Starving...and feeding the Soul

Someone once joked, "If fish are great brain food, are brains great fish food?" (Groans all 'round).

I don't know. But I do know that sometimes people foolishly starve their souls. Proverbs 10:21 reads,

The lips of the righteous feed
many,
But fools die for lack of
understanding.

There are a couple of Polaroid portraits here that are very vivid. The first one is the picture of a righteous person shepherding people and the second is the fool who starves himself in the middle of a banquet.

The "classic" word for righteous in Hebrew is "tsadiq." It is not just a moral position but one that portrays a believer in Yahweh, whose character splashes over into his conduct. It is the requirement for fellowship with God, in a legal sense, but deeply affects his character and relationship with other people. Those who are righteous before God (from a New Testament perspective- by faith alone in Christ alone through grace alone) don't keep it to themselves. The picture in Proverbs 10:21a ("feed many") really is one of lush green pastures. In other words, the words and teaching by righteous people are a banquet to the soul of those who listen.

In contrast, the fool is one sitting at a banquet and starving to death. He could care less what the righteous are saying- his way, he thinks, is always right. But do not think the fool in Proverbs is stupid; i.e., lacking some mental capacity. By no means. Often the fool is very intelligent. He simply is terribly unwise. The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament states,

"[fool] primarily refers to moral perversion or insolence, to what is sinful rather than to mental stupidity. This kind of a fool despises wisdom and is impatient with discipline. He who does not fear God is a fool and will be unable to grasp wisdom or benefit from godly discipline (Prov 1:7). While the wise accept godly instruction, the boastful or babbling fool who rejects it will fall down by the predicaments he makes for himself (Prov 10:8). Because a fool feels that his own way is without error, he does not seek or listen to counsel as the wise one does. The fool is overbearing in his attitude since he has all the answers (Prov 12:15). A fool despises his father's instructions, in contrast to the one who shows good sense in regarding reproof (Prov 15:5)." (Bibleworks Vol.8, electronic version).

The the character of the fool, then, also spills out into the world around him. And his soul shrivels at a banquet of wisdom. Do not think though that there aren't any repercussions for his foolishness. Note that key idea: "[the]...fool who rejects it will fall down by the predicaments he makes for himself (Prov 10:8)."