The lips of a fool
[Ecclesiastes 10:12-15]
Do you know "the hidden power of words"? When I looked at one the internet website, the article talked about the fact that we have to keep talking until we die. But like when we polish the stone, it will become the diamond, if we polish our words again and again, then it will be the scent of life shining like jewels. And the article made few suggestions. And I want to share with you few of them: (1) Do not speak as the words come out of your mouth. Even you try to speak nicely, there will be defect rate. (2) There is a taste in the words too. Do not say a word that makes others to lost their appetite but say a tasty word. (3) Use many encouraging, thanking and loving words as you can. Then people will follow you. (4) Wounds of the words are lifelong. There is no eraser in the words, so be careful. (5) The word can become a seed. Think first what kind of seed you are sowing. What do you think? How are you speaking? Do we glorify God with our lips, or do we cover his glory?
In Ecclesiastes 10:12-15, King Solomon speaks of the lips of the fool: “the lips of a fool” (v. 12), “the beginning of his talking is folly” (v. 13) and “Yet the fool multiplies words” (v. 14). He speaks 4 characteristics about the lips of the fool. What are the 4 characteristics?
First, the lips of the fool harm himself.
Look at Ecclesiastes 10:12 – “Words from the mouth of a wise man are gracious, while the lips of a fool consume him.” King Solomon says that the words of the mouth of the wise are gracious, while the lips of the fool consume him. Here, “the lips of the fool consume him” means to harm himself (Wiersbe). In other words, the lips of the fool harm himself. How does he harm himself? How does a fool harm himself with his lips? Look at Proverbs 10:32 – “The lips of the righteous know what is fitting, but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse.” A wise man knows how to please other so he speaks a word aptly (Prov. 25:11). But a foolish man speaks not to please other but himself so he speaks whatever he wants without considering other, whether he will get hurt or not. But the foolish man is harming himself. This is what the Bible says about the lips that hurt himself and others: “Like a club or a sword or a sharp arrow is the man who gives false testimony against his neighbor” (25:18). The lips of the fool are like the club or the sword or the sharp arrow. So the words coming out from the foolish man can harm, hurt and destroy others. This is what Apostle James said in James 3:5-8: “So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.” How scary is it? The tongue of a fool is very dangerous. We must be alert to the tongue of the fool which harms himself.
Second, the lips of fools are getting worse.
Look at Ecclesiastes 10:13 – “the beginning of his talking is folly and the end of it is wicked madness.” It is because he is foolish that a fool can not only harm another with his own lips, but also harm himself. And a fool can not help but speak a foolish word. That’s why King Solomon says that the beginning of the words of the mouth of the fool is foolish. If the beginning of the word of the mouth of the fool is foolish, what is the end? King Solomon says that the end is "wicked madness". What does it mean? The end of the words of the mouth of the fool is wicked madness. Mainly the foolish people speak nonsense. The more he talks about things we cannot understand, the more he talks about nonsense. And at the end, he talks like a lunatic. Look Proverbs 29:11 – “A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.” A fool not only speaks foolishly, but also reveals his anger. So the foolish man speaks not only nonsense words but when his temper blows then he speaks like a crazy person. The foolishness of a person may be weak at the beginning, but at the end it can get bigger and he can act crazy. We should not expect good words, wise words, or beneficial words to come out of the lips of fools, which are getting worse. And we should stop talking to the foolish man when we know that talking to the foolish has no benefit. And we must leave him. If we continue to talk to the foolish man, then we will see the end of foolishness even the madness.
Third, the lips of the fool can not control itself and speak a lot.
Look at Ecclesiastes 10:14 – “Yet the fool multiplies words ….” A foolish man speaks a lot. As if an empty can makes more noise, the foolish man who has no knowledge expresses his stupidity by speaking a lot. In Ecclesiastes 10: 3, in which we have already meditated, King Solomon said, “Even when the fool walks along the road, his sense is lacking and he demonstrates to everyone that he is a fool.” How does he demonstrate his foolishness? He not only demonstrates his foolishness by taking his little foolishness lightly, but also opposing his own ruler (vv. 1, 4). When I think about this in relation to Ecclesiastes 10:14, the foolish man cannot control his lips and keeps on speaking foolish words more and more because he takes his little foolishness lightly. I also think that the foolish man cannot control his temper and demonstrates his own foolishness by speaking against his ruler or leader. So this is what Proverbs 10:19 says to us: “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.” We should not like to use a tongue. Why? Look at Proverbs 18:21 – “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Rather, we should restraint words. We must restraint words like those who have wisdom (17:27).
Lastly, the lips of the fool boast of himself.
Look at Ecclesiastes 10:14 – “No one knows what is coming-- who can tell him what will happen after him? A fool's work wearies him; he does not know the way to town.” Although we do not know the future and only God knows, the foolish man talks like he knows everything, thinking that his future is in his own control (Wiersbe). The result is that the foolish man afflicts and annoys all people (v. 15) (Park Yun-sun). How absurd is this? King Solomon says that the foolish man does not even know how to go to a city (v. 15). In other words, the foolish man doesn’t know how to go to the city even though the road to the city is open to the public. Then how can say that he knows what will happen in the future? He pretends to know about the future and talk about it because he is not faithful to his own work in the present. Then why is it that the foolish man speaks so much about future as he knows it? What is his intention? His intention is to boast himself. Look at Proverbs 27:1 – “Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth.” But the foolish man boasts of himself as he knows everything about tomorrow. To him, this is what the Bible James 4:14-16 says: “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.’ But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.”
As I keep on meditating on the Book of Ecclesiastes, I can not help but admit that I am a fool. Therefore, when I pray to God, I confess my foolishness and seek God's wisdom. It is only our foolishness that we can boast. At the same, we should only boast God and his wisdom. Therefore, we must also confess, as the apostle Paul confessed in 1 Corinthians 1:25 – “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” We must seek God's wisdom. We should comfort and edify others instead of harming ourselves with our mouths. By doing so, we can be comforted and edified. Also, the beginning of our words should be wisdom, and the end should be wisdom as well. The words of our lips must become better and wiser. And we must control our lips (Prov. 19:19). And we must boast Jesus with our lips. We must preach the gospel of Jesus Christ with our lips. May God give us this kind of wise lips!