THE BOOK OF PROVERBS

Lesson 14 : The Fool And His Folly

Learning From Opposites

A good way to learn about something is to study its

opposite. To understand happiness, for example, you also must

understand sorrow. To understand wisdom, you

can learn a lot by studying a fool.

What Is A Fool?

Several Hebrew words so translated:

EVEEL – perverse, silly KESEEL – fat (figuratively),

stupid or silly, foolish NABAL – stupid, wicked,

foolish, vile

Connotations

In Scripture speaks more to MORAL deficiency than to intellectual lacking

Not a lack of mental powers, but the misuse of them

The person who casts off the fear of the Lord and thinks he can disregard God’s eternal principles

Descriptions Of Fools

Proverbs 12:15 – “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel.”

The fool can only see his own way

The Fool Trusts In His Own Heart

Proverbs 28:26 – “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but he who walks wisely will be delivered.

What we should do is…

Proverbs 3:5-6 – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

Fools Won’t Listen To Instruction

•Proverbs 1:7 – “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

They Die For Lack Of Wisdom

•Proverbs 10:21 – “The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of understanding.”

They Speak Before They Listen

•Proverbs 18:13 – “He who gives an answer before he hears, it is folly and shame to him.”

Fools Despise Discipline

•Proverbs 26:3 – “A whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of fools.”•Proverbs 17:10 – “A rebuke goes deeper into one who has understanding than a hundred blows into a fool.”

And so they are evil

•Proverbs 10:23 – “Doing wickedness is like sport to a fool, and so is wisdom to a man of understanding.”

•Proverbs 14:9 – “Fools mock at sin but among the upright there is good will.”

Nearly Impossible To Reform

•Proverbs 27:22 – “Though you pound a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, yet his foolishness will not depart from him.”

What will be their legacy?

•Proverbs 3:35 – “The wise will inherit honor, but fools display dishonor.”