Learning From The Way Of The Fool, Part 9
8/18/2024
Turn with me to Proverbs 17:25-26. These are our verses to study and memorize this week.
Proverbs 17:25-26 A foolish son is a grief to his father And bitterness to her who bore him. 26 It is also not good to fine the righteous, Nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.
Introduction
These two verses begin to wrap up this chapter’s focus on learning lessons from the ways of fools. Verse 25, with its focus on the grief a foolish child brings to his parents, is very similar to verse 21. Taken together these verses form bookends to this small section which shows the effects of the fool on family and society.
Verse 26 adds a closing bookend to the even larger section going from Proverbs 17:7-26. Both verse 7 and 26 refer to what is fitting for princes or rulers. Verse 7 shows the foolish behavior that is not fitting for rulers to engage in (lying lips). Then verse 26 shows the unfitting treatment leaders can receive when foolishness runs rampant and ruins a society (they are fined and beaten). The foolish behavior of leaders and people leads to the foolish treatment of leaders and the righteous.
Have you ever seen a son or daughter disrespecting and dishonoring their parents? Have you seen them mistreating and abusing them? Have you witnessed the devastating way it affects parents when their children have carried out heinous crimes or engaged in shameful behavior? On the other side, have you ever done things which really shamed your parents? Maybe you did things or are doing things which are not in line with what they taught you as right or wrong. To help us deal with these kinds of issues, in verse 25 we will see the foolishness of foolishness—through the grief it brings to parents.
Moving beyond the family, have you seen righteous people being oppressed by law courts and made to pay money when they actually did what was right, just, and moral? Have you seen leaders physically abused despite their integrity and righteousness? Coming closer to home, have you ever personally done what was right and then been treated and rewarded as if you had committed a crime? Or, have you personally and publicly mistreated those living with integrity? To help us deal with these kinds of issues, in verse 26 we will see the foolishness of oppressing the righteous in society.
With that overview, let’s look more closely at these verses to see what God would have us learn.
25 A foolish son is a grief to his father And bitterness to her who bore him.
A foolish child brings his parents continued suffering despite parents sacrifices for them.
Although this verse is very similar to verse 21, it has its own important message. By its repetition so soon the deep-seated pain foolishness brings upon the family is highlighted. Verse 21 emphasized the sorrow that occurrs. There, foolishness prevents a father from taking joy in his child. Here, in verse 25, the emphasis expands in three ways. First, this verse emphasizes one’s mother in addition to one’s father. The pain of foolishness extends to both parents. The hurt caused is broad. Second, this verse emphasizes that the pain, sorrow, and grief is not just a one time thing. It is a continual bitterness. It is an ongoing sorrow. It is a prolonged pain. It is an unending grief. It is deep. Third, this verse emphasizes the reality of all the work, effort, love, care, provision, time, and life that has been poured into this child in bearing them. By their foolishness that is all spurned, ignored, and despised. What a sorrowful waste!
For a child, these realities ought to be powerful reasons not to allow oneself to go down these foolish ways of living which have been discussed here in Proverbs 17. For a parent, while there is no foolproof way of preventing this, these realities ought to be powerful reasons to intentionally teach your children wisdom and not just give them a fun and enjoyable childhood. There are many different trails to foolishness, but all of them ultimately have harsh consequences.
In these verses we have seen quite a number of paths that people use to pursue foolish ways of living: lying words, bribing and the manipulative, transactional ways of living, gossiping, being unteachable, rebelling and seeking out evil, spending time with and around fools, returning evil for good, starting and holding onto strife, justifying the wicked and condemning the righteous, not pursuing wisdom, not having real friends, pledging oneself rashly for others, loving sin, exalting oneself, thinking and speaking wickedly, dishonoring parents, perverting justice, and looking for wisdom and purpose elsewhere than God.
Indeed, there are many paths of foolishness that people pursue! Those were just the ones that Proverbs 17:7-26 has highlighted. Many more from other passages of Scripture could also be listed. What they all have in common, though, is that they cause ongoing, deep grief to both of one’s godly parents. These pathways despise all the time, love, and work that parents have given to their children in bearing them and raising them. This ought not happen. It is not honoring one’s parents. It is breaking the fifth commandment, and it directly goes against God’s plan for the family and society.
Scriptural Example: When we looked at this issue in Proverbs 17:21 we noted an example of this in the prolonged pain that Cain brought to his parents after his murder of Abel. We also see the reality of this grief and bitterness in the law’s decree on what was supposed to happen to the unrepentant, rebellious child.
Deuteronomy 21:18-21 “If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or his mother, and when they chastise him, he will not even listen to them, 19 then his father and mother shall seize him, and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gateway of his hometown. 20 “They shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey us, he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 “Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so you shall remove the evil from your midst, and all Israel will hear of it and fear.
There are many layers to understanding the full reality of this law. One aspect is seen is its context within the law. It occurs after the strong commands for parents in Deuteronomy 6. They were to continually teach their children about God, His Word, and daily life in relationship to God. It also occurs after the commands in Deuteronomy 17 to stone all idolaters in Israel, whether they were Israelites or foreigners. That same chapter also commands everyone be put to death who would not obey the law court verdicts that God’s priests and judges handed down. This law, then, shows that our own families are not an exception to this.
From all of these laws we see that idolatry and defiance of God’s righteously ordered society were not to be tolerated. This held true whether it was in reference to things against Himself, His established law courts, or His established authority in the family. Why were these stonings to occur? They were to occur because these ways of foolishness destroy not just individuals, but also the family, the society, and true righteous worship. To know that slow destruction and to have to experience it within one’s family is indeed a great, prolonged agony of suffering. It is not a light thing in God’s eyes. So do not do that to your parents! Walk in God’s redeemed way of wisdom. Live in the fear of the Lord. Live in light of God in all that you do. See sin as it really is with all of its destructive reality. Turn from it to Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Then keep walking with Him.
Proverb in Comparison: When we compare this proverb with the rest of Scripture we see that this foolish behavior and its destructive, anguishing consequences within the family is a microcosm of what our sin is like to God. We all recognize how ill-fitting and degenerate it is when a child repays all the love, sacrifice, help, and guidance that they have received from good parents with disrespect, spite, defiance, and rebellion. We see it as the direct opposite of what Scripture commands in Ephesians 6:1-3.
Ephesians 6:1-3 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3 SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH.
That is the way things ought to be within the family within God’s perfect design. When that is not occurring it turns everything on its head from the way it ought to be.
Similarly, but on an even grander scale, it is rank evil when we walk in disrespect, defiance, and rebellion against God, our creator. He has poured out His love, sacrifice, goodness, and guidance to us. How it must grieve Him when His very own creation, and even at times His specially redeemed children, willfully turn against Him and disobey Him by choosing sinful, foolish ways of living!
We get a glimpse of the reality of that grief which God’s children cause Him in Ephesians 4:30. This verse comes after some discussion of the new life that we are to have in Christ. Then Ephesians 4:25-32 talks about what should no longer characterize our lives.
Ephesians 4:25-32 Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another. 26 BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not give the devil an opportunity. 28 He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. 29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
Our sins—including all of these things just mentioned—grieve the Holy Spirit of God. While we were yet God’s enemies and under His eternal judgment Jesus came and died on the cross to redeem us from our sins, reconcile us to the Father, and to make us holy. The Holy Spirit is the very guarantor of our eternal salvation which God has given to us when we trusted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. How could we then spite all of that and bring God shame by continuing in our sin? When we do, it grieves the Holy Spirit within us. It saddens Him. It is not the way things ought to be. It is not the love towards God that God’s love towards us deserves. May we recognize quickly the reality of our sin and turn from it. May we see the temptations we experience for the reality of what they are and not walk in these ways of foolishness. May we love God back with the love that He has shown and is giving to all of His true children.
Truth in Connection: As we apply this to our lives we need to realize that what we choose to do with our lives affect both our lives and others. As individuals we need to see the destructiveness of foolish ways of living and intentionally choose to walk in God’s righteous redeemed way of living. As parents we need to take on our God-given responsibility and train our children up in the nurture and admonition of God’s Word. We need to teach them the love of God and the fear of the Lord. They need to be taught God’s righteous standard, their sinfulness, and God’s grace and mercy in Jesus Christ through His death, burial, and resurrection. They need to be taught about turning from sin and to faith in Jesus. They need to be taught about true discipleship through showing them what it means to follow Jesus in every area of our lives. They need to be taught about the daily realities of repentance. They need to have modeled before them seeking first God’s kingdom and His righteousness. They need to be taught and shown a love for God’s Word and making disciples. They need to see what it means to be growing as a follower of Jesus.
As a society, we need to realize that walking in ways of foolishness will lead to the breakdown of our families and the destruction of our society. As believers in Jesus we need to expand our discipleship beyond our families and church. We need to love our neighbors from our own communities and beyond by pointing them to the life-transforming reality of true faith in Jesus.
Will you choose God’s wise way of life? Or follow right along in the world’s many foolish ways of living? Our default choice will be the path of least resistance, the path of convenience and ease. May we not walk in the world’s broad path to destruction, but follow Jesus Christ faithfully.
If you have not trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then simply making a commitment to do better or not walk in a certain foolish way will not work. We cannot do it ourselves. We need to recognize the depths of our sin in our own hearts and our enslavement to it. On our own we are not good and righteous. We have broken God’s standards of righteousness for which He created us and we cannot undo that. We deserve His eternal judgment. But thanks be to God that is why Jesus came to this earth. He came to redeem us from our sin. He came to raise us from our deadness in our sins. He came to give us life, transform our lives, free us from our enslavement to sin, and make us His children so that we would glorify the God who deserves all glory. Turn from trusting in your own way of life and entrust your while life to Him. Trust Him as your Lord and Savior. Then you will have this new life from Him which enables you to truly follow Him. Then we can truly be a blessing and honor our parents. By His Spirit inside of us we can set our minds on things above and not grieve the God who made us. We can honor Him.
Moving beyond the family, our last verse in this section of Proverbs identifies one more foolish way of living that is destructive to society.
26 It is also not good to fine the righteous, Nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.
Punishing the righteous is not good for a society. In this verse we see the foolishness that foolish people inflict on the righteous in society.
This verse reveals the natural progression that happens when foolish ways of living become rampant in a society. At the beginning of this section on foolish ways of living Proverbs 17:7 declared that it was not fitting for leaders to be liars. Now we see how far and unfitting things become in a society that pursues lying and evil speech. Lying words become wicked actions. Those that attempt to keep doing what is right end up being oppressed and persecuted by those pursuing foolish wickedness. When enough people or leaders are living this way then those who are “in their way” get “taken care of.”
People generally want to be free to live their life in their preferred ways and to have that way be celebrated and praised. When sin and foolishness are a dominant enough force, advocates of those kinds of ways of living will want to remove any who resist their behaviors. They will fine the righteous and strike the upright—even if they are leaders. They will not want any moral indictments. They will not want anyone saying certain behaviors are wrong. Sinners want to have free reign to carry out their sinful practices and to have it praised as good (see Romans 1). This is the natural progression of a society moving away from God’s standards of righteousness.
This can be plainly seen in our society. Divorce went from taboo and hard to get to no-fault and common. It is even celebrated and normalized in many circumstances. The same thing is true for immorality, cohabitation, abortion, and many lgbt+ issues. Push back on any of them raises quite an outcry in many sectors of society. It is not enough for everyone to have to tolerate these sinful behaviors, it must be celebrated and gone along with. It does not matter to them if one’s conscience and God’s standards say these things are wrong. They must be celebrated and approved as if their behaviors and actions were righteous, good, and healthy.
In the public sector if one does not do that there can often be consequences. Bakers, artists, service workers, and venue operators sometimes end up fined or sued for not cooperating with business requests that violate their consciences. Public workers can end up paying a high price for their stand for what is right—like Kim Davis in Kentucky who ended up going to jail and fined exorbitant amounts for not issuing a marriage license with her name on it because of conscience sake. During the pandemic some churches in certain states were fined money for refusing to close. Others have been fined for their attempts to help the homeless.
In some of these cases the courts have ended up knocking down these persecutions, but in others they have been allowed to stand. The righteous are sometimes fined, imprisoned, abused, and mocked for standing up for righteousness. Others have lost their jobs or elections simply for being upright and holding to their moral convictions.
God’s Word’s pronouncement on all of this is that it is “not good to fine the righteous, Nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.” The oppression and abuse of those that God calls righteous is not good for a society. That ends up suppressing righteousness. It discourages it. Conversely, it encourages unrighteousness. It encourages people in carrying out evil. It lessens the fear of consequences for wrong behavior. It emboldens people to try to get away with even more wicked behavior when the righteous are gotten out of the way. Thus it contributes to the further breakdown of society.
Scriptural Example: In Scripture we see many examples of the righteous being oppressed. Joseph was imprisoned even though he stayed righteous and would not commit adultery with Potiphar’s wife. David and Jonathan had spears thrown at them by King Saul even though they were blameless. Ahab killed Naboth even though Naboth was right not to sell his family’s God-given land inheritance. Because of David’s sin with Bathsheba, Uriah the Hittite was killed by David despite being a blameless, upright soldier. Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den for praying to God. Paul and Silas were beaten and imprisoned in Philippi for freeing a demon possessed girl from her demon possession. Despite Paul’s righteousness and innocence he was kept in prison in Caesarea by the governor Felix for two years. Felix was looking for a bribe to release him (Acts 24:26-27).
All of these injustices were horrible. They were not right. They did not promote righteousness in society, but rather directly undermined it. These injustices promoted wickedness.
Proverb in Comparison: When we compare this proverb with the rest of Scripture we see that this kind of behavior goes directly against God’s purpose for government which He declared in Romans 13:2-7.
Romans 13:2-7 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. 3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; 4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. 5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. 7 Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.
God’s design for government is to avenge evil and promote good. When government and people end up doing the opposite of God’s intention it hurts society and places that nation in defiance of God. When those who are supposed to be servants of God for good are overthrown and replaced with those who become oppressors of the servants of God they place themselves in God’s hands for judgment. God sees these injustices and will ultimately repay with full justice.
Thus the progression of foolishness in a society first hurts individuals in pulling them away from God and placing them in opposition to Him. Then it hurts the family with the pain, division, and instability that it causes. The underlying fabric for social stability and growth is torn apart as these ways of foolishness become more rampant in families.
In turn these ways of foolishness then hurt all of society as justice turns to injustice, as evil is promoted, and as righteousness is suppressed. The farther that a society moves from God’s design the more its very foundations are destroyed. The natural blessings of peace, hard work, productivity, justice, and morality dissipate in favor of the natural consequences of infighting, laziness, tyranny, injustice, and immorality. Add to that God’s judgment of evil and the stage is set for the ruin of that society. Indeed, it is not good to fine the righteous, Nor to strike the Noble for their uprightness.
Truth in Connection: As we connect this to our lives and society we get a glimpse of the stage of dissipation our society is in. We also see the consequences that will increase if we allow our lives to go down these paths. We must not give in to temptations to follow the ways of the world which promote these ways of foolishness that we have seen here in Proverbs 17. Our actions matter. Our leadership of our families matter. Our leadership within our churches matter. Our exaltation of and work towards righteousness within society matters.
To deal with all of this, though, it is required that we deal with what is behind all of this pursuit of wickedness and foolishness. We must deal with the root cause: sin within the hearts of all people. It will not be enough to elect certain individuals to political leadership. It will not be enough to get certain people on the high courts of the land. Hearts and lives need to be changed by the truth of the gospel. They need to trust God that His standards of right and wrong are best.
To get to that point people need to see the stark reality of where sin leads: to death, to destruction, to ruin, and to God’s eternal judgment. People need to see that they cannot fix this on their own with self-reform. People need to see that so-called good works are really just filthy rags in God’s eyes.
Isaiah 64:6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
God sees all our motives. He sees our pride and selfishness. He sees the idols we have in our hearts. No amount of scrubbing, pretending, or other “good works” can remove that sin.
People need to see that the only way for their hearts to be changed, for their sin to be forgiven, for reconciliation to God to occur, and for true, eternal, good life to be regained is through Jesus Christ. People need to see and trust that what He did on the cross is the substitution for their sins personally. They need to see Jesus’ death on the cross as enduring God’s just wrath for their sins as He gives them His righteousness and saves them. People need to turn from trusting in and living for their sin to placing their faith in what Jesus did for them on the cross with His death, burial and resurrection.
As our Lord and Savior God resurrects us spiritually from the dead. He frees us from our enslavement to sin. He gives us His Holy Spirit. He enables us to walk with Him day by day until He comes back for us when He judges and recreates this world.
This transformation and new life is what is needed to truly change our lives, to change and rescue our families, and to protect and rescue a society from the consequences of its sin. It is only this salvation by the power of God through His gospel that can do this. So if you are still enslaved to your sin then trust in Jesus as your Lord and Savior. He alone can free you and transform you. Surrender to Him.
If you have been transformed by the power of Jesus Christ then do not settle for living for anything less. Do not be deceived by the lies of the world and the so-called wisdom they promote. Day by day make God’s wisdom what you live by. Make knowing and following Him your life purpose and goal.
Seek Him first yourself. Don’t seek money first. Don’t seek political changes first. Don’t seek your pleasure first. Don’t seek your comfort first. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Then, encourage and lead your family in seeking God first. As you follow Jesus and grow in what it means to be a disciple of Him lead them in doing that too. Then, do that in the church. Then, seek to make disciples among your neighbors, acquaintances, and co-workers. Then, look where else you can do this. Make opportunities. Trust God to do the actual work of transformation. Just keep pointing people to Jesus. Keep pointing fellow believers to faithfully following Jesus in every area of their lives. Be an example in word and deed. This is God’s method of transformation and change. Let’s work together as a family for this goal and purpose.
Yes, there are many ways of foolishness that people are following in our society. Yes, it is bringing destructive realities to families, churches, and our society. But God has given us something that we can and should do about it. So let’s not bemoan about how bad things are and are getting. Let’s make a difference with the one life that God has given to us. Let’s follow God’s wisdom and walk righteously with Him. Let’s help one another in doing that here in God’s church. Then, let’s make disciples of the world around us. Will you commit to walking in God’s way of wisdom instead of these ways of foolishness that we have been seeing? Will you be intentional to do what you can in proclaiming the life transforming work of Jesus Christ and in helping others to grow in truly knowing and following Him?
Conclusion
If you have any questions on any of this or want help in coming to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior please come talk with us. We are available. Let’s pray.
© 2024, Kevin A. Dodge, All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB),Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org
English (US) · 