Welcome to Wisdom Today with Bill Kelley. On today's podcast I will be going over Proverb 10. I will then key in on verse 17 - He who keeps instruction is in the way of life, But he who refuses correction goes astray. Friends, on today's lesson you will see that God is attempting to teach His children, the people of the country of Israel. We will be beginning Chapter 11 of the Book of Hosea. By the end of today's lesson there are three things I ask that you consider:
1. When Israel was a child, I loved him.
2. I taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by their arms.
3. I stooped and fed them.
Scripture referenced on today's lesson:
Jeremiah 7:25,26 & 27
Call to Action - How seriously are you taking God's call that He has placed on your life? Are you doing all that He has asked you to do?
[00:00:06] Welcome to Wisdom Today. My name is Bill Kelley and I'll be your host. In this podcast we will be exploring the book of Proverbs.
[00:00:21] Open in prayer. Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to this podcast today. Lord, I pray that you give everyone ears to hear and a heart to receive everything you have in store for them today. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
[00:00:36] This is Proverb 10, beginning in verse 1.
[00:00:41] The Proverbs of Solomon
[00:00:43] A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is the grief of his mother. Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivers from death.
[00:00:57] The Lord will not allow the righteous soul to famish, but he casts away the desire of the wicked.
[00:01:04] He who has a slack hand becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. He who gathers in summer is a wise son. He who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame.
[00:01:21] Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.
[00:01:28] The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot.
[00:01:34] The wise in heart will receive commands, but a prating fool will fall.
[00:01:41] He who walks with integrity walks securely, but he who perverts his way will become known.
[00:01:49] He who winks with the eye causes trouble, but a prating fool will fall.
[00:01:56] The mouth of the righteous is a well of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.
[00:02:04] Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins.
[00:02:10] Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has understanding, but a rod is for the back of him who is devoid of understanding.
[00:02:21] Wise people store up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.
[00:02:27] The rich man's wealth is his strong city.
[00:02:31] The destruction of the poor is their poverty.
[00:02:35] The labor of the righteous leads to life, the wages of the wicked to sin.
[00:02:42] He who keeps instruction is in the way of life, but he who refuses correction goes astray.
[00:02:50] Whoever hides hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.
[00:02:58] In the multitude of words, sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise.
[00:03:06] The tongue of the righteous is choice silver.
[00:03:10] The heart of the wicked is worth little.
[00:03:13] The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of wisdom.
[00:03:20] The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.
[00:03:26] To do evil is like sport to a fool, but a man of understanding has wisdom.
[00:03:33] The fear of the wicked will come upon him, and the desire of the righteous will be granted.
[00:03:40] When the whirlwind passes by, the wicked is no more.
[00:03:46] But the righteous has an everlasting foundation.
[00:03:50] As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the lazy man to those who send him.
[00:03:58] The fear of the Lord prolongs days, but the years of the wicked will be shortened.
[00:04:05] The hope of the righteous will be gladness, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.
[00:04:13] The way of the Lord is strength for the upright, but destruction will come to the workers of iniquity.
[00:04:22] The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not inhabit the earth.
[00:04:28] The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut out.
[00:04:36] The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked what is perverse.
[00:04:45] Friends, today I'd like to go over verse number 17, and Proverb 10 verse 17 tells us this.
[00:04:53] He who keeps instruction is in the way of life, but he who refuses correction goes astray.
[00:05:03] Now friends, we will come back and revisit that verse prior to closing today.
[00:05:08] But what I'd like to do is continue in our study of the book of the minor prophet Hosea.
[00:05:17] And yesterday we went over three points, and before we begin today's lesson, I would just like to review those very quickly.
[00:05:25] Yesterday we completed the 10th chapter of Hosea, and the first point I brought up was that Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh grain.
[00:05:38] And we went over the fact that loves to thresh means that Israel preferred to be unrestrained like an un-muzzled heifer at the threshing floor.
[00:05:52] And what I talked about is the fact that we need to have our animals under our control.
[00:06:01] And I talked about a horse yesterday, and I talked about a bridle.
[00:06:06] And you do not want a horse eating grass and bending his head down if you are trying to ride the horse.
[00:06:18] And if you ever allow that to happen, then basically the horse is telling you that he's in charge.
[00:06:24] Let's go to point number two.
[00:06:27] Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap in mercy.
[00:06:33] And I really like this context here.
[00:06:37] Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap in mercy.
[00:06:41] And I've told you that whatever it is that you sow, that shall you also reap.
[00:06:50] And I like the context that if you are righteous, you will receive mercy.
[00:06:57] That's such a wonderful point.
[00:06:59] And the third point yesterday is you have plowed wickedness, you have reaped iniquity.
[00:07:05] And I've been talking about this, that if you do good, then you will reap good.
[00:07:12] But if you sow bad or evil, then you will have bad or evil, or in this case, iniquity in your life.
[00:07:23] So let's begin our lesson today, beginning in chapter 11, verse 1.
[00:07:30] When Israel was a child, I loved him.
[00:07:34] And out of Egypt, I called my son.
[00:07:37] So friends, my first point on today's lesson is when Israel was a child, I loved him.
[00:07:43] And I am reading out of the Nelson Study Bible.
[00:07:47] And what I'd like to do is begin by going over the commentary for verse 1.
[00:07:51] The Lord regarded Israel as his son and treated the nation with special care, delivering the people from bondage in Egypt.
[00:08:04] Now, friends, I want you to notice that here we are in chapter 11.
[00:08:11] And I can already tell that the theme of this chapter is changing the way that God thinks towards his people Israel.
[00:08:23] But notice that it wasn't the people that turned to God first.
[00:08:28] It was God that turned his heart back toward Israel.
[00:08:35] And friends, isn't this the way it always happens?
[00:08:39] That we make mistakes, we make mistakes, but God is always going to intervene and call us home to him.
[00:08:47] Let's go over verse 2.
[00:08:49] As they called them, so they went from them.
[00:08:54] They sacrificed to the bales and burned incense to carved images.
[00:09:00] So let's look at the commentary for verse 2.
[00:09:03] They called them.
[00:09:33] Isaiah chapter 7.
[00:09:34] And I'm going to read three verses.
[00:09:37] Verses 25, 26, and 27.
[00:09:41] Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day,
[00:09:49] I have even said to you all my servants, the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them.
[00:09:59] Now let's look at the commentary for that verse.
[00:10:03] From the days of Moses, God sent his servants, the prophets, to call the nation of Israel to obedience based upon the covenant.
[00:10:15] Daily rising up early and sending them indicates the persistence and urgency of God's message through his prophets.
[00:10:26] Now let's look at verses 26 and 27.
[00:10:32] Yet they did not obey me or inclined their ear, but stiffened their neck.
[00:10:39] They did worse than their fathers.
[00:10:42] Therefore, you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not obey you.
[00:10:51] You shall also call to them, but they will not answer you.
[00:10:56] So isn't this a common theme?
[00:11:00] God is telling the people what to do, and basically they hear what God is saying, but they choose not to obey.
[00:11:11] Now let's look at the commentary for verses 26 and 27.
[00:11:17] When it says incline their ear, that suggests eager listening and readiness to obey.
[00:11:27] Stiffened their neck suggests a cold rebuff to the will and work of God.
[00:11:35] Jeremiah, like Isaiah before him, was told that the people would not respond to his message.
[00:11:44] So I want to pause for just a moment here and pretend that you are one of these early prophets.
[00:11:52] Whether you are a major prophet such as Isaiah or Jeremiah, or in the study we're currently doing on a minor prophet, Hosea,
[00:12:04] the fact was that these prophets knew in advance that they were going to have a hard time.
[00:12:12] They were warned that these people are not going to listen or obey what you're telling them that God wants them to do.
[00:12:23] Let's go to verse 3.
[00:12:36] Let's look at my second point of the day.
[00:12:40] I taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms.
[00:12:46] Now let's visit the commentary for verse 3.
[00:13:05] So even though most of these people are adults at this time, God is treating them as though they are his small children.
[00:13:18] He's taking care of them.
[00:13:20] He's nurturing them.
[00:13:22] He's feeding them.
[00:13:24] He's instructing them in the way that he would like for them to go.
[00:13:30] Let's look at verse 4.
[00:13:33] I drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love, and I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck.
[00:13:44] I stooped and fed them.
[00:13:48] Now friends, my third and final point of today's lesson is I stooped and fed them.
[00:13:56] Friends, whenever you have a baby or a small child in the house, it's always a glorious time.
[00:14:05] It's a wonderful time.
[00:14:06] You can hear screaming.
[00:14:07] You can hear crying a lot.
[00:14:11] And screaming is when they have a need.
[00:14:15] Crying is when something that they wanted was not presented to them.
[00:14:21] But there's always curiosity in the house when there is a baby or the baby starts growing and becomes a toddler.
[00:14:32] And watching them grow.
[00:14:33] And this is what God was doing with his people Israel.
[00:14:38] And he wanted them simply to obey his directions and his commandments.
[00:14:45] But friends, I like the way this chapter is headed.
[00:14:50] And as I told you, we are almost finished with our study on Hosea.
[00:14:55] We have about two or three more weeks.
[00:14:57] And by the time we end this study, we will see that they are back in good graces with God and eager to obey his commands again.
[00:15:10] Before we close today, I would like to go back to our verse of the day.
[00:15:15] And we are in Proverb 10.
[00:15:17] And verse 17 says,
[00:15:19] He who keeps instruction is in the way of life.
[00:15:25] Now, in context, in our lesson today, God is trying to counsel his people Israel.
[00:15:34] He's trying to give them direction.
[00:15:36] He's trying to give them instruction.
[00:15:38] And that's what the first part of this verse talks about.
[00:15:42] He who keeps instruction is in the way of life.
[00:15:45] But he who refuses correction goes astray.
[00:15:51] And friends, the country of Israel has basically refused correction.
[00:15:58] God has reprimanded his people.
[00:16:01] He has chastised them.
[00:16:05] He's told them they're not headed in the right direction.
[00:16:07] And yet they still chose to worship Baal.
[00:16:12] But I believe there is hope.
[00:16:14] And we're going to find out in the next three weeks, four weeks, whatever it is,
[00:16:20] to complete our study that they do eventually return to God.
[00:16:26] Friends, my call to action is, you know, one that I often ask you to do.
[00:16:31] I want you to think about how closely you pay attention to what God has called you to do.
[00:16:39] God has called each and every one of us to further advance the kingdom of God.
[00:16:47] Now, my call is very simple.
[00:16:49] I have this podcast.
[00:16:50] I also have a YouTube channel.
[00:16:53] I have, a matter of fact, I've just recently gone over 1,300 things that I have published on my YouTube channel.
[00:17:04] That's a lot.
[00:17:05] And I've only been at this for about two and a half years.
[00:17:09] And it's going to continue to grow.
[00:17:11] And I will continue adding things.
[00:17:14] And I tend to add things on my YouTube channel almost every day.
[00:17:18] Sometimes it's one.
[00:17:20] Sometimes it's three.
[00:17:21] Sometimes it's five.
[00:17:22] But I stay very active.
[00:17:25] I stay very busy.
[00:17:26] Now, he's called other people to do other things.
[00:17:29] Some people, you know, teach a Sunday school class.
[00:17:32] You may be a pastor.
[00:17:34] You may be in a food bank.
[00:17:37] You may, you know, volunteer your time at a local elementary school.
[00:17:43] But whatever it is, God has asked each and every one of us to do.
[00:17:48] So my question is, are you aware of what it is that God wants you to do?
[00:17:55] Friends, I will never end a podcast without giving anyone an opportunity to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
[00:18:04] If there is anyone listening today and you've never taken that step, I invite you to take that very important step right now.
[00:18:12] You are capable.
[00:18:14] I'm inviting you to become a member of the family of God.
[00:18:20] If you are interested in that, repeat a simple prayer after me right now.
[00:18:26] Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner and in need of a Savior.
[00:18:32] I believe that you are that Savior.
[00:18:35] Jesus, I believe that you are the Son of God.
[00:18:38] You came to earth.
[00:18:39] You died on a cross for everyone listening to this podcast today.
[00:18:44] And by dying on that cross, you have put us back in God's good graces.
[00:18:50] We are now eager and able to go to him directly in prayer.
[00:18:56] But Jesus, I still need your help.
[00:18:58] I'm still having issues in some other areas of my life.
[00:19:02] I ask that you come in to my heart.
[00:19:05] I ask that you lead me and guide me from this point forward in my life.
[00:19:10] I make you my Lord and Savior.
[00:19:14] Friends, may the Lord bless you and keep you.
[00:19:17] The Lord maketh they shine upon you and be gracious to you.
[00:19:22] The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
[00:19:27] Friends, tomorrow I will be continuing my study on the Ten Commandments.
[00:19:34] Tomorrow we'll take a closer look at Commandment number four.
[00:19:38] Until then, please join me as we further explore wisdom today.