A Rod for the Backs of Fools!
"A whip for the horse, a halter for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools! … As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.” (Proverbs 26:3, 11).
Who are fools? What do they do? Why do they need?
The fools are those who continually commit sins against God. And the fools are those who harden their heart in order not to repent their sins. In fact, they are arrogant and stiff-neck people. That’s why the fools mock at sin(14:9) and don’t want God’s rebuke(1:25). If we do not want rebuke from the wise, then we are fools. If we consider the sins that we have committed against God lightly, then we are fools. If we do not have conscience-stricken after receiving rebuke and still harden our hearts, then we are fools. And if we are fools, then a rotten root is already growing in our heart and bearing the fruit of arrogant. If we are fools, we are stiff-neck people whose hearts are hardened.
The fools repeat their folly as a dog returns to its vomit (26:11). This reminds me the Israelites in the Old Testament. When we look at the Israelites during the time of the Exodus, they repeatedly grumbled against their leaders Moses and Aaron and even God. Why did they do that? I think it was because of their unsatisfactory heart. And why were they unsatisfied? I think the reason is their unbelief. They didn’t believe God with all their hearts. They didn’t trust Him completely. That’s why they grumbled against Moses and Aaron and even God repeatedly. Beside those Israelites in Exodus time, the Israelites during Judges’ time were same. They repeatedly commit sins against God. And when they did so, God used the Gentile nations as His rod to discipline the Israelites. And when God was disciplining them, the Israelites cried out to God for help because they were suffering out of their enemies’ persecution. Then, God raised the judges to deliver them from their enemies. After, they enjoyed peace that God had given them. But what happened when everything was going fine, the Israelites forgot God’s grace and commit the same sins of worshipping idols against God. You see, it was a crazy cycle: Sin à Discipline à Prayer à Deliverance -à Oblivion or Forgetting. What made the Israelites to repeatedly commit the same sins against God? I think it had to do with being “overfed (abundant food) and unconcerned (careless ease)” (Ezek. 16:49). When the Israelites were overfed because they was abundant food, they were unconcerned and lived carelessly. They had forgotten God’s gracious deliverance and blessings. As a result, their rotten root of arrogant grew up and bore to fruit of sins. The fools repeat their folly as a dog returns to its vomit (Prov. 26:11) reminds me the Israelites in the New Testament as well, especially the Jews in Roman church. They were arrogant. They had spiritual superiority complex. That’s why they judged the gentile brothers within their church. When we look at the Old and the New Testament, the Israelites’ repeatedly commit the sin of worshipping idols against God. How about us? Are we different from them? Although we say with our mouth “Lord, Lord” (Mt.7:21), aren’t our hearts hardened and arrogant that we serve both God and Money (6:24).
The fools need a rod (Prov. 26:3). In other words, what the fools need is holy and just God’s discipline. As the arrogant and stiff neck Israelites who were disciplined by God through the rod of their enemies, we needed to be disciplined by our Father God when we repeatedly commit the same sins against God. And we must remember that God is not just manifesting His holiness and justice. He is also manifesting His love for us (Heb. 12:6). In fact, God’s rod for the backs of the fools is the rod of His justice and the rod of His love. And the fools need that rod of God.
Hoping and praying that even through God’s rod, I may be able to break the chain of my habitually sins against God,
Pastor James Kim