A WISE MAN AND A FOOL (Proverbs 10:8-17)

The word "fool" is used 66 times in the King James Version of the Bible.  It appears 57 times in the Old Testament, and only 9 times in the New Testament.  37 out of those 66 times, it is used is in the book of Proverbs.  Suffice it to say that God was trying to get the message across about the consequences of being a fool.  

The word "fool" is translated from different Hebrew and Aramaic words that have various meanings.  Generally, it is speaking of someone who is perverse, morally deficient, a scoffer, and evil.  These are not just people who are slow-minded, as some might think.  No, these are people who have deliberately chosen to reject God’s Wisdom.  

They can be the intellectuals of the world who scoff at anyone who believes in God, to the corrupt businessman who steals from his customers.  They can be the friends in your social circle who try to get you to join them in the type of behavior that God has commanded that you do not participate in.  They will ridicule you for your moral and ethical values which are based on the Word of God, calling you Mr. Goody-two-shoes, kill-joy, and generally anything that means you are putting a damper on their fun, and that you are the simple-minded one because you refuse to party.  By-the-way, if this is what you close circle of friends are like, you need better friends.  It would be better to have no friends, than to have friends who would lead you away from what God wants you to do.  

Being careful about who you associate with is usually advice that we think of giving to younger people than to us older, wiser, people.  But, it is true of us as well.  Friends, even Christian friends, can lead you away from doing the things God wants you to do.  Satan, would like nothing better than to create division in the church from the gossip that happens out in the commons area before church or Bible Study begins, the false teachings from teachers and preachers, to the envy and jealousy over who gets to do what in the church.  Now, there is nothing wrong with good fellowship, which we ought to have.  But, there are wolves in sheep’s clothing among every church group. 

Click on the link below to hear a message about the contrast between living our lives applying God’s Wisdom and living it foolishly rejecting that wisdom.  One leads to eternal life, the other to eternal death.

Amen.