FOOL IS THE NAME AND FOLLY IS THE GAME

Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat
with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.

(Proverbs 27:22)

We use a variety of methods in modern times in our attempt to identify and qualify intelligence. The IQ test comes to mind, which is expected to measure the "Intelligence Quotient", the G.E.D. or "General Education Development" test, The California battery, etc. You know the routine and you also know that the world is going crazy trying to determine who is smart and who is smarter (The doctrine of political correctness says that there are no stupid people any more!) You also know that none of these things work! It is almost impossible to know for certain how smart one is by testing. But it is fairly easy to know how smart one is by what they say.

I have determined from the Word of God that there is one group of individuals that can be identified at once and with absolute certainty. That is the foolish. As soon as a person opens their mouth and declares that there is no God, BINGO! You have a fool on your hands. The opposing mentality is to be wise, which is also hard to identify and usually requires a lengthy period of observation.  Still, we know that "The fear of God is (at least) the beginning of wisdom".  (Psm. 14:1, Prov. 1:7)

As one reads this verse in Proverbs 27:22, the quaint language of King James gives a picturesque vision in archaic words of the plight of the fool. In modern English I would translate the verse thus: "Even if you should pulverize a fool, grinding him like you would wheat, trying to separate the grain from the husk, using a heavy mallet, you still would not succeed, because the folly is a part of his nature."  It is a fun verse to quote, because the response is usually ... Huh? But it is also a deadly serious issue that is being presented. 

A fool in the Bible is either one who is simply unwise, i.e., not equipped to act wisely, or else one who is ungodly, that is, one who fits the mold spoken of by the psalmist in 14:1. It is this latter fool that we concern ourselves with today.

There are seven different Hebrew and six or seven Greek words translated "fool", "folly" and "foolishness" in the Old and New Testaments. The shades of meaning can vary from a brutal, criminal foolishness to a deliberate sinfulness and on to a simple mindedness without malice. As always, the context must often determine which meaning is intended.  All tolled, this group occurs about 360 times in the Bible. 

The composite meaning that emerges from all the Biblical material is that folly is the opposite of wisdom, and a fool is the opposite of a wise person.  Both wisdom and folly are presented as a philosophy of life.  The religious person chooses wisdom while the non-religious person opts for folly. That is not all. A general Biblical principle is that Wisdom leads to victory and belongs to those who fear God while Folly leads to defeat and belongs to those who are thoughtless, self-centered, and obviously indifferent to God.

So, what do we care if one is foolish or wise?  We encounter both kinds every day. And that is just the point, we spend our time talking to and dealing with the whole spectrum of humanity. Notice that I said we spend our time. Our time is like our money, it is limited and to spend it "foolishly" is to both waste it and deplete it until there is not enough for "wise" investment.  The Bible is very clear when it tells us how we are to relate to others. 

Mr. Nabal and King Saul furnish two examples of foolish behavior and they are immortalized in Scripture, and found only one chapter apart. First in I Samuel 25:25 Abigail is speaking for her husband, a man who had only recently refused to help David and his men with provisions while they were on the move and at the same time locked in desperate battle for their very existence. David was, to say the least, very angry. In fact, he was en route to do severe bodily harm to Mr. Abigail. We could say that he was about to act "foolishly" by taking vengeance into his own hands. But Abigail intervenes before the army arrives at the vineyards of Nabal.  Abigail:  "Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal:  for as his name is, so is he;  Nabal is his name and (folly is his game) folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send."  She has the required provisions with her, she says many more words of wisdom, and David responds with gratitude to Abigail and to God that he did not get a chance to carry out his planned carnage against Nabal. Otherwise, as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak." (I Sam. 25:34 New International Version)

Some have tried to justify Nabal on the grounds that he was not obligated to give anything to David or any other army passing through, and also that there was still much dispute about who was indeed the king. In verse 10 Nabal blasted David's men by saying "Who is David?  and who is the son of Jesse  there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master."  These words show that Nabal knew who David was, and was aware of the political situation.  It also shows that Nabal had taken sides in the dispute when he refers to Saul as "master" and  to David as "slave". The truth is that Nabal could have acted wisely by providing for any army that passed through, both to insure tranquility and out of common courtesy of the day. Nabal it seems did not want to part with the goods. This man Nabal lost his life, and David took his wife. The provisions became insignificant by hindsight.

 The second example is in I Samuel 26:21 where Saul the king of Israel is the one speaking, no doubt with good intensions. And once again David is involved. Saul says "My son David, I have sinned: return ... ha ha! .. for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day:  behold, I have played the fool and have erred exceedingly." Saul was a fool and would continue to be foolish even to the point of loosing the kingdom.  But notice that Saul equates foolishness with sin. It is the failure to consider God in our actions that make them so foolish. Notice also as you read the former section of Chapter 26 that David acted wisely in this particular instance. He was in a position to kill Saul, and David's general Abishai was more than willing to carry out the task.  But how much wisdom and faith is found in verse 10 "David said furthermore, As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him (Saul): or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish". David was willing to let God be God and work everything out for  His own glory. And as it turned out Saul did die upon the field of battle, with Jonathan and his other two sons. (see I Chron. 10)

 I would now be pleased to tell you that the world has finally wised up.  But that is far from what has happened. If anything folly abounds yet more! In Gal. 3:1, the apostle Paul was compelled to refer to his friends in Galatia as "foolish". O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?   And we can look ahead to the consummation of the age, when God brings His wrath upon the ungodly. Will they not have learned by then?

 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of
the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they
gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God
of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and  yet
they repented not of their deeds.   

(Rev. 16:10,11)

 I remind you that the difficult part about dealing with fools and wise men is about how we spend our time. We are not only obliged to stay clear of the fool in every day life, but we would do well to realize that sometime even our outreach and evangelism can become like pearls before swine.  Certainly there is hope for even the most strident opponent of Christ, and I would not counsel anyone to come short of bringing the vilest offender to His loving grace.  But I would confess that in my own ministry, I have often spent valuable time on a fool that could have been used to advantage with a hungry seeker after Truth.  With caution then I say to you that there are times when you can withdraw from those who refuse you as you witness to the Grace of Jesus Christ. 

And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it:
but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.
And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words,
when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust
of your feet. 

(Matthew 10:13,14)

I add just a few of the nearly 300 times “fool” in its various forms occurs in the Bible

Psalm 5:5        The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.

Prov. 9:6         Forsake (leave) the foolish (way), and live; and go in the way of understanding.

Prov. 10:23     It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom.

Prov. 12:15     The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.

Prov. 13:20     He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.

Prov. 14:9       Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.

Prov. 14:16     A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is confident.

Prov. 17:10     A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool.

Prov. 17:12     Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.

Prov. 22:15     Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.

Prov. 23:9       Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

Prov. 26:4-6    Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.

Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.

He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet, and drinketh damage.

Prov. 26:11     As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.

Prov. 29:9       If a wise man contendeth with a foolish man, whether he rage or laugh, there is no rest.

Eccl. 7:5          It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools

 Hayden