Characteristics of the Fool
(Consider the meaning after each verse.)

Proverbs 26:1‑12
1          Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, honor is not fitting for a fool.

2          Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.

This is encouraging for a person of wisdom. Are people saying untrue things about you. It will become ovious over time. Just keep doing what is right.

3          A whip for the horse, a halter for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools!

A fool has to learn the hard way. Why not learn the easy way, it is so much less trouble.

4          Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself.

5          Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.

6          Like cutting off one's feet or drinking violence is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool.

7          Like a lame man's legs that hang limp is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

8          Like tying a stone in a sling is the giving of honor to a fool.

9          Like a thornbush in a drunkard's hand is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

Fools hurt people with their speech. Even good things they try to say become hurtful.

10        Like an archer who wounds at random is he who hires a fool or any passer‑by.

11        As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.

12        Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Which comment hits your heart deeply?

Complete this sentence
            One area I desire to change is:

Notice who the fool blames for his troubles

Proverbs 19:3
3          A man's own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the LORD.

Don't trust the fool's words

Proverbs 26:23‑28
23        Like a coating of glaze over earthenware are fervent lips with an evil heart.
24        A malicious man disguises himself with his lips, but in his heart he harbors deceit.
25        Though his speech is charming, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart.
26        His malice may be concealed by deception, but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
27        If a man digs a pit, he will fall into it; if a man rolls a stone, it will roll back on him.
28        A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and a flattering mouth works ruin.

New Testament Application

Jesus described the source of foolishness--a heart that is bent toward evil.

Mark 7:17‑23
17        After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him  about this parable.
18        "Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'?
19        For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean.")
20        He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.'
21        For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
22        greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.
23        All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.'" 

The Apostle Paul gives a very clear explanation of the actions that come out of a foolish person.

2 Tim 3:1‑14
1          But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.
2          People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3          without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self‑control, brutal, not lovers of the good,
4          treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God‑‑
5          having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
6          They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak‑willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires,
7          always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.....
13        while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
14        But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,

Circle characteristics you see in your friends at work or school.

What do the verses above have to do with foolishness?

We have looked at general descriptions of Wisdom and Folly.  They both call us to follow their ways.  Now we will consider specific aspects of wisdom.  The first foundation is a teachable heart.

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