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The fear of
the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom
and discipline. Proverbs 1:7
the subject for today
is: Becoming a
fool
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Dear
Friends,
In Biblical wisdom
literature, the pupils of the sages and mentors are the unwise, often
termed "fools" (Prov.1:7) or "simple one" (Prov.1:22). In wisdom literature, the different levels of fools - both
young and old - are the raw material on which the sages had to work, and
they represent the varying degrees of rawness. Perhaps as much as anything
else, the term fool is descriptive of an attitude, bent of mind, or
direction in life, which needs correcting. The various Hebrew words for
fool occur more than a hundred times in the book of Proverbs. [Marvin Wilson, Our Father
Abraham (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company,
1989), 284-286.] The reference to someone
being a fool was not necessarily a negative term.
·
A simple fool, was a
person who made mistakes, but quickly righted them and was restored to
fellowship with God and with others. King David was a simple fool, one who
made mistakes, but kept a repentant heart toward God. This is why God did
not turn away from him for his many sins. ·
The hardened fool,
makes mistakes, but never learns from them and will not listen to others.
Such people can expect God's reproof to continue and will eat the fruit of
their own way (see Prov.1:31-32). The hardened fool "returns to his own
vomit." King Saul was a hardened fool,
one who made mistakes and continued in them even after realizing he was
wrong. We're going to err in our ways. The question is, once we know we
have made a mistake before God, do we make the necessary adjustments that
will allow Him to intervene on our behalf? And will we avoid the same
course of action in the future? God says that if we do, He will pour out
His Spirit on us (see Prov. 1:23). He will make known His words to
us. ·
The third
level of fool mentioned in Proverbs is the mocking fool. The mocking fool
mocks the things of God. This word means "scoffer" or "scorner." When you
encounter cynical people who disregard the things of God, you know these
people are "mocking fools." ·
The fourth
level of fool is the God-denying
fool. This term relates to the morally wicked person who
ignores the disgrace he brings on his family and who despises holiness
(see Prov. 17:21). This person says, "There is no
God." By failing to acknowledge God for
who He is, declares himself to be a "God-denying"
fool. I have found that it is
helpful to try to understand if people are teachable. Are they simple
fools, those who make mistakes but seek to learn from them? I can work
with those people. But if I sense I am working with a hardened fool, I
know I should not spend much time on that
person. Jesus did not spend much
time trying to convince the rich young ruler. He presented truth, and let
him make his decision. Some people must get broken before they can become
simple fools. Sometimes it is simply
better to let satan chew on people until the ground is fertile enough to
present truth to them. |
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Marvin Wilson, author of
“Our Father Abraham”, has written incisively about the various meanings
for our word "fool": 
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