Folly

Intro:

Happy birthday Daniel

Last week refresher

it starts with the fear of the Lord

Its good for us to have wisdom in all of lifes situations

God wants us to be wise.

what is wisdom and how do we get it

Passage intro/illustration

back in proverbs 9.

Proverbs 9:13–18 ESV

The woman Folly is loud; she is seductive and knows nothing. She sits at the door of her house; she takes a seat on the highest places of the town, calling to those who pass by, who are going straight on their way, “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” And to him who lacks sense she says, “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

lets pray...

“Question number 1 for today but number 3 in this series is....”

What is Folly?

the direct opposite of wisdom.

foolishness

Folly means a lack of good sense or a foolish action.

Wisdom is the ability to use your knowledge, experience, and good sense to make right choices and handle life well.

What's interesting is that the word folly can also refer to a decorative and expensive building that serves no practical purpose.

ILLUSTRATION:

Imagine a building that is beautiful on the outside, something as impressive as the Empire State Building. The architecture is stunning. Every detail was carefully planned. The architect spent years designing it. Before a single beam was ever erected, he knew exactly what the building was intended to become. He envisioned its purpose, its impact, and the people it would serve.

Finally, the building is completed. It stands tall and magnificent. But then the architect is told that the building will never be used. No businesses will move in. No people will work there. No families will benefit from it. Its doors will never open. It will simply stand there as decoration, admired from a distance but fulfilling none of the purposes for which it was designed.

The tragedy is not that the building is ugly. It's beautiful. The tragedy is that it is useless.

In the same way, God has designed each of us with purpose. He has plans for our lives, gifts for us to use, people for us to influence, and work for us to accomplish for His kingdom. But foolishness can leave a person spiritually beautiful on the outside while practically unusable on the inside. Folly keeps us from becoming all that God intended us to be. It does not merely damage our usefulness; it prevents us from fulfilling the very purpose for which we were created.

We must understand that the danger of folly is not simply that it makes us look foolish. The danger of folly is that it leaves us standing when we were created to be serving.

So again Folly is foolishness but just as last week, this passage gives us some characteristics of Folly.

INTRODUCE 1 SAMUEL 25

These characteristics are best seen through another story we find in 1 Samuel 25.

This story follows David before he is king but he has had military victories so far.

This story also follows a man names Nabal and a woman name Abigail.

We will spend some time in both 1 Samuel and proverbs to see how folly is lived out.

Maybe lay out the context.

1 Samuel 25:1–17 ESV

Now Samuel died. And all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house at Ramah. Then David rose and went down to the wilderness of Paran. (pay-ran) And there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; he was a Calebite.

Nabal was rich, VERY rich.

it was sheep shearing season.

It describes Abigail very well but roast Nabal

From the lineage of Caleb

A God-fearing man.

A well respected man in the history of Israel.

Helped Joshua when the reigns were handed over and was a servant of God.

vs. 4 and following..

1 Samuel 25:1–17 ESV

David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. So David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name. And thus you shall greet him: ‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. I hear that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing all the time they were in Carmel. Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’ ”

David is being kind

he wishes peace amongst nabal and abigal.

he has watched over his shepards and hasnt harmed them

david is laying out a full case on why nabal should help him

even says that its a feast day

a day where people would be nice to one another and celebrate a good season of shearing.

David uses this.

picking up in vs 9….

1 Samuel 25:1–17 ESV

When David’s young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited. And Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where?” So David’s young men turned away and came back and told him all this. And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.

1.) Folly is Prideful

Now nabal has messed up.

The insult of “who is david” is disrespectful. Nabal would have known who David is because he had been annointed king.

we can tell by the way David responds that this was meant with disrespect.

again david tried to be al kind but was met with mockery.

David straight up is taking his army up there over this one response.

Notice that your words can get you in trouble.

how you react to things can get you in trouble.

Proverbs 18:2 says, “A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.”

David has laid out his case and Nabal take no care to try to understand but rather responds harshly.

This in turn is when Nabal will experience the consequences of his harsh remarks.

Proverbs 9 tells us that folly is “seductive and knows nothing”. Nabal is describes as harsh and badly behaves and obviously not very wise in his responses.

Carrying on…vs 14

1 Samuel 25:1–17 ESV

But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them. Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, and we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them. They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him.”

2.)FOLLY IS LOUD (short-tempered)

one of the shepards goes and tells Nabals wife

He knows that Davids army is about to march up there and attack Nabal due to his unwillingness to help.

Proverbs 9:13 says, “The woman Folly is loud”

I find it interesting that the Shepard thats talking to abigail says that Nabal “railed at them”

this is obivioulsy no little discussion

i think of a football couch.

maybe youve seen videos of nick saban when he getting after his players.

that is what i imagine when i hear that Nabal ‘railed at them’.

When we think of someone being wise, we do think of them being mild mannered and not quick tempered.

The shepard also confirms what David was saying.

David was not just sweet talking but telling the truth.

One of the most telling signs of Nabals character is in verse 17.

the servant says that Nabal is ‘such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him’

last week we spoke about how a wise man acts towards reproof and how a foolish man react to reproof.

Nabal is OBVIOUSLY very foolish in how he treats people.

Nabal is prideful.

Unwilling to listen to those around him and the advice of others. He assumes he knows best. but in reality, just as proverbs 9:13 says, he knows nothing.

This is what being foolish looks like on a practical level.

its in how you treat people, its in how we react to situations.

Do we want to be wise or do we want to be foolish?

lets see how this story plays out….

Give Abigail context

in verses 18-35, we would see that Abigial is the wise one in the story, one point to the ladies.

The servant speaks to abigail and she knows the character of Nabal, she knows that he is foolish.

Abigail goes to speak with David to apologize and provide provisions.

1 Samuel 25:23–25 says “When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. She fell at his feet and said, “On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent.”

3.)FOLLY IS ARROGANCE

Nabals name literally means fool, imagine that being your name.

Abigail goes on from here to make the most outstanding apolgy, showing deep respect for David.

Abigail understands that David was treated poorly adn because nabal was foolish, Abigail has to step in.

guys, dont do this. dont have your lady have to be the wise one in every situation. its not a good look.

on the other hand, this is the importance of surrounding yourself with wise people. This is also why its important to listen to the wise people in your life because they can help you avoid disaster.

Lets see how this story plays out for Nabal…

Like i said, Abigail make a magnificent apology, she just puffs David up.

David decides to relent from striking down Nabal and his men because of Abigails intercession

Abigial provides all that Ddavid needed, all without telling Nabal

Then if we look in verses 36-38 we see…..

1 Samuel 25:36–38 ESV

And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until the morning light. In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. And about ten days later the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.

4.)FOLLY IS BLINDNESS

Spiritually and physically.

Nabal could not see what he had done until Abigial revealed it to him

I imagine the realization hitting his face and the shock

Nabal is struck dead with fear and shock over his realization of what shouldve happened to him

Proverbs 9:16–18 says, ““Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” And to him who lacks sense she says, “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.”

We see the result of foolishness of Nabal.

He dies because of his foolishness.

This passage serves as a warning for all of us.

Do you want to live and live abundantly? Seek wisdom

The scripture is clear a path of foolishness leads to one place, Hell.

“We’ve seen foolishness get played out, we have seen what it is on very pratical levels. so our final question and this is a quick one…”

How do we avoid Folly?

Have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Lean on him to make decisions.

Dive into his word. Let it guide you.

I promise if you will dive into Gods word and focus on your relationship with Jesus Christ and try to align your life with that of Jesus Christ you will make fewer foolish decision and more wise decisions.

we must remember that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Bow your heads….