Proverbs 26:11 Commentary and Bible Study

Anyone who has seen this phenomenon will have had their stomach turned by it. The remarkable fact about the dog that returns to eat its own vomit is that it overcomes the nausea that induced it to vomit in the first place. Here is an animal that behaves according to its nature. In spite of the fondness which people develop for their dogs, and the close relationship between them, it is driven by its appetites and those appetites are often disgusting to us. It is not surprising that some cultures have treated the dog as the epitome of uncleanness. In this example the dog has eaten some foul thing that is disagreeable even by its own low standards, so that its stomach has rebelled against the burden and caused it to vomit out the whole lot again. Its greedy hunger for perhaps what is partially rotten infected meat has overburdened its digestive system which has wisely rejected the whole lot. What lies on the ground is doubly revolting because it is was not only foul in the first place, but has now also been ejected from inside the dog. Nevertheless the appetites of the dog once more assert themselves and with tremendous gusto it starts the vile meal for a second time. There is an unseen struggle within the animal, but eventually it just about manages to hold down this second meal. This is what Solomon uses to illustrate the fool who returns to his folly.As we reflect on this unpleasant picture we see many of the same elements in the behaviour of the fool. The standard by which the fool is judged is God’s standard, but like the dog the sinner has appetites which look at the matter in a completely different way. Sin appears attractive to the sinner and foolishness is what the fool wants most, but to God what attracts the fool is not simply disobedience; it is revolting, and as believers are changed in their thinking through sanctification, they learn to see things in the same way. First they learn to hate sin in themselves and then they learn to discern the same pattern in all member of this fallen human race and to pity those who are caught up in the same bondage. Even the most revolting aspect of this picture is represented in the fool. The fool may engage in foolishness, in deeply shameful behaviour which is so depraved, and it troubles even his benighted conscience. He feels the pain of guilt and the shame of others knowing what he has done. He may temporarily set this particular sinful practice aside, but not for long. In time, he sees that others have forgotten what he has done, that the shame has faded, and the stabs of conscience have become controllable. Perhaps he can enjoy this sin again without the nausea of a wounded conscience being so intense. The lusts of the flesh are too strong to let him rest for long, and as temptation works on his mind again he is ready to go back to the very same evils and try them again.