The Characteristics of a Fool (day 1) Ecclesiastes 10:11-20

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You can tell a fool because he loves to talk, and he believes that the talk is the key of his life. Not his work, but his talk. And so that fool is often known simply by what he says and how he says it to people.

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This is Hope for Today, the Bible teaching ministry of David Hawking. Solomon draws a sharp contrast with words. The wise speak in a way that gives grace. The fool, on the other hand, the fool speaks and trouble follows. There’s a certain beauty when a believer speaks with the gentleness of Christ. It changes the temperature of a room. It strengthens relationships. It protects joy. It makes our testimony stronger. But when the tongue is unchecked, damage ensues, damage spreads quickly. Today, we’re bringing you day one of David’s message, The Characteristics of a Fool, found in Ecclesiastes chapter 10, verses 11 through 20. And we’ll be in the Word in just a moment. First, we want to tell you about a free resource that can help you grow. This is a book called Food for Faith, and it’s written by Hope for Today friend Richard A. Bennett, and we have this available as a free download from our homepage, and it’s in multiple languages. Simply hearing God’s Word, that’s not the end of the process. For maximum benefit, spiritual food must be, well, appreciated, appropriated, and taken in, assimilated. Dr. Bennett clearly explains how that happens, how truth takes root and begins to shape the way we live. If you want God’s Word to go deeper than, well, Sunday, this book will help. Download your free copy of Food for Faith from the homepage of davidhawking.org. Well, let’s get into Ecclesiastes chapter 10 now. Again, we’re focusing on verses 11 through 20 for day one of David’s message, The Characteristics of a Fool.

SPEAKER 03 : 2:30

Take your Bibles and turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 10. Follow along in your Bibles as I read. A serpent may bite when it’s not charmed. The babbler is no different. The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool shall swallow him up. The words of his mouth begin with foolishness, and the end of his talk is raving madness. A fool also multiplies words. No man knows what it is to be. Who can tell him what will be after him? The labor of fools wearies them, for they do not even know how to go to the city. Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child and your princes feast in the morning. Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobles and your priests feast at the proper time for strength and not for drunkenness. Because of laziness, the building decays. And through idleness of hands, the house leaks. A feast is made for laughter. Wine makes merry, but money answers everything. Do not curse the king, even in your thought. Do not curse the rich, even in your bedroom. For a bird of the air may carry your voice, and a bird in flight may tell the matter. Let’s look to the Lord in a moment of prayer and ask his direction as we study his word today. Let’s pray. Father, I thank you so much for the Bible. The fact that we can know as we open it, it’s a reliable and accurate account, not only of history, but of who you are and what you can do in our lives. I pray, God, that you teach us today the world is filled with foolishness, folly, people acting like the fools you’ve talked about in the Bible. God, help us to understand the danger of this for our own lives. Teach us, Lord, to hunger for your wisdom, to know you. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen. The Bible has a lot to say about fools. You know that, and I know that, and most of it’s in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Just giving a quick rundown, the Bible says in Proverbs 1-7 that fools despise wisdom and instruction. In verse 22 of that chapter, it says they hate knowledge. The Bible says that the complacency of fools will destroy them and that the shame of our lives is the legacy of fools. It says whoever spreads slander is a fool. Fools die for lack of wisdom. The fool will be servant to those who are wise of heart. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes. It’s an abomination to fools to depart from evil. And fools mock at sin, and our list could go on and on. The Bible has a lot to say about fools. But in this passage, I believe there are just three major issues. The characteristics of a fool. Let me give them to you ahead of time so you can follow along in your Bible. In verses 11 to 15, in that little series there, which obviously is dealing with the mouth and words, We learned that a fool is not controlled in what he says. That’s how you can tell a fool. A fool is not controlled in what he says. Then in verse 16, down to verse 19, where he talks about the danger of having improper timing and improper motives and reasons for leadership, we learn that a fool is not concerned about priorities and responsibilities. That’s a way to tell a fool. He has no concern for priorities and responsibilities. And he fits well in this age, the age of the self, because that’s all he’s living for. And then the third and final thing is in verse 20. And that is that a fool is not careful about possible consequences for his thoughts, his words, and his deeds. And we have a couple interesting little proverbs there to bring that out. That a fool’s not careful… about possible consequences for his thoughts, words, and deeds, which really characterizes our society today. We don’t really care much for hearing about consequences and our accountability to God, which is what Ecclesiastes basically is about. The whole conclusion of the book is to fear God. We ought to have a sense of accountability to God who knows our hearts and all things are naked and open under the eyes of him with whom we have to deal. So let’s come back to that first little characteristic of a fool, verses 15, 11 to 15. And that is that a fool is not controlled in what he says. The character of one’s talk, in my opinion, is the acid test of wisdom. The Bible seems to teach that over and over again in Proverbs. It tells us that excellent speech is not becoming to a fool. It tells us that the mouth of the foolish, everything he says is near destruction. Right close to everything a fool says is destruction, shame, disappointment, defeat. It’s all there. And the mouth of a fool reveals many, many things. There are two ways, really, that I see that a fool is not controlled in what he says. One is by the nature of what he says, the nature of his words. But secondly is by the number of his words, both of which are in this passage. You can tell a fool by what he says, the nature of it, and by how much he says, the number of his words. Now let’s look first of all at the nature of his words. In verses 11 to 13, it tells us three things about how a fool talks. One, he reacts like a snake. Not too pleasant, but that’s exactly what the passage is saying. Verse 11. A serpent, a snake may bite when it’s not charmed. The babbler, another word for the fool, is no different. No different than a snake. If you don’t charm him, he’s going to bite you. He reacts like a snake, a fool. Secondly, in verse 12, we learn that he responds without kindness. The words of a man’s mouth who is wise, the Bible says, is gracious. It is kind. It is characterized by the grace of God. But the fool, not so. The lips of a fool will swallow him up. He is not kind. And that which he says is also going to hurt himself. So he reacts like a snake, verse 11. He responds without kindness, verse 12. And in verse 13, we learn that he raves like a madman. You can tell a fool by the way he loses control. He raves like a madman. It says the words of his mouth begin with foolishness and the end of his talk is raving madness. Now let’s back up and take a look at that. A man is a fool according to the Bible by what he says as well as how much he says. And what he says is like often a snake in comparison. He reacts to people just like a snake. If you charm him, give him strokes, let him know how wonderful he is, then everything’s okay. But if you don’t, then he will bite you. He will react by it. That’s a fool. A fool is one who cares little about the damage that his words will do to people’s lives. And by some of the choice words that we give to people, we can damage them for lots of years. You can hurt people faster than anything else, I believe, verbally rather than physically. You can tear into their soul. You can damage their self-worth and sense of dignity before God. And you can really work hard to destroy them simply by what you say. And a lot of times we say things without thinking and they hurt. Ask yourself, did somebody last week say something to you that hurt you? Now, if you went through a whole week and no one said anything, one, you never talked to anybody, or two, it’s a miracle. Because people say all kinds of things, and we almost learn to not wear our hearts on our sleeves. We learn to be tough-skinned so that we can take it because of what people are saying. And some of those things we say, well, they didn’t mean what they say, and just forget it. But it’s a tragedy the way we talk. God doesn’t just excuse this and wink at it and say, hey, don’t worry about it. God emphasizes over and over again, especially in the book of Proverbs, the danger of what we say out of our mouths. Reacting like a snake. Turn to Psalm 52. When the Bible says that the fool is like a babbler, a babbler in Hebrew simply means master of the tongue or lord of the tongue. And it’s a very interesting point there. It’s a play on the situation. You can tell a fool because he loves to talk. And he believes that the talk is the key of his life. Not his work, but his talk. And so that fool is often known simply by what he says and how he says it to people. And God calls him a babbler, a lord of the tongue. Not because he is a master, but it’s a play on the word. He thinks that he’s a master of the tongue. Interestingly, that’s also the same Hebrew term that is used in the Old Testament for the false prophets. who also by their words are twisting and perverting people and changing their minds from the ways of God and trying to get them to follow the world and false idols. And God calls them babblers. They think they’re masters of the tongue. They use their tongue for deceit and manipulation of people. Interesting, isn’t it? In Psalm 52, we read in verse 1, Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man? The goodness of God endures continually. Your tongue devises destruction like a sharp razor working deceitfully. You love evil more than good and lying rather than speaking righteousness. You love all devouring words, you deceitful tongue. And you can read that and you say, isn’t it terrible what some people do? Or you can read that and say, man, I’ve got a problem. You see, one of the fallacies that we all have is that we don’t understand what God says about the nature of our tongue. We might hear it from time to time, but it isn’t constantly on our minds. So we’re often pouring out words we wish we never had said. But we don’t realize how dangerous is our tongue, how dangerous is our mouth. You may start to say something really sweet, and James says what happens is that out of the same fountain comes something really bitter. You wanted to be kind, and all of a sudden, you become bitter. We all have a need to be controlled, and a fool is not controlled. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is self-control. A fool has none of that. He’s following evil, and as a result, he says things constantly that hurt people and bite them like snakes. What hope is there that we ever say to people what we ought to say? And I think it only demonstrates, again, our tremendous need of a sense of accountability to God and a dependency upon the power of the Holy Spirit to control what we say, because we can react like a snake just like that. I’ve seen many marriages that are really struggling simply because of a lack of communication. And a person tries to start to say something nice, and before they get very far, all of a sudden they’re biting like a snake. What causes us to do that is that God’s Word teaches that we all have the fool’s heart. We all have the tendency to speak like a fool and to rip people apart. God helped us to find the sweetness of His Spirit, controlling our lives, helping us, thinking first, asking for God’s help first, seeking to depend upon the Spirit first, rather than assuming that we can always talk the way it should be done. Not so. I want you to turn to Psalm 58. There is nothing as practical as discussing the way we talk. And most people don’t spend much time improving how they talk. We all believe that we can pretty well handle it. It’s like when somebody tells you that the way you’re saying this is not good. There’s an immediate arrogance. You know, who are you to tell me how to speak? Or if somebody says that the word that you just used is not found in the English language. Well, I’ll make it up then. The attitude of the heart doesn’t like to hear that the way we are talking is not good. I had an interesting situation just a couple of months ago. I was talking with this couple. We were just in the hallway, and they were discussing their problem of communication. And it was interesting to me the way they talked to each other. Now, when they turned and talked to me, they were just very kind. And very sweet. But when they turned and talked to each other, there was a certain tone, tonal change. Do you know what I mean? You probably don’t, but married couples in other states do. But anyway, you know, there’s just a tonal change. You know, they looked at each other, and all of a sudden, they’re tearing each other down. They don’t even know it. And I asked them, I said, why do you talk like that? They said, like what? I said, like you talk to each other. Well, isn’t that what everybody… I said, you don’t talk to me that way. And it was just really cute. The guy said, hey, I’m not married to you. You know, the insinuation is to strangers is somebody we really don’t know that we sort of put on a little bit. But boy, to our marital partners, we can just say anything we want to say. Are you kidding? Look, our tongues are not controllable according to God in and of ourselves. We can’t control them. We start talking, we think we’re going to be okay, and all of a sudden, you don’t realize what you say. Half the time when I’m preaching, I’m not really sure what I’m saying. That’s why I need lots of brains. You know what I mean? Notes. I’ve got to follow them. Why? I’m not sure what I’m saying. One service, I knew people were laughing, and I didn’t know why they were laughing, and I couldn’t figure it out during the whole service. And afterwards, my wife came up. She says, you know what you’ve been saying? I was preaching on angels, okay? And I was trying to say, and I’m probably going to blow it now, but I’m trying to say angelic beings, you know, persons, angelic beings. The trouble is I got it mixed up. It kept coming out jelly beans. Now, I’m serious as all get out, man. I’m preaching away, but all they can hear is jelly beans. You know, half the time we don’t know what we have said. That’s why tapes are so embarrassing. You play back the tape and say, did I say that? I don’t believe I said that. Well, there it is in the tape. Well, somebody altered the tape. I mean, you’d do anything to explain it away. We don’t know half the time what we’re saying. That’s why it’s so dangerous. A fool. You see, he approaches life from a slant that’s away from God. He doesn’t need God to control his language. And all that wickedness and sin that’s in his heart that Proverbs talks about, his desire to do what he wants to do, his self-centered, self-confident, arrogant way, that’s beginning to affect because out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, said Jesus, and that’s affecting how he talks. And so he reacts like a snake. In Psalm 58, verse 3, it says, Isn’t that interesting? Perhaps that passage alone is a part of what Solomon is writing about in Ecclesiastes. Let’s look back there again. Ecclesiastes 12, verse 11. That a serpent, a snake, may bite when it’s not charmed. Foolish people who have wicked, sinful, arrogant, self-confident hearts have to be constantly stroked in order to have decent language come out of their mouth. Isn’t that a tragedy? And how true that is in life. And a lot of people feel they’re walking on just a dangerous ground and trying to deal with those kind of people. They’re just like walking on eggshells. They’ve got to be so careful not to offend them so that they don’t get the verbal abuse from them. Parents and children can feel that way towards each other and so can husbands and wives and so can we in business relationships. He not only reacts like a snake, but the Bible says that he responds without kindness. Verse 12 tells us that a wise man’s mouth is gracious, but the lips of a fool swallow him up. Or as Proverbs 12, 13 says, the wicked is ensnared by the transgression of his own lips.

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It’s Bible teacher and author David Hawking, and this is Hope for Today. David’s back in a few moments to close out today’s study time. But first, Matt and I have a powerful resource, and this is really special. Matt? A real boost during our school days is prepared study notes. Before a vital lecture or a test, the teacher or professor hands out an outline with key points, supplemental information, definitions, and illustrations. Matt, there was a sigh of relief in the classroom when they passed these out. They guide you along and they keep you on track in class and recalling the essential information. Study notes are like a roadmap capturing the beginning, end, and everything in between, right? Yeah. including insights you might otherwise miss. And this is exactly why Hope for Today, Matt, has published the original sermon outline study notes for dozens of David Hawking’s Bible teaching series. You know, and this month we are offering a fantastic resource offer bundle. Matt, this is wonderful. We’re bundling together all of the study note packs for your dad’s Old Testament teaching series. And how many message series are there in this pack? 39 sermon note packs. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. How about the challenging book on pain, suffering, and God’s will? Job? Prophecy books? All the Old Testament prophecy books? Yep, they’re all covered. And even more. Again, these are your dad’s original sermon notes and outlines that he used to preach the messages for all 39 Old Testament message series that we have in our catalog. These are the sermon notes for those as a package bundled together, and it’s yours for just $75. Order and download today on our website. Or call to purchase and we’ll send them to you on a PDF CD. To receive this special resource bundle, again, David’s sermon notes for all of his series in the Old Testament, call us at 800-75-BIBLE. That’s in the U.S., 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. Bible by the numbers 242. You can also make the purchase and download it, get it right away at DavidHawking.org. That’s DavidHawking.org. And while you’re there, be sure to check out all the other Bible study resources available to you, again, at DavidHawking.org. And just before David comes back, you know, truth doesn’t stay on the air forever. The clear, uncompromised teaching of God’s Word continues because believers decide it’s worth defending, supporting, and worth sending out into a confused world. And it is confused, isn’t it? We’re not selling hype. We’re not chasing trends. We’re teaching the Bible line by line. And that takes commitment from people who believe it still matters. If this broadcast has sharpened you, corrected you, or strengthened your walk with Christ, then prayerfully consider standing with us in a tangible way. A one-time gift or a regular monthly partnership, whatever God places on your heart and enables you to do. In the United States, you can send a gift by mail to Hope for Today, Box 3927, Tustin, California, 92781. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011, RPO, Seven Oaks, Abbotsford, BC, V2S, 8P1. Or make a donation by phone at 1-800-75-BIBLE in the U.S., 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. Bible is 24253. And many folks like to give online. You can do that at davidhawking.org. If the Word of God matters to you, help us keep it going forward. And as promised, here’s David with his closing remarks.

SPEAKER 02 : 23:34

I know that the Lord told us not to call anybody a fool. But, you know, the Bible certainly does. The Bible says that a fool says it in his heart, there is no God. Actually, the words there is is not in the Hebrew text. What it says in Psalm 14, and it’s also quoted later in Psalms, the fool has said in his heart, no God. In other words, he’s rebellious. He doesn’t want God in his life. God describes him as a fool. Now, the characteristics of a fool are being listed here from verse 11 in chapter 10 of Ecclesiastes down to the end. And we need to understand verse 12 says, “…the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.” I mean… That’s an incredible graphic statement. And the next verse, the beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness. The end of his talk is mischievous madness. That’s incredible. And you know, sometimes I—evaluating all the talk and words, both on the Internet and on television talk programs and radio talk programs— you kind of realize we’re listening to a bunch of foolishness, how we need to hear the wisdom of God’s Word. Folks, wisdom comes from God. And in Proverbs, if you really want to lay out for your own life what wisdom is and what it is not, then study the book of Proverbs. In fact, it contrasts all the way through the book the way of the righteous and the way of the godly, the way of the wise with the way of the fool. And the fool thinks he’s right in his own eyes. Well, the one who’s right is God, and we need to follow his word with all of our hearts. God bless you. Plan to be with us for each of these studies.

SPEAKER 01 : 25:42

Well, thank you, David. On our next broadcast, we continue in Ecclesiastes chapter 10 and press further into the characteristics of a fool. Solomon doesn’t just describe foolish words. He shows us the damage they cause, the instability they create, and the cost when leaders lack wisdom. It’s direct, it’s searching, and it calls all of us to examine our own hearts. Join us next time on Hope for Today.