Similitudes and Instructions
“Like snow in summer and rain at harvest, honor does not befit a fool.
Like a fluttering sparrow or darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.
A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools!
Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he become wise in his own eyes.
Like cutting off one’s own feet or drinking violence is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool.
Like lame legs hanging limp is a proverb in the mouth of a fool. Like binding a stone into a sling is the giving of honor to a fool. Like a thorn that falls into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
Like an archer who wounds at random is he who hires a fool or passer-by.
As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.
Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”
“Like snow in summer and rain at harvest, honor does not befit a fool.” In Israel it doesn’t snow in the summer time and harvest season is generally dry. In 1 Samuel 12:17-18 the prophet Samuel is rebuking the Israelites for demanding a human king when God wants to be their only ruler. To demonstrate God’s power, Samuel calls for a rainstorm with thunder and lightning, even though they are in the midst of wheat harvest, a time when no rain generally falls, to impress people with God’s power. It does snow in Israel in the winter, particularly on Mount Hermon, 10,000 feet high, where people even go skiing these days. But snow in summer? Impossible!
In the same way that weather follows set patterns, so fools do also.
If you are short-sighted enough to give honor to someone who is foolish, you will only embarrass yourself. Years ago, I taught junior high general science. The principal had joined the system the previous year to acclaim from the school board who trumpeted that this was the best-qualified individual ever to work for the school system. One year later, the teachers were up in arms because the man had proven to be a jovial idiot whose idea of enforcing discipline was to have children spit out their chewing gum into his hand while boys were lighting fires in the boys’ toilet. The board paid a great deal of money for “sensitivity training” for the teachers in hopes that if we were all more sensitive, we would stop noticing the principal’s deficiencies. Spoiler alert: it failed! The principal remained as foolish as ever and the teachers remained resentful.
“Like a fluttering sparrow or darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.” My husband and I view this verse as one of the most important in the entire chapter. Working in a culture where people openly curse others, we have witnessed the deleterious results of curses. Mystery illnesses, business failures, family problems-the results of curses can be endless. The key here is the word “undeserved.” If someone is cursing you because you are honest and hard-working, turn the curse over to God and keep going. If you feel you are the target of curses, ask God to show you any chink in your spiritual armor, confess any sins God shows you, and then claim God’s protection; He will surely give it.
“A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools!” Riders might carry whips to get a horse’s attention. Generally, one blow from a whip is enough to settle a horse. Stubborn donkeys require bridles to be led in the right direction. But for fools, it might take beating with a rod. There is a story about a man who had a mule and employed another man to train it. When the second man came for the first training session, he immediately picked up a 2”x4” piece of wood and hit the mule up alongside the head with it. “What are you doing?” cried the mule owner. “I hired you to train the mule, not to abuse it.” “Oh,” said the mule trainer, “that was simply to get his attention.” Sadly, some of us are so foolish that God has to hit us up alongside the head with a spiritual 2×4 before we will listen to Him!
“Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he become wise in his own eyes.” You might read these phrases and think, “HUH! Which is it? These two statements contradict each other.” It’s likely things were clearer in the original language. If someone is making foolish statements, you must comment wisely, refusing to get sucked into a ridiculous argument that will only make you appear foolish as well. On the other hand, you can’t overlook foolish statements because others may think that silence implies consent and that you are agreeing with the fool.
“Like cutting off one’s own feet or drinking violence is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool.” People are judged by the quality of the messengers they send. Use a fool for your messenger and everybody will assume you are just as bad. Once you have given a message to a fool, you have no control over the way he will handle it. Recently, job applicants have found their social media posts being scrutinized to see if their posts are appropriate or not. Sadly, some people have lost job opportunities because they have indulged in drunken orgies or other weird behavior, snapping selfies, and posting them on social media. Such posts are the modern equivalent of giving a message to a fool. And once something is out on social media, it is there forever.
“Like lame legs hanging limp is a proverb in the mouth of a fool. Like binding a stone into a sling is the giving of honor to a fool. Like a thorn that falls into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.” Since a fool will not know how to interpret a proverb, the proverb will be as useless as the legs of a paraplegic. If you tie a stone in a slingshot, the stone can’t go anywhere and the slingshot is useless. Honoring someone who is foolish is just as worthless an endeavor. If a drunkard gets a thorn in the hand, he won’t feel anything because he has anesthetized himself with alcohol. In the same way, a fool might quote a proverb, not realizing its application to him and making himself look ridiculous.
“Like an archer who wounds at random is he who hires a fool or passer-by.” Shooting off arrows indiscriminately only wastes arrows and might wound or kill someone; nobody with common sense would do such a thing. By the same token, hiring someone you know to be foolish or hiring a passing stranger is equally short-sighted. You have no idea if the fool or passer-by will carry out your work to your satisfaction or not. How can you trust such people?
“As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.” You might say, “Ooh yuck!” and you would be right. But it is true that once a dog has vomited, it might come back later and eat part of the vomitus. Foolish people fail to learn from mistakes so they repeat them endlessly.
“Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” Many times we meet someone who appears to be “a legend in his own mind.” Such people are so self-important that you can’t teach them anything and correcting them is a fruitless task. Instructing such people is like trying to teach a pig to sing: it only frustrates you and annoys the pig.
APPLICATION: When reading these proverbs, it’s always tempting to ask for the back story. Why did Solomon say these things? Solomon ran a huge court with all kinds of building projects in various places. Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. How much pressure was there on Solomon to employ the relatives of 1,000 women? When Solomon was giving pronouncements about fools, was he speaking from bitter personal experience? Did Solomon make the mistake of sending someone’s brother-in-law as a messenger or an ambassador, only for the guy to get drunk, shoot off his mouth, and disgrace Solomon? And as the wisest man in all the earth, how many times did Solomon have to endure long lectures from self-styled experts convinced they were enlightening him? Perhaps it was experiences such as these that led Solomon to pen these proverbs!
The question for us is simple: are we foolish? Are we teachable or not? Discrete or not? Careful in our language or not? It’s all about choices. Choose wisely.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, deliver us from our foolishness! Help us to face our shortcomings and confess them to You, knowing that You are the only One who can straighten us out. Help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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