Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool,
Proverbs 10:23 [ESV]
but wisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding.
Proverbs chapter ten begins a large section of Proverbs that uses contrasts and comparisons to state and define biblical truth; mostly about one’s character which shines through in words and actions. Specifically, in chapter ten, Solomon contrasts a wise and righteous person with a wicked, evil and foolish person. These contrasts are about what drives a person, what defines them, what motivates them. Solomon is defining these vastly different people at the deepest level; defining them by who they are inside, not just by what appears to be true about them on the outside.
In thinking about a fool, Solomon is not describing a person who has a foolish thought now and then or who allows that foolish thought to become words or actions once in a while. Everyone, everywhere has been foolish a few times in their life; hopefully mostly in one’s childhood where correction is most valuable. And though we are to guard against foolishness in our thoughts, where foolishness begins, that is not the focus of Solomon in Proverbs when he discusses a fool.
Solomon is writing about the person who is, deep inside, a fool! And it is serious business in God’s eyes. In fact, fool’s heart is coupled with the heart of the wicked and evil person as we read in this chapter. So, what are the innate traits of the fool, wicked, perverse person found in Proverbs 10?
v.1>Foolish son is sorrow to parents.
v.2,16>Gains of the wicked do not profit.
v.3>God ruins the desires of wicked
v.4,5>Laziness brings shame and poverty
v.6,11>The wicked conceal violence
v.7>Name of the wicked will rot.
v.8,10,14>Babbling fool will come to ruin.
v.9>A crooked life will be found out.
v.12>The hater stirs up strife.
v.13,17>A fool cannot be corrected.
v.18>Fools spread lies and slander
v.19,20>Fools many words have little worth
v.21,27>Fools lack sense and it leads to their end.
v.23>Fools think doing wrong is funny.
v.24,25,28,29>What the wicked dread will actually happen.
v.26>Lazy people cannot be trusted.
v.31>The perverse tongue will be cut off.
v.32>Mouth of the wicked is perverse.
Look at this list again! Just one chapter! One! Basically, God is describing a person who is trying to make a life for himself without any consideration of God and His holiness. The fool, the wicked, the perverse (adulterous), kick God out of their lives and reap what they sow. This list is a very accurate synopsis of our world today. We see these thoughts, these words, these actions all around us in these chaotic and godless days.
Nothing new under the sun, though! As we have seen in all these months of searching Proverbs together. Let’s listen to Jesus on this matter.
Mark 8:34-38 [NLT]
…He said, ‘If any of you want to be My follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross and follow Me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for My sake and for the sake of the Good News you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous [foolish, chaotic] and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when He returns in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.’ [Mine]
31 Days in Proverbs 