Proverbs 17

Scripture

Proverbs 17:12 NIV-

“Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool bent on folly.”

Observation-What does it say?

King Solomon continues with sharing his wisdom in Proverbs. “Solomon wrote it with his descendants and the young men in Israel in mind (biblestudy.org-Who wrote the book of Proverbs?).”

Understanding-What does it mean?

The Bible is serious about choosing the way of the wise instead of a fool. So serious in fact that it says it’s better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool bent on folly. 

Have you ever heard the term, you don’t want to see mama bear come out? As a mom to 2 kids, the protective nature of a mother to her child is extreme and I didn’t understand that until I became a mother. I’m not proud of this, but I’ve lost self control and yelled at a couple people (in positions of authority) because I felt my kids were being wrongfully attacked. It's not wise to make a protective mama angry. 

My husband also used to work as a meter reader and he told me that the most vicious dogs were the female dogs who were protecting their pups. He would always have to find alternative ways to read those house meters because you were just asking to get bit if you entered their territory. 

As scary as a protective mama bear is, it’s not as scary as a fool bent on folly. For example, Scripture says that a fool gives full vent to his anger (Proverbs 29:11 NIV), so essentially, a fool’s anger is worse than a mama bear protecting her cubs. That same Scripture says that the WISE bring calm in the end. 

Life Application

Keep company with those who are wise, instead of those who continue to have a bent towards foolishness.

We must be careful with the company we keep and who we allow to influence our lives. Also, we must be aware of whether we are the ones acting like a fool. It's important to make the necessary changes and learn from our mistakes. We don’t want to be the person that the Bible instructs others to run from. 

Dear Lord, You appointed King Solomon to write the Proverbs to offer wise counsel, not foolish counsel. It is clear that You make many distinctions between wise and foolish choices and the consequences of each. I pray that we would always seek to live our lives wisely so that others would be drawn to You instead of away from You. Amen. 

-Michelle Gaddi