1 As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. 2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left. 3 Even as fools walk along the road, they lack sense and show everyone how stupid they are.
Solomon doesn’t mince words here. He calls out foolishness as stupidity. But he also shows us that foolishness can destroy a wise man. How? Like a fly in the ointment, a little foolishness has large consequences. We don’t have to look any further than our culture. There are many people who have achieved fame and fortune, who are undone by a series of foolish mistakes, or even undone by one. I recently saw a story about a NFL football coach who was well-respected. In one game, his team was losing, and as an opponent was running by him, he stuck out his knees and tripped him up. The move caused a minor foible in the field, did not affect the game, but had long-lasting implications for the coach. The game was well-televised, and upon countless replays it was obvious, by the commentators and spectators alike that the coach cheated. He copped to it, expressed shame and left his fate to the commissioner. He was banned for the rest of the season and never returned to the NFL. Small foolishness can have these devastating consequences to us.
In out Christian walk, we must be careful about our steps. The wise man leans towards God, where the fool doesn’t contemplate the consequences.
If a ruler’s anger rises against you, do not leave your post; calmness can lay great offenses to rest. 5 There is an evil I have seen under the sun, the sort of error that arises from a ruler: 6 Fools are put in many high positions, while the rich occupy the low ones. 7 I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves.
From the Under the Sun premise, this seems very negative. If a superior has something against you, Solomon’s answer is to simply stay there and take it. Ride out the storm. This adds to the oppressive nature of life. We can’t ever get out from under the oppression that life brings. We must endure fools above us.
In Solomon’s assessment, fools are often put in positions of authority over us. This is absolutely true in waking life, for we can all point to times in our life when we had to work for foolish people, when we quietly mulled over why such an idiot was given such a high position. In the UTS premise, this is a great injustice, an evil that can’t be reconciled. In the Christian perspective, of course, we understand that all authority is given by God, for his purposes. It is our job to submit to it, because opposition to it is to be in opposition to God’s plan.
Whoever digs a pit may fall into it; whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake. 9 Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them; whoever splits logs may be endangered by them. 10 If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill will bring success.
Foolishness isn’t something thrown on us. It isn’t something that we stumble upon. Foolishness is something we do to ourself. If we never dig the hole, how can we fall into it? If we aren’t quarrying rock, there is no chance rocks will fall on us, right? If we choose to be foolish, whatever that looks like, we will ultimately fall into the pit of our own making.
If we don’t indulge in foolishness, then we haven’t the chance of being injured by it.
If we are splitting logs with a dull axe, won’t it takes a long time to get through the log? A foolish person continues hitting the log with the dull ax, without thought of sharpening it. In other words, the foolish person doesn’t give thought to the future. Instead, he only looks at his present situation. The wise person will stop and sharpen the ax. He will use his present situation to improve his future.
If a snake bites before it is charmed, the charmer receives no fee. 12 Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious, but fools are consumed by their own lips. 13 At the beginning their words are folly; at the end they are wicked madness-- 14 and fools multiply words. No one knows what is coming-- who can tell someone else what will happen after them? 15 The toil of fools wearies them; they do not know the way to town.
Ever know someone who talks all the time? Whether we know someone, or am that person, Solomon expresses that someone who babbles relentlessly also expresses a type of foolishness. He says that talk that begins as folly can ultimately turn to wickedness. But how? How can idle talk turn to something evil? When it incites, slanders, gossips, or otherwise brings a conversation to a point of divisiveness, it becomes evil. In other words, a person may begin with a fun little diversion, but through a constant jabber ultimately creates hostility. He says this type of foolishness, like others, has no sense of direction. The talker simply talks himself into a form of evil.
Woe to the land whose king was a servant and whose princes feast in the morning. 17 Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth and whose princes eat at a proper time-- for strength and not for drunkenness. 18 Through laziness, the rafters sag; because of idle hands, the house leaks. 19 A feast is made for laughter, wine makes life merry, and money is the answer for everything. 20 Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird in the sky may carry your words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say.
If you have noticed, Solomon began this chapter with a fly in the ointment. In this final passage, he discusses how foolishness can destroy a nation. It isn’t only our small, seemingly inconsequential foolishness, but a systemic problem that has deep and far-reaching implications.
Foolishness can corrupt a nation. When he talks about a king of noble birth verses a servant, what he is saying is this: the one who isn’t fit to lead will drive the kingdom to ruin, whereas the one who is fit to lead (the noble) will bring the country into success. A nation needs a strong and mature leader, one who is fit to lead, or the land suffers. Our very foolishness can corrupt the entire land, a vast amount of people, based on our level of foolish behavior.
But that isn’t the only corruption. Our motives matter. Those who rule for strength and not for drunkeness (v. 17). The motivation must be to make the country stronger, not for our own personal pleasure or ego.
Laziness can also bring a country down. If a leader is not devoted to leading his country with a strong and moral hand, then the rafters will sag (v.18). Laziness is another type of foolishness.
The corrupt leader, bent on his own personal agenda, drunk on his power and prestige, does not rule with a hand devoted to his people. It is for his own personal glory. Therefore, verse 18 tells us the heart of the corrupt leader, one who is obsessed with his own pleasure, who is ruling through a misguided love for money and power. Foolishness. A cause for ruin.
Foolishness is rooted in disobedience. The dictionary calls it “a lack of good sense or judgement.” A biblical definition would be “The misuse of intelligence given by God.”
The bible doesn’t deal with foolishness lightly. If you remember the Parable of the Rich Fool Luke 12), the rich fool is an old man who is already rich but received a new windfall. He has the opportunity to share it, but instead stores it for himself. God himself calls the man a fool. It is a lifestyle choice he has made to be foolish with his resources.
In the same sense, foolishness can be associated with some actions:
Our ability to accept correction is key. This is how we combat the foolish nature we are plagued with in our youth. If we are willing to accept correction, then we have a chance at combatting foolishness in our life.
But why is it important to combat foolishness? Because being a fool, creating a foolish lifestyle for ourselves, will eventually ruin us.”
Is foolishness a sin? Well, if sin is disobedience to God in some way, if it is truly us saying “I don’t want to do it your way, I want to do it mine,” and that practice creates a lifestyle for us that is obvious, then it is opposition to God’s law, it is lawlessness, and therefore sinful.