A little biblical foolishness.
I take my Bible seriously.
God is in heaven and I am on earth, so I’d better pay attention to the view from there. So out comes my journal when I’m reading from the Bible, because I’ve got some learning to do.
But once in a while I bump into something unexpected: a jolt of humor. (What? Did he really just say that? Are we meant to burst out laughing?) And I’m beginning to think the Sovereign Lord, who is worthy of my obeisance, is also watching me with a twinkle in his all-seeing eye and laughter laced through wisdom.
Today Proverbs 26 was the “gotcha”.
(My mom taught me back in my teens that Proverbs, with 31 chapters, fits nicely into one month if you read a chapter each day. Sometimes I still reach for the Proverb of the Day when I feel in need of wisdom. Hence the 26th chapter on the 26th of June.)
A theme quickly emerges, through the repetitive reference to a “fool”:
…honor does not befit a fool
…a rod for the back of fools
…a proverb in the mouth of fools
…he who hires a fool
…and so on.
There’s even some comedic metaphors in these 11 verses, like cutting off your own feet, or binding a stone into your sling, and everyone’s favorite, a dog returning to his own vomit.
I dare you to read this chapter without snorting through your nose at that ridiculous fool.
And then we arrive at verse 12:
“Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes?”
Uh, well, yeah; I just congratulated myself, as a matter of fact.
“There is more hope for a fool than for him.”
Doh!
O-wa ta-gu si-am.
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick to speak, and do not be hasty in your heart to utter a word before God. After all, God is in heaven and you are on earth. So let your words be few. Ecclesiastes 5:1-2
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