Menu
Real prophets are given prominence by God. We aren’t always told how he does it, but in the case of Elijah, he called publicly for three years of drought…and it happened. By the time the three years were up, everyone was looking for Elijah. He had disappeared and had nothing to say for all that time, and yet his message echoed back and forth across Israel. Sometimes, real prophets become prominent because they are hated and feared.
One thing is for sure: when a real prophet comes on the scene and begins to speak the truth to power, he will have enemies at the highest levels of government. Even with no power of his own, the truth can be a terrible threat to those in power—and they will react.
At one point in Jeremiah’s long career, he was under house arrest to keep him from going to the public square as he had been doing. He was making a lot of people very uncomfortable with his message. In chapter 36, we find Jeremiah sitting at home when God tells him of a different way to bring his word to the rulers and the people—and along with it another chance at repentance.
If you're not a follower of Jesus, one of the things about the Bible that should make you sit up and take notice is the number of prophecies that have actually been fulfilled. Event after event, prediction after prediction, God foretold His story down to the smallest detail. Welcome to Thru the Bible.
I'm Steve Shwetz, your host on this five year journey through the entire Word of God. Our teacher, of course, is Dr. J. Vernon McGee, and he takes the Bible bus through the Old Testament book of Ezekiel chapter 27.
And this section of scripture known as the Lamentation of Tyre is the perfect example of the fulfilled prophecies that I just mentioned. Let's pray and go right into our study. Heavenly Father, thank you for your enduring word.
Thank you for the grace that you give us, your people. Help us, Lord, to hear your voice now. In Jesus' name we pray.
Now here's Dr. J. Vernon McGee with our study of Ezekiel 27 on Thru the Bible.
Now we saw last time the prophecy concerning Tyre and how that prophecy has already been literally fulfilled, and actually the ruins of that city over the other day stands as a witness to the accuracy of the Word of God, and it is indeed remarkable. Now this was such an impressive city in Ezekiel's day, and actually he'd never seen it. He'd never been there at all.
But he gives to us here now in the 27th chapter, what is, I would say, one of the great chapters of the Bible. It's a lamentation, to be specific, and it's a lamentation, very frankly, of the city that fell, and it was a great city. I don't want to minimize that at all.
The greatness of this city in that day is something that should be noted. And this is not only a sad chapter, it's a very beautiful chapter. For he likens Tyre, the great capital of the Phoenician Empire, a sea-going people.
He likens the destruction of Tyre compares to a great ship. That's right. I can't think of a greater picture than that.
And now what was it that brought Tyre down? Will you listen, verse 1, chapter 27? The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyre.
Now, here is the lamentation. Say unto Tyre, O thou that art situated at the entrance of the sea, that art a merchant of the people for many coastlands, thus saith the Lord God, O Tyre, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. What was it that brought Tyre down?
The same thing that brought the raccoon city of Petra down. The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, and the pride and the glory of nations, the pomp and the ceremony that passes off of the stage of human life. That's the thing that's brought these great nations of the world, and they stand in wreck and ruin today.
And it's a picture that's given to us in this chapter, and it speaks of how extensive was this kingdom. And we find here that you begin with Chittim, or Chittim as you have it in your authorized version, and that means copper, and it's Cyprus, the island of Cyprus. That was one of their colonists, and they extended all the way out to Tarshish.
Tarshish was sort of the jumping off place. That's the place that Jonah bought a ticket to, but he never got to see the place. But he did see the interior of a big fish.
And in verse 25, I read, the ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market, and thou was replenished and made very glorious in the midst of the seas. A great city, great commercial center, where merchants from all over the world came. Island of Cyprus, from Tarshish at the end of the world of that day.
Verse 17, Judah and the land of Israel were thy merchants, they traded in thy market. Wheat of Minute and Penang and honey and oil and balm, all of these things. And that pennant was perhaps olives or figs, probably some kind of preserves.
And probably they had one of Betty Crocker's recipes and made up something that you could use fruit in, and that was what they sold. In fact, you could have bought everything there. If you want a picture of the city of Tyre, the great commercial center, I think that you'll see it as it's depicted in a prophecy of Babylon in the future that will become the great commercial center, the great religious center, and the great political center of the world.
It will be the capital of Antichrist. And I'm just going to lift out one verse that describes it. It's over in chapter 18 of the Book of Revelation.
Maybe I should read two verses. Let me read, verse 12 and 13. The merchandise of gold and silver and precious stones and of pearls, fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet and fine wood and all manner vessels of ivory and all manner vessels of most precious wood and of brass and iron and marble and cinnamon and odors and ointments and frankincense and wine and oil and fine flour and wheat and beasts and sheep and horses and chariots and slaves and the souls of men and the fruits that thy soul lusteth after.
May I say to you, it's a picture today of London and Paris and Rome and New York City and Los Angeles, California. You can buy anything here you want. In this great Southern California area, you name it and if you have the price, you can buy.
It's an age of materialism, but it was that in that day. This great city, like a great ship, everything they needed was on board and the music was playing and that was the laughter and that was the wine and the champagne. It was all there and it all disappeared.
God judged it. And now here is the lamentation weeping over that great city. And that's what they're going to do at the last day.
I tell you, in the last day is when the stock market fails and everything you got in your safety deposit box won't be worth a dime. And you will find that everything you thought was valuable will all of a sudden become just dust and ashes in your hand. What a tragic day it was then and what a day is coming in the future.
This means that you ought to be careful not to put all your eggs in one basket. The fact of the matter is, I think people today ought to enjoy this affluent society. I see nothing wrong in that, provided it does not become an obsession and a religion.
And actually, the day that religion has become, even in many of our good churches, there's very little real Bible teaching. We play games, we pat each other on the back, and we have fellowship. We love to talk about that, you know.
And we like to pull a verse out every now and then to make sure that we're religious and pious, and we go through the little ceremonies. And they did that in Tyre, they did it in Jerusalem. But God destroyed them, and destroyed them, because they had an opportunity, and because they had a privilege, they had a responsibility.
Now, will you notice verse 32? And in their wailing, they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying, What city is like Tyre, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea, great ship? It's gone down.
Verse 34, In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas, in the depths of the waters, thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall. Verse 36, The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee, thou shalt be a terror, and never shall be any more. And I walked through those ruins.
I couldn't hear the music, and I could not hear the laughter. I could not see the gold and the silver in the buildings. All I saw was broken pieces of pottery.
All I could see was the wreck and ruin of a great city, and the God of heaven says, as I judged you. May I say to you, there must be a message in there for this day and generation. Now we come to what is probably one of the great chapters of the scripture.
I wish that I could spend a week in this chapter here, but I cannot. I'll move along. And don't complain, will you not, because we move along.
Just remember, we're all on a Bible bus. Oh, it's just a type. It's just a picture.
But we're on a Bible bus, and you leave the driving to us, will you? All right. Now, verse 1 in chapter 28, the word of the Lord came again under me saying, Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyre.
Now we are going to have a message in this chapter to the prince of Tyre. And then we're going to have a message to the king of Tyre, verse 12. Now, back of this great kingdom, this great commercial center, great political center, great stronghold, you're going to find that there is the one who apparently controls the kingdoms of this world.
He offered them to the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus rejected them, but he didn't reject them because he didn't think Satan had them. He knew he had them.
He just didn't accept them. He's going to rule over them someday, but not as a vicegerent of Satan. And this one today is the prince of the powers of the air.
He today is the one back of the kingdoms of this world. Whether we like it or not, that's the picture. Now we have here the judgment against the prince.
I think that here you have a type of antichrist, the great Roman emperor that's going to rule. I don't like to run ahead, but as I suggested in 2 Thessalonians, and we'll go into detail when we get to the 13th of Revelation, actually it takes two persons to fulfill all that's said concerning the antichrist. And after all, John said there are many.
One will deny the person of Christ, be his enemy. The other will imitate him. You have a religious ruler and a political ruler.
Now here, you have, I think, the combination that is set before us. You have here the vicegerent of Satan. Now will you notice?
Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyre, thus saith the Lord God, because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God. Now that's exactly what antichrist is going to say. Going to make himself God.
And he says, I sit in the seat of God in the midst of the seas, yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God. Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel. There is no secret that they can hide from thee.
Now, another reference to Daniel here, and Ezekiel and Daniel were contemporary. This young man, Ezekiel, had great respect for Daniel, because Daniel was yonder in the palace, the prime minister, and was really standing for the Lord. Personally, I think Ezekiel had a hard job out there with the captives.
I had a much preferred living in the castle, although I'd have to spend one night in the lion's den. I think I'd take the castle, the palace, or the king, but Ezekiel had no choice in that, but he respected Daniel. Now, he says this prince, he was a smart boy.
Now, if you don't think they were wise men in that day, you're wrong. I think they could put this so-called intelligence crowd at centers in Harvard today, would make them look like Penianni, would make them look like they were in the kindergarten. These men in that day were wise men.
Now, this is the prince, and I believe that he represents the political side, the ruler, because in verse 10, it says, Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of foreigners, for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God. Now, let me back up and say that again, and say it accurately. This is the religious ruler that he's talking about, and I think he comes out of Israel.
This is the beast out of the land. Now, Antichrist, the political ruler, comes out of the sea of the nations of the world, and I think he's a Gentile, and this other one will be his advisor, you see. He will be a sort of a prime minister to him.
He'll be like Daniel was in Babylon, like Joseph was in Egypt, and like Disraeli was in England, and like Henry Kissinger was to President Nixon. I think you have that kind of a picture, and maybe I ought not to make that kind of a comparison, but I think it will illustrate. Now, he says in verse 11, moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Now, this man Ezekiel is not going to let you forget that he's not telling you what he thinks.
He's telling you what God's given to him to say. Now, he says, son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyre. Here you have a lamentation upon the king of Tyre.
We've had a lamentation of the city. Now, the king, great ruler, remember Hiram, king of Tyre, been a friend to David. David liked him, and I don't think David would have made any man his friend that was not an outstanding man, because David was.
And say unto him, thus saith the Lord God, thou sealest up the sum full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. And immediately, now, we pass beyond the local king of Tyre, because they change quite often back there. Wasn't safe to be a king.
Uneasy hangs the head that wears the crown and the glory didn't last long. It was like the bromide that is sick transit, Gloria Mundi, that is Latin for thus passeth the glory of the world. Now back of that, the kingdom and the king is Satan.
And I think now you have here one of those few passages in the Word of God that give you the origin of evil and the origin of this creature. And I would not want to press too much, but follow me very carefully. Thou sealest up the sum full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
Now Satan is absolutely, when he was created, the wisest creature I think God ever created. But let's keep in mind he's a creature. He was created and he was perfect in beauty.
Now if you think Satan is a creature that has horns and a forked tail and cloven feet, you are wrong. You've been reading literature of the Middle Ages and they get that actually out of a Greek mythology that goes back into Asia Minor. There's a great temple of Apollo.
You find one in Pergamon. You find one in Corinth. And you find one in every city.
There's one in Ephesus. And this temple of this God, he was the great God Pan. He is Bacchus, God of pleasure, has horns.
He runs through the great vineyard. He's the God of the grape, of the wine. And the bottom part of him is a goat.
Now that's mythology. Word of God doesn't present Satan like that, friends. The word of God presents him as perfect and beauty.
If you could see him, you'd see the most beautiful creature you've ever seen. And paul says that even his ministers are angels of light. Somebody says, you know, I heard so-and-so in his head of a cult or speaker of a cult.
I heard one when I was a boy. Oh, he had gray hair, fine-looking. Oh, was he handsome, fine-looking man.
And so many women, even almost as swoon in his presence, they treat them as if he were a god. He almost claimed that. But he was a minister of Satan.
I don't mind saying it. He almost led me astray. When I was just a boy, never had any instruction.
Oh, I tell you how terrible they could be. Perfect in wisdom. Just fill up the sum of wisdom.
He knew all you know, unless you're God. And he was perfect in beauty. Now will you notice what was it brought him down?
Verse 15, Thou was perfect in thy ways from the day that thou was created, till iniquity was found in thee. Now let me say this. If you were one of these saints that think you have arrived and you are perfect and you set yourself up as a standard, remember that Satan was the angel of light.
He was perfect, but he fell. And if he fell, what about you? What about me?
We just frail human beings down here. Now notice this. Thou was perfect in thy ways from the day that thou was created till iniquity was found in thee.
And what was that iniquity? Well, Ezekiel just doesn't tell us. Now that's the reason that I emphasized Isaiah 14.
What was it? Pride. I will lift up my throne.
He wanted to divorce himself from God and be God. He was in rebellion against God. Now he apparently protected the throne of God.
He had the highest position that you could have. Let me back up now. Verse 13.
Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God. Now, no king of Tyre could fulfill that. Every precious stone was thy covering.
Mine and all these stones are given you. He was beautiful. And they were prepared in the end of the day that thou was created.
Thou art the anointed chariot that covereth. That is, he protected the throne of God. And I have set these so.
Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God. Thou wast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. And this is not the Eden that was in this world at all.
This apparently is a picture of heaven itself. He had access to heaven. And we're told here, the workmanship of thy timbrels and thy flutes were prepared in the end the day that thou wast created.
He could not only sing, he was a band. He was music itself. You know where music originated?
Go back and you'll find out in the order of Cain, his progeny. It was from then there has come the world of music. And when I listen to some of it, I'm confident that it came out of the pit.
It couldn't come from any place else. Now, my friend, may I say to you, we have a world of light given here. You talk about being a musician.
Satan was a musician. Now, God said what he was going to do. Pride brought him down.
He says here, by the multitude of thy merchandise, they have filled the midst of thee with violence. And thou is sin. That sin is pride.
Therefore, I will cast thee. Notice what God says he'll do. God says, I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God.
I will destroy the old covering cherub from the midst of the stones of fire. I don't know about you. This is comforting to me.
I frankly wouldn't be able to overcome him. I'm no match for him. Therefore, I'm thankful that God's going to deal with him.
Now, he says, listen to him, verse 17. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty. Oh, it was pride then, wasn't it?
Thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness. You see, Solomon, the wisest man, played the fool. And here we have the greatest creature God ever created, perfect in wisdom.
At this, he filled it up all you could learn. He didn't know everything, but he played the fool. And the saints can do that today.
I will cast thee to the ground. I will lay thee before kings that they may behold thee. Now God's going to make a spectacle of him someday.
Now God says, verse 19, all that know thee among the people shall be appalled at thee. Thou shall be a terror and never shall thou be anymore. God is going to get rid of him in his universe.
And we pray for that day to come. Now you have here concluding this, a brief prophecy concerning Sidon. God says he's against Sidon, but he doesn't say he'll destroy.
He just says, there's going to be blood in the streets. And that's what happened. That's a matter of history.
It stands over there today. And I've been in Sidon. Now verse 25, God says, I intend to regather Israel, that Satan can't disturb his plan and program, and no theologian can dismiss God's plan and program for the nation Israel.
That concludes this chapter. We pick up at chapter 29 next time. Until then, may God richly bless you, my beloved.
Wow. Wasn't that an interesting and important message? You know, I love Dr. McGee's references to Ezekiel's regard for the prophet Daniel and also his in-depth description of our enemy, Satan.
You can learn more about Satan, the deceiver, and his role in this world in a booklet called Satan, Who Is He? from Dr. J. Vernon McGee, of course, and it's available for free download at ttb.org.
And while you're there, there's another great booklet that you should check out too. If you've been on the Bible bus for long, you know that Dr. McGee begins every five-year trip through the Bible with a 10-day series called Guidelines for Understanding Scripture. Now you can get this same helpful information in a beautiful digital booklet called How to Understand the Bible.
So if you're a serious student of God's word and you want specific advice on how to study the Bible as a whole, as well as each chapter on its own, then you need to visit www.ttb.org and download your copy of How to Understand the Bible today. And if you haven't yet made a decision to follow Christ, the decision that is the most important decision anyone can make, I pray that this description of Satan and his deception of the world has made you curious about God and the lengths that he has gone to provide a way to life for you. To find out more, just visit www.ttb.org and search for How to Know God.
There you will find several free downloads to read and listen to that explain this important decision and then how you can avoid God's judgment through his gift of salvation. If you prefer to get these resources by mail or happy to send them, just call us 1-800-65-BIBLES-THE-NUMBER. Or you can write to Box 7100, Pasadena, California, 911-09, in Canada Box 25325, London, Ontario, N6C 6B1.
Join me next time as the Bible Bus rolls through your neighborhood at the same time if it's on radio or anytime if it's on a digital format. I'm Steve Shwetz praying that God richly blesses you as you walk with him in his word.
We're grateful for our committed listening family who faithfully pray and invest in Through the Bible as we together take the whole word to the whole world.
In a world filled with complexities and choices, this episode takes a deep dive into the Book of Proverbs, revealing Solomon's poignant advice for young men and women facing modern temptations. Discover how family expectations and biblical wisdom can be the most compelling deterrent against destructive behavior. Listen in as we share personal anecdotes and insights on bolstering one's character with, ultimately, the riches of wisdom over material wealth.
SPEAKER 02 :
The CEM Network is pleased to present Ronald L. Dart and Born to Win.
SPEAKER 03 :
Of all the ways that a man can mess up his life, sex has to be one of the easiest, or at least one of the most likely ways that he's going to do it. And it's even more so for a woman. I don't know that a woman is more likely to mess up her life that way. It's just that the consequences for women seem more likely and more dangerous and more permanent. I suppose that's why Solomon gives so much attention to sex in the opening chapters of the book of Proverbs. It's worded the way it is because it is a father speaking to his son. I wouldn't want someone reading through this to think that God was picking on women or that he thought women were worse than men. It's just that this is all set in the words of the king, King Solomon, who has a son, and he's explaining to his son the dangers that are out there. A mother speaking to her daughter can reverse the genders in the book of Proverbs, and it will work just as well. I can remember my own dad's efforts to caution me about the facts of life once when I was about 14 and again before my first date. He was embarrassed and flustered and rather inept about the whole thing. I suspect he might have been more urgent if he had been living in a more dangerous time and place. If AIDS and other STDs had been a really great danger. But he made the common mistake of warning me about the dangers instead of impressing upon my mind the morality of the situation and the facts of love, not just the facts of life, of the importance of love in a relationship and the risks of destroying love and of destroying the possibility of love and the strength of love by moments of carelessness. Actually, like a lot of fathers, he might not have talked to me at all if my mother hadn't been after him to do it. I don't know that. I'm just guessing because I know my dad and I know my mom. Looking back, though, it was a special moment to me, and I think it probably did influence my behavior in some ways. But all parents should know that sex is far too powerful an urge to be managed in a teenager with a couple of talks and a few platitudes and some warning about sexually transmitted diseases or pregnancy. Solomon's advice to his son was really pretty pointed. You'll find some of it in Proverbs 6 and verse 20. My son, keep your father's commandment and don't forsake the law of your mother. Bind them continually upon your heart and tie them around your neck. These are poetic metaphors which suggest the idea that what we've got to do is whenever we start learning our father's commandments and the law of our mother's, that we have to bind them continually on our heart. In other words, there needs to be a repetition, a continuation. They need to be tied around our neck. We need reminders constantly so it doesn't get away from us. You know, among all the young people I've talked with about this over the years in counseling sessions in college and elsewhere, that it's my impression that the expectations of family and parents have been by far and away the most effective deterrent to destructive behavior in kids. That they will actually say, well, and I don't want to disappoint my father, and I don't want to disappoint my mother, and I've got to hold up the family. And if I do this, I will let down the family. The respect for family values and family expectations and the unwillingness to disappoint father and disappoint mother. All this has kept a lot of young people from doing some very stupid things. And this doesn't happen as a result of a talk you get before you go out on a date. It comes as a result of a way of life in the family, a continual, ongoing instruction and holding up of values by mother, by father, and by the entire family. Solomon said, when you go, it will lead you. When you sleep, these values will keep you. And when you awake, they will talk with you. In other words, it's the kind of thing that needs to be implanted so deeply in your mind that when you go to bed, you think about it. And when you wake up in the morning, you think about it. And these things are on your mind as guides to life. It's a pervasive thing. It's the pervasive character of family standards and the commandments of the father and the law of the mother that are in your character that will hold you off. Family standards don't hang in midair. Solomon is assuming standards based on the Bible. He goes on to say in verse 23, "...for the commandment is a lamp and the law is a light." And reproofs of instruction are the way of life to keep you from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. Now remember, we're talking about a continual instruction in values and what's right and what's wrong. And remember, this is a father speaking to a son. If you happen to be a mother who has to sit down and talk to her daughter about these things, just reverse the genders and warn your daughter about the handsome silver-tongued devil who will get them pregnant or worse and then walk off and leave them alone. These commandments, this law, the law of your father, the traditions of your family, and those expectations are to keep you from the flattery and the tongue of the strange man or the strange woman. To his son Solomon said, Don't lust after her beauty in your heart, and don't let her take you with her eyelids when she bats her eyes and you go following her anywhere she wants to take you. For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread, and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life. Now the message here is clear. The consequences of this way of life cannot be avoided. Not with condoms, not with trying to hide your behavior and not let people know. You know, one of the worst things we can do is to give condoms to children because in doing it, we imply that they can engage in dangerous behavior if they will just use protection. Do you know what they call people who use condoms for birth control? Parents. Among all women who use condoms, they fail to prevent pregnancy 15% of the time. That means that one time out of six that they are used, they fail to stop the sperm from reaching the egg. For some reason, the failure rate among single women is much higher than that. By an odd coincidence, though, it's just like playing Russian roulette. You've got a six-shooter and babies for bullets. One time out of six, you're going to get in trouble. The failure rate for the prevention of viral-based diseases is higher than that because those viruses can pass through smaller pores in a latex condom than can sperm. Studies at the University of Texas concluded that condoms are only 69% effective in preventing the passage of the HIV virus. This is really like getting to play Russian roulette because HIV means you die. And it's like playing Russian roulette with two bullets in a six-shooter instead of one. The only difference is it may take five or ten years to kill you instead of killing you outright. A lot of people are lucky. They get away with it the first time. Some are very lucky. They get away with it several times. But no one is lucky enough to challenge the odds again and again. Sooner or later it's going to get you. And that's why Solomon uses the analogy of fire in the bosom. You can't protect yourself from the fire with a condom. And that's why Solomon says, so is he that goes into his neighbor's wife. Whoever touches her shall not be innocent. Men don't despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his soul when he's hungry. Even though if he's found, he'll have to restore sevenfold up to the substance of his entire house. But whoever commits adultery with a woman... It lacks understanding. He's stupid. He that does it destroys his own life. Notice, a man that steals bread because he's hungry, we don't despise it. We kind of understand it, even though we may make him pay for it. But the man that commits adultery destroys his life. A wound and dishonor shall he get, and his reproach will never be wiped away. For jealousy is the rage of a man, and he will not spare in the day of vengeance. He's not going to regard any ransom. He's not going to rest content, no matter how many gifts you give him. Adultery, according to Solomon, is destructive behavior, even if God does nothing. It doesn't matter that God forgives you. You've still got to watch out for that jealous husband. There are more ways to get hurt than you can count. And a condom will not stop a bullet, and it won't stop a lawsuit. But, you know, mere warnings of consequences are not enough to deter a young man or a young woman when their hormones are raging. A young person needs to be taught every day the basics of morality and wisdom. It's got to be internalized. They need to be connected to a loving family so they understand what love is and how destructive to love. is casual sex. Solomon will explain more after these words.
SPEAKER 02 :
If you need help in teaching Christian values to your children at home, write or call and give us the ages of your children and the call letters of this radio station. Born to Win will send you a free sample lesson from Youth Educational Adventures. Listen for the address at the close of this program or call toll free 1-888-BIBLE44. And visit us online at borntowin.net.
SPEAKER 03 :
It's almost funny the way Solomon keeps coming back to the subject of sex and the problem of the strange woman with his boy in this introductory section of Proverbs. But again, if you think about young men and the temptations in the way of young men, and young women for that matter, you can kind of understand why he will approach this from several different angles. And he will rub it in. as many times as he can to his son. In the seventh chapter, verse 1, he says, My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with you. Keep my commandments and live, and my law as the apple of your eye. Tie them on your fingers. Write them on the table of your heart. In other words, memorize them. Say to wisdom, you are my sister, and call understanding your kinswoman. It's all very poetic, but what he's talking about, let's find all the ways we can to to write wisdom and knowledge and character and understanding into this boy to keep him out of trouble. This talks about the development of character, not merely the giving of repeated warnings about STDs and AIDS. Say to the wisdom, you are my sister, and call understanding your kinswoman, that they may keep you from the strange woman. from the stranger that flatters with her words. For at the window of my house I looked out through the casement, and I beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding. Ah yes, I know this young man well. It's a picture of all of us as we come of age, a bunch of young dolts who don't know enough sometimes to come in and out of the rain, who don't have enough wisdom to stay out of trouble by the pranks we got into on Halloween Eve and turning over toilets and painting people's cars and soaping up people's windows. Oh, yeah, the young man. The natural state of a young man is stupidity, a void of understanding. If we had any wisdom before puberty, it flies over the horizon when the hormones start to flow. Well, so Solomon continues to explain about this young dolt that he saw walking along the street. He said, I saw him passing through the street near her corner, and he went the road that went by her house in the twilight in the evening, in the black and dark night. And behold, there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot and subtle of heart. Aha, she was all dressed up fit to kill, which may be more meaningful expression than many of us might think. All dressed up and very subtle of heart. It says she is loud and stubborn and her feet won't stay in the house. Now she is without. Now she's in the streets and she lies in wait at every corner. Actually, this isn't the ordinary streetwalker or hooker. This is an adulteress. It's a woman who's got a husband who won't stay home. But she found this young fellow, and she caught him. That's an interesting expression. She grabbed him and kissed him, and with an impudent face said to him, Well, I have some stakes in the house, and I have paid my vows this day, which ceremonially meant she was clean now from her monthly period. And therefore I came out to find you, diligently to seek your face, and I have found you. You're the one. You're the one I was looking for. You're the one that's important. Oh, sure. He had really the exact qualifications he was looking for. He was male. I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, she said, and carved works. With fine linen of Egypt, I have perfumed my bed with myrrh and aloes and cinnamon. Come, let's take our fill of love till the morning. Let's solace ourselves with loves, for the good man is not at home. He's gone on a long journey and has taken a lot of money, and he'll come home way down the line. With her much fairer speech... she caused him to yield. And with a flattering of her lips, she forced him. You know, it's funny. Solomon almost speaks of this as a kind of rape. Oh, I know it's silly to speak of a woman raping a young man and all of his strength and vigor of youth. But to tell the truth, a young dolt A stupid young man who hasn't got the training, who hasn't been brought up right, who hasn't tied the commandments of his father around his neck and written his mother's law in his heart is helpless in the face of an assault like this. Oh, yeah, he can make the right choices. It's within his grasp to do so. But not many of them will. That's why in our society it's statutory rape for an older woman to take advantage of a young man. You know, this is really one of the great pieces of literature. It's a marvelous picture of the seduction of a young man. And the idiot might think that a condom would protect him from a woman like this. He needs a dad to tell him, son, a raincoat is not enough with a woman like that. He goes after her straightway like an ox goes to the slaughter, or like a fool to the correction of stocks, till a dart strikes through his liver like a bird hastes to the snare and doesn't know... that that snare is going to take away his life. The young fool doesn't realize that the stake he is playing for is his life. I think a lot of young people think that the only reason this behavior is wrong is because God says it's wrong. And God, well, he just doesn't want us to have any fun. And God, well, he really doesn't want to hurt me. He'll forgive me. I can do this, and it will be no big deal. And what they don't know is that it's not God who will hurt them. They don't know that the only reason God tells them not to do this type of thing is because it will naturally hurt them. The actions have consequences. And take this in mind, folks. Get a hold of this and fear that even if God forgives you completely, the consequences may not go away. And so Solomon continues to speak. Hearken to me now, therefore, you children. Listen to the words of my mouth. Don't let your heart incline to this woman's way. Don't go astray in her paths, for she has cast down many wounded. Yea, many strong men have been killed by her. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death. And every mother should sit down carefully with this and rewrite it for her daughter. Because it is just as true for the strong young women who have died because of listening to some silver-tongued devil that went out in the streets looking for them. Think about this, mothers. Think about this, dads. We'll be back after these words.
SPEAKER 02 :
For a free copy of this radio program that you can share with friends and others, write or call this week only. And request the program titled Making Life Work, number 17. Write to Born to Win, Post Office Box 560, White House, Texas 75791. Or call toll free 1-888-BIBLE-44. And tell us the call letters of this radio station.
SPEAKER 03 :
Once again in chapter 8, Solomon returns to the theme of wisdom. And once again, he personifies wisdom as though wisdom were a woman who reaches out to us. And in fact, the contrast between wisdom and folly is illustrated by the whorish woman on the one hand and sweet wisdom on the other. Does not wisdom cry, Solomon said, and doesn't understanding put forth her voice? She stands in the top of the high places by the way in the places of the paths. She cries at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors. Everywhere you turn, you open a door and walk in, wisdom is there. You pass by a street corner and wisdom is there. Wisdom is just as accessible as the street walker. It's all a matter of the choices that we make. Unto you, wisdom says, O men I call, and my voice is to the sons of men. O you simple, understand wisdom, and you fools, be of an understanding heart. You know, foolishness is not genetic. These people, you see, who seem to be fools weren't born that way. Just because you start out stupid, too, doesn't mean you have to stay that way. You have a choice. And the book of Proverbs is just filled with instances of law and principle, instruction and wisdom that can help you make choices that are the choices of the wise instead of the choices of the stupid. Here, says wisdom, I will speak of excellent things, and the opening of my lips shall be right things. My mouth shall speak truth. Wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are in righteousness, and there is nothing twisted or perverse in them. They are all plain to him that understands, and right to them that find knowledge. Now listen, this is important to understand. Wisdom is not esoteric. It's not hidden off somewhere. It's not in the hidden wisdom of the East. You don't have to climb up a mountain and find a guru somewhere to get wisdom. Wisdom is plain. It is right. It is straightforward. It is clear. And it's everywhere. It's not hidden. It all depends on whether you've got any kind of standards to make the choices you make. And we do. We have the law of God. Receive my instruction, wisdom says. Forget about silver. Get knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies. And all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it. Now, you know, this is probably hard to accept. But the truth is that wealth, without the wisdom to go with it, is destructive. On the other hand, wisdom leads naturally to whatever wealth is good for us. I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find out the knowledge of witty inventions. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil and pride and arrogancy in the evil way. The perverse mouth, these things I hate. Mind you, it's wisdom speaking. She hates these things. That means that these attitudes are the enemy of wisdom. And wisdom will not dwell in the man who thinks this way. What way? Well, of evil and pride and arrogance, the evil way and the twisted and perverted mouth. You won't find wisdom in these men. Such men are not wise, they are fools, and sooner or later that will become apparent to the whole world. Wisdom then says, counsel is mine. Sound wisdom is mine. I am understanding. I have strength. By me, kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me, princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth. Man, do you realize what that's saying? That's saying that wisdom lies at the heart of all of the seats of power. Oh, to be sure, evil will oftentimes be there as well. But the real power, the ones who will ultimately succeed, the great leaders, all rule by wisdom. And wisdom says, I love them that love me, and those that seek me early shall find me. You know, you do have to want it. Wisdom says, I love them that love me. Do you love wisdom? Is it something you want? Is it something that when you get up in the morning, you think, I need to go look for some wisdom for the day, because this is where it comes from. It's not hard to find, but you do have to look. Riches and honor are with me, yea, durable, lasting riches, along with righteousness. My fruit's better than gold. It's better than fine gold. My revenue is better than silver. Now, why do you think this is? Well, because, as wisdom says, my way and my way of doing things will actually lead to riches and honor and righteousness, so that you have the knowledge and the ability to use those good things, and they won't destroy you. Huh, so you want to be rich? Wisdom has just told you the way. It is by acquiring wisdom. Not knowledge. but knowledge coupled with values, knowledge coupled with a sense of right and wrong. For knowledge without an idea of what is right and what is wrong is only going to get you and all the people around you in a lot of trouble. Just how great is wisdom, after all? Well, in verse 22, Solomon continues to talk about wisdom. Actually, wisdom speaks personified and says, The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His way before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning before the earth was. In other words, before God ever turned a finger to create anything physical, wisdom was with Him. Knowledge... the idea of right and wrong, the set of values that would carry on throughout all eternity. Wisdom was with God from the beginning before it started. When there were no depths, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains abounding with water, before the mountains were settled and before the hills was I brought forth. Wisdom was first. After that came the rest. Wisdom did not come from the creation. It came before the creation. God possessed wisdom, and that wisdom led to what we see. While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world, when he prepared the heavens, I was there. When he set a compass upon the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep. when he gave the sea his decree that the waters will stay in this area and go nowhere else, when he appointed the foundations of the earth, I was with him like one brought up with him. I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him, rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth, and my delights were with the sons of men. What a charming piece of poetry, as it presents wisdom frolicking before God. God enjoying wisdom, wisdom enjoying God, and the two of them together actually laying the foundations of the earth. Now listen to me, you children, for blessed are they that keep my ways. Get instruction, be wise, and don't refuse it. Blessed is the man that hears me and watches daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. This is a man who opens his Bible, reads his Bible, thinks about what he reads, and tries to grasp all the wisdom that is out there before him. For wisdom says, whoever finds me finds life. and shall obtain favor of the Lord. But he that sins against me wrongs his own soul, and they that hate me love death.
SPEAKER 02 :
Until next time, this is Ronald Dart and wisdom is for winners. The Born to Win radio program with Ronald L. Dart is sponsored by Christian Educational Ministries and made possible by donations from listeners like you. If you can help, please send your donation to Born to Win, Post Office Box 560, White House, Texas 75791. You may call us at 1-888-BIBLE44 and visit us online at borntowin.net.
SPEAKER 01 :
Stay in touch with the new Born to Win with Ronald L. Dart app. This app has all of your favorite Ronald L. Dart radio messages, sermons, articles, and it even has a digital Bible. Simply search on the iOS or Android app store to download it for free today.
Pastor Rick teaches that, from the beginning, God’s plan has been to make you like his Son, Jesus—this is your destiny. The Bible describes Jesus as “the exact likeness of God,” “the visible image of the invisible God,” and “the exact representation of his being” (2 Corinthians 4:4 GNT, Colossians 1:15 NLT, Hebrews 1:3 NIV).
SPEAKER 01 :
Hey there, everybody, and welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. And whether today is your first time tuning in or if you're a regular listener, we're really excited that you're here. Well, today, Pastor Rick is continuing his series called Discover Your Destiny. So get ready to explore the practical steps to grow in all areas of your life. spirit, mind, body, relationships, and even your career. So stick with us as we uncover God's incredible plan for your future. And here's Rick with the final part of a message called, How Can I Know My Destiny?
SPEAKER 03 :
Number three. Now the third thing that Esther did, she not only got disturbed, and she not only looked at what God had given her, but you've got to take the time to hear God's call on my life. I must take the time to hear God's call on my life. You need a retreat. You need a getaway. You need to get away for at least a day, maybe two or three days, where you sit down and you listen to God. You sit down, you shut up, you be quiet, and you pray and you plan and you think about the next 10 years of your life. And you think, what does God want me to do, given my gifts and given my passions and the needs I see around me? What does God want me to do? And you're not gonna do this on your own. So you gotta have like a little retreat time. Now notice this, Mordecai, who's her adopted father, they all know about this plot to kill all of the Jewish people. And in verse 13 and 14 of Esther 4, it says, Mordecai sent this word to Esther. Do not think because you're in the king's house that you alone of all Jews will escape. For if you remain silent, and he said, you can't remain silent. If you remain silent at this time, he said, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place. In other words, Mordecai said, I've got faith in God. He's not gonna let this God's chosen people be eliminated from the face of the earth. He's not gonna happen. So God will provide, but he says, if you don't do anything about it, you and your father's family will perish. Besides, he says, who knows? but that you have come to this position for such a time as this. Now remember, Esther is a 20 year old, in her 20s, young, poor, orphaned, Jewish girl. And she's now the queen of Persia. And Mordecai's going, Esther, you think this is by accident? I don't think so. Do you not think that God puts you in this position for such a time as this? This is no accident. And don't just think you can ignore these disturbing trends out there in society. You cannot remain silent. You gotta do something about it. Now I wanna tell you, that's not just true of Esther. It's true of you. Some of you young women, you're exactly where God put you for the reason he put you there. Some of you young guys, you're exactly where God put you. It doesn't matter what your age is. You are where you are for such a time as this. And God brought you to Saddleback Church not to sit, soak, and sour, but to make a difference with your life. He has a destiny for your life. God says, I brought you to this place, and I brought you to this time, and I want you to hear my call. Now you gotta take the time to hear God's call on my life. Now God has called everyone. We've talked about this before. A lot of people think God only calls preachers and missionaries and nuns and priests. Those are the called people. No, everybody is called. Your calling is your vocation. As I told you, it's this Latin word, voce, which means vocal. Your vocation is your call, your voice. Everybody has a vocation. Everybody has a calling of God. God has called every one of you to make a difference with your life. Some of you are not picking up the phone. Now here's the point. You don't call God. He calls you. You don't just go, what would I like to do with my life? Sorry, you don't get that option. Unless you don't want any blessing. God says, no, no, I created you for a purpose. I have a vision and values and I have a purpose, plan and a destiny for your life. And God calls you and you gotta pick up the phone. I wish what we were doing were just a matter of life and death. That'd be easy, but it's not. It's more important than life or death because eternity is in the balance, heaven and hell. Jesus talked more about hell than he did about heaven. They're real. We're not just talking about helping people now. We're talking about their eternal destinies. It's bigger than life or death. And God has brought you to this place just like he brought Esther to her place, including the good and the bad that happened. I'm sure it was no fun going and having sex with a king you didn't even love. and knowing that the night before and the night after you, it's gonna be somebody else. But God said, you know what, I can even use that. I can even use date rape. I can bring good out of anything. Esther 4, verse 15. Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai. Go and gather together all the Jews who are in Susa. They're the capital. and fast for me. Said, I want you to find everybody you can, get everybody who's Jewish, and I get everybody to fast for me, because I'm gonna have to go confront the king. And I know that this is a scary thing. She's going, you know what? First place, it's against the law for me to go to him. You only go to the king if he invites you. It's against the law for me to take the initiative and go to the king. If you read the story, she said, in fact, he hadn't called for me in 30 days, so I haven't had any contact with him in a month. So I don't know if he still loves me or what. And number two, I'm gonna have to reveal that I'm Jewish, which means I'm gonna keep it a secret from my husband. And number three, I'm gonna ask him to publicly renounce a decree he's already signed and he's gonna look foolish. to reverse a command. So I'm gonna probably die for this. I'm gonna probably lose my life for this. I'm taking my life in my own hands. So she says, you go gather all the Jews who are in Susa and fast for me. And do not eat or drink for three days or night or day. And I and my maids will fast as you do. And when this is done, Then I'll go to the king. She's saying, before I initiate any confrontation with the king, which is no light matter and can cost me my life, I'm gonna have to have a little retreat. And I'm gonna need to get off by myself and I'm gonna fast and I'm gonna pray and I'm gonna think and I'm gonna plan out my words and I'm gonna give some serious time to my destiny. Now, Esther does two things that you're going to need for your destiny in the next 10 years. Number one, just like Esther, you're going to need all the support you can get. She said, go get everybody you can to pray for me. That's why you must be in a small group. Because you cannot fulfill your destiny on your own. We get well in community, we serve in community, we share in community. God meant for us to be in community. The very first thing God said to man, it is not good for men to be alone. Whether you marry or not is irrelevant. You have to be in a family. You have to be connected. You have to be in community. She says, get everybody praying for me. You're going to need that. And the second thing Esther did, and you're going to need to, you're going to need some time alone. You're going to need to go on a retreat, at least an overnighter, where you get alone. Because if I tell you, go home and make these lists of all the things that you're gifted in and make a list of all the things you care about, you know what? You're not going to do it. You're gonna walk out of here and you're gonna forget it and you're not gonna do it and you're gonna come back next week and it still won't be done. So I'm going to force you to do it. And in the next three years, I want everybody in this church to take a retreat. a life planning retreat to plan goals in all the key areas of your life. What are my goals financially? What are my goals for my family? What are my goals for my personal life? What are my goals for my health? What are my goals in learning? And I'm gonna help you. Nothing becomes dynamic till it becomes specific. Now, number four, one last thing. The fourth thing you have to do is what Esther did is that is you must make a faith commitment. You must make a faith commitment. The Bible says without faith it's impossible to please God. The Bible says according to your faith it will be done unto you. The Bible says the just shall live by faith. The Bible says all things are possible to him who believes. Now Esther says I know this is scary and I know it's a big risk and I'm scared to death to take this initiative to go to the king and tell him I'm Jewish and ask him to rescind a stupid decree that a bad guy got him to approve. But It's the right thing to do, so I'm gonna do it. She's an amazing woman. Now in Esther 4.16, she makes this faith commitment to do the thing that she's most afraid of. She says, and when this is done, you know, my three-day retreat, we've all prayed, we've all fasted, and I've thought through where I'm going. When this is done, I will go, that's a faith commitment, I will go to the king, even though it's against the law. And if I perish, I perish.
SPEAKER 02 :
What a woman. What a woman. What an amazing woman. If I perish, I perish.
SPEAKER 03 :
But I'm gonna die doing the right thing. Friend, you're not ready to live till you know what you're ready to die for. You cannot live until you have qualified and clarified in your heart what you're willing to die for. You're not ready to live the next 10 years. If you don't know what you're willing to die for, you're not living, you're just existing. Not knowing what's worth dying for makes life motion without meaning. You gotta know what's worth giving your life for. On the other hand, when you understand your destiny and you really get it, it grabs you. That calling grabs you and you go after it with total abandonment. And you say, if it takes my life, it takes my life. And if I perish, I perish. But I'm gonna die doing what God tells me to do. Now I want you to write this sentence down. I can only manage what I measure. Would you write that down? I can only manage what I measure. If you don't have measurable goals, it's just a wish, it's a dream, it's a hope, but it's not a real goal. And if you don't set some measurable goals for the next three years, in phase one of Decade of Destiny, to measure, that you can measure, you're not gonna be any different in three years, much less in 10 years. And so I'm gonna help you set some spiritual goals and I want them to be specific. And I'm telling you right now that on the last Sunday of this two month campaign, I'm going to ask you, I'm gonna challenge you to make four faith commitments. You don't have to write these down. But you'll say, four faith commitments. Number one, what do I wanna learn in the next four years, in the next three years? My goal for you is that you'll be smarter, as I said, smarter and sharper, and you'll be more skilled and more successful. What do I wanna learn? What am I gonna commit to become in the next three years? What am I gonna commit to contribute in the next three years? What am I gonna commit to do with my life in the next three years? These three year faith commitments come up in another month, because all the messages are worthless. If we don't make it measurable, I don't need it, you need it. It's not for me, it's for your benefit. So you can measure your progress over the three years. Jesus said it like this on the screen. According to your faith, it will be done to you. You know, every morning, I sit on the side of my bed and I pray a prayer. And that prayer, I pray the same prayer every day. It's a little prayer I've just written and memorized. And then I say the words to a song. I don't sing it because I can't sing, especially in the morning. But I say this as I'm sitting on the bed. I don't even get out of bed until I've done this. I say, Lord, Lord, I offer my life to you. Everything I've been through, use it for your glory. Lord, I offer my days to you. Lift up my praise to you as a living sacrifice. Lord, I offer you my life. I say it every day before I get out of bed. I think this is the attitude Esther had when she knew that going to her husband, the King of Persia would likely mean her head would be cut off because first she did admit she's Jewish. And second, she's asking him to reverse a decree that would make him seem foolish. But Esther says, Lord, I offer my life to you. Everything I've been through. My parents died. I was in the cattle call of a harem. Everything I've been through, use it for your glory. Lord, I offer my days to you. Lift up my praise to you as a living sacrifice. Lord, I offer you my life. And if I perish... I perish. And because she was willing to lay it on the line for the destiny God had planned for her, the Jewish nation was saved. You see, you wouldn't be saved without Esther. Because if the Jews had been annihilated, there would be no Jesus the Messiah. And you would be hopeless. That's the impact of Esther. Let's bow our heads. Would you pray this prayer in your heart? Dear God, I want the rest of my life to be the best of my life, I want my life to count. I don't wanna live for myself, I wanna live for you and for the destiny you've created for me. Help me to recognize the gifts that you've put in my life. Not just the assets, but even the liabilities, the limitations, the handicaps. even the hurts, and to realize that even those are part of the plan to get me where you want me to be in the time and place and what you want me to do with my life. Help me to identify the needs that stir my heart. To realize that when I see something, I go, that's wrong. That needs to be corrected. Somebody ought to do something about that. That you're speaking to me. Help me to take time to hear your call, to be quiet, to settle down. Lord, without even knowing when I'm gonna do it, I commit right now to going on retreat. And in the weeks ahead, help me to consider what faith commitments you want me to make in the key areas of my life. If you've never opened your life to Jesus Christ, regardless of your religious background, say, Jesus Christ, please make yourself real to me. I don't understand it all, but if you're real, I open up my life to you. I want to know you. I want to learn to trust you and love you. I open up my life to your plan and purpose, dear God. I want to fulfill your destiny that you have for me. In your name I pray. Amen. Hi, everybody. This is Rick, and I hope you enjoyed today's broadcast. You know, if you just prayed that prayer for the very first time or you just recommitted your life to Jesus again today, would you let me know about it? There's something real about sharing your commitment. So write me, Rick, at PastorRick.com and say, Rick, I prayed that prayer of commitment. I gave my life to Christ, and I'll send you some material that'll help you on your journey with Jesus, and I'll also pray for you. God bless you.
SPEAKER 01 :
What a life-giving message from Pastor Rick. Now let's join Rick with today's offer. Thanks for listening today.
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, honestly, I never paid much attention to my health until I had a little epiphany a few years back when I baptized over 800 people in a single day by immersion. Now looking at myself and everybody that I was baptizing, it was real clear that we all needed to get healthy. So I put together a team of nationally known doctors to help me develop a program for our church. I called it the Daniel Plan, based on the passage in the book of Daniel, where Daniel has a contest with King Nebuchadnezzar on who can be the healthiest. The Daniel Plan is centered on five essentials that will help you become healthier. faith, food, fitness, focus, and friends. There are a lot of diet plans out there that deal with food and fitness, but the secret sauce in the Daniel plan is focus, learning to have your mind renewed, friends, learning to grow in community, and faith, trusting God's power rather than willpower. You know, we found that when individuals addressed health issues in each of these key areas, they are transformed. In fact, in the first year of the Daniel Plan, over 15,000 people from 190 countries participated, and the results were life-changing. In fact, our own church, Saddleback Church, lost over a quarter of a million pounds in one year. Can you imagine that? What did it do for our church? It increased our energy. We started sleeping better. It reduced our need for medication. The whole church was healthier. Now, the Daniel Plan has recently been released in a book format, and I want you to have a copy of this book today so you can start getting healthier now. And I'll send you a hardcover copy of the Daniel Plan book as a very special thank you for your gift to this ministry.
SPEAKER 01 :
Just go to PastorRick.com to get your copy of this great resource. That's PastorRick.com. Or you can just text the word HOPE to 70309. That's the word HOPE to 70309. And thank you so much for your support. Your gift to Daily Hope really helps us share the hope of Christ with people all over the world. Be sure to join us next time as we look into God's Word for our Daily Hope. This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.
Years ago, I used to enjoy going up on internet forums and discussing religion there. They had any number of them divided up by category. I tended to hang out on the Christian forums. What was fascinating to me, and something I did not really understand, was the degree of hostility expressed on Christian forums. It seemed a good thing that these people were separated by the anonymity of the forum. If they had been in the same room, they might have come to blows. And I wondered, What generates so much hostility in some people of faith? Why is it that, when faced with a different belief, people don’t adopt one of two rational responses: indifference, or curiosity.
Indifference—when I encounter someone with an off-the-wall religious idea, I can tell quickly enough whether there is likely to be any merit there or not. If the answer is not, I toss it in the wastebasket or click my mouse and go somewhere else. If I am face-to-face with an adverse person, I have a stock reply. You may be right. I’ll give that some thought.
And then I change the subject. Perhaps to the weather. Does that seem disingenuous? Not if you maintain an awareness that even you don’t have all the answers. And why get angry or hostile about it. That goes nowhere.
Curiosity—if I think there is merit, I want to know more, and so I pursue the matter. I may even pursue the matter when I disagree. If the person advancing the idea seems reasonable, well informed, intelligent, well then reason demands that I give him a hearing and try to understand him, even when I disagree with him. I discovered C.S. Lewis a little late in life, and I found that I sometimes disagreed with the man. This would not dismay Lewis in the least. But I never had any difficulty understanding why I disagreed because I tried to understand his point. When you think about it, what’s the point in only reading people you agree with?
Now, realizing that indifference and curiosity are reasonable responses, I wondered why some people found a third response—anger.
Join Sharon Knotts in an insightful exploration of the profound impact of whispers that the enemy plants in our minds. She discusses the role of fear as a crippling emotion first felt by mankind and how subtle differences in truth can lead to significant spiritual consequences. Gain wisdom on discerning between right and almost right, see how Satan's MO of stealing, killing, and destroying can be tackled with the faith in God's unwavering truth.
SPEAKER 01 :
Greetings, friends and new listeners, and welcome to The Sound of Faith. I'm Sharon Knotts, thanking you for joining us today because we know faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Today's message is a true eye-opener and ear-arrester, the whisperer. In Genesis and Revelation, Satan is called a serpent. The Hebrew word is nakash, and its verb form means to whisper like the hiss of a snake. From the moment he beguiled Eve in the garden, Satan has been whispering his cunning lies and accusations against God and his true people because he is the whisperer. He whispers fear. I think everyone is more powerful than the other. Now that I'm going along here, fear is so powerful. It can cripple people. It can cripple people till they can't even hardly function. It can cripple them till they cannot enjoy the blessings God has in their lives. They are so afraid of everything. And I'm not surprised because it was the first negative emotion that mankind ever felt when Adam and Eve sinned. You know, the story goes on to tell us. And then they went and hid and God came walking in the day and he said, where are you, Adam? And he said, well, I hid because I was afraid. I tell you, saints, I don't know how many times through the years that people have come to me and their prayer request is, A spirit of fear. And I can identify with it. I understand it because I was under it. I came under it very strongly. And I've told those testimonies before how I got delivered, so I won't do it today. But I understand how strong a spirit of fear is. I had it from a child. As a little child, I had it. And then as I grew up, I seemed to overcome it. And I didn't have it for many, many, many years. And then it hit me again hard when I had the back issue. So I understand the fear, the things that the devil says to you. Sometimes he'll tell you, you're going to die. You're going to die. And it can become so real to you that you start having symptoms in your body you never even had before. I know that that is true. I know it. So slander, whispers of slander. And this is blasphemy. And, you know, people always think that blasphemy can only be done against God. They always connect blasphemy against God. But you read the New Testament. You read Paul. He says you can blaspheme against other people. And a lot of times they are outright lies. And the thing about it is he is so clever and crafty, he has the ability to make it sound true. To make it seem so plausible, to make it seem true. We looked at Greek, so now we see the Hebrew word for subtle. It means to be shrewd, crafty, cunning, and sly. Again, the word here in the Hebrew, the idea is that it's hard to distinguish between two things. The difference is so subtle that it's hard to differentiate between the two of them. The distinction between them is not obvious immediately. A subtle difference. And, you know, it happens a lot of times in a good way. You know, you're going to paint your bedroom a new color. Okay, we're going to make it a blue bedroom now. And so now you have bought your bedding, and so now you've got to go to the store and get paint, and you want to make sure that it blends. So you're pretty sure you know what color you want, or vice versa. You've already painted the room. Now you're going to go look for bedding, whichever way. And you go into the paint store and you think, okay, we're going to get a light blue. There are 4,235,000 swatches of light blue. And you're like, this is just blue. Put it next to your bedding and they clash. One after another. One after another. You know, you think that it is the same color. But when you get them next to each other, there's a subtle difference. Amen. It's that subtle difference. See, sometimes, saints, it's not a matter of discerning between right and wrong. That's not subtle. It's discerning between right and almost right. Amen. That's where the devil gets in and whispers in your ear. Amen. He uses words of reasoning to camouflage his true intent. So what is the nature of HaSatan? Jesus said in John 10, 10, the thief personifying Satan is come, but, and that means the only thing he's come for to kill and to steal and to destroy. That is his MO. That is his agenda. And everything he does is to the fulfillment of those things. Amen. That's what he's come to do, to steal, to kill and to destroy. And I want you to know that you might say, well, kill and destroy. If you're dead, you can't be destroyed. Here's what you've got to understand. The word destroy there means to ruin. ruin see kill means what it means he would like to actually kill you but if he can't kill you if he can't take you out then he wants to ruin your life he wants to ruin your life with bondage and lies and fear and torment amen That's his nature. And as I've told you before, the word Satan, Satan in Hebrew, if we look at its root, remembering the original Hebrew language was written in word pictures that later became letters. And when we look at the three consonants in the word Satan, because they did not write vowels in ancient Hebrew. So we would spell it S-T-N. So when we look at the Hebrew letter S, it's shin. It's a picture of teeth or fire. Either way, it means to devour. When we look at the word T, it's tet in Hebrew, and it's a picture of a snake. And it means a snake. And when we look at the word en, it's nun in Hebrew. It's a picture of a fish swimming in water. Not just a fish, but swimming in water. And it means life. Put the three together. Satan is a snake that comes to devour life. That is the hidden layer in the name of Satan in the Hebrew. Amen? And so he comes often in whispers. And I correlate Satan's whispers to what I call white noise. Now, our ears are bombarded all day long, everywhere we go, with sound. Everywhere. Sound, sound, sound. If it's not the TV, it's the radio. If it's not that, it's machines that are running. If it's not that, it's traffic that you can hear in your home as well as if you're in your car. It's kids making noise. Everywhere we go, it's... Noise. And I dare say that a majority of people have the habit of having their TV on even when they're not watching it. It's in the background. They can be doing something completely different, but they put the TV on and they're not even paying attention to it, but it's on. And they're accustomed to noise at all times. Amen? And so we're bombarded with all of this noise. But I tell you, if at night... When everyone is asleep and you turn off the TV, you don't go to bed with the TV on and you turn off the radio or whatever else and completely silent. And you happen to live on a street where there's not traffic out there and everything is completely silent and you're laying there. I tell you, you will hear a low level of A very low level of some kind of buzz in your ear. How many have ever done that? And you know what I'm talking about? Because we're so used to sound. We're so used to be bombarded with it that when we're totally, completely quiet. And hopefully if you're married, your mate doesn't snore. If your mate snores, you won't hear the white buzz. The little white noise. Amen. But you will hear that. It is like this low level of noise. And saints, that noise, that sound is not coming from external stimuli. From external noises. That sound is coming from inside your own head. How many know what I'm talking about? It's not outside. There's not something on in your home or in your bedroom that's making this noise. It's coming from inside your own head. And you see, this is how the serpent whispers to your mind. Now, that is a physical illustration that I gave you. But can we connect it and go in the spirit and see that that's how Satan whispers to your mind? And he knows when to whisper. For you to hear him. And that's why we've got to learn to drown out the whispers with the word of God. We've got to cast them down with God's word. And for me, it means sometimes I've got to completely go to speaking out loud. I have to answer out loud. I might in my mind think of a verse or of a song or something. But you know what? I find out when I start singing. I don't hear those whispers anymore. When I start quoting the word of God, I don't hear them anymore because I'm resisting the devil and he has to flee from me. Amen? And I have learned not to wait. See, a while back before I learned all this, I would wait a while. And the thoughts kept coming. And I would just wait a while. And before I would finally, you know, because I was under a spirit of fear to a point. But I have learned now, I don't wait until he tells me two, three, four, five things. As soon as I hear the hiss. As soon as I hear it and my spiritual ears are sensitized to know that is not the voice of my shepherd. That is not the voice of my beloved. That's not the voice of my Holy Spirit. Immediately I begin to speak against it. Immediately I rebuke it. I block it before it can become a fiery dart to go from my mind to my heart, my spirit. Amen. That's what you have to do. You've got to take scripture and counteract it at the very first whisper. So many times when I pray for people, they'll say, Sister Sharon, the devil told me. And I mean, they got this long drawn out story about what the devil told them. And after a while, I have to stop them because they're going to affect my ability to pray for them. You know, tell me, give me the gist. Give me the gist. Don't tell me everything he said. Amen. Why are you repeating it? I know you're trying to explain to me, but I don't need to hear you give me that whole big long thing. I need you to just tell me the main points because I'm getting ready to rebuke the devil. I'm getting ready to command him to back off of you and leave you alone. And I don't need to hear whatever he said because whatever it is, it's a lie. It's a lie. It's a lie. And you know when you're telling me that it's a lie, you know it. So why are you letting the devil beat you up with it? Now I'm not fussing at you. I'm telling you what I know because I know what he did to me. And I know God gave me the victory and he's not a respecter of persons. He'll give it to you. So when it's just a notion, a suggestion that you know is wrong or you know that it's untrue, you cannot let that thing develop. I'm going to go one further. Let's suppose it's not a whisper. Let's suppose the devil's got bold enough to send somebody to you and tell you something about someone or something that immediately your spirit says, that's not right. That's not true. I don't believe that you need to tell that person right then you need to say, you know what? I don't think that's right. i don't believe that it doesn't witness with my spirit and i don't believe it and you better be careful what you're saying about that person because if it's a lie you may be touching god's anointed now if the person they're speaking of is a godly person a godly person then they need to be careful i mean if it's a hypocrite and everybody knows they're a hypocrite you know you just say well you know the bible says you'll know by their fruits So let's pray about them. But when they speak against someone that is a godly person that you have never had any reason to think anything about them, then you need to be careful because it's probably the slanderer. And if it's not and it's true, it will come out. It'll come out. They'll either get right with God. And if they get right with God, then that's the good thing. If they don't get right with God and persist in whatever this thing is, it's going to come out anyway. Be sure your sin will find you out. You know, it reminds me of when they'd already beaten Peter and John and threw him in prison. Amen. And they wanted to keep doing things to him. That's how they were. And then finally, Gamaliel stood up and said, you know, if this thing is not of God, it's going to all fall apart just like he named other things. But he said, if it be of God, you may find yourself fighting against God. See, he wasn't sure. He didn't know. And he was afraid that just in case they were wrong, they would be fighting against God. So we need to proclaim God's word over our mind. And here's the thing. You may have to repeat it and repeat it and repeat it. You may have to repeat it, but you keep doing it until you've drowned out that whisper. And you will. Eventually you will. But don't let the whispers accumulate. Because then they can become a stronghold. Let's go back to 2 Corinthians. And this time let's look at chapter 10. Looking at verse 4 and 5. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal or they're not of the flesh, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Now, here is what the Lord moved on my heart for myself, and it's helped me, and I will share it with you because I think it will help you. I like to reverse the order. In other words, I start with bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Because if you will capture something when it's a thought... When it's a whisper. If you will catch it when it's a thought and cast it down and bring it into the obedience of Christ, make it line up with the word of God. If it doesn't line up with the word of God, then immediately. You cast it down. If you do it when it's just a thought, it will not become an imagination. And that's a stronger because now it has become this thing of reasoning in your mind that now is actually hostile and fights against God and the knowledge of God. It's going up a step. And if you continue to have those imaginations, then they will begin to be one on upon another upon another. And then it becomes a stronghold. And a stronghold is like a fort that is surrounded with walls. So the enemy cannot get in. But in this sense, it's your mind and your mind now has these walls and the truth. cannot get in the enemy has built up walls around your mind he's so filled you with these thoughts and these imaginations and then imagination means fallacious reasoning fallacious reasoning oh you reason this to be true it's not it's false but you do so that allows you then to reason this and reason that and reason the other till it's built up this big thing amen And Satan has successfully put this wall around your mind until it's hard for truth to get in. Then what do you got to do? You got to pull it down. It's a lot easier to take one thought captive than to pull down the walls of a stronghold. I'm not saying it's not possible. Obviously it is, but it's harder and you will suffer much in the process. Amen. So that's how the Lord dealt with me and it really helped me and hopefully it will you. So we have been talking about don't listen to the whisperer. Learn how to resist him and rebuke him. Now I might step on more toes about this time because I'm going to say not only don't listen to the whisperer, don't become a whisperer. Because you know there are whisperers in the church. I'm going to prove to you. Let's look to Romans 1 29. Now in Romans 1, we have a whole catalog of deadly sins. But we're zoning in on our subject. So let's look at verse 29. Being filled with all unrighteousness. Now that's a very key description. Being filled with all unrighteousness. And here is the symptoms, the outgrowth, the fruit, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, whisperers. Now, several of the traits that we just read here are synonymous with words we've already looked at in connection with the serpent Satan. For instance, malicious and then envious and the murderers. These are all Satan's nature. Deceitful. Malignity here is the same word as craftiness that we've read in the other verses. It's the same word. But the last one is one of Satan's titles. The whisperer. So let's look at the Greek word for whisperer, whisperings and whisperer. What is the Greek word? I'm not even going to say it because it's a little tough. Not that you really care, but here's the meaning. This you do care about. A secret slanderer. Because the devil is a coward and he's like a snake in the grass. He does all his things. He tries to do secretly incognito. So you don't realize it's the devil. Amen. Slander to speak false charges, which defame and damage another's reputation to assassinate their character. That's what Satan does. revelations 12 10 names him one of his titles the accuser of the brethren amen accused means to charge someone with an offense to claim they have committed something wrong or bad and this is what satan's mo is he's always slandering someone slander is a direct connection to satan And I hate to say this to you, but he's got some saints in the church he can use to do his dirty work. I'm not saying just faith tabernacle. I'm saying the church. Amen. The body of Christ. You know, the Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 2 that there are vessels of honor and there are vessels of dishonor. And the enemy knows who he can use, that he can whisper to them, accuse godly people to them, and get them to do his work of starting to slander them. Amen? Back in 2 Corinthians 12 and looking at verse 20. For I fear, lest when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as you would not. But here's the point. Lest when I come, there be debates, envians, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings. swellings, and tumults. So here we have that word again. I fear less when I come. This is what I'm going to find. I'm afraid when I come to see you again, Corinth. And I want you to know that this would be his third trip there. He's already been there twice. He's saying, I'm afraid, even though I've been there two times already, I'm afraid when I come back, this is what I'm going to find. Debates and envies, raps and stripes and backbiting, whispering, swellings and tumults. Saints, there was a lot of bad stuff going on in this church at Corinth. It's even all the more remarkable when you consider they are the ones to whom he wrote all about the gifts of the Spirit. But he also wrote to them the chapter on love.
SPEAKER 1 :
Amen. Amen.
SPEAKER 01 :
Amen. What a bondage breaking word of the Lord, the whisperer. One of Satan's most dangerous and effective tactics is not just to lie against God, but to subtly whisper his accusations like the hiss of a deadly serpent. He is called the serpent and the accuser of the brethren. He could also be called the whisperer. Paul wrote to the church of Corinth, I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, So your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. There are five significant Greek words in this verse that tell the story of Satan, the whisperer, and reveal how he whispers thoughts to the mind that accuse God and godly members of the body of Christ. If they are not taken captive when just a thought, a notion, or suggestion, they can become mental strongholds of deception. Whisperers can tear up a church with jealousy, slander, suspicion, and lies, maligning leadership and wounding members. Learn how to discern the whispers of the enemy and take captive every thought. Make sure not to allow the hedge of protection around your life to be broken down because Proverbs says, where the hedge is broken, the serpent bites. Order The Whisperer on CD for a love gift of $10 or more for the radio ministry. Request SK208. Mail to Sound of Faith, P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Order online at soundoffaith.org, where MP3s are available. To order by mail, send your minimum love gift of $10 to P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Request SK-208. Till next time, this is Sharon Knott saying, Maranatha.
