Proverbs 26:3
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A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool's back.
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Words are wasted on a fool (26:4), and we should only converse enough to rebuke his ignorance, lest he add conceit to his folly (26:5). A reproof will work with a wise man, so we call it "a word to the wise," more than a hundred stripes will with a fool (17:10).
It is a shame our urban society no longer needs service from brute beasts like the horse and ass, for this proverb would need little explanation. Men who grew up on farms using these beasts learned to control and direct them with physical constraints and punishment. But PETA and the PTA have just about stolen such wisdom from our "civilized" nation.
A whip or riding crop helps a horse remember its duties. A horse seeing its rider get on with a riding crop will behave better than with a rider without it, even if it is not used! It has felt the stinging whip before, so it minds its manners, though it has no understanding. Even the best horses are whipped to get their top performance, as shown in a horse race.
A bridle is perfect to direct an ass, mule, or horse (Ps 32:9; James 3:3). A piece of metal against their lips reminds them to go in the direction their master chooses, especially with the four feet of leverage the reins give on either side. What a marvelous device!
Our enlightened society, encouraging punk rockers with pierced tongues to slam each other in mosh pits, thinks fools will become wise with pampering and a new environment. But every farmer, especially those missing higher education, knows better.
Educators tell us gentle words will make a fool wise, but the wisdom of God says they are wasted words and will lead a fool to greater foolishness. For then he will think he is worthy of conversation, which he is not (26:5; II Tim 2:16,23; Titus 3:9). And a fool will despise the wisdom of your words and then use them against you (23:9; Matt 7:6).
They say a new environment will make him wise, but the wisdom of God rejects this as well (Is 26:10). A washed pig in your manicured back yard will create its own mud, with urine and your flowerbed, for wallowing in less than an hour! A dog with manicured toenails, a pink bow around its neck, and gourmet cuts of meat will still eat its own vomit. And these are the pictures God gives of a fool's character (26:11; II Pet 2:22).
They tell us that better education will make him wise, but it was our institutions of higher learning that created and promoted the hippie anarchist fools of the 1970s and the tree-hugging, family-breaking, baby-aborting anarchist fools of today. Education didn't help Columbine High School in Colorado or any other high school with dangerous fools.
They tell us better jobs and more money will make a difference. But you would never know by watching the fools among today's athletes. Multi-million dollar salaries for playing games has not taught them any wisdom. Mike Tyson averages about $1 million per minute of boxing time, but he is dumber than the animals mentioned above.
Love and affection are not right for a fool, for they will inflame his conceit and justify his idiotic ways of living. And what a sure way to discourage the hearts of wise men to see fools receiving esteem and respect. Fools should not be given any honor or attention (26:1,8; 19:10; 30:21-23; Eccl 10:5-7). See the comments on 26:1.
It is a shame when so-called Christian leaders like James Dobson write books like "Dare to Discipline." Considered by some a strong argument for discipline, it presented the pampering of children under the guise of Christianity. This humanistic psychologist disdained the use of the rod and called for squeezing the trapezoid muscle of a child instead. Today he wouldn't even go that far. Obviously, he never worked on a farm.
Corporal punishment for fools is a wonderful thing, as creative and useful as whips and bridles for brute beasts. And to the degree it is reduced in our discipline-hating and rebellion-pampering society, we will continue to decline as a nation and society. This proverb alone should justify the Bible at the top of every bestseller list. Lord, help us.
Flogging was once the universal means of maintaining family, domestic, military, and academic discipline. The hickory stick was a wonderful way to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic. Now you can hardly even find an accurate entry in an encyclopedia for this former widely used public punishment for criminals. See the comments on 22:15.
They say corporal punishment is not a deterrent, but such insane notions are the results of academicians who were not raised in real homes, never visited a farm, never worked in the real world, and who hallucinate outside the realm of reality. Everyone knows pain is a deterrent. Children learn about fire and heat, weak branches in trees, and stairs by experiencing them! Not by learning their scientific principles through verbal instruction!
A whip does not give a horse intelligence, nor does a bridle help an ass; neither will the rod give wisdom to an incorrigible fool (17:10; 27:22). The rod, like the whip and bridle, is merely God's means to punish and control fools. However, with our children, we may expect and believe the good fruit of character to develop (22:15; 23:13-14; 29:15,17).
Our Lord Jesus Christ was a willing and obedient Servant to His Father by simple instruction (Is 50:4-6) and also to his parents (Luke 2:51). There was no need for a rod in His training. Yet He knew how to make a whip and use it effectively when driving fools from His Father's House of Prayer (John 2:12-18). What a glorious Man and Leader!
You think you can talk wisdom into a fool? How would you do it, dear reader? Fools don't learn by words, because they cannot. That is why they are fools. They must be controlled with physical constraints and punishments like mindless brute beasts (10:13).
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