Sunday
Morning Bible Study
March
18, 2018
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid
to die? Does it speak to the broken
hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
Is the church loved? Regular: 2900
words Communion: 2500 words Video=75wpm
Announce: Men’s Retreat. Work Day next Saturday.
The book of Proverbs is all about wisdom.
Wisdom is not about knowing facts.
Wisdom is about knowing what to do with what you know.
Wisdom is knowing when to do it.
Wisdom is knowing how to do it.
Proverbs are sayings, typically short, that give wisdom and insight into
everyday things.
They are intended to help you lead a better life.
They are not absolute promises, as in “if you do x,y, then z will always
happen and your life will be perfect”.
They are general principles – that if you do them your life will be
generally better than if you didn’t do them.
I want to encourage you to have a
pencil or pen ready as we work through each chapter.
Though we will read the entire
chapter, I won’t be taking time to unpack every single proverb.
God may want to use one of the
proverbs that we simply pass over to speak to you, so be ready to mark up your
Bible or write down a verse.
It’s going to be a little like
drinking from a fire hydrant.
The Proverbs are Hebrew poetry…
Hebrew poetry is about ideas, not
sounds.
Most of these proverbs are in two
lines.
Sometimes the second line is a
parallel of the first. It expresses the same idea with different words.
Sometimes the second line is an
opposite idea, still clarifying the first, but by way of contrast.
Be careful that you don’t look at
one phrase without looking at the other.
We are now in a section of that
dates to 250 years after Solomon. King
Hezekiah had a group of scholars collect an additional group of 100 of
Solomon’s proverbs.
Proverbs 26
:1 As snow in summer and rain in harvest, So honor is not fitting for a
fool.
:1 Honor is not fitting for a fool
Lesson
Defining the fool
fool – keciyl – fool,
stupid fellow, simpleton, arrogant one
Every time the English word “fool” is used in this chapter, it’s this word.
This word is used 70 times in the Bible, 49 times in Proverbs, 11 times in
this chapter, and all in the next 12 verses.
We’ve got the heaviest concentration of “fools” right here
today.
I’m going to start with painting you a picture of a “fool”.
Illustration
Duck Hunters
The following is a true story.
A guy in Michigan buys a brand-new Jeep Grand Cherokee with $400 monthly
payments. He and a friend go duck hunting and of course, all the lakes are
frozen. These two Atomic Brains go to the lake with their guns, a dog, beer,
and of course, the new vehicle.
They drive out onto the lake ice and get ready. Now, they want to make some
kind of a natural landing area for the ducks and something for the decoys to
float on. In order to make a hole large enough to look like something a
wandering duck would fly down and land on, it is going to take a little more
effort than an ice-hole drill.
Out of the back of the new Cherokee comes a stick of dynamite with a short,
40-second fuse. Now, these two Rocket Scientists do take into consideration
that if they place the stick of dynamite on the ice at a location far from
where they are standing (and the new Grand Cherokee), they take the risk for
slipping on the ice when they run from the burning fuse and possibly go up in
smoke with the resulting blast. So... they decide to light this 40-second fuse
and throw the dynamite.
Remember awhile back when I mentioned the vehicle, the beer, the guns, and
the DOG?! Yes, .... The DOG; a highly trained black Labrador
retriever used for retrieving, especially THINGS THROWN BY THE OWNER. You
guessed it; the dog takes off at a high rate of doggy speed on the ice and
captures the stick of dynamite with the burning 40-second fuse about the time
it hits the ice.
The two men yell, scream, wave arms, holler, and wonder what to do now! The
dog, seemingly cheered on, keeps coming, tail a wagging thinking he is doing
great! One of the guys grabs one of the shotguns and shoots at the dog. The dog
stops for a moment, slightly confused, but continues on... doing what he was
taught to do... retrieving “anything” thrown by his master. Another shot was
fired, and this time the dog becomes REALLY confused and, of course, scared,
thinking these two Nobel Prize Winners have gone insane.
The dog takes off to find cover (with the now really short fuse burning on
the stick of dynamite)... and where does a dog find cover on a frozen lake? You
guessed it! UNDER the brand new Cherokee. BOOM!!! There is now a big hole in
the lake, but no dog and no Cherokee.
This leaves the two candidates for co-leaders of the Known Universe
standing there with this “I can’t believe this happened” look on their faces.
The insurance company says that sinking a vehicle in a lake by illegal use
of explosives is not covered in their policy. The owner had yet to make the
FIRST of those $400-plus a month payments.
That’s our “fool”.
Back to our text.
Getting snow in summer might sound fun, but it’s highly unusual, and even
dangerous to crops.
Promoting a “fool” to a place of honor is not only unusual, but it is also dangerous.
We’ll see more about fools in a minute…
It is not the word used here (nabal):
(Psalm 14:1 NKJV) The fool
has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have
done abominable works, There is
none who does good.
(Psalm 53:1 NKJV) The fool
has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity; There is none who does good.
:2 Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, So a curse without cause
shall not alight.
:2 a curse without cause shall not alight
Lesson
Superstitions
Some of us can be a bit too superstitious.
A baseball player might go for days without changing his underwear because
he thinks that was the key to his hitting streak.
Maybe we take that fortune cookie a little too serious.
Sometimes it is an angry person that pronounces a “curse” on us, and we
become afraid that every bad thing that happens is a result of that curse.
We don’t need to be afraid of curses if we haven’t done anything to deserve
it.
The children of Israel experienced this with the prophet Balaam.
Balaam was hired by the Moabite king (Num. 22-24) to put a curse on the
nation of Israel
as they marched on their way to the Promised Land. Every time that Balaam went
through his “curse ritual” windup, he couldn’t come up with a curse, but ended
up blessing Israel instead.
(Numbers 23:11 NLT) Then
King Balak demanded of Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to
curse my enemies. Instead, you have blessed them!”
Balaam tried to
work up a curse, but he couldn’t do it.
Moses writes,
(Deuteronomy
23:5 NLT) But the Lord your God
refused to listen to Balaam. He turned the intended curse into a blessing
because the Lord your God loves
you.
Be careful about your superstitious thoughts. God is not out to get you.
(Romans 8:31 NKJV) What then
shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be
against us?
Back to the “fool”.
:3 A whip for the horse, A bridle for the donkey, And a rod for the fool’s
back.
(Proverbs 26:3 NLT)
Guide
a horse with a whip, a donkey with a bridle, and a fool with a rod to his back!
Sometimes we can be a little
two-faced when it comes to punishment for criminals.
Some crimes we read about certainly
seem to demand some form of punishment.
Yet when the offender is someone we
know, we think the punishment is too much.
Some people need to experience consequences for their actions to change
direction.
:4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Lest you also be like him.
folly – ‘ivveleth
– foolishness, folly
answer – ‘anah
– to answer, respond, testify, speak, shout
:5 Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own eyes.
:4 … a fool according to his folly
The words in the first half of each
verse are nearly identical, except that one verse says “Don’t” answer a fool
according to his folly, while the next verse says “Do” answer a fool according
to his folly.
So which is it Solomon? Do you
answer a fool or not?
Lesson
Responding to fools
There will be the occasional
atheist that will claim that the Bible contradicts itself, and for the educated
atheist who can actually give you examples, they will point to these two
verses.
Yet these verses only contradict
each other if you take them as the absolute way to respond to a fool.
Solomon is just giving guidelines
as to why sometimes you may want to not answer a fool, and other times you may
want to answer the fool.
The Jewish Talmud (a commentary)
suggests that verse 4 applies to foolish comments that can be ignored, while
verse 5 applies to erroneous ideas that need to be refuted.
Sometimes the best way to deal with foolishness is to walk away, or you end
up sounding like a fool.
Sometimes foolish ideas are dangerous and need to be corrected.
We are responsible to figure out which is right in our situation.
Charles Ryrie: These verses are
complementary rather than contradictory. Although it is unwise to argue with a
fool at his level and to recognize his foolish suppositions, there are
occasions when it is best to refute him soundly, lest his foolish opinions seem
to be confirmed.
J.Vernon McGee was a great Bible Teacher.
His radio programs are still on the air today, years after his
passing. He used to get all sorts of
letters from listeners. He writes,
I
received a letter from a brilliant man who had some impressions about me that
were entirely wrong. I thought I should try to correct him and tell him the
truth, so I responded according to verse 5. I answered his letter. Then I
received a letter back from him, and I have never seen such a foolish letter.
It made me feel like a fool for having written to him in the first place. I do
not intend to answer his second letter. I am using verse 4 for my decision. So
you see, there are two lines of conduct set before us, and we need to determine
whether we should respond or should not respond.[1]
How do we know when we should respond to a fool?
We need wisdom. It’s not always easy
to know which is right. Even J. Vernon
McGee got it wrong sometimes.
:6 He who sends a message by the hand of a fool Cuts off his own
feet and drinks violence.
(Proverbs 26:6 NLT)
Trusting
a fool to convey a message is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison!
Illustration
A businessman was checking out of his hotel when he realized his briefcase
was missing. “Boy,” he said to the
bellhop, “run up to room 1484 and see if I left my briefcase there. And hurry. I’m late leaving for the airport.”
The man waited anxiously. Finally,
the bellhop came running up and panted, “Yes, it’s still there.”
:7 Like the legs of the lame that hang limp Is a proverb in
the mouth of fools.
(Proverbs 26:7 NLT)
A
proverb in the mouth of a fool is as useless as a paralyzed leg.
Just having the words isn’t enough. It takes wisdom to know what to do with
the words.
Sometimes God’s Word is used in the most “lame” ways.
I get bothered by the “prosperity” teachers who take a few verses and make
it sound like we’ll all get rich if we give money to the church.
My concern is that the people they appeal to tend to be people who are
focusing their lives on money.
Yet the Bible says,
(Ecclesiastes 5:10 NLT) Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to
think that wealth brings true happiness!
Paul writes,
(1
Timothy 6:10 NLT) For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some
people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves
with many sorrows.
We need wisdom when we read God’s Word.
:8 Like one who binds a stone in a sling Is he who gives honor to a
fool.
:8 one who binds a stone in a sling
Solomon is talking about tying a stone into the pocket of a slingshot.
Solomon is saying that giving honor to someone is like a weapon or a tool.
Would you give an award to those duck hunters from verse 1? Would you give them a promotion or a raise?
It would be the waste of a good award.
Employers – use your rewards and acclamations carefully, for those who
deserve it.
:9 Like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard Is
a proverb in the mouth of fools.
This could mean several things, but I think the best is to think of the
“thorn” as a weapon.
(Proverbs 26:9 HCSB)
A
proverb in the mouth of a fool is like a stick with thorns, brandished by the
hand of a drunkard.
In other words, it’s dangerous when a fool learns a Bible verse, but
doesn’t know how to apply it.
Bad teaching can do much damage.
It could also be that the drunkard
can’t feel the thorn stuck in his own hand.
A fool might know some Bible
verses, but will never feel the power or impact of them because he doesn’t know
what to do with them.
:10 The great God who formed everything Gives the fool his
hire and the transgressor his wages.
The Hebrew is difficult here, but rather than take the time to explain it,
let me just get to the better translation…
Several of the Hebrew words have
more than one meaning, and it seems that the NKJV (and AV) make unfortunate
choices in translation.
“God” isn’t in the Hebrew.
“great” can also be translated
“archer”.
“formed” can also be translated
“wound”
(Proverbs 26:10
HCSB) The one who hires a fool or who hires those passing by is like an
archer who wounds everyone.
In other words, if you’re an employer, be careful who you hire.
Don’t hire a fool and don’t just hire the first warm body that passes by.
When you hire the wrong person, everyone gets hurt.
:11 As a dog returns to his own vomit, So a fool repeats his folly.
:11 As a dog returns to his own vomit
Lesson
Disgusting Habits
Dog have some pretty disgusting habits.
And no, I don’t have a vomit video, I just have this cute dog.
Some of those habits have to do
with what happens when they eat grass…
Illustration
A mechanic who worked out of his
home had a dog named Mace. Mace had a bad habit of eating all the grass in the
mechanic’s lawn, so the mechanic had to keep Mace inside. The grass eventually
became overgrown. One day the mechanic was working on a car in his back yard
and dropped his wrench, losing it in the tall grass. He couldn’t find it for
the life of him, so he decided to call it a day. That night, Mace escaped from
the house and ate all the grass in the back yard. The next morning the mechanic
went outside and saw his wrench glinting in the sunlight. Realizing what had
happened he looked up the heavens and broke out in a song. “A grazing Mace, how
sweet the hound that saved a wrench for me!”
Peter quotes this passage when he talks about false teachers. Some of the false teachers didn’t lead their
people to change, but their teaching leads people back into sin.
(2 Peter 2:22 NKJV)
But
it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his
own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”
Are you learning to stop your disgusting habits?
Illustration
In Tampa, Florida, Antonio Valdez Jr. was charged with
driving without wearing his glasses. A few weeks later, on his way to court to
face the charges, Antonio crashed his car ... because he wasn’t wearing his
glasses.
– “Strange World”, Campus Life, Vol. 55, no.
9.
I sometimes think that for some of us, we aren’t going to change our
behavior until we step back and realize just how disgusting our sin really is.
:12 Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a
fool than for him.
:12 a man wise in his own eyes
(Proverbs 26:12 The Message) See that
man who thinks he’s so smart? You can
expect far more from a fool than from him.
The one person who is worse than a fool is the person who thinks they’re
smarter than everyone else.
Lesson
I need help
When we talk about “the fool”, we might be tempted to think that this is
everyone but me.
But the truth is, there are times when we all are guilty of being a fool.
I get myself into trouble when I start thinking that I’m better than
others.
The truth is, we’re all sinners.
We’re all fools at some point.
(Romans 3:23 NLT) For everyone
has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
Jesus didn’t come to this earth to ridicule and laugh at sinners, He came
to redeem them.
(Luke 5:30–32 HCSB)
—30 But the Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to His
disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 Jesus
replied to them, “The healthy don’t need a doctor, but the sick do. 32 I have not
come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Do you need help?
Help starts at the cross. Jesus died
on a cross so we could be forgiven.
What do we do with others we think are “fools”?
Mr. T taught we us should “pity the fool”.
Video: Mr. T On Biblical Origins of
“Pity the Fool”
Jesus pities the fool. He wants to
forgive you. Will you reach out to Him?
:13 The lazy man says, “There is a lion in the road! A fierce
lion is in the streets!”
:13 There is a lion in the road!
We dealt with this in Proverbs 22:13.
(Proverbs 22:13 NLT) The lazy
person claims, “There’s a lion out there! If I go outside, I might be killed!”
Keep in mind, the person only “says” there’s a lion outside. It doesn’t mean there actually is a lion, or
what kind it is.
The point is about making excuses.
The lazy person always has a good excuse for not working.
:14 As a door turns on its hinges, So does the lazy man
on his bed.
:14 As a door turns on its hinges
A door might show a lot of movement, but it doesn’t go anywhere.
The lazy man doesn’t move any further than his bed.
:15 The lazy man buries his hand in the bowl; It wearies him to
bring it back to his mouth.
(Proverbs 26:15 The
Message) A shiftless sluggard puts his fork in the pie, but is too
lazy to lift it to his mouth.
:16 The lazy man is wiser in his own eyes Than seven men who can
answer sensibly.
(Proverbs 26:16 NLT) Lazy
people consider themselves smarter than seven wise counselors.
:17 He who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not his own Is like
one who takes a dog by the ears.
:17 takes a dog by the ears
takes – chazaq
– (Hiphil) to display strength; to make severe; to prevail, prevail upon;
to have or take or keep hold of, retain, hold up, sustain, support; to hold,
contain
The Hebrew word speaks of taking a firm grip on a dog’s ears.
Lesson
Meddling
If you grab a dog by the ears, you just might get bit.
If you meddle with the wrong things, they might come back to bite you as
well.
There are plenty of times when we need to step up and get involved in other
people’s lives.
Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan to teach that we ought to love
others by getting involved in their lives.
And sometimes people think we’re
meddling because we’re just confronting what needs to be dealt with.
Illustration
Two elderly
excited Southern women were sitting together in the front pew of church
listening to a fiery preacher. When this preacher condemned the sin of
stealing, these two ladies cried out at the tops of their lungs, “AMEN,
BROTHER!” When the preacher condemned the sin of lust, they yelled again,
“PREACH IT, REVEREND!” And when the preacher condemned the sin of lying, they
jumped to their feet and screamed, “RIGHT ON, BROTHER! TELL IT LIKE IT
IS...AMEN!” But when the preacher condemned the sin of gossip, the two got very
quiet, and one turned to the other and said, “He’s quit preaching and now he’s
meddlin’.”
Yet there are some quarrels you don’t belong in.
Amaziah was 25 years old when he became king of southern kingdom of Judah.
After having won a great victory over the Edomites, he
decided to take on Joash of the northern kingdom of Israel.
Joash responded to Amaziah’s challenge with:
(2
Chronicles 25:19 NKJV) Indeed you say that you have defeated the Edomites, and your heart
is lifted up to boast. Stay at home now; why should you meddle with trouble,
that you should fall—you and Judah with you?”
Amaziah should have just let things alone.
Joash not only won the battle, but Amaziah and Judah were
greatly humiliated by the defeat.
:18 Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death,
:19 Is the man who deceives his neighbor, And says, “I was
only joking!”
(Proverbs 26:18–19 NLT) —18 Just as
damaging as a madman shooting a deadly weapon 19 is someone who lies to a friend and then says, “I was only
joking.”
Friendships ought to be based on trust and telling the truth with each
other. It’s not fun to get close to a
person when you don’t know when to take them serious or not.
:20 Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; And where there is
no talebearer, strife ceases.
The person who spreads gossip might tell themselves they are doing other
people a service, but they’re just stirring up trouble.
:21 As charcoal is to burning coals, and wood to fire, So is
a contentious man to kindle strife.
(Proverbs 26:21 NLT) A
quarrelsome person starts fights as easily as hot embers light charcoal or fire
lights wood.
:22 The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles, And they go
down into the inmost body.
This proverb about gossip is exactly like Proverbs 18:8.
(Proverbs 18:8 NKJV) The words
of a talebearer are like tasty trifles, And they go down into the inmost body.
Just like candy or a piece of pie,
there’s something wonderfully tasty about rumors and gossip. Our ears perk up when we hear the word, “Have
you heard …”
St. Augustine had a rule for his dinner
table. No one was allowed to talk
negatively about another person who was not present at the table.
:23 Fervent lips with a wicked heart Are like earthenware covered
with silver dross.
(Proverbs 26:23
NLT) Smooth words may hide a wicked heart, just as a pretty glaze covers
a clay pot.
Fervent – dalaq
– to burn, hotly pursue
:24 He who hates, disguises it with his lips, And lays up deceit
within himself;
:25 When he speaks kindly, do not believe him, For there are seven
abominations in his heart;
:26 Though his hatred is covered by deceit, His wickedness will be
revealed before the assembly.
(Proverbs 26:24 The Message) Your enemy
shakes hands and greets you like an old friend, all the while conniving against you.
:24 He who hates, disguises it with his lips
Some people will cover their disgust with you with nice things to say.
Even in church.
But it will eventually come out.
:27 Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, And he who rolls a stone will
have it roll back on him.
(Proverbs 26:27
NLT) If you set a trap for others, you will get caught in it yourself.
If you roll a boulder down on others, it will crush you instead.
:28 A lying tongue hates those who are crushed by it, And a
flattering mouth works ruin.
(Proverbs 26:28
NLT) A lying tongue hates its victims, and flattering words cause ruin.
You might be thinking here about people who have lied to you, and that they
must really hate you to lie to you.
Let me challenge you to think about the people you lie to.
Sometimes we tell ourselves that the best course to take is to not be
honest about a situation, or to hide it.
It’s not the best thing. If you love
someone, tell them the truth.
Illustration
A lady was walking past a pet store when a parrot said, “Hey, lady! You’re
really ugly!” The lady was angry but continued on her way. On the way home, she
passed by the pet store again, and the parrot once more said, “Hey, lady!
You’re really ugly!” She was enraged now, so she went into the store and said
that she wanted the bird disposed of. The store manager apologized profusely and promised he would
make sure the parrot didn’t say it again. The next day, she deliberately passed
by the store to test the parrot. “Hey, lady!” the bird said. “Yes?” she replied.
“You know.”
Being honest with others doesn’t have to mean being cruel to them either.
(Ephesians 4:15
NLT) Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more
and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.
Announce: We’d appreciate any who can stay after the
service to stack chairs – we’re getting the carpets cleaned on Tuesday.