The Fool In Proverbs 14:16Prov 14:16 KJV "A WISE MAN FEARETH, and departeth from evil: but THE FOOL RAGETH, and IS CONFIDENT." The fear spoken of here is a good fear, a holy fear. Fear here is a reverence for a standard backed up by judgement which one knows will be enforced by the one who set the standard. This fear says God's word and commands are His standard, and He is 100% serious about them causing the wise man to depart from evil. The fool, on the other hand, rages when called upon to depart from evil. CONFIDENCE - 982. batach, baw-takh'; a prim. root; prop. TO HIDE FOR REFUGE [but not so precipitately as H2620]; fig. to trust, be confident or sure:--be bold (confident, SECURE, sure), careless (one, woman), put confidence, (make to) hope, (put, make to) trust. The fool's rage is his confidence to remain secure in his evil ways. Fear is the spear in Goliath's hand, while the wise man's confidence in God's word is what will disarm any Goliath, any evil whose main weapon is fear: Psa 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. The Fool In Proverbs 17:10Prov 17:10 KJV "A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred STRIPES into a fool." The wise man listens to and accepts reproof. You may have to tell him a few times, but a wise man will eventually accept reproof. The fool, though, will not listen to reproof, even to the point of heavy punishment or discipline. The stripes here are described as severe - a hundred of them: STRIPES - 5221. nakah, naw-kaw'; a prim. root; lit. or to strike (lightly or severely, fig.):-- BEAT, cast forth, clap, give [wounds], X go forward, X indeed, kill, make [slaughter], murderer, PUNISH, SLAUGHTER, slay (-er, -ing), smite (-r, -ing), strike, be stricken, (give) stripes, X surely, wound. One of the meanings is to "make slaughter." Another is "wound." Give the fool a hundred wounds of reproof, and he'll be more stubborn than when you started. The fool does not receive reproof or correction. The Fool In Proverbs 17:16This Proverb is saying, "Why should a fool have money in his hand seeing he doesn't want
wisdom at any cost." The point is he will spend money to proliferate his evils ways, but if he
could buy wisdom for money, he wouldn't buy it anyway. If you made it that easy for a fool to
get wisdom, he would still reject it. Not so the wise man:
The fool, rich and secure, would not spend a penny for wisdom, while the wise man would sell
all he had to have the spiritual, eternal things of God. This wise man, in other words, would give
his life for things which matter in life.
When I read this, I thought of the antichrist, who certainly will not be brought up as wise in the
things of God. His eyes, therefore, "are in the ends of the earth." What does that mean? It means
he has looked past wisdom and does not understand that the earth is the Lords's and all the
fulness thereof. He wants it all, from one end of the earth to the other. Today, the church has
taken up an agenda to rule the earth from one end to the other. What Jesus refused in the
wilderness, they have accepted. God says that's foolishness. The Church has its eyes buried in
the end of the earth.
The wise man does all he can to avoid strife. If we consider the wise man to be one who adheres
to the word of God, then he would avoid strife by looking into the Scriptures for the wisdom to
do so, wisdom from high that is described in James 3:17. The fool, on the other hand, doesn't
avoid strife, but actually looks for a quarrel. As I've stated a few times before, it is a difference
in wisdom as stated in James, with the fool's wisdom being
In the NIV, the Proverb reads,
In the assembly at the gate, meaning the gates of a city, where the wise men of the city gather,
the fool gets lost in the collected wisdom of the wise, and has nothing to say. He knows what
will happen to him if he opens his mouth in such a gathering. But let him get you alone and you
will find your pearls trampled on.
SEEMLY - 5000. na'veh, naw-veh'; from H4998 or H5116; SUITABLE, OR
BEAUTIFUL:--BECOMETH, COMELY, SEEMLY. Snow is not suitable to summer, nor rain at harvest time. In the same way, honoring a fool is not
a suitable thing to do.
The reasoning here is simple. If the fool speaks folly, and you answer what he said out of his
folly, you are like him. The wise man will answer the fool's folly with the word of God.
The same reasoning applies here. The fool's word's are not spoken out of the word of God but
out of his folly, expressing his "wisdom" in foolish terms. The wise man's wisdom is fear of the
Lord, and that is the wisdom he speaks.
I really don't know why a dog returns to its vomit (not mention what they do with it), but I know
why a fool does. Because if introduced to the word of God and the work of the Holy Spirit, he
fails to walk in these and never gains a fear of the Lord because he failed to water the seed of
God's word with more of the word. Other reasons are the things of the world may become too
big for him to leave them behind, or persecution makes him hightail it and run. Two examples of
these are as follows:
In Hebrews 6:6, the phrase "fall away" is used, the same phrase used in the root word from
which "fool" comes from:
Though the terms concerning the seeds sown are not as identical, there is no question the terms
describing the fool are used, such as "fell by the way" in the parable and "fall down," "fall off,"
"fade away," and "come to nought" are used in the definition.
These are apt descriptions of what happens to the fool who returns to his vomit.
Bray means to grind, and this Proverb shows how ingrained the folly of a fool can get. What this
is saying you can grind the fool in the mortar of the word of God just like you grind grain with
pestle, and you still won't get his folly out of him because folly is still in every little tiny bit of
ground grain. Some people are just stubborn and won't give up their ways.
Walking wisely is knowing our true condition is saved, but still having the fallen nature. The
fool trusts in his own thoughts, understanding, meditations of his heart, reasoning and wisdom.
But the wise know themselves, knowing that
An important point to remember when talking with a fool. The fool will always spill all his
beans if you just let him go on. It is for the wise to listen carefully, watching for one point that
will bring down all of the "wisdom" in one blow as David floored Goliath. That point is to be
kept until he is done expounding his folly. That point, of course, must come from the word of
God and be aimed at the one contradiction or outright falsehood that fool lets out.
Usually one proud of his knowledge is hasty in getting it said first, but this Proverb says of that
man,
Ecclesiastes, too says,
Lest we get proud in debating a foolish man, these verses remind us that both the wise man and
fool will die one day. In that they share a common trait, and both will be judged by God in the
end.
LAUGHTER - 7814. sechowq, sekh-oke'; or sechoq, sekh-oke'; from H7832; LAUGHTER
(IN MERRIMENT OR DEFIANCE):--DERISION, LAUGHTER (-ED TO SCORN, -ING),
MOCKED, SPORT. The laughter spoken of here is derision, a mocking laugh that makes sport of someone in a given
situation. It is usually to imply superiority, lack of fear or one-upmanship, or "I'm really in
charge of this situation." The wise man does not react to the purpose of the laugh, though,
knowing it is possibly a sign of unsureness on the fool's part or exposure. The wise man
considers this laughter as useless as the crackling of thorns used to burn a fire under a pot.
The meaning here of "the prophet is a fool" is not that the prophet really is a fool, for he is a true
prophet that speaks the true words of God to the people. The same is true of the spiritual man.
He truly is a spiritual man. But it is the people of Israel who say the prophet is a fool for what he
is saying to them. Prophets very seldom spoke gracious words; they never said please obey this
word of the Lord. Basically, they tod the people to do it or die.
How often have we spoken the prophetic word of God to people in its proper context, having
been inspired by the Holy Spirit to do so, yet been called a fool in so many words? Note: it
happened to the prophets of old.
FOOL - 3474. moros, mo-ros'; prob. from the base of G3466; DULL OR STUPID (AS IF
SHUT UP), I.E. HEEDLESS, (MOR.) BLOCKHEAD, (appar.) absurd:--fool (-ish, X
-ishness).
RACA - 4469. rhaka, rhak-ah'; of Chald. or. [comp. H7386]; O EMPTY ONE, I.E. THOU
WORTHLESS (as a term of utter vilification):--Raca. How often have we heard someone say to another, "Stupid!" or "Shut up!" or "Blockhead!" or,
even though not mentioned in these specific terms, "Air head!" or "Worthless!" or "Jerk!" Jesus
said if you have, you are in danger of judgement, possibly even in danger of the hell fires." Just
because we are under grace does excuse us from Matthew 5:22. We are to love one another as
He has loved us.
Here, in explaining the resurrection of the body, Paul says the man who asks such a question is
fool for not using his common sense since nature itself points to the truth of the resurrection.
The other reason Paul says he is a fool is for not knowing the truth as it is related in the truths of
the word of God as delivered to the saints once for all.
FOOL ROOT - 5424. phren, frane; prob. from an obsol. phrao (to rein in or curb; comp.
G5420); the midrif (as a partition of the body), i.e. (fig. and by impl. of sympathy) the feelings
(or sensitive nature; by extens. [also in the plur.] the mind or cognitive
faculties):--UNDERSTANDING. Paul is chastising them for the unbelief, fool here meaning "unbelieving." The root word for this
word "fool" has to do with the understanding, and thus Paul is in essence saying they lack
wisdom, which is fear of the Lord, which brings understanding.
FOOL - 3474. moros, mo-ros'; prob. from the base of G3466; dull or stupid (as if shut up), i.e.
heedless, (mor.) blockhead, (appar.) absurd:--fool (-ish, X -ishness).
FOOL ROOT - 3466. musterion, moos-tay'-ree-on; from a der. of muo (to shut the mouth); a
secret or "mystery" (through the idea of silence imposed by initiation into religious
rites):--mystery. Paul is saying here, if a man is going to be wise in the wisdom of this world, he'd be better off to
keep his mouth shut as one that is stupid. Paul isn't speaking of anyone in particular, but
generally to those who were looking to the importance of men in the church and using worldly
wisdom to determine who the best leader was. He says they should not glory in men, but in the
Lord Jesus Christ because all the men they were talking about and they themselves were His.
God says it is foolish of them to think that they belong to anyone but Christ.
FOOL - 878. aphron, af'-rone; from G1 (as a neg. particle) and G5424; prop. mindless, i.e.
stupid, (by impl.) ignorant, (spec.) egotistic, (practically) rash, or (mor.) unbelieving:--fool (-ish),
unwise. The same word for fool is used in this verse. Paul said no man should think of Paul as a fool,
meaning, one who is stupid, ignorant or unbelieving in the things of God, nor was he being
egotistical. But, then he turns around and says they should be the fool so his boasting would then
have an effect. As we will see his boasting was not in himself, but in the Lord. Seven verses
later, he then says he is now speaking as fool, comparing himself with the false apostles:
The word fool here means:
FOOL ROOT - 5426. phroneo, fron-eh'-o; from G5424; to exercise the mind, i.e. entertain or
have a sentiment or opinion; by impl. to be (mentally) disposed (more or less earnestly in a
certain direction); intens. to interest oneself in (with concern or obedience):--set the affection on,
(be) care (-ful), (be like-, + be of one, + be of the same, + let this) mind (-ed, regard, savour,
think. Paul here is entertaining himself with this comparison with the false apostles, saying he is a fool
for this kind of bragging because he tells of his abundant labors, immeasurable stripes, frequent
imprisonments and much more. This, I would imagine, was in comparison to the false apostles,
who were puffed up with special revelations. He was saying that this should show who the true
apostles were, with the false apostles not suffering these things. We currently have that situation
in the church today to a lesser degree.
The word fool here is 878 above. Paul says he will not go beyond his "bragging" of what he has
suffered as a true apostle, that he wouldn't be egotistical or unwise and go beyond that which
was true. He says he wouldn't be a fool by doing that, but then, 5 verses later, he says he has
become a fool in his glorying. Why the change?:
He said they pushed him to this glorying, into becoming a fool because they knew of his
hardships in relation to the false apostles and they should have been glorying in him because all
he suffered was for Christ, the gospel, and the, that they might be saved..
Paul was a fool for Christ. All that he did he did to glorify Christ and bring others to Him. In 1
Corinthians 1:18, he wrote,
Foolishness - the mark of a fool,. The Greeks would not accept the word of God and became
fools in their rejection of it. The idea that there could be salvation in a dead man was to them
ridiculous. But Paul said those who were foolish in rejecting the message of the cross are
perishing because they didn't believe in the resurrection:
It was those who became wise by accepting the message of Christ crucified and risen that were
being saved through God's foolishness of the cross.
The Jews and the Greeks looked to worldly wisdom, seeking to find salvation in it, but Paul said
Through the cross, God made the wisdom of this world foolishness. You may have noticed
throughout these talks that many times I used wisdom in quotes representing the wisdom of the
fool. This is why. God made the world's wisdom the wisdom of the fool by sending His wisdom
to earth in the Person of His Son. What is the wisdom of this world? Folly. What is God's
wisdom? I guess we could call it holy foolishness
Here we have what we started out with. The fool is one who rejects the commandments, the
words of God toward man:
In the end, all the wise of this world will become fools in the coming and appearance of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He will have caught the wise of the world in their craftiness as He
comes to rule the world:
End Of The Fool
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