Psa 14:1 KJV "To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good." The Fool In Proverbs 10:8 Prov 10:8 KJV "The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a PRATING fool shall fall." Prating - [vain] words. These definitions give a picture of a mouth full of vain words, never ending, always talking vain things, like the water washing up on the seashore, flowing out and then in again with consistency, but never stopping. The prating fool cannot hear you because he always has something on his mind that has to come out the mouth. Even if he stops for a moment, he doesn't hear because he is thinking of what he is going to say next. He's like a vase filled with water and there is no way you're going to get any of your water in him. Basically, he's a babbler. One thing you'll never hear out of the fool's mouth is the word of God, God's commandments, God's encouragement. He only speaks vain words - gossip, self-exaltation, meaningless talk, opinions. Mention God's word and he is off and running to tell you what he thinks God meant by His word, or he'll change the subject. A fool is one who will not accept the word of God as the power to save him eternally. The result of living by his own words while rejecting God's word is that he shall be overthrown, which is what "fall" here means: FALL - 3832. labat, law-bat'; a prim. root; to overthrow; intrans. to fall:--fall. Why is that so?: 1 Pet 1:24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass WITHERETH, and the flower thereof FALLETH AWAY: The Fool In Romans 3:10Notice the words that describe the fool: corrupt, abominable works, not doing good. Now listen to these verses for I believe what God is really describing here is a fool in His eyes, for much of the same terminology is used: Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one. 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 4 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood: 16 Destruction and misery are in their ways: 17 And the way of peace have they not known: 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes. "A skin-bag for liquids (from collapsing when empty)" - the heart, man's skin-bag so to speak, when filled with the Holy Spirit, would never say there is no God. But man's heart without the Spirit of God is like a ski-bag without anything in it. On the other hand, those filled with the Spirit:
What is Jesus saying about the heart here? He is saying that the Holy Spirit gives you a new one when He comes to indwell. The old heart is the heart of a fool; the new one the heart of the wise. God said in Ezekiel, Ezek 36:26 I will give you a NEW HEART and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. In other words, God says, I am going to give you a new wine skin, a new skin-bag, and I am going to put new wine in it, the Holy Spirit Himself. Why? Because man cannot keep God's commands. He was born with a wineskin that has nothing in it to love God, follow God or obey God : Ezek 18:31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a NEW HEART and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live! Let's see this in New Testament terms: Rom 6:23 For the WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH, but the gift of God is ETERNAL LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD. So what is the writer of Proverbs saying? If you say "there is no God," you are a fool because your skin-bag is empty, you remain in your corruption, and you will die empty. The fool, in the end, will come to nought. The Foolish BelieverThese things are those which happen to people when they have an empty skin-bag, and the result of these things is death. God says, "Don't be a fool. Accept my grace of Calvary. Repent of your sin. Let me give you a new heart. Be filled with my Spirit." We talked about the fool as an unbeliever, but the root word for "fool" points also toward the believer: How do I know? Because the words used to define the root word for "fool" are what happens to Christians when they do not stay constantly filled with the Spirit. Look at them again: FOOL ROOT - 5034. nabel, naw-bale'; a prim. root; TO WILT; gen. TO FALL AWAY, FAIL, FAINT; fig. to be foolish or (mor.) wicked; causat. TO DESPISE, DISGRACE:--disgrace, dishonour, lightly esteem, fade (away, -ing), fall (down, -ling, off), do foolishly, come to nought, X surely, make vile, wither. To wilt - have you ever felt like you're wilting under the trials and tribulations and sins in your life? God says its because your becoming foolish. You've forsaken His word, and now other things are filling your mind, replacing His word, and your wineskin is drying up. He says, "Be filled with my Spirit again." What does that mean, "be filled with the Spirit"? Eph 5:18 And be NOT DRUNK WITH WINE, wherein is excess; but BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT; My paraphrase: Don't fill the old skin-bag, but the new one given you when you first believed. How? Since there is a semi-colon at the end of this, aren't the following verses indicating how to be continually filled with the Spirit?: Eph 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. In other words, by doing these things, we are continually filled with the Spirit because we are allowing Him to be CONTINUALLY active in our lives, whereas if we don't, then we grieve Him and He "pulls back" so to speak to wait for us to get our minds on the things of the Lord again. When the Christian says, "I leak! I need refilling," this is what he is really saying: Eph 4:20 But ye have not so learned Christ; 21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. 26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27 Neither give place to the devil. Eph 4:28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. 29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. 30 And GRIEVE NOT THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. :31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. 5:1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. Look at verse 30: Eph 4:30 And GRIEVE NOT THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. We have the Holy Sprit; we are sealed with the Holy Spirit; He is in us to be active in our lives when we do the things in these verses that we are responsible to do: renewing of the mind, be kind, forgiving, etc. These things don't grieve Him, but keep us "filled" with the Spirit? Then when do we need to be filled with the Spirit? When we do the negatives in these verses because we grieve the Spirit of God because we are not walking in Him, and the time will come when we will need to filled by returning to what we should be doing. If we don't turn back, the result is these definitions of the root word for "fool":
When we do these things, we grieve the Holy Spirit, and experience dryness. The root word for "fool" also means:
Eph 5:17 Wherefore be ye NOT UNWISE, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. 18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; We don't want to be foolish, meaning mindless, stupid, ignorant, egotistical or unbelieving. All these things are a result of not dwelling on God's word so we stay filled with His Spirit so we are not unwise and foolish. We want to walk as wise men in hard times, and we can only do that by faithfulness to the word of God:
(Matthew 25:1-13 KJV) Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. {2} And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. {3} They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: {4} But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. {5} While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. {6} And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. {7} Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. {8} And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. {9} But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. {10} And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. {11} Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. {12} But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. {13} Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. There were 5 wise and 5 foolish virgins. We must maintain and keep ourselves in the Spirit constantly, not becoming foolish by forsaking a constant diet of God's word. The Fool, The Wise And Fear Of The LordWe know to be wise and not foolish. We are to feed on the word of God and thus be filled with the Spirit, not drunk and filled with wine. But, what is the one attribute of Jesus that will keep us from being foolish: Job 28:28 And unto man he said, Behold, THE FEAR OF THE LORD, that IS WISDOM; and to depart from evil is understanding. Wisdom IS the fear of the Lord. Wisdom - being wise, like the ten wise virgins. Read this verse about the virgins: Mat 25:2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. You could say it means this: Mat 25:2 And five of them feared the Lord, and five had quit fearing the Lord. Of Jesus, Isaiah said, Isa 11:2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the FEAR OF THE LORD-- 3 and he will delight in the FEAR OF THE LORD. . . . If we fear the Lord, then we will keep His commandments. And if we are wise and not foolish and keep His commandments, we gain understanding of the fear of the Lord and grow in wisdom. How do we gain understanding of fear of the Lord? When we keep His commandments, we are at peace with Him, and when we don't, He is on our tail and learn that that is no fun. The Fool Has No Fear Of The LordProv 1:7 The FEAR OF THE LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. The fool despises the fear of the Lord, but to the wise it is the beginning of knowledge, and not being lacking in knowledge keeps one from perishing: Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for LACK OF KNOWLEDGE: . . . The fool despises the fear of the Lord, but to the wise who fear Him, the Lord says, Isa 33:6 And WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the FEAR OF THE LORD is his treasure. The Fool's Folly: The opposite Of WisdomThe fool may one who is aloof. He "foldeth his hands": Eccl 4:5 The FOOL foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh. The farmer, instead of farming the farm, folds his hands and in time, through starvation, his body dies for lack of food. This aloofness is also described in terms of the farmers who "follow worthless pursuits" instead of tending to the farm: Prov 12:11 (NIV) He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment. Folly is the entertainment without fear of the Lord: Prov 9:13 The woman FOLLY is loud; she is undisciplined and without knowledge. 14 She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city, 15 calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way. 16 "Let all who are simple come in here!" she says to those who lack judgment. 17 "Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!" 18 But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave. Folly- the devil's wisdom. Folly, contrasted with God's wisdom in James: James 3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from WISDOM. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such "WISDOM" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. 17 But the WISDOM that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. The woman Folly is loud, disorderly, harboring selfish ambition. The Fear Of The Lord In The New TestamentThe phrase fear of the Lord is only mentioned once in the New Testament: Acts 9:31 Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the FEAR OF THE LORD, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied. The churches in Peter's time walked in the fear of the Lord. We want to be that kind of people. We want to fear the Lord, and so what I want to do is look at the fool as Proverbs compares him with the wise person. Then we will know wisdom and grow in the fear of the Lord as our treasure. We will gain understanding and knowledge of Him and His ways and not perish. We will learn more what it is to keep the oil in our lamps burning bright. We will be wineskins filled with the Spirit, and not with wine, not with gluttony or slothfulness or greed or envy or lust or anger or pride. Call No Man A FoolIn Strong's Concordance, there is not actually one verse that directly calls a specific man or woman a fool. The verse that closest comes to actually calling someone a fool is found in the parable in Luke 12 where the rich man has stocked up so many goods that he decides he can now just enjoy life: Luke 12:19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20 But God said unto him, THOU FOOL, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? In this verse, it is God, not man, who calls the man a fool. The Bible describes the fool, but calls no actual man a fool. In the New Testament, Paul calls himself a fool, but in a positive sense, as being a fool for Christ's sake. The Fool In The PsalmsPsa 92:6 A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a FOOL understand this. 7 When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever: 8 But thou, LORD, art most high for evermore. 9 For, lo, thine enemies, O LORD, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered. Why doesn't the fool have understanding? Because he doesn't fear the Lord and therefore doesn't keep His commandments. Not keeping the Lord's commandments, he has no understanding. What is it that the fool does not understand? That he will die one day, and that God lives forever. Because the fool dies and God lives forever, he will face God in judgement one day to answer why he didn't keep his commandments. It doesn't matter how many of the wicked there are: they may spring up like grass - go look up the street and look at all the lawns - how many blades of grass do you see? Grass flourishes almost without effort, the number of blade is almost innumerable, but David said, "But thou, LORD, art most high forever." All the wicked of the world, no matter many there are, even if there as many as there blades of grass, cannot overcome God, though some of them actually boast that they can: Psalms 2 KJV (1) Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? {2} The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, {3} Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. {4} He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. {5} Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. {6} Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. {7} I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. {8} Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. {9} Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. {10} Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. {11} Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. {12} Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
Are you being foolish with God? I know you're His son, but are you being a fool in some area of your life in the biblical sense, meaning not fearing God in some area of your life, not living by His commandments Are you in contention with Him? Are you questioning what He has allowed or hasn't allowed in your life? God says, "Don't be like the nations, living in vain imaginations that your being angry with Him is going to gain you a victory of some sort by your getting what you want. They're not going to get what they want." God says, "They're foolish." If 5 billion people - less Christians - can't defeat or conquer Him, isn't it vain to think we can hold out until He weakens and gives in to our wishes? The Fool In Proverbs 10:10Proverbs 10:10 Prov 10:10 KJV "He that WINKETH with the eye causeth sorrow: but a PRATING fool shall fall." What I thought of with this Proverb was trying to tell the truth to others. When the truth is related, there are those who react to it by biting their lip at what they are being told. I think biting the lip in the context of this Proverb, is a sign that a fool is thinking, "I hear what your saying, but that is causing problems with what I believe and I don't like it." At the same time, they are getting a little angry or peeved, and they are searching for words to come against what you are saying. Winking the eye, I think, especially when done with a smile, gives the impression that the person being talked to believes they have a lock on the truth and are already prepared to come back with the answer which will prove you wrong. Their ears are already shutdown and their tongue ready to roll. They are listening politely, but you know they are not hearing because they have already built a case for their point of view, having "squeezed off a piece of clay in order to mold a vessel from it." They will take one piece of what you are saying and build a whole new scenario on that one piece, usually to deter you from any point you were trying to make. Sometimes they may come back at you maliciously, causing pain or sorrow by their cutting response. Their response can also cause you grief, especially in serious matters, because they did not hear because they didn't want to hear and are locked into an untruth that will hurt them. In the end, because of the untruth they hold onto vehemently, they will eventually be overthrown because they have not accepted the truth. The Fool In Proverbs 10:18Prov 10:18 KJV "He that HIDETH HATRED WITH LYING LIPS, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool." "Hideth hatred with lying lips" - David, the Psalmist, experienced such things: (Psalms 109:1-6 KJV) To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise; {2} For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue. {3} They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause. {4} For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer. {5} And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love. {6} Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand. Some people just hate you when you speak the truth in love. That hatred comes out in the form of lies and deceits, which are really a manifestation of that person's hatred for God and the truth. You speak in love, with good intentions, yet it is met with this kind of response. They come against you with slander and false reports in order to defame you so others don't listen to you. There is a lot of this going on in the "revival" wars. God says such things are foolishness because He will judge all men when He returns. David actually prays such a one would have a wicked man placed over him and that Satan would stand at his right hand, meaning to accuse him. What difference from the New Testament, where Jesus said to pray for such people. The Fool In Proverbs 10:23Prov 10:23 KJV "It is as SPORT TO A FOOL TO DO MISCHIEF: but a man of understanding hath wisdom." Sport here means a scornful, mocking laugh, brushed with defiance. A good picture of it is the Joker in Batman, who laughs hideously at the hero while plotting deceitful plans of mischief. MISCHIEF - 2154. zimmah, zim-maw'; or zammah, zam-maw'; from H2161; A PLAN, ESPEC. A BAD ONE:--HEINOUS CRIME, lewd (-ly, -ness), mischief, purpose, thought, wicked (device, mind, -ness). This laughing in somebody's face in a mocking way. When the Joker laughs, you can see his wicked mind on his face, and you can see in his eyes that he has indeed devised an evil plan against good. A deeper example is the laugh of the devil depicted in various entertainment media. Again, a fool is like that because there is no fear of God before him and he follows not the commandments of God. This is in contrast to the man of understanding, who has wisdom, who fears the Lord, who does not devise plans of retaliation, but trusts in the Lord: Psa 64:6 They plot injustice and say, "We have DEVISED A PERFECT PLAN!" Surely the mind and heart of man are cunning. 7 But God will shoot them with arrows; suddenly they will be struck down. 8 He will turn their own tongues against them and bring them to ruin; all who see them will shake their heads in scorn. 9 All mankind will fear; they will proclaim the works of God and ponder what he has done. The plotting against Jesus to crucify Him is a good description of this. Out of envy, they got rid of Him, but God raised Him from the dead, and He will come back for the Great White Throne judgement. They will be brought to utter ruin. The Fool In Proverbs 12:15Prov 12:15 KJV "The way of a fool is RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise." The Right Way in the eyes of a fool means the road trodden, the course of life, the conversation, the mode of action that is most convenient for him. If a man determines in his own mind what is most convenient for him as the RIGHT WAY, if he determines that his conversation is a standard of TRUTH, and if he determines that he can determine the course for his LIFE, then Jesus as the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE is of no use to him. God considers a man to be a fool who rejects the counsel of God's word as the WAY he should live his life, as the standard of TRUTH for his life, and Jesus as his LIFE. A fool needs no counsel, for he is his own standard. You can offer him counsel, but he will never hearken to it unless it is adjusted to fit his way, his standard, his life. The wise man will not only seek out counsel, but hearken to that which is presented. He is not afraid of counsel, for he knows there is wisdom in many counselors. A fool is one who disregards the commandments of God, while the wise get counseling from others concerning the word of God. All of this is why God's word says, Prov 23:9 KJV) "SPEAK NOT IN THE EARS OF A FOOL: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words." The New Testament version is: Mat 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. End of Part 1. |
