Big Stick

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

BIG STICK

Prov 26:3

3 A whip for the horse, a halter for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools!

NIV

There is a parallel here between unreasoning animals and a fool. This idea of just a whip for the horse and a halter for the donkey appears to have more of the meaning from the original texts that sometimes both the donkey and the horse are in need of a whip and other time simple in need of the bridle. But the reason for both is these are animals without the ability of reason and must be controlled by some means in order to have them be of any use. The fool is no different.

Jude 10

10 Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals — these are the very things that destroy them.

NIV

Jude was speaking about men who had slipped into the church and were perverting the truth of the gospel. He compared them to unreasoning animals who live by instinct rather than the truth. If we examine our own instinct, what do we find? All of us have an internal instinct, that which we do without any thought, for examine we do not breath by thinking, consider each breathe, we just breath. Attitudes and behaviors can also be an instinct. Before we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior we did many things by instinct which would be defined as sinful. Now we have to consider our attitude our behavior, but yet without thought we say something, we get upset, we get argumentative, we get judgmental, we gossip, we do a lot of things without thinking about the ramifications of our attitudes and/or behaviors. Why? Because we do them by instinct, we do not reason through them before engaging in them. Yes, the Spirit spurs us, or jabs us in those times and we become aware of our misgivings and see the reasoning in our wrong. But the fool does not have that reasoning power. The fool simply cannot see the truth and they speak about things they do not know. There words refuting the truth of God will be their own destruction. Here this proverb says this fool needs the rod. That would be the rod of correction. They need to be given constructive criticism to help them see the right path to walk. We know God does not want anyone to perish. We know he desires for us to be his ambassadors to lost world. We know he wants all men to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus. So then would it not be right for us to carry a rod? It is odd the word translated rod has several uses. It is a branch off, or a stick but the stick is used for punishing, writing, fighting, ruling and walking. Certainly applying to the back of the fool would imply punishment. However when compared to the whip and bridle it also might imply ruling. But this stick is also like a walking stick which aidss in going down the right path. It also can is a stick dipped in ink to pen the words which would lead the fool to the right way of thinking, to reason through their life, seeing the errors of their ways, repenting and accepting Jesus. So let us talk softy, but carry a big stick.