Book of Proverbs
Lesson 9
Part 1
How are You Doing at Overcoming the Distracted Life Today?
Today, each of us live in a very distracted world. All around us are distracted people.
We all have distracted minds, distracted families, and that leads to distracted lives.
What happens with distraction is, it leads to aimlessness, uselessness, hopelessness, and
powerlessness. Even for believers. Each day we battle distraction sent by Satan, to keep
us off course. Distraction often means we know so much more biblical truth than we take
time to act upon in our spiritual lives. So, this lesson, this class is a serious call
for every one of us as believers to start overcoming the distracted life.
Welcome class nine, as we’re going through Proverbs.
I always have to remind you that this is actually a course about living life God’s way.
We’re exploring the book of Proverbs.
We want to look at how God defines foolishness. So, take your Bibles with me
and let’s go to Proverbs 1:7
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
In Proverbs chapter 1,
the book opens with probably the simplest statement about what God expects from us. This is
“the fear of the LORD.” Now pause. What’s fear of the Lord? Remember we covered that eight classes
ago. The fear of the Lord is that God are watching me now. That’s resonated through all the
other eight classes we’ve done. The distracted life especially forgets. They’re distracted from the
fact, God is watching. When God is watching, see what chapter 1 verse 7 says? “The fear of the LORD,”
I know God’s watching, “is the beginning of knowledge.” That’s me experiencing the things of God.
“But fools,” we go back to the old fools, “despise wisdom and instruction.” Fools, Proverbs 1:7, live
a life distracted from the plan of God.
So, how does God define foolishness? What we see is God’s word, and this is going
to be a fun lesson, tells us there are four types of fools.
Number one, there is the simple fool.
Number two, there is the silly fool.
Now listen. I’m going to give you a little Hebrew word lesson. When you study the biblical languages,
you find out that the majority of the Bible, the Old Testament, was written in Hebrew. Now there’s a little
bit of Ugaritic in there and a little bit of Aramaic. Do you remember when Nebuchadnezzar wrote a little
part of the Bible, it says in chapter 4 of Daniel. The rest of it is written in biblical Hebrew. Then the
New Testament is in Koine Greek. So, when you talk about the Old Testament, you talk about Hebrew. When
you talk about the New Testament, you talk about Greek. We are reading the Bible in our native language,
our mother tongue, our heart language, which for me is English. So, look at this, when I read Proverbs 1:7,
and see the word fool or foolishness, that is an English word in the Bible, you will see over and over.
Exactly 42 times you’ll see the word fool. But guess what? That one English word, see that’s the same
English word fool, did you know there are four different Hebrew words translated by one English word?
So, the Bible translators are confronted with, approximately if you want to know the total in the Old and
New Testament together, there are approximately 12,000 different Greek and Hebrew words that are reduced
to 6,000 different English words. So, that’s why, if you’ve ever heard of someone doing a Bible word study
it’s because they’re looking behind the English word to find the Hebrew word. That was just a short Hebrew
lesson, which is part of the blessings of the ministry. That’s why pastors and teachers are supposed to
“study to show themselves approved unto God, a skilled Workman that doesn’t need to be ashamed, rightly
dividing the word of God.” What does that mean? Doing the work it takes, to see any added meaning that comes
by doing word studies. Going back to the original inspired word in Hebrew or in Greek and see if there’s
any lesson.
There are four lessons, we’re doing a Bible word study. Here’s four lessons on what God says we can learn
about fools. Number one, there are simple fools. There is a different word, this has…
Pei Taw Hei, is the Hebrew word for simple.
Eviyl-Silly is evîl.
Rebellious is kesîl.
Hardened is nabal.
Now, any of you that have been a long time in the Bible, you’ve probably heard of Nabal the fool. Remember,
Abigail was married to Nabal and Nabal was a fool. He riled up David and remember all that. Actually, nabal
was a Hebrew word that meant fool.
Let’s do this quick study and I’m going to read to you on these four types of fools.
The first one, the Pei Taw Hei is a simple fool. That’s basically what we see in the book of Proverbs chapter 7.
Look at verses 6&7. This is a description of what we would call a distracted person. They’re very foolish in
this sense. It’s chapter 7, starting in verse 6.
6 For at the window of my house I looked through my casement,
7 And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,
“For at the window of my house I looked through my lattice, and saw among the simple,
I perceived among the youths, a young man devoid of understanding.” What’s this talking about? The simple,
the word simple is Pei Taw Hei. Sometimes it’s as, simple. Sometimes as translated, fool. Basically, the best way
to portray this word in Hebrew is, if you’ve ever gone into someone’s house and they have these swinging doors
like on Gunsmoke or any Western. You know the saloon, when you walk through there’s a door that when you walk
through it opens, but it swings shut behind you. And if you back up it opens again. It just swings. In whichever
direction is being pushed, is the direction that it goes. That’s what a simple fool is. Listen to this, the
root word from which Pei Taw Hei or simple as derived, implies extreme vulnerability. Literally meaning to be opened
up. This simple fool opens his mind to any thought that goes by, opens his arm to any stranger. In other words,
he lacks discernment. He has an over-simplified view of life and fails to recognize the cause and effect sequences
that affect every area of life.
So, do you know what one of the big dangers about getting distracted is? Going with the flow. Everybody else is
doing it. Like right now, progress seems to be a god in our world. At a recent technology conference, the speaker
said, if there’s something that is easy to understand and is simple, it’s old. But if there’s something that’s
new and exciting, it’s technology. The idea is that the world is longing after more and more and more technology
that men can produce rather than the old stuff that the world used to have. It’s almost like we’re moving beyond
God and a lot of people are embracing that like a simple fool and going along with it; thinking that the world is
getting better and better and better. The world is not getting better and better and better. The world has got
faster computers, the world has higher processing power, but the world is still filled with lost people who are
rebellious and proud and living for now in foolishness and headed to destruction. God says that the world will
never get better until you get saved. Submit to God. Humbly come before Him. Live for eternity, with His wisdom
and get on the narrow way. The simple fool of Proverbs 7.
Next there’s the silly fool, and that’s a different word. Let’s go to Proverbs 1:7, in
fact where we started, and this will forever change this verse to you. Proverbs 1:7.
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
It says that “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools…” now look, this is a different
Hebrew word, it’s not Pei Taw Hei. It’s Eviyl-Silly is evîl. What it means is silly. Let me read the definition. The Hebrew word
that refers to a silly fool is evîl. Its definition in Hebrew is to be perverse, to be silly. The mouth of a silly
fool often gets him in trouble, but what is his real problem? It’s in verse 7, he despises wisdom and instruction.
He’s silly because he’s devoid of God’s wisdom. He’s silly and perverse actually, because he doesn’t want to know
the Lord.
The four types of fools, the simple fool, we saw him, the Pei Taw Hei. The silly fool, the Eviyl-Silly is evîl.
Now the third type is the rebellious fool. Rebellious is kesîl.
The fourth type is the hardened fool. Hardened is nabal.
Proverbs 10:23 tells us.
“It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom.”
If you want to turn there with me, Proverbs 10:23 introduce us to the third of these fools. He’s the rebellious fool.
Hebrew word, kesîl, and 10:23 describes him. It says, “to do evil is like sport to an ‘evîl”? No, kesîl. See, it’s a
different Hebrew word. He’s not silly. He’s rebellious, he’s malicious, it’s like sport this new word kesîl. It’s
“like sport to a fool, but a man of understanding has wisdom.” Basically, one who rejects the correction of their
parents or other authorities will become this rebellious fool. This type of fool is identified in scripture with the
Hebrew word kesîl.
It means fat, stupid, or silly. The word denotes a person who seems determined to make the wrong choices. See, it’s
like sport, they have fun doing what’s evil. We call them foolish, foolhardy. They’re always going against the rules.
They don’t have a mental deficiency, but rather a spiritual deficiency. What is that? They reject God. That’s what
this rebellious fool is, he rejects. There are two choices for a person. Save people are submissive,
lost people are rebellious. This fool is rebellious. He is one who rejects God.
Then there’s a hardened fool. The hardened fool is the most dangerous type of fool. He’s steadfast as a fool. Nabal
which means stupid or wicked identifies the type of person. By the way, everywhere else in the Old Testament, this
word is translated as vile. This is a person who has totally rejected God and His way. It says in Psalm 14:1,
“(To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.) The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt,
they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.”
Which this word by the way doesn’t occur, the hardened fool Nabal but in Psalm 14:1,
it says, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ ” This fool says, ” ‘there is no God.’ They are corrupt.
They have done abominable works, and there is none who does good.” Now you start to recognize this is the wording Paul
uses in Romans 3, when he describes our depravity, our fallenness, all of us are headed toward becoming this hardened
fool if we say no to God. If we reject His truth long enough, we become this hardened fool.
The four types of fool: the simple fool, the silly fool, the rebellious fool, the hardened fool.
What happens when we start rejecting foolishness and embrace God’s truth?
Part 2 next.
God Bless
“Only one life to live and soon is past
Only what’s done for Christ will last!”
Hoping to make the time I have left count for the glory of God.
Book of Proverbs Lesson 9 Part 1