PROVERBS 26:1-28 (NASB)
Like snow in summer and like rain in harvest, So honor is not fitting for a fool. 2 Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, So a curse without cause does not alight. 3 A whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, And a rod for the back of fools. 4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Or you will also be like him. 5 Answer a fool as his folly deserves, That he not be wise in his own eyes. 6 He cuts off his own feet and drinks violence Who sends a message by the hand of a fool. 7 Like the legs which are useless to the lame, So is a proverb in the mouth of fools. 8 Like one who binds a stone in a sling, So is he who gives honor to a fool. 9 Like a thorn which falls into the hand of a drunkard, So is a proverb in the mouth of fools. 10 Like an archer who wounds everyone, So is he who hires a fool or who hires those who pass by. 11 Like a dog that returns to its vomit Is a fool who repeats his folly. 12 Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. 13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! A lion is in the open square!” 14 As the door turns on its hinges, So does the sluggard on his bed. 15 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; He is weary of bringing it to his mouth again. 16 The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes Than seven men who can give a discreet answer. 17 Like one who takes a dog by the ears Is he who passes by and meddles with strife not belonging to him. 18 Like a madman who throws Firebrands, arrows and death, 19 So is the man who deceives his neighbor, And says, “Was I not joking?” 20 For lack of wood the fire goes out, And where there is no whisperer, contention quiets down. 21 Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, So is a contentious man to kindle strife. 22 The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels, And they go down into the innermost parts of the body. 23 Like an earthen vessel overlaid with silver dross Are burning lips and a wicked heart. 24 He who hates disguises it with his lips, But he lays up deceit in his heart. 25 When he speaks graciously, do not believe him, For there are seven abominations in his heart. 26 Though his hatred covers itself with guile, His wickedness will be revealed before the assembly. 27 He who digs a pit will fall into it, And he who rolls a stone, it will come back on him. 28 A lying tongue hates those it crushes, And a flattering mouth works ruin.
LESSONS FROM THE COYOTE
Proverbs 26:1-28
At first glance the sly Coyote seems to be a genius! With every cleverly laid trap and ingenious deception the Coyote meets with failure. There is no better contemporary example of the fool described in the book of Proverbs than the cartoon Coyote.
The ATTITUDE of the Fool:
1. CONTEMPT for others
2. CRITICIZING others
3. COMPLACENCY with his own condition
People are not fools simply because they disagree with us. The Bible repeatedly makes it plain. There is a distinction between being mistaken and being a fool.
Proverbial verses about Fools
The SIN of the Fool:
1. DENY the sovereignty of God
2. DISREGARD God's ordained plan
3. DERIVE pleasure from others misfortune
The WORSHIP of the Fool:
1. They want to be SEEN
2. They want to be RESPECTED
3. They want to be HEARD
A Fools' worship is disrespectful to God. The problem is not that they mistakenly use "unauthorized" procedures in their worship. The problem is that their focus is on themselves and how they are seen by others. We are fools when we do not focus our attention on God.
Three Questions Of Life
WHO ARE YOU? FOOL OR FAITHFUL
HOW ARE YOU? GOOD OR GODLY
WHERE ARE YOU GOING? HEAVEN OR HELL
ILLUS: THE COYOTE CARTOON
The verse at first glance seems comical, very much like the sly coyote. One that is scheming and designing and laying out a trap for the roadrunner. Much effort was placed in to the digging of that pit and rolling stone. With every shovel of dirt, the coyote thinks, “I’ve got him this time!” With every sweat filled inch the stone is turned, he thinks, “I can almost taste him. He’s mine!” But in the end, the result is the same. The coyote is distracted, drawn away, or duped, and it is not long before he finds himself looking up from the bottom of his own pit or squished in to a paper thin shape. But just as soon as the disaster takes place, we find him in the next scene, doing the same thing all over, lighting a fuse that will explode in his own face or painting a wall that he himself will run straight into.
SIR WALTER SCOTT- Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive a web is what is woven by a spider, and its function is to trap flies with its stickiness; the more they wriggle to get away, the more they entangle themselves in it. Scott is warning us that the liar spins and weaves his own trap for himself, not realizing he has done so until he's caught
PLATO- The worst of all deceptions is self-deception.
THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
The historian, Gibbons gave five reasons for the fall of the great dynasty.
1. Rapid increase of divorce, with the undermining of the sanctity of the home.
2. Higher and higher taxes; the spending of money for bread and celebrations.
3. The mad craze for pleasure, sports becoming more exciting and more brutal.
4. The building of armaments, when the real enemy was within.
5. The decay of religion; faith fading into mere form, losing touch with life, and becoming impotent to guide it.
ILLUSTRATION: TANCHO AND THE BELL
The Emperor Charlemagne wanted to have a magnificent bell cast for the church he had built. An artist named Tancho was employed by the church to make it. He was furnished, at his own request, with a great quantity of copper, and a hundred pounds of silver for the purpose. He kept the silver for his own personal use, however, and substituted in its place a quantity of tin. He made the bell of tin. When the work was completed, he presented the bell to the Emperor, who had it suspended in the church tower. The people, however, were unable to ring it. So Tancho was commanded to help them. Tancho pulled so hard on the chain that the bell’s tongue fell down because of bad workmanship, and it killed Tancho.
ILLUSTRATION: JOE ALMANZA
Joe Almanza grew up in a family of organized crime called the Mexican Mafia. We were supplying most of the heroin for the Southern and Midwestern US. I became addicted to heroin. I went to many drug addiction agencies. I sold some heroin to an undercover agent and I went to prison. When I got down to the prison I got the red carpet treatment because my name carried weight. I didn’t want to be a religious person because in my culture that’s not cool. They say that if you become a believer that’s for sissies. I was in prison where they keep you in the cell for 23 hours a day and you get out for 1 hour. One night in 1982 I felt really down. One of the ways to deal with this is to commit suicide. Some rays of light came through my prison window. All of the windows there were painted black but every once in a while some paint would come off and a ray of light would shine through. On that night in 1982 a little ray of light came through. God seemed to be saying that He was that one ray of light. I began to believe and then he started to put people into my life. One day I was looking for something to read and I found a magazine by someone in the Churches of Christ. Now he is a minister at an inner city church. He says, “Sometimes your mess becomes your message.”
Proverbs 1:7 - Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:22 - Fools delight in scoffing, and fools hate knowledge.
Proverbs 10:18 - … whoever utters slander is a fool.
Proverbs 12:15 - The way of a fool is right in his own eyes.
Proverbs 14:7 - Leave the presence of a fool, Or you will not discern words of knowledge.
Proverbs 15:5 - A fool despises his father's instruction.
Proverbs 18:2 - A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
Proverbs 18:6-7 - A fool's lips walk into a fight, and his mouth invites a beating. A fool's mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul.
Proverbs 20:3 - It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife, but every fool will be quarreling.
Proverbs 26:1 Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool.
Proverbs 26:4-5 (NASB) - Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Or you will also be like him. Answer a fool as his folly deserves, That he not be wise in his own eyes.
Proverbs 29:11 - A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.
