“A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims folly.”
--Proverbs 12:23 NASB1995
“The mind of the intelligent seeks knowledge, but the mouth of fools feeds on folly.”
--Proverbs 15:14 NASB1995
“The crown of the wise is their riches, but the folly of fools is foolishness.”
--Proverbs 14:24 NASB1995
The heart of fools proclaims folly, the mouth of fools feeds on folly, and the folly of fools is foolishness. What does all this mean? Isn't a fool foolish by definition? If so, then aren’t those statements repetitive, redundant, or obvious? What further insight might we gain through such proverbs?
The ancient queen Jezebel was torn apart and eaten by dogs. How might the proverb "the mouth of fools feeds on folly" apply here? Fools feed on folly, just as the dogs fed on Jezebel. What do dogs and the queen Jezebel represent throughout the ancient writings? Could it be that dogs represent fools and that Jezebel can represent what folly looks like? If so, then as the dogs fed on the flesh of Jezebel, so also do [the mouths of] fools feed on folly? For more information on both dogs and Jezebel in the ancient writings, see the blog post “Dog.”
What does that woman Jezebel and Folly have in common? Proverbs chapter 9 personifies Folly as a woman. This woman is loud, boisterous, and seductive. Jezebel may sometimes manifest this personality, such as the time that she sent an intimidating message to the prophet Elijah with death threats because of what he did to the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18. The description of the woman Folly in Proverbs 9:13-18 has many parallels to the personality of Jezebel.
Just as Folly encouraged simple people to pursue instant gratification through stolen water or bread, so also did Jezebel incite the people of Israel to find their pleasure, satisfaction, comfort, meaning, and identity through the use of recreational drugs (or “sorcery”), unrestrained sexual practice with anybody outside the safety net of God’s marital parameters, and other forms of “lawlessness.” These were aspects of the Baal worship that she was raised with while being groomed as a high priestess of her father’s gods. To this very day, although such practices promise short-term gratification, in the end they lead to health problems, relational problems, incredible stress, depression, and premature death.
Filling the engine of our cars with a mixture of gasoline and sawdust may give our empty tanks temporary power to keep moving forward, but long-term they will wreak havoc on our engines or auto-bodies. In the same way, “sowing to please the sinful nature” can give us a sense of temporary pleasure or release stress, but long-term such toxic mindsets, attitudes, behaviors, habits, and lifestyles can wear our bodies down with sickness, grief, more stress, and premature death.
However, Jezebel may not always appear as “loud” or “boisterous.” At other times, Jezebel can come across as very quiet, pious, spiritual, and reverent. This is precisely what happened in the case of Naboth. Jezebel declared a fast, appearing to be a very humble, pious, spiritual, and godly woman. Yet behind the scenes, Jezebel was up to no good. To use a modern illustration for how somebody with a personality like Jezebel might act, she was sending "emails and text messages" that sowed subtle seeds of gossip, slander, accusation, and discord among the people of God within her sphere of influence.
Read the actual biblical account in 1 Kings 21. Below is my fictitious modern paraphrase for how Jezebel’s behavior might look like as she writes or talks to her discipleship or Bible study group in a modern church context:
"You know, I really admire Naboth. He's a godly man, a VERY godly man! But the other day he said something that just didn't sit right with me in my spirit. He said something that didn't quite line up with the Word of God, for he blasphemed God and the king. I really respect and admire him as a person, and I wish him all the best, but I'm afraid that we just can't have peace and unity as God's people if Naboth can say wrong or hurtful things like that. It’s just not right.
For the sake of wholesome and gracious speech, I may not be able to share Naboth’s exact words that he said in his meeting with the king, but suffice to say, it was really hurtful, self-centered, and not good. Basically, he said that King Ahab was not worthy of any honor whatsoever and was not fit to govern, lead, or to shepherd God’s people. Naboth also said that the king was not worthy or fit to receive any blessing or inheritance from God because he was such a passive and poor leader.
Soberingly, for the sake of unity as we advance the good news of God, according to biblical procedure, we must not allow this kind of blasphemous slander to continue within our body. We have two witnesses who can confirm what Naboth said, and we will have a church meeting to deal with him according to the Word of God this coming weekend at the city gate. Thank you for your prayers as we make these hard choices and deal with these issues. God bless you.
Yours in the coming Messiah,
Jezebel."
After Jezebel communicates with Ahab about the situation, Naboth is accused, condemned, and stoned according to Jezebel’s behind-the-scenes plot. This all occurred without the people feeling it necessary to hear Naboth’s side of the story or having the slightest idea that an injustice has been done by their trusted, precious, God-appointed leaders. However, nothing is hidden from God’s sight, and God does nothing without revealing his secrets to His servants, the prophets (see Amos 3:7).
Since God cannot be mocked and man reaps what he sows, the prophet Elijah confronts Ahab and lays out the consequences for his wicked behavior. According to Proverbs 6, because God hates one who sows strife among fellow believers in God [through gossip, malice, and slander], hands that shed innocent blood, a lying tongue, a heart that devises wicked schemes, and feet that are swift to rush into evil, and because the blood of Naboth cried out to God for justice concerning his bitter, hateful, accusing adversaries, Ahab and Jezebel had to reap the wages of the discord that they sowed among God’s people concerning Naboth. See Galatians 6:7-8; Romans 8:12-13.
“A worthless person, a wicked man, is the one who walks with a perverse mouth, 13 who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, who points with his fingers; 14 who with perversity in his heart continually devises evil, who spreads strife. 15 Therefore his calamity will come suddenly; instantly he will be broken and there will be no healing.
16 There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, 19 a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers.”
--Proverbs 6:12-19 NASB1995
Because God is a loving and just God who must give justice to the innocent by punishing the guilty, the laws of sowing and reaping will allow those who “sow to please the sinful nature” to “reap destruction,” giving the legal right for “the accuser of the brethren” and his kingdom of invisible minions to “steal, kill, and destroy” in that gossipy person’s life. See Galatians 6:7-8; John 10:10; Revelation 12:9-11; Matthew 18:23-35.
If we have messed up and are guilty of gossip, slander, bitterness, pride, or any other attitude that hinders love, then we do have a “way of escape.” What (or Who) is the Way of escape for us if we mess up or get caught in a sin? In Mark 1:15, Jesus said to “repent and believe in the gospel” (the good news of God). This faith and repentance is the only way for us to move from guilt to innocence whenever we mess up. What does that look like practically?
As soon as we become aware of how we acted in pride, fear, shame, lying, accusation, slander, impure motives, bitterness, rage, etc., we simply and sincerely tell God about it. We say to Him,
“Father, I messed up. Please forgive me. I was bitter, angry, and afraid when So-and-so said or did this to me. Thank You for sending Jesus to die on the cross in my place to pay the penalty for my rebellion and hard heart. Thank You that because I agree with You about my sin, You are faithful and just to forgive me and to cleanse me from everything that hinders love. Thank You for taking away my hard heart and anything that is not of You as You fill me with Your Holy Spirit’s love. In Jesus name, let it be so!”
If we get into the habit of connecting with God if and whenever we become aware of something getting in the way of our relationship, then we can be restored to the joy of knowing God intimately once more and be just as if we had never messed up in the first place. All guilt, shame, and fear is removed when we understand and embrace afresh what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross.
Just as Jesus rose from the dead to prove His victory over sin, disease (a physical byproduct of the stress that sin causes), and death, we too can walk in newness of life as we are filled with the same Holy Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead. See Romans 6:4ff. This kind of supernatural life is available to us as we learn to love, trust, and obey God more deeply everyday.
Back to the matter of folly and Jezebel, the sobering reality is that if we continue in active rebellion or passive indifference to what God says when we do not repent and believe in the gospel afresh, then we will reap destruction when we sow to please the selfish impulses and carnal desires that come to tempt us. Our only place of safety is to remain in God’s love for us as we increasingly discover how wide and long and high and deep in the love of Christ (see Ephesians 3:16-19).
Right after King Ahab messed up in 1 Kings 21, the prophet Elijah laid out the consequences for Ahab sowing to please his selfish desires. The wages of sin is death, so Ahab would die for his selfish, wicked lifestyle, and for the innocent blood that he shed. Jezebel would be eaten by dogs because of her gossip, slander, deception, narcissistic manipulation of others, promotion of toxic and unhealthy behavior, intimidation, and murder. However, we see that when Ahab humbled himself and repented for his rebellion, then God had mercy on him and delayed his just punishment.
The good news is that although gossip, accusation, slander, and sowing strife can lead to incurable diseases according to Proverbs 6:15 in the passage earlier in this article, God provided a Way that we can be forgiven for all our iniquity (including gossip, slander, accusation, lying, folly, and Jezebelic mindsets) and healed of all our diseases. How can we access such benefits spoken of by Psalm 103:3?
If ever we stumble into those old, bitter, fearful, toxic thinking patterns again, when we confess these toxic ways to God (or agree with God concerning those things) and turn away from those things, then we can receive a new heart that is full of God’s kindness. God offers His Holy Spirit to “those who obey Him”. He promises to remove the stony heart, mindset, or spirit that is full of unbelief, pride, bitterness, fear, shame, guilt, etc. and to replace it with His Holy Spirit who will fill us with His nature of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, humility, and self-control.
When we truly remain connected to Jesus and all of God’s ways of thinking and acting become ours, then the truth shall make us free. See John 8:31-32. Then alone can we live in the freedom of all that God has made available to us in our relationship with Him. Only when God’s love transforms us in every area of our lives can all our fears be removed. Then no matter what stressors may come our way, the joy of knowing God will keep us in perfect peace. When we truly discover through the good news of God what God has done for us, then alone can we receive the freedom from all our fears and the negative effects that those fears may have within our physical bodies.
To be reminded afresh of the good news that makes us whole again, see “Four Spiritual Laws for Healing a Broken Heart.”
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