The Bible Study Podcast, episode 488. Today, the Bible Study podcast continues the study of the book

of Proverbs with chapter 26. Welcome to the Bible Study podcast. I'm your host, Chris Christensen.

We have more proverbs today. We have 28 more Proverbs, and I don't want to give anything away, but one of them has to do with flaming arrows of death. Proverbs 26 goes like this. Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, honor is not fitting for a fool. I believe that's saying that we shouldn't

be honoring fools, something for us to remember. It does raise the question of what is it we value in

people. We certainly are a society which overvalues celebrity. We had a situation the other day

where I was listening as people were

lamenting all of the great musicians and artists who had died in 2016. Well, one of the

people who died relatively recently with almost no notice was the doctor who was largely

responsible for eradicating polio.

Now, I ask you, you can pick your favorite celebrity or entertainer who died in 2016.

Did they have a bigger impact on us than that person?

Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest. An undeserved curse, we shouldn't be cursing people who don't deserve it. You know, the easiest way to do that. Just don't be cursing

people at all. A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools.

The writer of Proverbs is not fond of fools, and discipline is what they need.

And that's really what a whip or a bridle are talking about is, what do you use to control

the animal?

Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him.

Don't wrestle with pigs. You'll just get dirty, and the pigs will

like it. That one is not from the book of Proverbs, but it is another proverb of a similar kind.

Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes. Now, hang on a second here.

Verse four says, do not answer a fool according to his

folly. And verse five says, answer a fool according to his folly. I'm a little confused what we're

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