Proverbs 23:9
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Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
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Truth is a privilege, not a right. Fools do not deserve truth. Wise men avoid fools, for they are dangerous influences (9:6; 13:20; 14:7; 19:27). Wise men do not waste the truth on fools, for they will despise its wisdom. Truth and wisdom are precious gifts; to neglect or reject them brings just judgment. Fools should be left to rot in their folly!
Are such words too harsh? Our blessed Lord did not think so! When the disciples told Jesus He had offended the Pharisees, He said, "Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch" (Matt 15:13-14). Amen!
Reader, are you wise? Do you know the danger of speaking to a fool? You cannot win with words, for he will not listen or change (27:22). If you engage in debate, you become a fool yourself (26:4). His foolish and unlearned questions only bring strife (II Tim 2:23). If you give him truth, he will despise it and trample it under his hoofs (Matt 7:6). And he will pervert your words against you (9:7-8; Matt 7:6). Be wise! Stay away from fools! Don't waste the truth on them! Choose wise men for friends (Ps 119:63)
What is a fool? Every man has some foolishness, but a fool is overcome by it. He has his own ideas; he is confident of them; he is past learning. He would rather speak than listen; and he does what he wants regardless of instruction and warning. He does not show the noble spirit of the Bereans in receptively hearing truth and searching the scriptures to confirm it (Acts 17:11; Titus 3:10-11). Let him fall in his ditch! Save your breath!
When you perceive a fool - one who does not want to hear, learn, and change - go from him (14:7). Say enough to shut his haughty mouth and condemn his folly (26:5), but do not expose precious truth or yourself to his idiotic and malicious debating (26:4). To stoop to his level is to confirm his arrogance, risk your own soul, and demean the truth.
For peace and safety in your life and family, heed the rules of wisdom. Forsake the foolish and live (9:6; 19:27). Cast out the scorner, and enjoy the peaceful respite (22:10)! Prune away the fools, and your life will blossom. They are evil nuisances that devour the spirit of wise men and denigrate the integrity of truth and wisdom. Protect the vitality of your soul and family by avoiding fools and their evil communications (I Cor 15:33).
Unconditional love or friendship is unknown in the Bible. It is a figment of the modern imagination. Men are to be judged by action and character, not mere existence or natural relationship (Ps 119:63; Titus 1:8)! God our Father does not love us unconditionally: He loves us as we are in Christ Jesus (Eph 1:4-6; 5:25-27). David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, took severe measures to get vain fools out of his house (Ps 101:1-8; I Kgs 2:5-6).
How different the Lord Jesus was from men today! Our effeminate, compromising generation presumes all men have a right to truth. They sugarcoat it for fools and scorners in their carnal programs of church growth and "winning" the lost. But Jesus said, "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you" (Matt 7:6). Of course, this text is hardly heard any more, for it condemns their whole emphasis and philosophy.
Jesus told His apostles to reject listeners who did not love the gospel. He did not suggest altering content, methods, or programs, to entice them, as modern false prophets do to fill coliseums with the unregenerate. Jesus said, Shake off the dust of your feet against those people, and I will judge them in the last day (Matt 10:14-15)! Instead of making it easy to follow the truth, He made the high cost of discipleship very clear (Luke 14:25-33).
When the apostle Paul tired of the foolish Jews at Antioch, he said, "It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles" (Acts 13:46). This is true Bible evangelism - enduring all things for the elect's sake and praying for deliverance from reprobates (II Tim 2:10; II Thess 3:2; Acts 13:48; Jude 1:4)!
Contrary to the ignorant opinion of many, our Lord Jesus used parables to keep His foolish generation from hearing and understanding the truth (Matt 13:10-17)! Parables are not simple earthly stories with heavenly meanings to help common people understand truth; they are dark and difficult sayings to hide the truth from any but the Lord's own enlightened children! Can you handle the truth, dear reader? Read it! Believe it!
Why do some preach on street corners and in jails? The first are a public nuisance, and the latter chase society's biggest fools. Are these warriors of the faith? They drag the truth through the mud to those who do not want to hear it. Jesus preached to multitudes that followed Him, not wicked fools who hated Him. He commended visiting saints in jail, not criminals (Matt 25:40). He said nothing to the cursing thief crucified beside Him.
Paul preached in synagogues and at prayer meetings (Acts 16:13; 17:1-2), not jails. The jailor Paul and Silas spoke to was outside the bars, while they were inside the bars (Acts 16:23-24)! Now that is a jail ministry! And they waited for him to ask about salvation; they were not sentimentally selling religion to thieves and murderers in their cages! When Paul was a prisoner in Rome, he preached to all who came to him (Acts 28:30-31). Some talk as if he should have rejected his own house and asked to be thrown in the hole!
Truth is available in many places. The natural creation speaks of God's eternal power and Godhead. Men are without excuse. But when they reject the truth He offers, He darkens their minds and turns them over to perverse thinking and actions, like sodomy and other abominations (Rom 1:18-32). If they do not love the truth, He sends strong delusion to cause them to believe a lie and be damned (II Thess 2:10-12). Read it! Believe it!
Of course, this is not taught in Sunday School ... for a reason. Most churches have rejected the plain truth of Scripture, and God has justly removed their understanding and given them over to the sentimental smog of their own imaginations. Truth today is every man's opinion rather than the Word of God (II Tim 4:1-4). God Himself has deceived the prophets, and there is a famine for the Word of God (Ezek 14:1-11; Amos 8:11-12).
Do you wish to promote truth and wisdom in the earth? Then promote it among those that are perfect, the saints of God (I Cor 2:6; I Thess 5:14; Jas 5:19-20). Still not satisfied? Then live a holy life of truth and wisdom and wait for men to ask a reason of the hope in you (22:20-21; I Pet 3:15). Show the world a godly life, and wait for God to convict them. After all, any so-called conversion without God's regeneration first is a farce.
Dear reader, have you forsaken the foolish and found refuge in a church where only His Word has authority (II Thess 3:6)? Have you sought the old paths and the good way (Jer 6:16)? Have you forsaken all fools, including those who use pulpits on Sundays? Do you want to worship the Jesus Christ of the Bible, or the effeminate and longhaired hippie of Bible storybooks (II Cor 11:3-4)? The mystery of godliness in Christ Jesus is truly great (I Tim 3:16), but it is only for those who have a holy desire for it (Rom 1:8-15; 15:31).
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