TAKING A DOG BY THE EARS

RETURN TO SYLLABUS

[1] PROVERBS 26:1-28
Lesson #43
TAKING A DOG BY THE EARS

• [2] Memory Verse: Pro 26:17
• [3] The Fool:
• The first part of this chapter deals with the fool. (verses 1-12)
  • The reason there are so many proverbs dealing with the fool is that there are so many of them in this world. In fact the majority of people in the world say there is no God for them.
  • That is the definition of a fool from Psa 14:1 written by David who dealt with the Biblical example of a fool, Nabal in 1Sam 25. Nabal’s name means fool.
• “As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honour is not seemly for a fool.” (1)
• “As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.” (2)
• “A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool’s back.” (3)
  • Key words: fool (no God for me).
  • These three proverbs deal with statistical probabilities.
  • The fool that says no God for me should never be given the honor of leadership.
  • The statistical chance of snow in summer and rain in harvest in Israel is almost non-existent. (1)
    • That is to say “almost” because unfortunately sometimes it happens.
    • When it does happen that a fool gains authority over a nation, the actual calamity will not be by accident. It will be by direct consequences. (2)
    • The chance of a direct consequence is as high as the chance of bird flying.
    • Punishment on a nation is the result of a fool gaining leadership authority. (3)
    • Just as the whip brings the horse into obedience, and just as the bridle restricts the free will of the ass, so also will God punish the back of the fool.
• “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.” (4)
• “Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.” (5)
  • Key words: fool (no God for me); folly (wrong walk).
  • These two proverbs seem to be contradictory. However, they are not.
    • The first proverb tells us not to answer the fool according to his lack of belief in God otherwise you will eventually become like him and not see the hand of God working in your life. (4)
    • The second proverb says that if you do answer a fool without mentioning God, he will think you agree that he is so wise and he becomes prideful in his own accomplishments. (5)
• “He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet, and drinketh damage.” (6)
• “The legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools.” (7)
  • Key words: fool (no God for me).
  • If you trust a person that does not know God to deliver an important message or teach a class, you are asking for trouble.
  • The phrase “cutteth off the feet” means that you will wish you had never given it to him to deliver.
  • The phrase “drinketh damage” means that there will be adverse consequences to pay.
  • The message or proverb that he speaks will be slanted in his own favor. In that respect the message does not stand level on two legs but instead it is slanted.
• “As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honour to a fool.” (8)
  • Key words: fool (no God for me).
  • Giving a person honor that has no accountability to God is giving him powerful ammunition to use against people for his own benefit.
  • However, a stone tied to the sling will never be able to leave the sling to hit its target.
  • In this way the authority given to a godless person never accomplishes what he promises. It never hits the mark.
• “As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouths of fools.” (9)
  • Key words: fool (no God for me).
  • The drunkard is not aware that he has injured himself.
  • In the same way, the godless person’s message or teaching can harm someone but he is never aware of it. In the end his false words or teachings harm his own reputation when people see through his lies. Then in disbelief he is unaware as to why the adverse consequences occurred.
• “The great God that formed all things both rewardeth the fool, and rewardeth transgressors.” (10)
  • Key words: fool (no God for me); transgressors (law breaker).
  • Both the unbeliever that says he wants nothing to do with God and the unbeliever that lives a lifestyle of breaking the laws of God will stand before God in the final judgment of the great white throne.
  • They will discover that there is a God and there is a judgment they cannot escape.
    • Because the Almighty God created all things He has the right to judge all things according to His standards.
    • However, God’s judgment is tempered by man’s freewill choice.
      • Man chooses how he will be judged in the end by his decision regarding Jesus Christ.
      • If man chooses not to receive Jesus Christ in his heart and life, he will be judged by his own works that come short of God’s standard.
      • If man chooses to receive Jesus Christ in his heart and life, he will be judged by the perfect life of Jesus Christ that paid the price for us.
• “As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.” (11)
  • Key words: fool (no God for me); folly (wrong walk).
  • Read 2Pet 2:22
  • This is a picturesque proverb with a depth of wisdom about a hypocrite.
  • The fool that says no God for me will constantly return to his wrong lifestyle even when he thinks that doing the same thing will bring a different result.
    • The lifestyle of living without God will always end in eternal destruction.
    • If the fool repents and turns to God in an emotional appeal, it may cause him to change his lifestyle for a short time.
    • However, if he did not really repent so that his heart is changed and he is born again, he will eventually return to his old lifestyle without God. Therefore this is the hypocrite that pretends to be a true believer but is not.
      • This is not the story of the prodigal son.
      • The prodigal son recognized that he was a son and not a pig.
      • Because he repented and returned to his father in humility, he became wise.
      • If he had not repented, he would have remained living with the pigs to fulfill this proverb.
• “Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him.” (12)
  • Key words: wise (believer in Christ); fool (no God for me).
  • Why is there more hope for a fool than for a conceited wise man when the fool wants nothing to do with God?
    • The wise man in his own conceit has put himself in the place of God. He has had some success in his life and thinks it is because he is so smart. This is the ultimate idolatry. It is a person that we call an egomaniac.
    • However, the fool just lives his life without God. It is possible that someday he will recognize that God loves him and wants to bless him. Therefore, the fool is not without the possibility of redemption even though it is a slim possibility.
• [4] The Lazy Person:
  • Two words are used here to describe a lazy person: slothful and sluggard.
  • The slothful person is inactive, but his constant inactivity eventually makes him a sluggard.
• “The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets.” (13)
• “As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed.” (14)
• “The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom; it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth.” (15)
• “The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason.” (16)
  • Key words: slothful (inactive); sluggard (lazy).
  • The inactive person will constantly make up silly reasons to excuse his inactivity. (13)
  • The inactive person thinks he is active because he is constantly turning in his bed from side to side. But like the door on its hinges, it goes nowhere. (14)
  • It bothers the inactive person to feed himself. He is always helpless looking to others to do for him what he will not do for himself. (15)
  • The end result of inactivity and not taking responsibility for your life is the sluggard, the lazy person, in all areas of his life. He becomes so clever and deceitful at finding ways to get other people to pay for him, that it is completely impossible to figure out how he does it. (16)
    • The seven men:
    • Remember that the number 7 in scripture is a symbolic number that means completeness or fullness.
• [5] General Proverbs:
• “He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears.” (17)
  • This proverb that gives title to our lesson refers to the busybody that gets involved in other people’s lives. Often it is parents that get too involved in the lives of their adult children.
  • Soap operas on television are a good example of this proverb.
  • The idea is that you see a fight between a dog and a person. Because you love the person involved in the fight, you get involved. You grab the angry dog by both ears. Now you cannot let go of even one ear of the dog or he will bite you. Unless the dog becomes tired and stops fighting, you will never be free of holding that dog by both ears.
• “As a mad man who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death,” (18)
• “So is the man that deceiveth his neighbour, and saith, Am not I in sport?” (19)
  • Key words: firebrands (explosive nature).
  • A person with an explosive nature and gets angry with others will pick fights, will avenge with evil, and even do violence and murder.
  • He excuses his violent behavior by saying he is only joking, having fun, or enjoying seeing people respond to him.
  • However, his words about “sport” are not equal to the deception of hate in his heart.
• “Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.” (20)
• “As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife.” (21)
• “The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.” (22)
  • Key words: talebearer (gossip); contentious (strife).
  • Gossip is like wood on a fire. It feeds the fire and spreads it. (20)
  • A person with a personality that looks for arguments and fights will always find one to set on fire with his words. (21)
  • His words bury themselves deep in the soul of others to be remembered and to do damage in a person’s heart and mind. (22)
• [6] The Hypocrite:
• “Burning lips and a wicked heart are like a potsherd covered with silver dross.” (23)
• “He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him;” (24)
• “When he speaketh fair, believe him not: for there are seven abominations in his heart.” (25)
• ^“ Whose hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness shall be shewed before the whole congregation.” (26)
  • Key words: potsherd (clay fragment); abominations (hatred); wickedness (lawless evil)
  • The hypocrite in the church is a person that says he is redeemed. (23)
    • Silver is the symbol of redemption.
    • However, you should notice that this is silver “dross”. This is the worthless impurities that come from silver when heated to high temperatures.
    • That means that this person is not redeemed, he only says he is.
      • The “potsherd” is a fragment of a broken clay pot.
      • The Bible speaks about the believer as a clay pot being formed and molded by the hand of God to produce something beautiful.
      • Read Isa 29:15-16 and Isa 45:9
      • Therefore, this person is a useless piece that God has discarded because in his deceit he is not truly redeemed. (24)
  • “The seven abominations in his heart” refer to his complete hatred of God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the things of God, the people of God, the will of God, and the plan of God. (25)
  • His lawless evil nature will eventually come to light before the whole congregation in the church. (26)
• “Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him.” (27)
• “A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.” (28)
  • The Biblical example of a hypocrite is Haman in the Bible in the book of Esther.
  • He had power and authority with the King. His deep motive was to destroy all the Jews including the queen and eventually to seize the throne for himself.
  • However he covered his motive with flatteries and hypocrisy.
  • He got the king to sign into law the killing of Jews. He planned to hang Mordecai.
  • By God’s mercy through Queen Esther, Haman’s plot was uncovered and he was hung on his own gallows. [7]

Homework
Proverbs 27

• Application of Pro 26:1-28
  • What have you learned in this chapter that speaks closely to your experiences in life?
• Preparation of Pro 27:1-14
  • Read Pro 27:1-14
    • What does verse 1 tell you about God?
    • Why do you think envy is worse than wrath and anger? (4)
    • Link as many of the verses as you can to actual persons in the Bible.
• Memory verse: Pro 27:1