Proverbs • Wisdom Ep. 2

[Music] We are talking through the books in the Wisdom literature of the Hebrew Bible Proverbs Ecclesiastes and job today We're going to dive into the Book of Proverbs let the wise listen and add to Their learning let the Discerning get More guidance this book's for Understanding Proverbs and Parables and Riddles of the wise this book claims That there's a powerful mysterious force In the universe called hokuma we Translate that Hebrew word into wisdom Wisdom is described as this Universal Principle According to which the whole Universe is ordered and in which it Coheres Proverbs begins with nine Chapters of speeches encouraging us the Reader to see kokuma and then the rest Of the book is the Proverbs themselves It's hundreds and hundreds of these Sayings that just take every topic in Life you could possibly imagine and then Running them through the grid of the law Of hokuma that runs the universe Learning about hokuma is not some Intellectual exercise with an impersonal Force yeah wisdom is an attribute of God But it's also something that we're going To see is accessible to humans you can Have wisdom too I hope you enjoy this Conversation as much as I did on the Book of Proverbs here we go [Music]

Things [Music] I'll remind you of the day Okay the Book of Proverbs it's one of The three books in the wisdom literature Yeah what we're gonna frame all of these Books as is addressing the question what Kind of world am I living in and what Does it mean to live well in in God's World these books all take for granted That there that the god of Israel is the Creator and God of the world this would Be a book that would make it to the New York Times bestseller list in nonfiction It'd be like how to make friends and Influence people yeah in a book but for Religious people but for religious People there's good and evil right and Wrong so how what does it mean to live Well and live the good life here yeah so What's interesting about the Book of Proverbs is that chapters one to nine Begins with the all these speeches not Proverbs but speeches there's a set the Common themes that unite all these Speeches and the first is that wisdom is Described as this Universal principle According to which the whole universe is Ordered and in which it coheres the most Famous example of this is in Proverbs Chapter 8 where wisdom is something God Uses to actually build and architect the Whole universe so it says in Proverbs 8 That the Lord acquired wisdom as the

First of all that he did and that he Formed wisdom and then used wisdom to Architect the watery depths and the Mountains and the hills and how he Marked out the heavens it's all this Architectural imagery of God making a Big building but wisdom is the blueprint It's really interesting so it's as if There's lots of metaphors you could use Think of a rug so the weave and pattern Of the fabric is woven in order with Wisdom or there's uh the the universe And existence has a grain like wood and You can live with the grain or you can Go against the grain There's an order a cause effect pattern So in the Book of Proverbs there is a Set of laws so to speak for how life Tends to work and what's the what's the Scripture that talks about it like a Blueprint oh uh that's in Proverbs 8 it Starts in verse 22 but it's wisdom Speaking and saying the Lord acquired me And then started using me when he was Architecting and building the universe So wisdom is the the blueprint in this Metaphor so when God was designing the Universe he would then go and he would Look at wisdom and go okay that's how I'm gonna do it yes yeah yeah wisdom is An attribute of God but it's also Something that we're going to see is Accessible to humans you can have wisdom Too and when you do that you're actually

Tapping into something outside of Yourself That is the attribute of God himself And that's a principle woven into how The world it's the same attribute that Gave the blueprints for the world Correct yeah it's actually it's actually There's a important difference but it's Very similar to the view of the force in The Star Wars universe that there's a Force a set of cause and effect patterns And you can get in touch with them and And work along with them you can live Along with the force the light size or You can but so the difference is that There's no dark side of the force There's just foolishness there's either Using the force or not using there's Either using the force that's only the Light Side uh in Proverbs okay there's No Dark Side Um the dark side is just being a fool And living against the grain of the Universe in which case you'll get Punished so that's the first thing is That it's attribute of God it's a Principle According to which the world Works and the universe is ordered And then this and it's called hokuma Yeah so the Hebrew word for wisdom is The word you kind of have to clear your Throat a little bit in that second Syllable Yeah so wisdom is a standard English

Translation it has another Nuance to it That we don't have in the English word Wisdom which we'll talk about in a Second but it's that's the basic idea of Hope ma it's the principle rather than Calling it The Force because I keep Thinking of Star Wars oh yeah let's just Call it But it's not just like a law of gravity Or something it's like the law of Gravity in the you see it at work Everywhere but you can't see it you Don't see it itself yeah but it's a it's Also a moral law so every time you see Somebody cheat and then get caught and Pay the consequences that's hokuma at Work because hokuma says always have Integrity so it's not just impersonal It's a it's about decisions and moral Behavior too so that's it's a very Different world view than Um and and just an atheistic world view That you know there is no moral guiding So you just kind of do what you need to Do so survive this is saying actually When creation was ordered There was some this moral fabric put Into it it's a moral universe that's Right Um the famous quote of Martin Luther King Jr you know the the Arc of history Is long and then spends towards Justice That's the world view of Proverbs that Uh yeah Justice and Justice will win and

Goodness eventually peace yeah and the People who recognize that will cooperate And make participate in Justice Themselves so yeah because within the Fabric of creation is it was built The DNA of Justice yeah and so it's Going to it's going to realize it's Going to realize and reward integrity And honesty and generosity and Justice And not just in nature in personally but Just the law of how he of human nature And how humans operate that goodness Will become its own reward over time So hokuma if you were to characterize Proverbs as this wise teacher and you Got into her head you would see that she Was very acutely aware yeah of Pokemon Yeah sees it everywhere she sees it it's And it's a it's a pattern to how the World works not just gravity and the Stars and atomic forces right but like Relationships and yeah Everyday life decisions also work According to a pattern and if you can Figure that out yeah you can live and That's why she's so smart when you bring A dilemma to her and yeah she's so quick To be like well here's what's going on Yeah is because she sees the underlying Patterns yeah and the underlying yeah Way things work yeah yeah she looks for Patterns in in the cause and effect of People's decisions and she believes in The patterns yeah and they put their

Part of how God wired the universe yeah Yeah And so Um Hokuma Isn't just does she have a tattoo a Hokuma tattoo In Hebrew Yeah right on her forearm uh therefore So that's why hokuma as skill not just Knowledge but skill is really important Because It's not just that you know about the Pattern it's that you use it use it and Then you craft your life the same way as Stone Mason can chisel a statue out of a Big boulder So you take this raw material that is Your life and you can design it right by Chiseling your life out according to the Pattern of hokuma according to wisdom And Justice and integrity and hard work And diligence and patience and so on Foreign [Music] [Music] Now it's not just goodness and morality It's also just Street smarts also that's That's exactly right and so that gets Into the second main Nuance of hokuma in Hebrew that we don't have in our English Word wisdom wisdom is primarily a head Knowledge it's something you know Primarily intellectual reference in

Hebrew it's a active meaning Because you can also say uh so Solomon Employs a bunch of artists like Stone Workers and Woodworkers to work in the Temple and he hires them because they Have So it doesn't just it's not that they're A bunch of philosophers yeah they're not Philosophers yeah they're just like Really skilled Woodworkers so it's Applied knowledge it's that you know Your the raw materials you're working With and how they work and you know how To make them beautiful And design it well so it's a skill so We've said so we've said a lot at this Point and I just want to make sure it's Clear because in my head for some reason It's getting a little fuzzy Hokuma we translate it wisdom And there's a moral component to it Because it it rewards Justice and Integrity and those kind of things so Built into the fabric of the universe Itself is this moral component which is A part of Pokemon God used it when as a Blueprint when he designed the world Another thing about hokuma though is you Were just describing is just the ability The applied ability to take that wisdom And then do something with it that's Right so it's not just head knowledge It's this very practical yes skill That's right which gets applied to all

Kinds of things like I'm not Particularly financially Savvy you know Myself and so I probably could do a way Better job at thinking long term and Saving or whatever but is that a moral Issue is that right or wrong you know Well maybe some people would say that it Is but it's just I uh some people lackma Some people have hokma when it comes to Skill with what they do with their minds For the Long Haul so I'm when I'm good At Finance yeah I have hokuma yes when I'm good at making chairs out of wood Yes yes when I'm good at being beer yeah In my basement yeah Yeah but and when you're good at having Integrity and honesty with how you deal With your co-workers that too is now What if I'm good at finances but I do it In an unjust way yeah then you're an Idiot then I don't have hope then you Don't have hope so so so you can't Separate the moral component no the Practical skill correct yep that's Correct that's true yeah so a woodworker Who makes these beautiful monuments Right for Solomon but he's just like a Scam artist yeah right wouldn't be Considered having hokma Um well yes hokuma and his trade but not In his personal life yes he has uh he's An evil with his life and a view of evil Yeah is that fool yeah you transliterate It e v i l really yes wow evil he's evil

Reveal he's in Hebrew means yeah correct Yeah so the moral components like a Layer that goes underneath all of You so you can have hokumo without Morality as it pertains to things that Aren't in the bounds of needing to be Moral yeah that's a good yeah yeah and Typically those are in the realm of Relationships so if it's in the realm of Relationships you need morality if it Affects people yeah okay essentially but Doesn't everything affect people I Suppose it does if I chop down a tree is That immoral if the tree falls in Somebody's house and then I run away That's immoral And if I chop down too many trees or you Chop down a tree that's not yours yeah Yeah or you chop down too many trees Yeah that the squirrels don't have a Home anymore yeah so you can do all These things in a way that's yeah Doesn't actually have Pokemon yes but You could still make a beautiful End table with that tree yeah and so you Have hokumas relates to the end table But you didn't use hokuma hmm so I don't Know am I being too yeah I think you're No it's just it's your the way that you Like to drill down Precision yeah and Clear categories I think runs into Difficulty In this set of Concepts yeah because This is just a word that they used and

Language is messy sometimes language is Messy yeah that's right so the concept Well and I mean we're talking about fear Of the Lord we don't have to talk about It yet but this is where the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom a lot of The Proverbs have nothing to do with Being moral or not right A lot of them Are just like here's a smart way to live Here's another smart way to live um uh The moral component is dominant but it Is dominant yeah that's why in the same Chapter of proverbs the good guys are Called the wise the righteous the Hard-working and the bad guys are called The evil the Wicked the unrighteous the Lazy okay so these categories are Overlapped with each other the moral and Just the wise are stupid and that's part Of the world view of Proverbs that's True but when it comes to like certain Business things that aren't I mean There's some a lot of ethical stuff but Then there's Proverbs that are just like Here's how to handle I don't know I I Don't have any examples yeah yeah no uh Proverbs 14 4 where there's no oxen The manger is empty but the strength of An ox produces abundant harvests So Life's a lot more complicated if you Don't own an ox a lot harder no no where There's no oxen the manger is empty you Don't have to scoop up poop oh you don't Have to take out food every single day

Meaning you don't have to do it you know It's a nice clean manger you don't have To deal with the mess uh no ox but if You don't have an ox You're not going to produce an abundant Harvest so it's just a proverb about if You want to be productive you have to be Willing to put in the labor Isn't that great it's really great to do The things you want to do you often Most often have to do things that you Don't want to do also along with them Yeah and that's just the nature it has Nothing to do with being a good person Or being a bad person I was 14 floors Just saying anything it's a life skill Anything meaningful in life is gonna Have its upsides and its downsides yeah And that's just there you go and it made It into yeah exactly but I love how it Puts it that's a yeah you don't have an Ox your manger's nice and empty and Clean but the strength of the ox Produces abundant Harvest yeah you don't Have employees your HR department yeah It's really easy going that's right no Office dispute no silos people aren't But you're doing all that with yourself But you're doing all the work by Yourself so some of the Proverbs are Kind of um uh prescriptive but that one That you just we just talked about with The ox and the manger isn't prescriptive No it's actually it's kind of like a

Little riddle yeah it's like you get to Decide do you want to do you want the Dirty manger or do you want The or do you want a clean manger or do You want some help in the field you Can't have both like which which one do You want to choose yeah there's actually The proper the one-liners that are in Proverbs 10 Through the end of the book they they Have a whole wonderful creative Diversity of forms Um so some of them are like be like this Don't be like that but a lot of them are Like little riddles Yeah and I think what so a lot of them Just say here's how life is the soothing Tongue is a tree of life But a perverse tongue crushes the spirit It's just saying people who speak kindly Are like this people who are speak badly Are like this yeah but what's Interesting is That proverb Yeah isn't telling you how to speak it's Just kind of telling you how it is But kind of embedded in that proverb you Get the idea that you should speak Kindly yes oh yeah but it's pointing out The pattern but it's pointing out the Pattern people who speak kindly and Gently Well as a law by the hokma of the Universe

Be a source of life to others that's Just the nature of relationships so it's Not prescriptive but it definitely is Kind of hinting towards the pattern that You should follow telling you what kind Of world you're living in a world where Kind words are a source of life to Others what's really interesting about The oxen manger though is arguably you Can go either way oh I see or is it or Is it saying that no you need the deal With you yeah the value is in the Abundant Harvest yes abundant harvests Are good for you and for others okay So it isn't saying like you know Sometimes you might just want a simple Manger It's interesting to me because I think About this at times when I'm like how Complicated do I want to make my life And this is saying well you want an Abundant Harvest I don't know I want I just want an Adequate hardest I just want to starve yes Um this has nothing to do with the but The Enneagram yeah Retreat that Jessica went On the type five yeah one of our highest Values is the uncomplicated life yes Exactly so I read that because I'm yeah I'm a five the I read that proverb I'm Like yeah I'm gonna limit the amount of Ox poop I'm gonna deal with in my life

That sounds great yeah yeah totally and So I read that problem and I think like That's smart that's but it's getting at An underlying principle yeah yeah and That one does I don't know is it is it telling you no Like the right thing to do is to have ox And deal with the poop deal with Complications so you could have a big Harvest is that what that proverb is Trying to tell us I think so okay yeah Yeah an abundant Harvest you have to Deal what if you don't want Complications well okay no one back then Was like I don't want to bundle that's Exactly right because we can just go to The grocery store and get you know milk And sausage anytime yeah but right um Yeah so for them it's you if you don't Put up with life's complications you Don't eat So you you want abundant Harvest got it Um which means you're gonna have to do Some stuff you don't want to do and That's all to get the greatest the Greatest Goods in life yes always Require Sacrifices and compromises and dealing With difficult dirty Majors the things That are worth chasing after and and Having in life are gonna take a lot of Work so all the Proverbs even if they're Not directly telling you what to do They're pretty much telling you they're

Trying to persuade you try to persuade You there's a persuasive element to all The problems absolutely yeah okay yeah [Music] Thank you [Music] So the opening paragraph of the Book of Proverbs tells you it's a little it's Like a Publisher's blurb on the back of The book it's Proverbs of Solomon son of David king of Israel and then there's a Little blurb it says it's for gaining an Instruction For understanding The Words of insight For receiving instruction in prudent or Like shrewd behavior for doing what is Right and just as fair this book's Forgiving Prudence to the simple Knowledge and discretion to the young Let the wise listen and add to their Learning let the Discerning get more Guidance This book's for understanding Proverbs And Parables and riddles of the wise and There's actually in Chapter 30 there's a Whole collection of four to six line Riddles do you want to hear one a riddle Right here's a riddle from chapter 30 Verses 15 and 16. there are three things That are never satisfied four that never Say enough The grave The barren womb Land which is never sated by water

And Fire Which never says enough that's it that's The riddle Wow so the riddle is to say there are Four things That that just consume that consume But they're different like the grave is This inevitable thing it consumes All Humans yeah we're all heading there so But the barren womb it's like the Opposite of the Grave yeah it's the it's The beginning place of life but that Also does not produce yeah and then There's land land that has no water not Like not all the rain water in the world Will ever make it productive and then Fire Which is like the grave more yeah it's Not interesting everything What's the Riddle yeah yeah it's so fascinating uh There are three things that are too Amazing for me four that I don't Understand the way of an eagle in the Sky the way of a snake on a rock the way Of the ship on the high seas and the way Of a man with a young woman [Laughter] I don't get it Yeah exactly aren't these wonderful you Have to stop and think about them I mean So Like an Eagle Crossing the sky this Is all about motion Okay yeah so eagle and Skye it never Flaps its wings yeah how's it doing that

A snake on a rock it's just how does Yeah how's it slithering how does it get There okay a ship on the high seas how Does that little thing move across those Huge waves okay and then how on Earth Does a brute stinky man get a woman ever Find favor with the elegant beautiful Woman is that what he's talking about I Think that's like isn't it isn't it odd That that a woman would ever want to be With a man yeah [Laughter] Anyway there's an element of Proverbs That's playful too yeah of like using Your mind to think about strange things And so that's useful for wisdom in that It's just helping you understand the World more yeah and think about it Differently yeah think about things Differently to think about there's Always more complexity than I ever Realized there's always new things There's more connections to things yes That's right Vantage points that are Going to help you understand things Better Make better decisions yeah So those are like the riddles but then There's just straight up you know don't Do this that's a foolish thing to do Yeah the vast majority don't lie to People that's foolish tell the truth That's great that'll you'll do well but That's not how they do it that's like

The Ten Commandments Proverbs they're Saying well they'll do it yeah they'll Have a it'll be better we'll just say an Evil person ends up like this but the Wise person will be like this yeah so Again it's it's put they are painting a Picture of how the world works and then You read the proverb and you go oh I Want to be like the wise man not like The fool yeah so I'm gonna get to work And deal with Ox poop and be diligent And not be lazy and tell the truth and So all these riddles and Proverbs and What else does he call them poems is in There like it was a list of things they All are taking hokma and and putting it Into these Sayings these ideas wrapping them up These memes and giving them to you yeah Yeah the the book of The Book of Proverbs it's hundreds and hundreds of These sayings that just take every topic In life you could possibly imagine and Then running them through the grid of The law of that runs the universe what Was helpful for me is it's not about Knowing every single proverb and making Sure you're always checking off a list Of Proverbs as you're going through life As much as it is respecting hokma and Because when we think about this way What makes this woman so wise right it's Yeah she knows all these Proverbs but What really makes her wise is she knows

She's always looking for hokuma and she Sees the hokma in the problem yes yeah And she knows why that proverb yeah is Uh yeah a proverb because you know shows The underlying hook mind and so she can Apply it yep to the right situation and Know when yes you need to use it so it's Not so much about like hey read all These Proverbs and just like do them That's right it's about understand and Interact with the hokma underneath of it Yeah that's why there's a famous uh pair Of Proverbs right next to each other the Author the exact opposite advice right Um that's really interesting it's in Chapter 26 so verse 4 of chapter 26 says Don't answer a fool according to his Folly or you'll become just like him Yeah so that makes sense there's some People who actually aren't someone's Foolish enough it's not worth getting in A conversation yeah they're not looking To learn they're not open-minded yeah You're just gonna get drawn into a Stupid debate so don't even bring it up But then the very next proverb is Answer a fool according to his folly or Else he'll become wise in his own time So it tells you to do the opposite thing Answer the fool and to like tell him That he's wrong yeah and that he Shouldn't do or say that or else he's Going to go on thinking that that's an Okay thing to do or say so what do you

Do are you supposed to answer a fool According to his folly or not answer Fool according to his following one of My Hebrew professors uh Michael Fox who Actually wrote a majestic two-volume Commentary on Proverbs in the anchor Bible series Um I spent a whole semester a whole year Reading the wisdom books with him in Class it was an absolute privilege so he Always liked this example for him Develop he developed the metaphor the The Proverbs are like a pocket full of Change we don't really use change that Much anymore yeah dimes and nickels and So on but it's like a change and uh you Just need to pull and apply each one Depending on what the situation requires Right so the defender lying hokuma that You need to understand yeah so so you Got to know also have To know which proverb is relevant to What situation in life right because Sometimes it might mean the exact Opposite response because it's easy to Go to Proverbs and say this is how I Should do it I'm going to do it and just Treat it as a rule book of sorts yeah I Just love when when we talk about hokuma And we talk about understanding it and Seeing it it just gets me really excited Versus like memorize all these Proverbs Yeah and which to me is like the life Hack thing it's like okay yeah like if I

Just do these things my life will go Better and I don't know exactly why and I just have to trust them and I'll check Them off and I'll just apply them versus No these things are interesting because They all come from Pokemon and this is Something that the fabric of the Universe was was blueprinted on it's an Attribute of God and you can actually Interact with it it requires you to Become responsible and wise yourself to Know what the rice right course of Action is in any given moment [Music] Foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] We've talked about how it's just force And you need to interact with it to Design a life yeah that's good for Yourself and for others like a Craftsman All right at that point just go that Sounds great and let's go yeah let's do This yeah yeah I want a good life I'm Excited about this Force I'm excited About hookma I want to start looking for It like I'm gonna start designing my Life I'm gonna start writing books about How to like live the good life with Hokma and like you know I'm gonna yeah Just jump in head first but I need to be Careful because I could actually get in Trouble with this this eagerness for

Wisdom yeah the Book of Proverbs is also Aware Of the fact that humans can become what They would call Wise in their own eyes Yeah that we can somehow end up thinking We're using and think we're making the Right decision but actually we've Deceived ourselves and we've become the Fool and this is where the moral Component especially comes in and this Is where the concept of the fear of the Lord comes in there's an opening line in Proverbs it says actually the beginning Of Is to fear the lord it's a very Interesting line so the way hokuma is Described in Proverbs isn't Simply Life Hacking it involves it's being aware That whole when you're doing you are Honoring and humbling yourself before Not a force but a person God Who has a vision of Good and Evil that Might be inconvenient for me sometimes But hokuma is to recognize I don't get Determined good and evil for myself I Need to fall in line with How the Universe Works which is according to God's definition of Good and Evil so the Danger is when you're seeking after Hokma aggressively just idealistically Like I'm gonna get it is that it's human Nature it's a human condition to if Something is convenient for me I'm going to figure out a way for it to

Feel like wisdom or to be perceived as Wisdom and I will fool myself quite Easily yeah and not even realize I'm Doing it I could be chasing hard after Wisdom it could even start to like work Out for me and I'm like look it I'm Being wise and then all of a sudden the Curtain yes pulls away and I realize That's not wisdom it's not wisdom and I'm getting smacked around and so what's Happened there is that you've violated The fear of the Lord or as it says in Chapter three to fear the lord is to Shun evil so something wise is to be a Productive human and accumulate Resources so that you can take care of Yourself and other people so let's say You're a business owner and it's wise to Make good business decisions to increase Profit so you can take care pay a good Salary whatever to your to your Employees yeah and then you realize like Oh You know there's this tax loophole and Uh you know if I just kind of work this Angle we can totally cut corners on all Of this if I lie about this if I lie and Kind of Bend these numbers nobody will Ever know or I could accumulate more and It's going to hurt these people Indirectly but or directly yeah but yeah But I'm supposed to be productive yeah I'm gonna do it yeah yeah so you can end Up

Fulfilling one thing that you think is a Good but you end up compromising and Doing evil in some other area to Accomplish the good and in Proverbs That's foolishness because you're Lacking Integrity you're acting without Honesty and so you've actually played The fool in your effort to become wise So someone came and said I am wise look At how well I'm doing in Life or look at These decisions But I I'm doing those things while Compromising a lot of morals then yeah Then Proverbs would say no actually You're not being wise you're a fool You're a fool and it's because you did Not begin with fear before the Lord yeah Yeah I I mean a classic example in like In the American work culture is just the Culture of overwork so you have high Achieving people whose personal lives Are a disaster they've built a great Company or they've really put the Department into good order and but like They don't spend any time with their Kids and they don't you know so they've Actually they're they're acting Foolishly because they haven't achieved Balance between work and life and Relationships so what's what you seem Why is it work and then you go home and You realize that that person's a fool And it's so easy to do that it's so easy Yeah for anyone to miss just completely

Missed like it's like we have this Incredible ability to um let's say we I Mean me everyone to justify things yeah Yeah it comes like when when we Elevate Some some goal as the ultimate good and Therefore other things can get Compromised to accomplish that thing It's kind of the biblical vision of Idolatry yeah once you make something an Ultimate thing then you'll be willing to Dehumanize yourself and others in the Effort to accomplish that and you'll Convince yourself it's not you'll Convince yourself that it's good yeah And wise yeah and Noble and this is Connected then to this whole idea of the Knowledge of Good and Evil yes yeah the Fear of the Lord is to shun evil uh is You know but to shunt but not just that But to kind of relinquish Your your definition of good your Definition yeah that's right yeah so we Go back to the truth knowledge good and Evil is this idea of God defines what's Good and evil or do we Define what's Good and evil and when we Define good And evil we will make evil things good It just will happen we aren't capable of Holding that line and knowing how to do That yeah we'll deceive ourselves we'll Make we'll make other Idols more Important and we'll cut Corners yeah Sometimes purposefully yes and Oftentimes yes unconsciously yeah that's

Right yeah that's that's the depiction Of uh like Pharaoh you know in The Exodus story where it has become good to Kill babies right of a immigrant people To protect his people to protect his People and so that's yes the human Inclination to maximize pleasure and Minimize pain for me and mine and if That's at the expense of you and yours But at least I've increased good for me And mine And it's not just one Um political part of the political Spectrum you know that's doing this and It's not just one you know type of Personality that's doing this it's like We all do this that's right yeah and so In order to truly be wise and not screw It up I have to respect and fear that at The end of the day God's perspective is What I am looking for and want to uphold And that's fear of the Lord yeah one of The most well-known lines from the Earlier chapters of Proverbs are from The father to the son saying trust in The Lord with all your heart and don't Lean on your own understanding in all Your ways acknowledge Him and He will Make your path straight don't be wise in Your own eyes fear the lord and shun Evil so the whole thing is yeah you're Gonna have a way that seems right to you Will be decision that make sense to you But you should just always be suspicious

Of your motives yeah and always check Yourself against yeah what God has told Us is right and wrong now God hasn't Given us instructions about everything This is a lot that's correct a lot of Ambiguity in life yeah so this is Another Pokemon thing if you have Internalized what the fear of the Lord Is in the very clear scenarios that Gives begins to give you a true north in Others And that suspicion there's a great Proverb 16 2 all a person's ways seem Pure to themselves But motives are weighed by the Lord such A good one so it's just by Nature we're Like yes surely I'm making the right Decision and for the right reasons yeah So there's a there's a skill to be Developed and Discerning being Suspicious of myself and turning to the Wisdom of others to know what the Right Way Forward is So the yeah the fear of the Lord is what I call the moral logic of hukuma it's Recognizing there might be all kinds of Skill choices that I could make but if They are violating my moral compass then They they become stupid and foolish [Music] Foreign [Music] Real estate so they changed companies Um

Because like dishonesty is how they yeah How they like posted listings of houses And the information given about houses Like the basic practice was always to Misrepresent the reality of the property And she was just so she just couldn't Take it anymore yeah and so she she Switched companies to at least a company Where that was that's fear of the Lord Yeah that's the fear of the Lord yeah Yeah that was the wise decision even Though the company she left was Extremely profitable but she just her Conscious couldn't hang with it so the Book of Proverbs would say that's the Why even if it involved a pay cut That's still the wise decision the book Proverbs would go as far to say and you Will prosper for that the Book of Proverbs will go on to say Uh allow me to quote My son Don't Proverbs three don't forget my Teaching keep my wisdom in your heart They will prolong your life many years Bring you peace and prosperity later on Don't be wise in your own eyes fear the Lord and shun evil like my friend did This will bring Health to your body and Nourishment to your bones yeah who needs Vitamin D just like fear the lord you're Gonna have a lot of resources you have a Very healthy body yeah you're gonna live A long time yeah yeah that we should

Take and that's what it's really saying That's that's core to the Book of Proverbs is the wise choices over the Long Haul yes will produce a good life You'll acquire Financial Resources yes And healthy wealthy and wise yeah I mean it's just you yeah if you go with The grain of the universe yeah you're Going to end up in a good spot we talked About this because obviously you know we Can step out of this for a second and Say well not always like job or Ecclesiastes right sure but let's stay In it for a second yeah the person who Works really hard and earns a reputation For honesty and integrity will more Likely produce Resources by those Decades of hard work Yeah Then the person who skims and cheats Their way yeah into wealth yeah I'm not An old man but my hunch is that that's How things tend to work Or at least they ought to work there is Definitely a feeling that it ought to Work that way yeah we celebrate when Things turn out that way that's right And but Proverbs doesn't just say it Ought to work that way does it work it Kind of it says this is how things will Work out yeah yeah and and that's why For us the character is kind of a young Idealistic person because because when You're young you realize this is how it

Should work yes I'm gonna go fix things Yeah because I know in the fabric of the Universe yep like this is how and you Can pay attention and point to people And stories and relatives or whoever That that's how it worked for them yeah They worked hard They produce wealth they were able to Now another way to think about this is Just odds right like yeah more likely Than not yes this will work out for you So if you do these things over the Long Haul over and over it'll work out for You you're playing the odds you're Playing statistics You're you're in for the long game in The short run you know who knows what'll Happen but in the long run you do it Enough this is gonna be yeah success and This is uh yeah part of my shorthand way Of talking about this is just to say This is after all the Book of Proverbs Not the book of promises Um but it says it's a promise but they Are framed as very strong claims they Are healthier bones yes But by Nature a proverb is accumulated Wisdom about how life tends to go yeah So I'm not trying to water down the the Powerful persuasiveness of this yeah I Think we need to end with This real excitement for the persuasive Yes of it yeah it's like you just Discovered a secret key yeah right whoa

Oh come on yeah because it is true hokma Exists and it will make your life rad When you design your life with it and Then we could stop there and we could Celebrate yep and and actually benefit a Lot But that's not where the story yeah ends When it comes to our journey with that's Right yeah the wisdom literature doesn't Only say that Um two other voices speak up uh Ecclesiastes speaks up and he'll say Excuse me Proverbs Um it does sometimes work like that but Can I point out exhibit a b c d e f g uh Where it just the opposite right down And then job says yeah actually that was Me that happened to me yeah it didn't Work out for me and here's what I've Learned from that so it's by hearing all Three of these voices that we truly Become wise it's the surprising Uh message of the wisdom books of the Bible they're just there's nothing else Like them they're remarkable [Music] Thanks for listening to this episode of The Bible project podcast I'm John Collins and that was a conversation with Tim Mackey on the Book of Proverbs we're Co-founders of the Bible project we Create a lot of free videos and put them Up on YouTube for people to watch so That you can learn the big picture of

Scripture and see how it's a unified Story that leads to Jesus and has Profound wisdom for this modern world You can watch all the videos for free They're on YouTube youtube.com the Bible Project you can also download the videos Off of our website for free and use them In your church at home in school they're Used all over the world for a lot of Things we're so glad that you're a part Of this listening to these podcasts if You enjoy them you can share them with Others put a review on iTunes follow us On Twitter at join Bible proj and say hi To us on Facebook facebook.com the Bible Project next time we will jump into the Book of Ecclesiastes it's gonna be heavy Thanks for being a part of this with us [Music] Know it's time to rest