you learn to trust even more.

If you cannot apply divine viewpoint to every life condition, what trust have you developed? Any verbal commitment means nothing in the long run. Because you are untrustworthy if you lack a spiritual life. Your objective is to be trustworthy.

The naive might verbally commit to the spiritual life, having no idea what they are talking about. Bobby has been to good camps; and some stand up and give their testimonies and make commitments in front of everyone else. But that means nothing. The naive do not understand what they are verbally committing to. The naive believer has no understanding of what their obligations are. When you take on a pledge to do something, you have to follow up. Regarding the spiritual life, making some sort of verbal commitment is not really important. So many are clueless about living the Christian life. They cannot fulfill their responsibilities when they are ignorant. They speak a superficial, emotional language which sounds good, but nothing more than that. How can anyone comply when they are not grace or doctrinally oriented. How can you have a spiritual life or commitment if you cannot operate in that new realm. Instead they commit based upon their own ability and their own drive.

Lesson #0027                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT        12/12/2019 Thursday

Bobby receives an email. A second party email. Originally from Air Force base in Afghanistan. The taliban set off a car bomb at a hospital being built. They are listening to Bobby and these explosions went off. People running and yelling. Karen is calm. They get into the conference area for a few hours.

She is always witnessing to others and going over different points of God’s Word. She has discussed God’s plan and God’s timing. He gave an example of getting a flat tire and avoiding a wreck up ahead. This whole thing kept him out of a place where he would have gone, and a bomb went right where he would have been.

A very simple phrase, trust in the Lord.

Prov. 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

We must trust in the Lord, and that includes a commitment to God. When we exercise faith in Jesus Christ, that is the beginning of a commitment. The whole of the spiritual life is encompassed by...

The faith and commitment is found in the right lobe of your heart. Provision of divine viewpoint necessary to live the spiritual life, so that you do not lean on your own devices. You lean on divine viewpoint as it courses through the stream of consciousness.

ἑπίγνωσις doctrine is streaming through the right lobe. Wisdom streams through your soul, so that it becomes wisdom in your soul. The faith rest drill leads to the faith rest life. We need to know the results of wisdom in our life, to see what kind of life that we live. It is all about the commitment that we make to the spiritual life.

Human viewpoint and divine viewpoint are antithetical. We do not live in the viewpoint of this world. We have an entirely different viewpoint. We cannot as believers lean on human viewpoint. Human viewpoint is weakness; it is a part of the cosmic system. Isn’t there wisdom in humanism? Only insofar as it reflects divine wisdom.

Prov. 3:6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.

We must acknowledge Him in all of our ways. What does this mean?

When Bobby did something wrong, Bob told him what he had done wrong. After explaining it, Bob would say, “Acknowledge.” Then Bobby would get his punishment, after admitting what he had done.

The more you know of a person, their qualities and their trustworthiness, then the greater relationship of trust with them. You will never have a greater relationship. If you do not trust the other person in romance, you do not have a great romance.

Human viewpoint falls outside the parameters of wise behavior. That is what righteousness is. If you are determined to fulfill the plan of God, you are determined to fulfill your commitment. It is not just saying, “I am going to commit,” there is a process. You commit yourself to a course of action; to a vocation in school. You train for that. Going to school is the commitment that you have made. Commitment means a process of life. It does not just start up through some public emotional speech about how you will commit to the Lord.

We strive, sometimes, to commit to the Lord on human resources. We can grieve and quench the Holy Spirit. It is easy to become discouraged and despondent in life, and because of these feelings, we reject doctrine for something else. We turn to some entertainment or emotional connection. That is what Christianity has become. That is not fulfilling your commitment. That is utterly superficial without any real commitment.

Bobby knew many of those people in the teen class, some of whom were very motivated to hear doctrine, but who later grew lukewarm or cold. A description of reversionism. They have long since department from their commitment.

“Do you still go to that church?” “Yes, I am the pastor there.” They cannot help but be unstable. They live on emotion and the have a frantic search for happiness. They depend upon circumstances for happiness. Everything else falls into place.

The use of wisdom, which brings us into favor with God and man. This always falls within the parameters of the standard of righteousness. Trust in a person is dependent on the character of the object of that trust. It depends upon the character. If a person is untrustworthy, then the relationship between the two suffers. The only sure trustworthy person in this world and out of this world is God Himself. Even when people prove untrustworthy, you can trust in the Lord. That is what your life consists of. That is why faith rest is so important in your life.

You acknowledge Him in all your ways; and you can trust Him because He is trustworthy.

There is a vast difference between the trust and faith in the soul; and the dependence upon human viewpoint. Human viewpoint undermines trust and faith in the Lord. Thus no intimate relationship. A trusting relationship is a result of the spiritual life.

God’s ways are not our ways; and His ways are not always understandable.

Isa. 55:8–9 For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.

Maybe this God is Someone I can trust in? Now that I begin to see how He works.

Now you know what it means to trust in the Lord. We just had the full scope of it. This is the scope of our life; this encompasses salvation, doctrine, gaining knowledge and living the spiritual life.

Lesson #0028                  Proverbs 3:5 Wisdom in the OT       12/15/2019 1Sunday

Gla sings a new song, Mary did you know? New to Berachah, I believe.

3^rd time in v. 5:

Prov. 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

Our trust should be in the Lord rather than in our own understanding. David seeks to impart to his son, into his right lobe, so that Solomon will know this and write this down himself. What he writes, we study 3000 years later.

This verse becomes the most practical aspect of Christianity. This pushes us to the faith rest life; and gives us the mechanics of the faith rest life. To trust God, we have to know implicitly that He is trustworthy. We can only become trustworthy by knowing His character and His attributes.

Isa. 55:8–9 For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.

God is speaking through Isaiah. God thinks and works in mysterious ways. We do not always understand how God thinks and works. He is far beyond our finite thinking. How do we know God well enough to place complete trust in Him?

In order for to trust in God implicitly, God provided us with enough knowledge to know Him. We may not know God’s purposes or His plan for us or how God is working in our lives. “I am a believer and God is supposed to be doing something for me; how do I know what this is?” As you learn about God, and know more about His character, then you understand this further; and you can trust and know that He is working in your life.

I don’t know why I am in this trouble? Often this is a bad decision; and often this is happenstance. We do not need to have a complete understanding of God.

It is enough for our purposes in acknowledging Him. The more we know Him the more we trust Him.

Courtship between a man and a woman is exactly that; to gain the confidence in their trustworthiness. It is not that they look good; that is the least trustworthy thing that we know about the other person. Then we realize that we can live with this person for the rest of our lives. A relationship is built upon trust. This is why David says, his relationship with God is the only sure thing that he has. We can develop through knowing God, which means growing in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior.

Our coins say, in God we trust. This should remind us that, in God, we must trust. This is not a blind trust; not a trust that operates outside of all reality. We learn His Word and we come to know Him. The results play out in our lives.

We know the Lord, so we have the solid understanding which allows us to build trust upon Him. He knows all things and He is infinitely just.

As human beings, we always have questions and uncertainties. How can we be sure in our trust in God? How do we do this on a daily basis? We do this through the faith rest drill that we can use at any time, at any place, and under any circumstance. This must be developed in your soul. This is the spiritual muscle memory. This is the basis for certainty. The ultimate in God’s care and keeping.

First, the faith rest drill in adversity. In order to lean on Him, what is the first thing that we must do? We must have some knowledge of Him and some knowledge of His promises that He has made to us.

The first step in the faith rest drill is claiming some of His promises. This will help us; when Jesus promises us, then He will do it. It is not how He will do it; but that He will do it.

1Peter 5:7 ...casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Death is the first great fear; public speaking is the second greatest fear. Bobby trusts that what he says is important. Bobby knows it works because he is standing in front of everyone.

We know that God cares for us, so that we may trust Him.

Rom. 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

We have protection and security. We understand these promises in the faith rest drill.

Also, what do these verses mean for us when it comes to other people?

We develop trust in God because we have learned about Him. Claiming a promise means, we take our eyes off of ourselves and we trust in Him. Trusting the Lord means...

There is more about this, next session.

Lesson #0029                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT         12/15/2019 2Sunday

Prov. 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

There is no doubt that you have heard people say, I trust God; and then, under pressure, fall right back into trusting your own devices; trusting in your own human resources. No inner wise counsel from God’s Word, then human resources become futile in the end. Sometimes they work and sometimes not; but the sure thing is trust in the Lord with all of your heart. The mechanic. You must have the wise counsel; otherwise you have no faith rest; you have no ability to trust. There are two aspects to trust: the object and the subject. These are both solved by the faith rest drill. God is completely trustworthy. The people do not know enough to trust God; their faith is inadequate. Commitment means trust. You cannot commit to anything unless you know what the commitment is to. When you commit to the Lord, you know Him and you trust Him. You have inculcated doctrine in your soul; and promises triggered in your soul. Trust is brought alive, giving it depth. They find rest and courage and comfort. That attitude indicates that you have something that most of the human race lacks. The doctrine that you have in your soul, you have more confidence in it.

What we have been studying is our destiny, which is trust in the Lord. The plan of God is our destiny. Always remember to apply wisdom; this requires that we acknowledge His ways. We depend on His person and His character. No nod to God will suffice. Our churches are filled with very superficial doctrines, and therefore, very superficial Christians, which results in a superficial language and a superficial life.

“I go to church.” “Then, what do you learn? What are you getting out of it? What is going in on your soul?”

Or the high church, where the religious experience is all about following ritual. You can go and hear good music and good language; but no doctrine. None of this has anything to do with trusting in the Lord. There is no knowledge involved.

Bobby can tell that we are interested in what he is teaching. This is not Bobby’s wonderful viewpoint of this; this is what the Word of God says. It comes from a disciplined instruction in wisdom. If you don’t have it, it brings confidence.

Vv. 5–6 summarize a wisdom inherent in and metabolizing Bible doctrine. There is no substitute if you place your trust in Him. The final block is wisdom; and when you have wisdom, it flows into problem solving devices. There are many things past the faith rest drill. There is doctrinal orientation; a personal sense of destiny; but it is not the destiny that we choose ourselves, but the destiny that God chooses for us. We develop personal love for God and then impersonal love for all mankind. Sharing the happiness of God; nothing can touch you. The more we grow, the less touchable we are.

When we trust Him, He will make our paths straight.

Prov. 3:6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.

There is a book, Divine Guidance. All of the books are free. No price on them. No books are sold. The doctrine is free; the doctrine should be free. There is no price on Bible doctrine. It is priceless. You may have some idea on how He works and how He guides you. God’s plan starts with guiding us as you are able to use the faith rest drill. The Lord makes our paths straight; and He removes obstacles in our lives.

I grope around in the dark. We never should do that. God removes the obstacles as it pleases Him and as it is in conformity to God’s plan for us.

Doesn’t this provide for us a sense of urgency? Is there an attractiveness in this life, a life that depends upon more than our own resources. A life that is less confusing in Satan’s world. Absolutely it is. Moving through the problem solving devices.

Now to v. 7, which is the motto of Proverbs and summarizes vv. 5–6.

Prov. 3:7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.

How do you turn away from evil? There is a lot of evil out there and my sin nature is attracted to it. Wisdom comes from God. We have all had human mentors before, people whom we have listened to and have followed.

Bobby’s parents guided him. Others point you towards materialism. You do not become wise on your own; or wise based upon people with human viewpoint. You become wise from metabolizing the Lord’s wisdom from Scriptures. No believer should become so impressed with themselves that they forget where they come from.

Wise in your own eyes; which is a metaphor for arrogance. We have just studied. Arrogance emphasizes self; reverence and loyalty to God is the proper response to God. Wise in your own eyes is the opposite of fear of the Lord. It is awe and reverence for Him. It is self first; and God second; if you are wise in your own eyes.

Fear of the Lord leaves not room for arrogance. This arrogance includes a host of other mental attitude sins which destroys the Christian life. If you are wise in your own eyes, you have superceded Scripture.

Bobby has heard many sports figures; and some announcers have said, “He has an arrogance about him that makes him great.” But this means, really, that they have the discipline to succeed at their sport. Arrogance is anathema; it is the opposite of the fear of the Lord. It is the opposite of the spiritual life. Arrogance is exactly what you do not need in the spiritual life. Humanism versus the spiritual life. Arrogance is bad because it precludes trust.

Lesson #0030                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT    12/18/2019 Wednesday

Prov. 3:7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.

V. 7a is the opposite of the previous few verses. It is the opposite of trust in the Lord. You cannot do both at the same time. Wisdom comes from the Lord; it never comes from us. When we have wisdom to apply, it comes from God. We trust in the Lord’s doctrine, in divine viewpoint, so it is His wisdom and His viewpoint that matters to us.

Doctrine reflects Who God is; doctrine has not been made into a god. Trusting in God requires knowledge of Him. God is the object of our trust; but we have to know Him in order to be able to trust Him. Arrogance cancels out reverence and trust.

Wise in your own eyes is the opposite of trusting in the Lord. Wise in your own eyes is human viewpoint. Fear in the Lord is the key to the spiritual life. Arrogance make reverence of the Lord impossible. Fear of the Lord and the resulting wisdom leaves no room for arrogance. Other mental attitude sins will pop up; anger, hatred, vindictiveness, self-justification, etc. This is why arrogance is anathema to the spiritual life. All of these sins of arrogance are self-centered manifestations of evil, the product of an indulged sin nature. It is the road to the sin nature. We must turn away.

This is the faith rest life which we have been studying. When we hold God in reverence and awe, we will turn away from evil. Evil is not that which is really bad. Evil is human viewpoint; it is the viewpoint of the cosmic system. It is what Satan presents as good. Anything that is apart from divine viewpoint, we must turn away from. It is turning away from the cosmic system and towards the Lord. This forges the link between divine viewpoint and the control of the sin nature. The sin nature has areas of strength and areas of weakness. But legalism, when it departs from grace, is evil. This is why we can say that religion is evil. Trusting in the Lord means that God does everything for us. We move thru this life on His resources. Our attitude towards the Lord and divine viewpoint offsets the sin nature.

We understand how evil takes us in the wrong direction. We cannot help but turn away from evil. Reversionism gets precluded. The spiritual life gets enhanced. Divine viewpoint insures leaning on the way of the Lord; on the mature spiritual life. These are our weapons to save us from the cosmic system. It is so easy to turn inward towards ourselves. We have only this line of defense as our protection from evil. Fear of the Lord becomes love of self and it becomes some form of humanism. It is the perfect example of doing that which is wise in your own eyes or wise in the view of the human race.

Prov. 3:7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.

The instructions in v. 7 make up it in v. 8

Prov. 3:8 It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

Prov. 3:8 It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

Spiritual growth has a therapeutic effect. It is related to a lack of wisdom.

The word refreshment refers to a drink. This is like a drink of cool water in the desert. It revives and sustains the soul in the body.

Prov. 3:8 It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

We are going to skip over a few verses and jump to v. 19;

Prov. 3:19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens;...

All of the wisdom that we learn in Scripture, any of it that directs our spiritual life, inherent to the plan of God for our lives, that confers such blessings upon the believer, is the same wisdom used in the creation of the universe. That shows the scope of what we have in divine wisdom. Can there be any doubt in the value of what we are studying? Of divine viewpoint and the futility of human viewpoint and the false doctrines of the cosmic system.

Prov. 3:19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens;...

Synonymous parallelisms.

The bêyth preposition connects divine wisdom to the energy related to creation. Wisdom is something that God uses as a means of creation; it is an attribute. We learned the essence box. Wisdom is another one.

Lesson #0031                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT        12/19/2019 Thursday

The most powerful insights into wisdom given in these two verses.

Prov. 3:19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens;...

Prov. 3:20 ...by His knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew.

Wisdom was essentially to God’s creation God knew exactly what He was doing to every detail. Every detail was in the mind of God. He did this over 6 days. Bobby refers to this as the creation account. If that wisdom was that integral to creation; how could we not want to apprehend this for ourselves. There is nothing too small or too big to defeat the infinite intelligence and wisdom of His being.

We want to apply this to our souls and to our circumstances.

.

Psalm 8 after the Christmas message.

Lesson #00032                          Christmas Families                 12/22/2019 1Sunday

Christmas should be about the birth of Christ; but what is emphasized

Many a good sermon about His momentous birth. Sermons about wise men and shepherds; and we sing many songs about this. There is also a visual mode, nativity scenes in front yards and there are often

Rick Hughes recommended Simon Birch to Bobby, just for the manger scene, which is hilarious and also has a very good message.

People get excited about family visits and Christmas lights and whatever. Bob spilled the beans about Santa Claus and 10 families then left the church. All of this portrays the sacred and the profane; and these are all universal signs of the Christmas season. But few are thinking about the genetics of Jesus Christ.

Bobby is considering the virgin conception, and the virgin pregnancy. This can never be overlooked; this is critically important and indispensable to the biography of the Lord. Jesus was not conceived like the rest of us.

Important because the Bible tells us that it occurred. On a theological level, without the truth of this doctrine, there would be no purpose for Christ on this earth without the virgin pregnancy. Some claim that this is just a religious theory and some see this as non-essential. Some accept the truth, but don’t see it as being vital. They hold the truth, but the truth does not hold them.

A renown theologian of the last century, Chas. Reynolds Brown, a important to modern, liberal theology. His final lecture. Did Jesus of Nazareth have 2 parents like the rest of us? Or did He just have 1? What does it matter? We do not base our manner upon such a theological point, but upon His teaching and actions. His virgin birth has no relation to saving men from their sins. People ask him, what do you say about the virgin birth? “I saw what Paul says,” which is nothing. No reference to it in any of Paul’s writings. Paul had a lot to say about other topics, but not the virgin birth. For Brown, Mark, John, Paul and Jesus did not talk about it, so it is not important.

However Luke and Matthew both speak of the virgin birth. Were Paul, Mark, John and Jesus really silent on this matter? No, they were not. John wrote, John 3:16 uniquely born Son. Mark wrote in Mark 6:3 Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, brother of...? Joseph is left out of this list.

Jesus was not silent on His birth. He taught His preexistence. He knew Himself to be God. He came down out of heaven. He had a heavenly origin. He was entirely unique. Jesus’ mother was pregnant for 9 months and delivered in the normal way. Mary became pregnant through a supernatural influence upon her. There was no sexual intercourse. The evidence and emphasis is on Mary conceiving and giving birth, without mention of a father; but the Holy Spirit only.

Philip. 2:7–8 Jesus takes the form of a man.

A denial of the most important fact that Jesus was virgin born.

We must understand this, and we will go back to Gen. 3:15.

Lesson #0033                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT         12/22/2019 2Sunday

Gen. 3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."

This is the first Christmas verse. This answers what we need to know. This is about eternal enmity between two seeds. Within this declaration of enmity is found the embryonic promise of a Savior and salvation for all mankind.

The Seed of the Woman. This reveals the prophecy and the necessity of the birth of Jesus Christ. This presupposes the need for a Savior. Otherwise, we live forever in spiritual death. The woman’s seed is God’s gracious plan of redemption; her seed, the virgin-born child.

When the fulness of time came, God’s Son was born of a woman. Paul clearly believed in this passages, which is related directly to the virgin birth.

This passage is related to the woman’s seed and Satan’s seed only. Adam is left out of the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

While the man and woman are guilty of sin, upon Adam fell the greater culpability for the fall. The post-fall confrontation was between Adam and God. The woman was not a part of the confrontation. The woman acquired a sin nature just as Adam did.

We can now understand the Adam’s seed will not be involved in the birth of the Savior. It is from her seed comes the birth of the Savior.

When Jesus entered the garden to speak to Adam; He is the manifestation of God. He said to Adam, and to Adam alone, “Where are you, Adam?” He addressed only Adam because Adam was designated the leader. He had a great responsibility. He was the federal head of the human race. He is the genetic father of us all. We are all descendants of one man and one woman. He is our forebearer.

The entire human race is seminally present with Adam. We sinned when Adam sinned. We are his progeny. He is the head of the human race. When he chose to sin, he secured the condemnation of the entire human race. He caused our fall. If you were there, you would have sinned too. When Adam chose to sin, his sin nature is passed along to every sin (apart from the woman’s egg). Pregnancy is what results. By his seed, he renders his progeny spiritually dead.

In human procreation, it is the seed of the man who passes along the sin nature to all his progeny. Since the woman was deceived and Adam was not, she would be the vehicle for the promised seed. She is sinful; but deceived. Her egg along with a male seed produces a fallen person.

Only one Man born apart from Adam’s original sin; the Lord Jesus Christ. The Savior had to be true humanity; but without a sin nature. He had to have our genetics. He experienced all that we experienced; but He was uniquely born without a sin nature. As a true member of the human race, Jesus possessed a body, but there is no sin nature. Jesus sinlessness is related directly to the virgin pregnancy and this is necessary to our salvation. There is no salvation apart from the Lord being born in this miraculous way. The Holy Spirit’s part in this pregnancy is 23 perfect male chromosomes needed to fertilize the egg. There was no transmission of sin from marriage to Jesus Christ. The contaminated male seed was left out.

This manner of procreation is the basis for our redemption on the cross. It provided the world with a perfect human being, the only one qualified to be the Savior. Jesus could not be our sacrifice. This is the promise of Gen. 3:15b: He shall crush your head; and you will bruise His heel. It is not hard to kill a snake; just one strong blow to the head. So this passage is all about the head of the serpent. The final bruising is Christ against the head of the serpent. In Revelation, Christ will crush the head of the serpent. Until then, Gen. 3:15b is a prophecy.

A man’s heel is vulnerable to the strike of a serpent. Satan hoped that the death of Jesus Christ would have...

Christ would bear our sins in His Own body on the cross. Hence the virgin pregnancy is vital to our salvation. This is the opening Christian passage in the Bible.

Theologians have debated, does that mean that the virgin birth is so important that we must believe that doctrine in order to be save? No, not at all. Christ and Christ alone is the object of our faith. Many elevate Mary because she is the mother of Jesus. She did not remain a virgin. We do not pray to Mary. Jesus has 3 brothers and 2 sisters.

Very weird things about the birth of the Lord. He experience everything that we experience, except that He was not conceived of a man. The virgin birth is a reminder to us of the uniqueness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus, at the very least, was a unique man with an unparalleled mission. He would be identified as such through this virgin birth. So it is important. We recognize Him as the Savior and Messiah. Another evidence of the power and sovereignty of God.

“Is there anything too hard for God?” (Gen. 18:14). Was there anything special about Mary? Do not elevate her because of the virgin birth. This reminds us that salvation is not a human accomplishment but a gift from God; and an undeserved one as well.

The assault on the virgin birth of our Lord is an assault on Christianity itself. Virgin-born, virgin-conceived. His substitutionary work depends upon what is revealed. This is the Christmas story; from virgin pregnancy to the cross. When Jesus was born, the shadow of the cross is over Him. Jesus was born to die; and we are born to be born again.

Lesson #none                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT    12/25/2019 Wednesday

No Bible class

Lesson #0034         Prov. 3:19–20 Ps.8:1–6 Wisdom in the OT    12/26/2019 Thurs,

We will only be in Prov. 3 for a short time.

Prov. 3:19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens;...

Prov. 3:20 ...by His knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew.

Psalm 8 will be an interlude. We will skip around in wisdom. Man, on the one hand, is insignificant; and, on the other hand, the crown of God’s creation.

The psalms were all hymns; they were all sung. Some view them as great worship pieces.

Wisdom is not mentioned in this verse. But God created by wisdom.

Psalm 8 inscription To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.

Written by David.

Psalm 8:1 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.

This is the howling of the person who is above and beyond all creation. This one verse gives us a wonderful view as to how we should view creation. God created by wisdom; He was the build, the designer, the engineer, the master architect beyond all creation.

Bobby was given a book of pictures of our universe from the Hubble telescope. If you look at these pictures, these are pictures of what God has done. There are things which we see that we have not seen before. This screams the glory and the majesty of God Himself.

This is the first of a number of psalms which praise God, seeing Him through the phenomena of the natural world that He has created. The absolute intelligence and absolute skill that He possesses. The skill in God’s creation is beyond our imagination. The immensity of it and the order of it. The psalm relates us and our existence to His world and to His grace, wisdom and unlimited power. This power that created the universe is available to us. Jesus Christ Himself dwells within us. This is the God who created. It is amazing that we are the crown of God’s creation.

It is really impossible for us to fully understand, based only upon what we can see or discover from the universes.

Evolution can leave God out of the process altogether. It explains creation to them and puts them in the camp of evolution. This would mean that God put things into motion and then allowed billions of years for everything to develop. That is an attempt to denigrate the creation by God. The atheistic random selection theory of evolution which gives glory to the creative power of the universe, which creates itself in some random way, by some random force. Given enough time and some undefined energy, life emerges from primordial chaos. Yet such order and precision does not come into being without a designer. Order does not come out of chaos.

Bobby holds to the theory of a young earth. We do not know how long the earth has been in existence. It is extremely hard to know the age of the earth, like dating the earth from the strata. They are must making up the time frame of the earth. The strata may not demonstrate that. Carbon dating cannot go far back enough.

Psalm 8:1 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens.

Then we have the next verse:

Psalm 8:2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants, You have established strength...

Psalm 8:2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants, You have established strength because of Your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.

Now view the next two verses.

Psalm 8:3 When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,...

David looks at the sky. He has spent many night’s in the field and looking up into the sky and considering things. What we can see, even in a darkened area, many stars, and the represent only a spec in the number of stars which are out there. God is in heaven and look at what He has done. If God can do that; can He not do great things for me?

This is what David thinks of:

Psalm 8:4 ...what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him?

When you look at Who God is and what He has done; and how can some human person make a bit of difference to Him? David feels some smallness in the eyes of God; and yet, God takes notice of us. Why would God give David any thought? Even though David is a king, why would God even give David a second thought? God created man, so there must be something to it.

Through his observation of heaven, David sees God and notes his own smallness compared to the vast created universe.

Then David makes this observation:

Psalm 8:5 Yet you have made Him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned Him with glory and honor.

The heavenly beings are God. We are second only to God in this universe. David’s feeling of insignificance in the universes is quickly removed by this thought.

Psalm 8:6 You have given Him dominion over the works of your hands; You have put all things under His feet,...

Lesson #0035                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT         12/29/2019 1Sunday

Social on Tuesday night. No Bible class Wednesday; Bible class on Thursday.

Prov. 3:19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens;...

Here, and not in Genesis, God’s wisdom is inherent in His creation.

David, as the writer of this psalm, praises God. Great doctrinal content. The creation display reveals His wisdom.

Psalm 8:1 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens.

David has gazed up into the night sky and he is awed by what he sees. The Lord’s wisdom as demonstrated in creation is one reason for our awe.

The stars are a mere exhibition. Revelation of God comes only from God. We can only know God through what He tells us. What David knows, we know so much more. God brought all of this from nothing.

Gen. 1:2 describes the earth as formless and void; empty space out there.

Psalm 8:2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants, You have established strength because of Your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.

Psalm 8:3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place,...

All of this vastness and amazing things, is just God’s finger-work. There was no pattern; no research. This was all known; already a part of His mind.

Psalm 8:4 ...what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him?

Given what God has done, who or what is man? David feels an overwhelming sense of mankind’s unimportance.

David wonders, why does God take note of humanity at all? How insignificant we are? Why would God give David even a second thought. God created the heavens, the earth and mankind. God created all of us; that is His purpose. David sees clearly the unlimited power and wisdom behind it all. God designed and built this universe as the work of His fingers.

David notes the grace of God that He cares for David. It dawns on David that all mankind is a part of God’s creation. God then made man ruler over the world, the world that He, God, created.

It is clear that God has a special interest in the human race.

Psalm 8:5 Yet you have made (h) Him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned (h) Him with glory and honor.

Nevertheless, God created man. We are so insignificant. Yet look where God has placed us. Does this not reenforce man’s place in the world? There is man, God, the fallen angels, and the elect angels.

Anthropology is a very interesting subject. The human view of anthropology is all over the place. How we came to be, the nature of man, etc., and the answers to these questions depend upon who we are speaking to. We are studying true anthropology. We are second only to God.

A professor challenged his class to define the soul. “How do you know that those are the only attributes of the soul? How do you know that animals do not have these attributes? My cat has moral reasoning power.” Bobby said true for dogs; but not for cats. He was a man of doctrine; but he did love his cat.

In God’s image, man is set over and above nature.

Psalm 8:6 You have given Him dominion over the works of your hands; You have put all things under His feet,...

We are the proof that God loves mankind and that His love is complete; and that His love is not marred. We are that demonstration. There is more to understand about us.

Lesson #0036                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT         12/29/2019 2Sunday

Wisdom is an attribute of God. The creation of much of the universe was just finger-work for God. Often comments about God just make God out to be sort of human. God is so far above us, we can barely understand Him. We know God by what He has revealed to us and what He created.

We are special, in the sense that God created us for a purpose. The universe is for revealing His glory and majesty.

God created animals for a purpose, but not in the same way that we have been. The image of God was first seen in the Person of Adam and the woman. Adam’s original sin was that which caused a sin to enter the world; and we all have received a sin nature. We are seminally in God; we are still in the image of God. The image of God was not lost at the fall. As descendants of a fallen Adam, we have acquired a sin nature. Our image in Adam has been distorted. We are still in the image of God, but the sin nature mars that image. We are in need of a renewal of that image.

This is why Jesus came to this earth; a renewal. The first Adam, he was created without a sin nature; and the last Adam, also. Jesus Christ is our only means of renewal. The believer in Jesus Christ is being conformed to the image of Christ (Col. 3:10). This conformity is a knowledge of and a relationship with God. We have a relationship with God both positionally and experientially. We must grow spiritually to conform to that image. We will not be entirely conformed until we have a resurrection body.

1John 3:2–7 tells us that we will be like the Lord in the future. We will be glorified; but we will not be deified. We are the only creatures said to be glorified in resurrection. That is an entire doctrine of anthropology. A total relationship with Him. We are in the image of God; and even more so in resurrection body.

Still man, still humanity; never believed in Christ, Who renews our image. Animals are not said to be resurrected. There is no eternal state revealed for animals. There are certain hints in Scripture that there may be animals in heaven (the Lord riding on a horse). “If my animals are not there, it won’t be as good.” The status of animals is secondary to us. The animals are provided for us on this earth for our pleasure. Their place in eternity is inconsequential. We must never second-guess that perfection of heaven. Whatever is there will be incredible beyond our imagination. Will we be depressed if our animals are not there? No. The glory of God will be revealed in heaven, even after we are resurrected. We will understand it fully then. Heaven is something different.

Psalm 8:5 Yet you have made (h) Him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned (h) Him with glory and honor.

Man’s high position is equivalent to God placing a crown on man’s head; and David understood this royal image. David was at the top of Israel and no one was greater than him in Israel. He understood this elevated position.

We are royal family of God. We have been crowned in His image; and also in union with Him as the King of Kings. We are royal family in two ways. David understood his own elevated status. As we continue to conform to His image. This elevated position of mankind should not become a point of arrogance. Success in life, the fact that someone is less successful than you; or your looks in comparison to others; all sorts of motivations in this world for all of us.

When you recognize what we have and who we are. Our position points to the unparalleled grace of God. It is God Who places us slightly below Himself. This is a motive for grace orientation. Not a motive for arrogance. We, as believers, should be the humblest of all.

All of this around us, we have dominion over it. We have been crowned; we are made in His image. Our image has been positionally renewed. God Himself has made us for this purpose. We are the ones renewed and being conformed to His image. Look who I am, I have eternal life; God smiles on me and God blesses me. But, correctly understand that God blesses us based upon His character. We can apply the resources that God has given us. We can choose to use these gifts, conforming to His image. This should give us a new perspective as to who we are.

David lists separate items in the next 3 verses as being under our dominion. This gives us an idea as to how high we are. God has delegated great authority to us.

Psalm 8:6 You have given Him dominion over the works of your hands; You have put all things under His feet,...

We have dominion over the Lord’s creation. All things have been placed under our feet.

Psalm 8:7 ...all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,...

Sheep and oxen and the beasts of the field; under our dominion.

Psalm 8:8 ...the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

Our authoritative status on this earth. God has placed a crown on mankind’s head. We have a territory, earth; subjects, listed. We rule over God’s handiwork, all creatures great and small have been placed under our feet.

Reference to Gen. 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

These are under our feet. They are our footstools, as all things are the footstool under God’s feet. Here, God has delegated some of this authority. This is our rulership. Just as there will be leadership positions to those who enter into the Millennium. Man will never be divine; but we are still a little lower than God.

We studied operation footstool under the Life of Christ, where His enemies will be made into His footstool. They will bow to Him in the 2^nd advent. Heb. 10:13 our Lord’s footstool extends far beyond the earth. He will have universal dominion. This has not yet happened. Sin and death have yet to be subdued. But they will be subdued for the return of Christ. Death will be destroyed by the resurrection. We think of the rapture of the church and the resurrection of those believers at the Millennium. Unbelievers will be resurrected as well; to the last judgment. We are all eternal. We will simply end up in different places.

The enemies of Christ include all believers. All of it will be defeated; all of it will be under His feet, as His footstool.

This is different than the footstool, the visible world, which is under us. David is praising God for making man in His image. Mankind had no power over such creatures of the sea; but they will be under our power, as we have power over domestic animals. There is the earthly and the spiritual world. Jesus conquers that which man cannot conquer. Sin, death, the cosmic system and our sin natures.

We have authority in this world. One of the great debates these days is on the environment. If it worries us that we will be wiped out due to climate, this is the future.

Isa. 11:6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.

Does this sound like the earth is doomed?

Isa. 11:7 The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

At this point, bears will graze just like cattle. The young of cows and bears will live together.

Isa. 11:8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.

The young child will play by the hole of a cobra; and the weaned child will put his hand on the adder’s den.

Isa. 11:9 They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

We can make a mess of things; but we cannot destroy the earth. The Lord has authority over our environment. We can conserve and do things that are good for the environment; or just do the opposite. During human history, God has delegated all earthly creation under our feet. What an amazing status that we have as human beings.

We obviously do not deserve any of this. The delegated authority by God. The most wonderful treatise on the equality of human beings, this does not differentiate between race or gender. We are all souls for whom Christ died and we are all believers in Jesus Christ and we must conform to that image. We have been given unbelievable authority. What an amazing indicator of our status as human beings.

This is why rabid environmentalism has it all wrong. We are not equal to the animals and we can raise them for food. This is authorized. Bobby is not for cruelty to animals; but they are created for us. They are second to us.

If you are an animals’ rights activist, you have to think about what this really means.

Lesson #001                      Proverbs Wisdom in the OT          12/31/2019 Tuesday

Talking in the office. Military communion is now just short of 50 years now. They represent our peace. Everywhere that we look, we see turmoil. The uniform represents one of the few forms of stability. This coming election could change our nation forever. Our nation is become ever more secular and humanistic.

Positive volition towards Bible doctrine in the churches in the United States is on the wain and has been for some time. Client nation USA is in trouble this New Year’s Eve. Are we powerless? Do we just sit by and watch, as our freedoms are slowly caused to erode.

Bobby has chosen Eccles. 9:

Eccles. 9:13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me.

Bobby was think about the phrase, under the son, reminding him of a Hemmingway book, The Sun Also Rises.

Eccles. 9:14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it.

The small size of the city as described here is in contrast to...this appeared to be a dire situation. Surrender everything that you have or prepare to be annihilated in a horrible way. But they have a great resource at their disposal. There is only one man with the wisdom to deal with this situation. But the wisdom of a single man is the critical element in this story.

Eccles. 9:15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man.

He delivered this city by his wisdom; and yet, no one remembered this poor man.

Nothing is said how this man delivered the city, apart from wisdom. Did he have a great military man who outsmarted and held off this great king? Was he a great negotiator? Was he just a man whom God honored and because of whom God delivered the city.

What does it mean that he is poor? That is also a critical element of this story. Misken, which means poor, used here and Eccles. 4:13. Not a lot of information. Was he in poverty. It is very hard to draw a hard conclusion.

Eccles. 4:13 Better was a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how to take advice.

The lad is obviously humble. He may have little money. This may just mean that he has not reached his full potential as an adult or as a spiritual man. He might be upwardly mobile.

The man facing the attack lacks wealth, rank or influence; but he has spiritual maturity. This is why he is said to have wisdom. Solomon’s father was David. David was a man just like this young man in this city. He was a shepherd early on. He had no money; but he was able to gain wisdom. God heard and honored him. He showed his meddle as a young man. He beat a lion and a bear; and he also beat Goliath, a great enemy of Israel.

Eccles. 9:15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man.

He was not necessarily a man who fought with strength.

History is filled with historical disasters, civilization after civilization which falls. As goes the believer, so goes the parts of the nation. So goes the cities, the counties and the states.

From this narrative, we make application to our own lives.

This is a principle of deliverance for a nation or a city, or a county. We have associations with all of these entities. The wisdom of divine viewpoint in a single individual can impact great events in human history. How practical can it get for today? This wisdom is a necessity for us today.

Bobby has watched the city of Houston for decades. He was out of the city for 20 years, but Bobby still kept in touch with it. Bob was the pastor of this church for 53 years. He has seen wisdom of the government of this city lose its wisdom and become more liberal and more socialistic. He has seen churches as well move away from spiritual growth to a Christian community.

The state of Texas is still a bastion of free enterprise and freedom. There is at least one congregation growing in grace and knowledge. There is that truth; there is always hope. Remember the principle. No one else but this one poor man saved the city from a hostile king. One single person has a greater effect than even a hostile king.

There is the principle of a pivot of mature believers. The pivot is an accumulation of mature believers who live in the same city or state. They guarantee the status of the place into the next generation. There is an impact of believers, individuals.

How many believers does it take to preserve a nation? What is enough? What is the size of the pivot that will do that job? Eccles. 9:15 tells us that a single man delivers this city; a man of no stature.

Who today could be this one person? A military genius? Does this require a great believer in government? Does this require a man with a charismatic person. Or is it delivered by just a nobody, in human terms.

The city we are viewing was not saved by a general or a king or a group of warriors; but by this one poor man, who blesses by association. A one-person pivot in a city filled with human viewpoint and human solutions. God honors this man.

This blessing by association is the pivot principle which applies to one man here.

So, if you get upset and say, what do I do? This is the answer.

God can work any circumstance to our benefit. How did our president get elected. It happens for a reason. God uses circumstances to work for our favor and benefit. God is still on His throne. He does not forget those who know Him.

Such a mature believer provides blessing for self righteous evil-thinking people. That is grace in action. Often others do not recognize such impact. In fact, people often oppose such believers, the very ones who deliver them. The mature believer. Activism instead of spiritual growth. Human machinations to replace the spiritual life. We see this all the time; that was the case of this poor wise man. What is this poor wise man regarding this town? That is the question of application. What is the importance of a seemingly insignificant person. This is historical, local and national impact. This is the unknown factor. To pray without ceasing; to overtly stand and show courage in the face of false humanism. To speak and act correctly when everyone else is paralyzed with stupidity. God honors the mature spiritual life no matter who it is.

Bob’s story of the very successful corporation and the meeting of all the heads, and they are congratulating themselves, but there is a mature believer who is their janitor, and they are blessed for that reason.

God can bless any group, any city, any organization, any mature congregation. Our client nation is clearly in decline. Who will be the few or the many? The more mature believers, the greater the blessing. God will hold off the results of folly, even if for one man. But each generation must stand on its own.

Every year, there is a prediction for the new year. Bobby’s is simple. This will be a great year. There should be no pessimism, no doubt, no anger. We are in the Lord’s hands and we are a congregation growing in wisdom. This will continue. We can be the remnant of believers who make the difference.

Lesson #0037                       Psalm Wisdom in the OT               1/2/2020 Thursday

Psalm 8:6 You have given Him dominion over the works of your hands; You have put all things under His feet,

Bobby is interpreting this as referring to being under man’s feet.

Psalm 8:7 ...all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,...

These are the important animals to the economy of the world. Sheep and oxen were used for clothing, food, work, economics.

Psalm 8:8 ...the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

We rule over God’s handiwork. If you are going to rule, you must have something to rule over. God has given us subjects, the animals named in this passage. This is a design of God in the creation account in Gen. 1. Yet our rule and our human nature leaves much to be desired. We were seminally in Adam. We all died; we all receive a sin nature. We can have no relationship with God. And yet, the first man Adam was given rulership, which is passed along to us.

God cannot allow that and He will not. God’s Word never fails; He never goes back on His promises. If you are freaked out about global warming or environmental destruction; relax; will there be destruction? We misuse our rule; but we will not be destroyed. There are people who are out of the minds with fear about this situation.

Having dominion means taking care of that over which we have dominion. We rule but we also have an obligation as ruler of this earth. We cannot abuse them. We are allowed to use them for our benefit, pleasure and company. It is revolting to see pets mistreated. The animals are dependent upon the kindness of our rule. That is how God is to us, gracious and caring to us. He has designated a dominion to us. We should similarly rule over animals and over other people.

We come to the part where David closes out this psalm. He repeats v. 1

Psalm 8:9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!

Majestic is a term that we use, along with wonderful and fantastic; for something which is really fantastic. When you use majestic with God and His creation, this is overwhelming praise for God.

Now let’s resume Prov. 3:20:

Prov. 3:19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens;...

Prov. 3:20 ...by His knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew.

These kinds of passages need to be dissected. This is a continuation of the creation metaphor.

The prepositional phrase, by means of His knowledge. God has the skill and the ability to,,, God’s tool to use is His wisdom and knowledge. He accomplishes wonderful portions of creation.

We are told that the skies drip with dew; and this is another benefit. Water comes from under the earth; and in the second half, from the heavens.

Prov. 3:20 ...by His knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew.

We might think of this as a reference to an ocean open to others we have to be watered with the contents of wisdom, with the contents of God’s Word. Otherwise, we shrivel and die.

Water in the world is there for mankind’s benefit. This reveals divine wisdom. This is also a part of the wisdom of creation.

God says, “Don’t forget about creation and all that I can do.” He can provide everything in His power and His wisdom. For the fact that we do not have to fear.

Prov. 3:21 My son, do not lose sight of these— keep sound wisdom and discretion,...

David is speaking to Solomon these words. Continue to rely upon the wisdom and ability of God in everything. Keep sound wisdom and discretion. Keep it; hold only it. Don’t let it go.

Prov. 3:22 ...and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck.

This is not physical life; but life provided to our souls; to our human spirits. Wisdom is the center. The beauty and benefit of wisdom is displayed around your neck, if you follow v. 21. The faith rest life and the relaxed mental attitude.

Lesson #0038                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT             1/5/2020 1Sunday

Without Bible doctrine and wisdom, our lives can seem pointless and aimless. The plan of God centers around the wisdom which is provided by God; a plan which operates on faith rest and a relaxed mental attitude, which comes from the faith rest drill. There is a plan which provides direction. God’s plan comes to those who wait. All good things come to those who wait. In waiting, you are seeking the will of God and you are growing spiritually at the same time. With wisdom as our guide and patient from a relaxed mental attitude, we will begin to understand. The plan of God comes in increments. The plan of God has an overall viewpoint and an overall objective. We advance in God’s plan. As the spiritual life gains momentum, so the plan of God in our lives also gains momentum.

Thieme Bible doctrine dictionary is now being compiled at R. B. Thieme, Jr. ministries. This will contain all of the terminology that we have been exposed to it. The words are painstakingly researched over a period of 5 years or more. Each word and doctrine accurately reflects the content of the 53 year ministry of R. B. Thieme, Jr.. This is a monumental task. It is not yet finished, but it is getting there. The plan of God and the wisdom to discover it.

This dictionary will be a companion document when we listen to Bob’s teaching. Sometimes we hear some terms and we might wonder, what does that mean? What you need will be right in front of your eyes. This dictionary will also stand alone as a tremendous resource of all doctrines. You can read the words themselves and learn so much by that. This book will be helpful to those who have never heard R. B. Thieme, Jr.

Bobby brings this up with respect to finding the plan of God for our own lives. Bobby received a quote from an editor of another dictionary, which you may recognize. From James Murray 1879–1915 who began the compilation of the greatest works of lexicography and was the chief editor of the Oxford Dictionary. 12 volumes. He only lived 35 years. What he did was monumental. Every word in the English language is defined; accepted as the highest standard and most complete dictionary in the world.

The Meaning of Everything by James Murray. I think it was God’s will; in times of faith, I am sure of it; I look back and see that every step of my life has been imposed upon me, not a thing of choice. Meaning that he recognizes that God had a plan for him. The whole training of my life was fitting me to do this dictionary...I am only an instrument and there is no credit due to me, but I am simply doing the plan of God.

This man was an inspiration. There is very much a repetitive life, a life is a grind. Bobby it is the greatest thing in the world. They are compiling Bible doctrine. When it is a grind, there is greatness in it. Murray’s work affects us centuries later.

Solomon had the pick of women; he had tremendous ability and talent; he built the talent. Probably no one who has ever had what Solomon had. Solomon’s wisdom was known throughout the world. David urges Solomon not to forget the plan of God. There were duties which could be very repetitive; all that Solomon did affect Israel. He had to do some things over and over again. These were all part of his duties of a king. He may have chased certain things in life to relieve the boredom.

Everything that Solomon had was provided to him, not for his pleasure, not for his fun, but to accomplish the will of God. This same God provides Solomon and us with this same wisdom. Every believer can have a little of this wisdom and security, because of this wisdom.

Prov. 3:21 My son, do not lose sight of these— keep sound wisdom and discretion,...

David is addressing Solomon, his son. Let them not vanish from your sight. This is wisdom and knowledge. Do not ever let wisdom go; it is necessary for a lifetime. We are to follow the promises of God. Depending and relying on the Lord is our life.

Prov. 3:22 ...and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck.

We will show the wisdom of God by using it in our everyday life.

If the Almighty Omnipotent God is for us, and He supplies us with His wisdom; who can be against us? Who can touch us? How can He not preserve and protect.

Millions undergo humanistic counseling because they fit what Bobby just said. Sooner or later, you must face reality; and the results of your foolish actions. It is painful. It is self-induced misery that can be escaped only by means of wisdom. This is why God has given wisdom to us. Gaining and having wisdom is very simple. It requires the hearing discipline of it. We are in the school of wisdom.

Bobby is thankful for our positive volition. Good to be the one person.

The next two verses tout the advantages of wisdom in our souls.

Lesson #0039             Proverbs 3:23–24 Wisdom in the OT       1/5/2020 2Sunday

This is how wisdom will adorn us inside and out.

Prov. 3:23 Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble.

Prov. 3:24 If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

Security for your sleep; you can walk the walk of discernment, good judgment and wise behavior. In all of this, we will be preserved.

Prov. 3:23 Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble.

Plan of God rationale; God is our protection. We get into things that David has to say. David lived quite an adventurous life. Here, we are to know that he was protected and we are protected. God did not remove the pressure from me, we might say. We may live securely; our outlook and attitude may be right.

We have opportunities in life. What about the car wreck or harm to us or a near-death experience? Things do happen; but we are still alive. God brings things into our life for a reason. He provides protection. We can walk in security. A metaphor for a lifetime of protection in life. The greatest security in life by the faith rest drill. Cast your cares upon Him because He cares for you. We have this, every day of our lives, if we use it. If we have security, which is very basic in life, then we have confidence in life.

Every believer has a security detail. The president is always surrounded by a security detail; and he is never in public without them. So God has the same things for us. We are second only to God in creation. He has put a crown on our heads, so-to-speak. We have our own infallible secret service around us at any time. This translates to courage in adversity; courage under fire. This is a part of the adornment of wisdom around our necks.

Our necks reveal volition. The direction that we move our neck indicates our volition; and all of this is related to our neck.

Psalm 91 is a great example.

Psalm 91:2 I will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."

Psalm 91:3 For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.

Various traps are outlawed. Some of these traps can be very harmful. Bobby let a fox go from a trap while he was hunting.

When we think about the traps that we can fall into, the traps animals face is very little.

Psalm 91:4 He will cover you with His pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

God is faithful; His Word is good. We may depend upon Him. David can say, “His faithfulness is a shield and a bulwark.

Psalm 91:5 You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day,...

The night closes in and some people find this to be a time of fear. In combat, it is one thing to see what is happening in daylight what is going on; at night, it can be something entirely different.

When the fear grips us and closes in on us, we have to depend upon God’s faithfulness.

Psalm 91:6 ...nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

We may have quoted Psalm 23 many times in the past.

Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

The Lord is always there; our fortress, our refuge. God faithfully sustains and cares for us by His power. We can also throw wisdom in here.

We are in union with Jesus Christ; He can protect us. We are a part of the royal family of God. God has our back like no one else. All security in life is in the Lord; hence in all of life and death. That is the basis for dying grace.

Shootings lately and many have been in churches. It has happened. Berachah is pretty obvious as a church. Bobby is not worried. Houston Chronicle called Bobby to find our about our security procedures. The Lord is my rock and bastion.

There are security measures and a security detail and cameras; common sense security; but first and foremost, our refuge is with the Lord.

The guy really wanted to talk about gun control; that was more of his interest. Bobby did not take the interview; it was pointless.

Where is our security in life? David fears nothing; and we are protected unless God has a purpose in our own harm.

Security always resides in the One Who faithfully provides it. Wisdom is the thinking of the wisdom of the Lord. When we have wisdom, we think like God thinks. We have access to God’s very thinking. Our actions are a result of the spiritual life as well as our attitude. A mighty fortress is our God.

It does not matter how much money is in our security or the 401k. The government could take it all tomorrow and they might.

Prov. 3:23 Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble.

We are not to be fearful or stumble through life. There is a staggering, like a falling down drunk. Someone who is confused in his or her state who makes very bad decisions. Without faith rest, we will fall flat on our face, or wherever we hit. With wisdom, we will walk with security, with sound judgment.

To strike the foot is like stubbing your toe or smashing your toe until it breaks. Your toenail lasts for awhile; and the toenail turns blue. Bobby’s remedy. Take a needle and heat it to red hot, then he sticks it through the toe. Stick it in a few places. Doesn’t hurt to do this.

When you smash your toe, it hurts, and that is what stumble means here.

Too many elderly fall and break something and they cannot repair themselves. No stumbling is a relaxed mental attitude of security.

A relaxed mental attitude does not necessarily relieve the pain. You walk through life not always thinking about yourself or the adversity that you are facing or how it will go or how it is going to turn out. It will turn out in the way that God wants it to. Not coupled with wrong decisions or a bad mental attitude.

You cannot sleep. We have all done this and watched the clock. More stress because you cannot sleep. With the security of wisdom, when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

Prov. 3:24 If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

The spiritual life is a relaxed life of security. We have a refuge or fortress. Trust means that we believe that and apply it.

Wisdom is the bottom line in sleeping. When you have wisdom, you have the security in your soul and you trust in the Lord.

We need to clear our minds with a good night’s sleep, so that we can sleep like a baby. The teenager who does not wake up until noon. They do not have those kinds of problems. You just do not have it.

We have access to the wisdom that Solomon provides here. When we don’t have wisdom, then we have no temporal security with which to face our fears. Anxiety and dread are our companions.

Bobby and his dog BJ. He was only 15 lbs and he took over the bed. The dog would be sleeping, fast asleep. But sound asleep again.

Dogs have a tremendous ability to sleep. Not a care in the world. That is how we should sleep. When wisdom adorns your neck and graces your soul.

This was not covered from Psalm 91.

Psalm 91:7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

Psalm 91:8 You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.

Psalm 91:9 Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge—

Psalm 91:10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.

Psalm 91:11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.

Psalm 91:12 On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.

Lesson #0040                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT        1/8/2020 Wednesday

Sleepless nights are miserable; we have all had them and we have all experienced them. Maybe because you are ill; and sleep escapes you. But most of the time, we do not sleep because of self-induced misery because of a problem in our lives. We cannot shut it off; and as we lie there in bed, we know that in the morning, we will feel terrible, tired; you will not be able to think with clarity. You won’t be up to par. This usually happens on the night before a day that you have something really important to do. Or there is something looming in your life. Something you dread about to happen. Problems with a person, problems at work.

In general, we have a problem in the areas of people, fear. You get up in the middle of the night and you pace and you get frustrated. Bobby can see that most of us have had this. So, we will need to listen to what wisdom tells us.

Bobby finds something in his library that he knows is extremely boring. He finds this to be a good way to redirect his mind. But it does not always work.

Solomon says that this is all unnecessary; we don’t have to get up in the middle of the night. It is just a tough night. Solomon says this is not necessary, in Prov. 23:4

Prov. 3:24 If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

Those things that happened during the day might become even more disconcerting. But Solomon says, “Your sleep will be sweet.” Clearly, it is understood that the underlying cause of sleepless nights is fear, anxiety about what is happening in your life.

What is the solution? Do not entertain fear. You may think that you are losing sleep because of fear; but worry of life comes from anxiety of circumstances. Fear is nothing more than a mental attitude sin under those circumstances.

No fear seems like the best approach. Whatever the solution, it must deal with fear. This can generate fear. Solomon would not address this situation. Sleeplessness comes from fear. Solomon’s solution is to somehow preclude fear. How do you do that, as it is easier said than done.

“My son, let them not vanish from your sight.” What should not vanish, so that fear and anxiety do not intrude on your sleep. If you have wisdom, it gives you peace; but no wisdom, and whatever can fill the void.

How do you find the promise? There is a concordance in the back of most Bibles and you can look up a subject, and there will be a number of passages which cover it. There is enough there to give you an idea of where you can go. There are hundreds of promises that you can claim. In the Faith Rest book, there are a bunch of promises at the end that you can claim.

Some people cannot sleep in the darkness; they need some light. Some fear break-ins or various things. By and large, David operated without fear in his soul. Claim the promise and go to sleep. You will be able to go and you will be able to sleep.

To be your best, you train and train until your muscle memory is built up. You can perform in all circumstances because you have this muscle memory.

Discernment, the wise behavior is analogous to sleep restful. Discern a promise that you know works. Know a promise and claim it.

That carries the sense of security, which is the opposite of fear. Promises contain a protection from harm. It always engenders a relaxed mental attitude. A relaxed mental attitude is how you operate. This is how your demeanor is; you mental attitude. Psalm 4:8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; for You LORD only, make me dwell in safety. David had an army around him most of the time; but he needed to be able to sleep soundly with the enemies at the gates. This is what David taught his sons. This is what sustained David throughout his life. David was a man after God’s Own heart. David in all of his failures was still a man after God’s Own heart. David had inculcated wisdom. David lives in security because of what he acknowledged to be true. The life of David was an amazing life. That is a great supplement to Bobby’s teaching.

David told Solomon that you can sleep; you can faith rest this life.

Prov. 3:24 If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

The summary of what we have learned:

Prov. 3:25 Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes,

Prov. 3:26 for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.

God’s work of creation by means of His wisdom; and our problems are insignificant by comparison.

David comes in, “Don’t fear, son; don’t do it.” David knows that fear can blind side you; it can come out of nowhere.

Our world is filled with terrorism today. David is not speaking hear of the lengthy course of bad decisions or an ongoing problem. A natural calamity. One that takes a person by surprise. Some may not be prepared for it. For some, great moments of fear and uncertainty result.

To preclude that sudden fear, there must be to offset this difficult situations. We need to be in condition red constantly. You are not thinking about terror and danger all of the time; how are you prepared for the sudden onslaught of danger and fear? The same way. What do you have in your soul? What is there? This is how you are prepared for everything. Keep thinking; stop reacting. You think doctrine, you think wisdom. You respond to circumstances that surround you.

David was a man of war and he was constantly at war, experiencing the changing circumstances of war, and there were enemies on all sides, including those from the inside.

It began early on when David was a shepherd. He is with his flock and a bear might come up and snatch a sheep. He did not let it go. He went after the bear. This fear. It might be a natural reaction. A good fear might kick in adrenalin; it prepares us to fight and act under pressure. To deal with danger when it is there. Cowardice is when fear takes over. It would be easy to give in to fear. He also faced off a lion. He later faces the loud-mouthed giant, Goliath. The king would not go. David, a boy, walks into camp. “Who is this Philistine who challenges the armies of the Living God.” He had confidence in God.

He had adventures with his army; he had conflicts with Saul. The authorities were chasing him all over the countryside looking to kill him. And David could not kill Saul.

Later, Absalom raped his half-sister and then went after David to kill him. Yet, we have Psalm 4:8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; for You LORD only, makest me dwell in safety.

Satan knew that the promise of God came through the line of David. God’s protection and the resultant security was the source of David’s faith rest in calamity. Nothing is too horrendous to overturn the plan of God. God promised David a greater son. David knew that promise would be fulfilled.

David’s only sure and lasting defense was to trust God and His promises. Sometimes, that is all that David had.

Don’t forget Job. Overnight, his life was overturned. He lost his wealth, his health, his family, in one night. But he never gave up trusting the Lord. So much of this book is Job’s confidence in the Lord. He failed once, towards the end; but, by and large his testimony stands to this day.

What is the council of David and Solomon?

Prov. 3:26 for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.

The wisdom in your right lobe must contain the perspective of God. Perspective of divine viewpoint and confidence under every situation.

A promise that we can use under these sorts of circumstances. God gave this promise through Isaiah.

Isa. 41:10 fear you not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; yea, I will help you; yea, I will uphold you with the right hand of My righteousness.

The rationale is, “I am your God; I will strengthen you; I will help you; surely, I will hold you up with My righteous right hand.” We are royal priests; we are God’s children. We have been justified from the moment of faith in Christ. What a great promise this is!

If God created this universe, who can overcome us? Your fear, self-pity, your anger about your circumstances; these can slow you down. These can interfere with you life. But you build up your strength. When you get good at this, mental attitude sins do not control you; people do not control you. People with mental attitude sins try to control you, but doctrine overrules them. God, not man, is the Author of our deliverance.

You may think that you have been dealt a bad deal; things aren’t going very well right now. But it is you who fails to claim God’s promises. There is only one way to claim those promises to trust in the Lord.

Your foot can easily be caught. Stumbling. The black toe from last time. Setting a trap for an animal. If they are still alive, you can see the fear in their eyes. When you release them, you can see the fear melt away. One of the great traps of the cosmic system. Trust in the Lord Who has the unlimited ability to deliver us from any evil circumstances. God provides the resources not to just survive, but to thrive. That is the benefit of your troubles and of these situations.

Adversity, difficulties are opportunities to do what Solomon tells us to do when dealing with fear. Every time we use it, we learn it better. It is the spiritual discernment which places confidence in the Lord. God releases us from the cosmic system traps and provides us with the wisdom to avoid them.

Lesson #0041                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT            1/9/2020 Thursday

Of course, wisdom is Bible doctrine. Wisdom is the application of Bible doctrine in a very practical sense. No wisdom without Bible doctrine. You can apply wisdom in all situations; it is so practical for your life. This is so that we can see how this is used in the lives of David and Solomon.

We have the complete canon of Scripture; something that Old Testament saints never had. But the wisdom that they had was just as important today as then. Vv. 27–35 is the next increment of wisdom. Each verse is independent of the others, although not completely so. But each one has its own separate bit of wisdom for us that we need to look at carefully. This section is unlike most of the other discourses.

The author has placed them in an odd place.

Vv. 27–30    Benevolence and neighborliness.

Vv. 31–35     This verse warn against emulating or associating with the wicked. This is because of the possible damaging affects to our lives. Why should we not associate with certain people?

All of these aphorisms have a negative form. They all begin with do not. These prohibitions are against malicious and selfish actions. Yet, as we see all of these negative proverbs, in their negativity, there is a positive side to them when the prohibitions are heeded. That is always the case with the wisdom of Proverbs. It all comes out on the positive side. They are not designed as legalistic curbs to fun in your life. It is easier to look at a proverb that is positive. We always have some propensity to wonder, just why can’t we do that? The positive aphorisms give us good advice. Sometimes, a positive aphorism, is easier to ignore. Forbidding a child to do something, that is for their own good; that is for their betterment in the future. It is amazing how often Proverbs uses the word understanding. One of the reasons that these are here is so that we do not make bad decisions. It can be even more emphatic when put in these negative terms. Why do we have a tendency to pay less attention to the negative proverbs? It always seems less desirable or more of a curb on our fun. Or if we hear, don’t do that, we feel that is a restraint and we want to do it. Rejection of good restrictions is nothing more than having a rebellious heart. This is the definition of a teenager who despise authority, parental or otherwise. We have a natural aversion against being told not to do something.

Bobby has discovered even when the Bible prohibits certain activities. We have the rebellion and temptations to deal with all of the time, having an inherent sin nature. Divine prohibitions are for our benefit to offset the old sin nature. God is not legalistic. He has laws; and to ignore them exemplifies our problems in life. Such rebellion is just what the Apostle Paul addressed in Rom. 7:19–20 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. The temptations of the sin nature; and they are at their worst. When you see these negative prohibitions in proverbs, don’t get your back up. Only evil results. That is what Paul is telling us. That is our proclivity as human beings.

We have just as much succumbed to the temptations of the sin nature,... It is always our temptation to sin versus God’s will. It is hard for people to deal with these negative proverbs, because it goes right to the heart of their rebellious nature. It continues right up until the moment.

We have assets in our life to preclude a rebellion that is in us. Then we have proverbs like this which tell us what the prohibitions are and why. We have to listen to this. That too is a line of defense for our life.

Let’s see what these negative aphorisms are.

Prov. 3:27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.

This is a very vague proverb; very general. As Bobby got into it, he has understood this to mean doing good and acts of kindness to those in need.

A general rule, when you give someone money, do not expect it back. Do not give it to them if you cannot afford to do it. It is about generosity in grace. Do not expect it back. Do not give it if you do not have it. You are not the pot of gold or the soft touch for the people who are looking for handouts. You do not cause them to become reliant upon you or addicted to your help or demanding of your help; and you do not do it to gain control of your lives. Some people offer money and other things to pastors, but they do it so that they can control you. That is grace disoriented. Do not do this to enable a person to go in the wrong direction. This is a hazard in families. Sometimes this enables a person to do what they should not do. Enables them to make more bad decisions.

Don’t withhold from those who are in need, especially if you have the means. Remember, when it is in your power or means to do it, in supplying relief to someone in need. You must not enable inertia, sloth or cause dependancy. That is a harmful result. Nor should your own needs, debts or personal obligations. This is not a thing to tell you to starve yourself or to go broke. You do not deny your family. Your family is your obligation.

You have an obligation as a parent to feed your children. You need employment to help them and feed them. But you have no obligation to help those making bad decisions. A friend of Bobby’s had a very soft heart. Related to a woman by friendship; she claimed to be in a difficult physical situation and gave a huge money to her. She was a Christian person giving to another. It impoverished her and her own children. You are obligated to take care of your family first. Nothing worse than a Christian con. They should be drawn and quartered and hung and jailed.

Bobby tells any Christian con to stay away from Berachah. You never deprive your own family that which is necessary to survive.

The principle of welfare or entitlement is not what is in view here. You are not a welfare agency for families. Caution and wisdom is necessary in dealing with requests for money. The most opportune time for charity when it is not solicited; when you see a need.

When someone approaches you saying, “I am in need,” you should have a healthy skepticism. It is an opportune time when it is not asked for. Any solicitation should be met with caution. Especially when repeated or a continuous one. So many Christian cons out there. Soliciting or begging for money with a long, sad story. But for their own financial advantage. An indicator that they refuse to find work and to work of a job of any kind. That can be a real problem in a family. Like paying adult children to live without working.

Prov. 3:27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.

Lesson #0042                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT           1/12/2020 1Sunday

Faith Rest Life is available in Spanish.

First in a series of independent aphorisms begins with v. 27. These are a series of negative proverbs between vv. 27–35.

Prov. 3:27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.

This verse exhorts acts of kindness towards those who are in need. Some withhold good, for various reasons, greed, meanness, parsimony.

The term good refers to the principle of generosity. We think of this in terms of extending help to the poor and needy, which is a valid principle. It is a part of our Christian witness. The phrase to those to whom it is due cannot refer only to the poor and downtrodden. We are obligated to give aid; they are entitled to it? It is not callous when the concept of grace is the issue. We must help those in need without a doubt. It must be done with the proper motivation; not grudgingly or of necessity. This is a part of the giving motivation. The true motive in a believer comes from grace orientation. This always reflects the grace of God in what we do and give in that arena. If it is not aid and generosity to the poor in general; then to whom is this directed?

This does not refer to a large impersonal charity like the United Way or to the Clinton Foundation. The emphasis is upon family, friends and associates. Do not withhold generosity with them.

When it is in your power or means to do it. There are obvious limitations to your ability; but there is to your grace attitude and your motivation. In supplying relief to someone in need, especially family or friends.

Be very careful; do not fall for some seductive line. You can always know, you will always know if they come back and ask for more. Then you should be really cautious. This is more designed for a one-time help, to help them recover. There is a committee like that in Berachah Church. Bobby will help people on a one-time basis to help some recover. It is no different for us on a personal basis. Your own needs and debts and personal obligations should never be disregarded to help others. It is only if you are able. You should never denude yourself of all savings or income to help others. If anyone does not provide for his own, for those of his household, he had denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

What is Prov. 3:27 about? This is ignored by many today. The rights of the homeless today supercedes the rights of those who have to step around them. At some point, you need to be able to say no. but a one-time gift is a demonstration of grace that may make a difference. That will become clear in observing the results of that gift. No change in their situation or behavior means no need to do it.

Solutions are individual. Solutions societal and nation? Kindness must always proceed from grace.

Prov. 3:27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.

Another principle of grace giving, but from a negative viewpoint once again.

Prov. 3:28 Do not say to your neighbor, "Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it"—when you have it with you.

You see someone in need and you have the wherewithal to help them; but your answer is, “Come back tomorrow.” You do not want to perpetrate this. Do not stall, for whatever reason, when you are in need. The previous verse enjoined the general principle of benevolence when you have the means. Don’t put off to tomorrow what you might do today. Now, there are reasons to put off things to tomorrow. But generally speaking, you take care of this giving when it is asked for.

Lesson #0043                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT           1/12/2020 2Sunday

Prov. 3:27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.

Do not withhold good from those in our periphery; those in our own family, those we know.

Prov. 3:28 Do not say to your neighbor, "Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it"—when you have it with you.

This is an amplification of what we have just covered. Neighbor is simply a reference to those you are closest to. The wisdom in v. 28, do not put off grace and benevolence when it can be handled when it is most needed. That is more important that they understand the message of grace. They may not earn it or deserve it; but this sometimes brings them to a recovery. Just as God gives to us grace, so He provides for us in this life. Our action should always reflect God’s grace. Timing can be extremely important. Once again, it is in view here in v. 28.

The word here is rêaʿ (רֵעַ) [pronounced RAY-ahģ], which means, associate, neighbor, colleague; companion, friend; beloved; fellow, acquaintance; fellow citizen. You cannot enable people to continue with bad decisions; you cannot do something from guilt. Guilt is not the issue; grace is always the message. What you do for someone else is always about grace. You do not give grudgingly or of necessity. Grace is always the principle. When it is someone close to you, you are privy to their life; and you may know about their problems, financial or otherwise.

Bobby’s principle is, he does not loan money. He gives is. Loaning money is not the grace principle. God did not loan us salvation. He gave us salvation. Eternal life is ours forever. Bobby makes it a habit not to loan money. Don’t give money if you do not have it. Worse than an infidel, if you do not provide for your family. This includes.

You want to ease the problem of need and show grace. Procrastinating sends a message of reluctance, of giving grudgingly, or no grace. These things do not go unnoticed.

Miserly attitude; sometimes to those you know the best; and they can see your attitude. There is a message of grudging necessity. They can become bitter, angry and despise you.

1Tim. 6:10 The love of money is the root of all sorts of evil; and some by longing for it, have wandered away from the faith and have pierced themselves with many griefs. Desiring money; acquiring money is supplanting the spiritual life.

There is also this attitude of helping those who are in need. When you have a lot of money, you have the opportunity to do so.

Prov. 3:28 Do not say to your neighbor, "Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it"—when you have it with you.

Next verse:

Prov. 3:29 Do not plan evil against your neighbor, who dwells trustingly beside you.

People often are at peace; with trust in one another. One a shock when the plowing of evil comes and the betrayal violates the trust of that person. Fabricating untruth against someone is, at any time, reprehensible. But to do this when they are unsuspicious, they are blind sided. All privacy is set aside. That is not wisdom; and not the criterion for generosity or help. The one who devises evil profits in some way. Even if it is notoriety. Those who tear down those with social standing, some importance, and they tear that person down in order to make themselves seem greater or better. Touting inside knowledge; and someone else gains self-importance. That is the M.O. of a gossip. Sometimes this is unintended, but to slightly elevate the one doing the gossiping. But this becomes a wildfire. By the time the gossip makes the rounds, it gets worse and worse and worse. True or false, it is a bad idea to gossip. Is it necessary; is it true? What are the results to be if this gets shared. You may forfeit someone who is important to you. The closer you are to a person, the more you guard.

Prov. 3:29 Do not plan evil against your neighbor, who dwells trustingly beside you.

Prov. 6:16–19 There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

A lying tongue directed to a neighbor. A heart that devises wicked plans. Same word as Prov. 3:29. A heart that fabricates evil or wicked plans. Feet the run rapidly to evil. You are running to it.

A false witness who utters lie; the perjurer. The purpose of evil, wicked plans to harm them. Spreading strife among brothers with slander, maligning, judging,

Psalm 12:2 Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

They devise injury and speak badly behind their back. From self righteous arrogance. Tearing another down while building yourself up. The double heart. In arrogance, the carnal believer ignores his own sins. How good it feels to overlook your own faults and failings.

Rom. 2:1 is the end result for such. Therefore, you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgement; in that you judge another, you condemn yourself.

Lesson #0044                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT      1/15/2020 Wednesday

A few more nights on Prov. 3. The 4^th prohibition toward friends and family, as we have been studying. .

Prov. 3:30 Do not contend [strive, quarrel] with a man for no reason, when he has done you no harm.

This can be oral disagreements; it can even refer to physical struggles; it can even refer to a lawsuit without cause. You don’t look for a fight where there is no conflict. Someone that you do not like is someone that you might be in conflict with. This is a prohibition against that. You do not exhibit enmity against others, even if you think you have a good reason. This enjoins us to exercise self-control. Especially if you have a pugnacious personality.

Bob was a confrontational person. He often said, “A bishop is not a striker of persons.” He learned to control it. It was his natural desire to be that way. His self-control came through spiritual growth and Bible doctrine; grace orientation and a development of impersonal love. There will be times when we want to quarrel.

Bob did confront people, but he did it in the congregation. Some things were edited out of the tapes; but they have never edited out Bob calling people out. He did it for a very good reason. He was protecting the privacy and concentration of those interested in the Word of God. Bob did not curb this behavior when it comes to protecting his congregation. Bobby does not have his father’s personality and never has.

His restrain falls under Prov. 3:30

This goes out to those who want to quarrel for no good reason; who want to have a fight at the drop of a hate.

Impersonal love, humility and grace orientation help in this area.

Wisdom is designed of many areas; particularly when dealing with people. You see, when you are able to exercise good common sense. Violence, crime, criminal charges, murder; these are things which take good judgment.

The hypersensitive person easily take offense at the slightest confrontation; controlling or manipulating a person with the threat of conflict. The contentious person knows that. They can easily use the conflict to control or manipulate the weaker person. It is easy to be drawn into this devising evil without retaliation. If there is no harm or if the slight to petty or unintended, don’t get in a fight over it. It takes on a life of its own. This can cause much greater damage to both parties. So much to do with conflict in general in our lives.

We may get angry, we may be filled with mental attitude sins. We may be looking for someone to unload on. This is very self-centered. You are bringing someone else into your quarrel. Sometimes a problem with marriage, friendship or other close associations.

We are to stay clear of those who have nothing better to do than to stir up strife.

1Tim. 5:13 Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not.

They go from house to house; and they are gossips and busybodies; talking about things that they should not. This is the definition of someone who is quarrelsome. The faults and failures of others, perceived or real. Like minding other people’s business. These prohibitions do not join them.

To put it simply, just do not engage them. Once you engage in that control and manipulation quarrel, do not react to it. That is what the control freak wants you to do. They get the conflict that they seek, and they have you going. Then you add fuel to the fire when you do react to them. In those cases. All of us have faced people just like this. Sin natures want to control and manipulate others. It is a power thing; a power game; and it is everywhere. We have all had to deal with it. You do not argue with people like that. You do not get in strife or an argument with them. Then you cannot win the argument, no matter how logical that argument is.

When you get involved, then you are being controlled; exactly what they want of you. You do not win arguments by presenting your point of view from that kind of person. The contentiousness is not about equity or justice or fairness. They are not reasonable. Do not engage it. Some thrive on the conflict itself. They don’t care if anything is resolved. They love to see you react. It justifies in their own minds their own contentious personality. And some will fight to the death to be right. It won’t stop. So walk away before you become embroiled in something like that.

If you walk away from something like that, you are not a coward. It takes a great deal of self-control to walk away form such a conflict. And who cares what such a person thinks about you. You are not responsible for whatever others think of you. You are not responsible for that. You are responsible for what the Lord thinks of you. This is a great application. This is so important; very practical. So walk away. And then you will be in control of your own life. It takes more courage and humility to avoid confrontation than to engage in it.

Part of the contentiousness of this verb may include lawsuits. There are good reasons fro some lawsuits, as they reflect the rule of law and they settle disagreements. Impartially mediated. That is why the courts of law are so important. There are prohibitions of lawsuits for two reasons. Prohibiting according to 1Corinthians. You do not take a fellow believer to court. It is better to be cheated than to take them to court. Some lawyers left the church when he taught 1Cor. 6. This does not mean that a Christian cannot be in the court system. There are guidelines for a court settlement. There are things not to do. A second prohibition, which is meant to preclude frivilous lawsuits, to take people to court on the flimsiest accusations. Often lawsuits involve ego or greed. Some lawsuits are simply designed for revenge rather than an equitable settlement. Our society has become extremely litigious. Lawyers must make a living. This is a part of divine establishment. Rom. 12 makes it clear about rule of law; and this fits in with law and order. Our courts are filled with frivolous lawsuits; filing suit for a big score. All of this reflects a prohibition in the area of bringing suit.

Petty lawsuits rarely get much money for the claimant. It is often a lose-lose situation for one filing the suit.

This contentiousness is one step away from violence. That is the ultimate in quarreling. Any police officer can tell you that their most hated duty is dealing with a domestic problem; and sometimes, the combatants turn on the police officers. Some even are injured.

Prov. 3:30 Do not contend [strive, quarrel] with a man for no reason, when he has done you no harm.

The next prohibition begins a new section. It deals with the apparent prosperity of evil men.

Prov. 3:31 Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways,

Lesson #0045                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT          1/16/2020 Thursday

Our subject is violence, which is all around us.

Prov. 3:31 Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways,

This does not include the military or law enforcement. Violence is sometimes necessary for them. This verse does not apply to that group; but it does apply to violence of other types. We are not to envy such a person, or to jealous of them, or to follow in their ways.

This suggests that violence is contagious. That is the fundamental premise of so many action movies today. Vigil ante justice and revenge and slaughter of all types. An action movie might be entertaining, but the premise can be quite problematic. A little applied force, a little gunplay; and things happen.

“I will get justice or I will get my way.” This is true when people want to assassinate a person in authority (like the president). There are plenty of people in this country would be happy to assassinate this president. Our prisons are filled with people who have been seduced by unlawful violence. Homes often breed violence. When basic principles of authority and self-discipline are not taught early in a child’s life, they might reject all forms of authority in their life.

The military might instill some authority-orientation to someone who lacks this. When you go into the military, you may not know what you want to do; but when you come out, you will know what you don’t want to do.

Bobby has seen those in the military who would not accept authority of any type.

Bobby did many things that he will not tell us about; and did things that he knew were wrong; but he never went too far, because the knowledge of right and wrong were put there. Bobby believes that he is fulfilling the purpose for being brought into this life.

There are kids today who even get involved in paramilitary activity. Kids are using military equipment and acting as if they are in the military. There are adult paramilitary groups as well, and they are not authority oriented either.

Without the training, violence and criminal activity become rampant in society. Mindless rebellion overwhelms the entire generation. This defines the generation that Bobby grew up with.

This progression can lead ot the loss of freedom; attempts at coups. We are seeing this in the halls of Congress. They disregard the Constitution for their own personal power and personal desires. So unrest is fomented; and possibly revolution. These are the things which occur in 3^rd world countries.

Fomenting unrest. We are beginning to see revolution in the streets. Revolution comes in many forms. The final form looks to destroy divine institutions. Revolution constitutes evil, as Prov. 3:31 makes clear. Men of violence moves toward revolution.

Who suffers? The people that they govern suffer. The use of indiscriminate violence becomes very, very normal. We see admiration given to those who are strong and violent. Today, this violence in the streets is admired by many.

Some of the violence that we see is copycat violence, such as school and church shootings. Some is prompted by a callousness to blood, mayhem; and things which are glorified in our media. Some are just mindless violence. Tink about being a child seeing tons of violence. You become enured to it. You become callous towards it. Police officers become the enemies. The criminal court system is dispensing social justice rather than proper justice.

Violence; groups getting their way by intimidation. What is being lost in all of this? Civility and freedom. What is this violence that is prohibited?

Châmâç (חָמָס) [pronounced khaw-MAWS], a name used by Islamic terrorists today. They are the epitome of violent men. They are filled with hate, revenge; and they desire power over anyone who disagrees with them. And they are being emulated all over the world. Many similar organizations are being formed all over the world and using the very same tactics. Ironically, they impose false religion on the population.

We hear about Iran today because of the wiping out of General Soleiman. He has been a center figure for years. Pat Cate began his mission in Iran. He told Bobby about what a wonderful group of people the Iranians are. There is no freedom; and they are incredibly violent. They are the subjects of violence; and they are tyrannized by it.

This is a problem for all humanity. Violence is being used for things which are never justified. When a person is given over the emotional or physical attacks on others; and they are considered heroes, then we personally and as a community, have it rock bottom.

These oppressors have become evil in their acts. Ill-begotten criminal gains becomes just gains. How people get the prosperity no longer matters. It is dog-eat-dog. Live for today and not only for yourself. That is anti-establishment and anti-justice.

When you do not have the security of eternal life, then you want to grab anything you can by any means. Wealth, pleasure and leisure is idolized and desired above all else.

Bobby has really enjoyed Mexico. But what is going on today is an example of the destructiveness of violence as a way of life for our nation. Legitimate government there has lost control of its territory. Legitimate authority has been replaced by the drug cartels. Half of that nation is owned by the cartels. Their methods of gaining and maintaining power is murder, violence, bribery and torture. As a result, Mexico has become on of the most dangerous and violent countries in the world. The common people suffer because of that. This sort of violent activity, where legitimate government is powerless. This is seen in Afghanistan, other central American countries, etc. Iran. Nothing is more tyrannical than religion. It is based upon power and violence in many cases.

Prov. 3:31 Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways,...

The principles of v. 31 are continued in v. 32:

Prov. 3:32 ...for the devious person is an abomination to the LORD, but the upright are in his confidence.

The devious are an abomination to the Lord. The upright are intimate with the Lord.

What is upright? Bobby will tells us what this means. We need to understand devious, abomination and intimate.

Lesson #0046                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT           1/19/2020 1Sunday

The 5^th prohibition will be presented in the next service, v. 32.

Lesson #0047                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT           1/19/2020 2Sunday

Only 35 verses in Prov. 3, so we are near the end of it.

Prov. 3:32 for the devious person is an abomination to the LORD, but the upright are in his confidence.

The devious are the persons or societies and their groups who are violent, arrogant, etc. This is a continuation of v. 31. V. 32 provides the motivation. Do not withhold good, do not devise harm; do not content; do not envy a man of violence.

V. 32 gives us in one word a person who first those previous prohibitions. Devious is also found back in v. 21: lûwz (לוּז) [pronounced looze], which means, perverted, perverse; wicked, perverseness, wickedness; deviousness. A timid description; a weak idea of uprightness. It is upright versus abomination. This is the strongest word in the Hebrew for divine abhorrence. Abomination is the word tôwʿêvâh (תּוֹעֵוָה) [pronounced to-ģay-VAWH], and it is quite strong, presenting the enormity of the evil described. It means, disgusting act, an abomination, abhorrent, an abhorrent act.

This verse fits the modus operandi of a person involved in abominable acts. Or a believer in reversionism. This is a person who

There are those who can sit with God and fellowship with Him as intimates. Intimate with the Almighty. Can you imagine friendship? Meeting the Biblical standards that God has set for us. That is the spiritual life that God has provided for us.

How are we not an abomination to God? Being intimate with Christ begins with being intimate with Him. We do not meet His perfect standards. He does care for us; He loves us personally; and at salvation, we have the potential of a relationship with Him. We are righteous in the sense that we have righteousness before God, being in Christ.

Therefore, God finds us worthy of His attention. As imperfect as we are, we possess that which God is attracted to. His Own righteousness. This is not relative righteousness. Because of that righteousness, God is able to extend personal love towards us and the promise of an intimate relationship with us.

We have to know God; and only then can we reciprocate that love. We must recognize His total appeal through gaining grace and doctrinal orientation. When you have doctrine resident in your soul, you begin to appreciate Him. The mind of Christ is in us. It provides for His acknowledgment of His overwhelming love for us.

We have to know someone and then develop love for them. If you marry someone and you do not know them, it is a crapshoot when it comes to love. That is all about character and it is all about the way that the two of you interact. By the end of your life, that should be the greatest moment between a spouse and a friend. The more situations that you go through with them and you see who they are. You know them. It is no different with the Lord. We need to understand Who God is. God the Father’s attractiveness is unlimited, because He is unlimited. That is the grace and doctrinal orientation. This is how we come to know God; it is about our spiritual growth. If you sat in this auditorium. What did you know about God when you first entered into Berachah; and compare it to what you know about God today. The more we progress and grow, the more our respect and trust and intimacy strengthens. When our soul is inculcated with doctrine, so that we share the viewpoints of God, then you have learned to love God to the maximum. That is the gate; the gateway to the greatest relationship to intimacy with the Lord.

Personal love for God motivates the believer to conform to the character of God. You desire to please them, a person that you love. As your love for God increases, you gain confidence even through your problems. Reciprocal love for you is the foundation for intimacy with God.

Consider the person you are closest to; the go-to person. That is the kind of intimacy that you have with the Lord. It is so much greater. God is always the go to Person. You do this in your understanding of Who He is. It does not come through a meaningless, holy vocabulary. It is not about a superficial knowledge of God; nor is it about emotion and feeling close to God. You are intimate with God when you have knowledge of His ways and of His Son. Without such knowledge during communion, your mind wanders and there is no intimacy with God. We learn about Him, we have knowledge of Him and we learn to think like He does. Emotion is not the gate to intimacy with Him. Experiencing the thinking process of the Lord Jesus Christ in your own soul. The circumstances of your life are then guided by His thinking and His plan. It is this wisdom that the Lord used throughout when He thought and taught. We can have this same thinking in our own lives.

Emotionalism does not cut it. Did anything bother Christ? No, He went right through it. It was painful for Him to be on the cross.

Now you understand better than 99% of the people in the world what it means to be intimate with God. It is all about what you know. Developing friendship is one of the great parts of life. You get to know them and you develop a true intimate friendship. God is the Intimate Friend.

Prov. 3:32 for the devious person is an abomination to the LORD, but the upright are in his confidence.

Lesson #0048                    Proverbs Wisdom in the OT      1/22/2020 Wednesday

Prov. 3:33 The LORD's curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous.

The prosperity of the evil is not to be envied. God allows some prosperity for a time to some of those who practice the evil of the cosmic system. God does not promote their prosperity, but He may use them to further His plan.