The Folly of the Foolish
Sermon by Pastor Brent Snook / Sept 7, 2025
Series: Living Life Backward
Text: Ecclesiastes 10:1-20
Solomon – the author of books of Ecclesiastes and Proverbs
Proverbs 15:21 – “Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom…”
I. THE LIFE OF A FOOL
Read Ecclesiastes 10:1
A. The of their life
Saul – a perfection description of the life of a fool (see 1 Samuel 16:14)
B. The of their life
Read Eccl. 10:2
• The right hand = place of honor and power.
• The left hand = place of weakness and rejection
Our choices are made by us. The direction comes from the choices we make.
C. The of their life
Read Eccl. 10:3
A fool’s actions prove himself a fool.
II. THE LEADERSHIP OF A FOOL
“I haver never accepted what many people have kindly said – that I inspired the nation. It was the nation and the race dwelling around the globe that had the lion heart. I had the luck to be called to give the roar.” – Winston Churchill
Solomon warns about the leadership of a fool.
A.
Read Eccl. 10:16-17
“Unlucky the land whose king is a young pup, and whose princes party all night. Lucky the land whose king is mature – where the princes behave themselves and don’t drink themselves silly.” (The Message, paraphrase)
B.
Read Eccl. 10:18
“There is little correlation between a leader’s effectiveness and his or her intelligence – imagination – or knowledge. Brilliant people are strikingly ineffective. They never have learned that insights become effectiveness only through hard systematic work.” Peter Drucker/leadership guru
C.
Read Eccl. 10:19
In what field are you a leader?
* We will never stand alone before God.
* We will stand with the souls of those we lead.
D.
Read Eccl. 10:20
III. THE LIPS OF A FOOL
Read Eccl. 10:11-14
A. THE LIPS OF THE FOOL ARE COMPARED TO A
Read Proverbs 24:1-2
Read Proverbs 20:19
Be careful with gossip.
B. THE LIPS OF THE FOOL ARE CERTAIN TO BE
Read Proverbs 13:3, 16:27-28
Read Eccl. 10:12
David Jeremiah said that he prays every morning this prayer: “My Lord and my God. I am a rudderless ship without you. I cannot work, I cannot speak, I cannot live or love as I should – unless your wisdom lights my path. Protect me from my own foolishness and teach me thy way.”