But Lips of Knowledge Prov. 20:15 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
This proverb compares the lips of knowledge to gold and rubies. The lips of knowledge are a precious jewel. In other words, they are more valuable than rubies and gold.
Gold – Gold is highly desirable and is touted as the secure investment against a falling dollar and a weak economy – it is the metal of highest value in the Bible and the things that are connected with God are gold – it is very malleable and ductile – an ounce can be stretched into wire 35 miles long – 250,000 thin sheets of it stacked are only 1 inch thick [compare to a ream of paper] – it costs between $100 an ounce and $400 an ounce to mine – average cost last year was around $250 an ounce – so it is profitable as a mining metal – but it takes a lot of work to extract it – the world’s production = 3.4B troy ounces or 233.75M pounds which = 8.5M gold bars, which are 8090 cu yds which = a cube approximately 20 yds wide, 20 yds high, 20 yds deep – small in some respects but plentiful considering it’s value – current value of world’s production is over 2 trillion dollars.
Rubies – Rubies have been popular gemstones for centuries. Large, fine-quality rubies are rare and very valuable. They are found in Afghanistan, Kenya, Madagascar, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, and Vietnam. As of 2006, the record price paid at auction for a single ruby was $5,860,000. The ruby was 38.12 carat cabochon-cut.
What can we glean about knowledge from this proverb?
People are willing to pay substantially for knowledge – Harvard College announced on March 24 a 4.75 percent increase in tuition for the 2006-2007 academic year, bringing overall tuition to $43,655 per student. Tuition and fees at four-year public colleges rose $344, or 6.3 percent, to an average of $5,836 for the 2006-07 academic year, according to the College Board’s annual “Trends in College Pricing” report, released Tuesday. Tuition and fees at private four-year colleges rose 5.9 percent overall, to $22,218. At four-year public schools, adding room and board to tuition and fees makes the college prices average $12,796. At private colleges, the price is $30,367. The trouble is that on college campuses they are ever learning and never able to come to the truth 2 Tim 3:7.
Knowledge from the words of God and finding someone who knows them is more rare than gold and rubies and the pursuit of knowledge from the Bible is of more value than the time and expense of finding gold and rubies – knowledge from the Bible is worth more to you.
To have the knowledge in your lips is more valuable than to have the gold and rubies draping off of you – Ps 19:10; Ps 119:72 – Job 28:18 No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies. Prov 8:11 For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.