As snow in summer, and rain in harvest, so honour is not seemly for a fool.
- Proverbs 26:1
Why is honour not seemly for a fool?
Dignity comes with honour, but how much dignity should be given to someone who denies something so obvious as the creation of the world and all that is therein?
Honour is given to fools more often than we realise. In every country, we often see ungodly and deceptive politicians given the highest position in the land. We have to endure debauched rock stars being knighted, with the title of Sir, when there are so many worthy people overlooked; and we see godless people running our universities.
Some universities were started by Christian philanthropists, but are now fruitless and hollow organisations devoted to fighting God and anyone who believes in him. Quite a twist, isn't it? Because of these people, today's world is full of fools and their folly, and the rest of us have to deal with it. Facebook is rife with their posts and ‘likes’ as they deny the existence of God en masse.
Our scripture identifies the issues of getting snow in summer and rain in harvest. Harvest is a time of working hard to get crops off. The last thing you need is rain which perishes the fruit and slows down the workers. All this adds a loss, so people on the land just want the seasons when they are due.
We would never think of it snowing in summer let alone expecting to see it. It just wouldn't enter our heads. Honour going to a fool should be the same, but, sadly, we expect it, and even vote for them. Instead we should be in shock and amazement, and wonder who created this injustice.
Psalm 14:1 says, “the fool in his heart says there is no God.” These people could be sitting with you in Church; who praise God with their lips but their heart is far from him (Matthew 15:8).
In this context, there are two types of fool. The genuine and the guile-ridden. One comes out and says there is no God, while the other is scared to come out of the closet and voice his/her opinion.
The Lord is not condemning those who have not been told about God and given the chance to believe. He is condemning the person who has had every opportunity, reading of written archaeological and other facts, heard testimonies, but still, through wilful ignorance, refuses to believe. David Attenborough and Christopher Hitchens are in this category, but while there is life in them there is hope for them.
Proverbs 26:3 puts the fool in the same category as the horse and ass, and how they should be managed. “A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fools back.”
We don't suffer horses or asses in positions of power, do we? So why the fool?
Scripture implies that this type of fool cannot be reckoned with using words. As the horse and the ass are directed by the whip and the bridle, so the fool, deep down, only understands the rod. We think that is a bit brutish, but when we see what fools have achieved against God in the past few years when given authority and influence, we see why we mustn't give them that honour in the first place.
Regarding God, the world’s designer, let’s look at the numeric design of wildflowers: The basic number of the daffodil is 3, the Boronia is 4, the buttercup and Eriostemon 5. That is, if there are 4 sepals, there will be 4 petals, and 4, 8, 12, or 16 stamens. The stigma will usually be divided accordingly. The cell of every living thing has its fixed number of chromosomes, which locks the species and compel them to obey the injunction of Genesis 1, “…after its kind.” (from the book, The Seal of God)
We have large machines for mass production today, yet the Maker of this world designed mass production at the beginning.
There are so many designs in the make-up of this world that cannot be denied, and only a fool would try!
Today’s prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for your designs which are overwhelmingly evidential. Please help me to see and study more of your precious creation, and be overwhelmed by it.
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