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Whoever sends a  message by the hand of a fool cuts off his own feet and drinks violence. Proverbs 26:6 ESV  

I have an anecdote about sending a message by the hand  of a fool. In my first job, I had a day off, but needed to ask for a fortnight off later on. So for some  reason, instead of asking the boss directly, I asked a colleague to let him know. When I returned to  my job a fortnight or so later, my boss fired me! 

Even though I'd given my colleague a note saying  how much time I wanted off, he'd not properly read it and assumed I only wanted a week off. No  offense to my colleague, but he was a fool, and I was foolish to trust him. Losing a job is a raw  deal, but cutting off your own feet?

 Solomon seems a bit extreme here. But just imagine you get  your foot trapped in a climbing accident. You send your friend for help, but he never comes back.  You may as well cut your foot off with a penknife! 

Solomon is perhaps using a bit of hyperbole to  make an important point: don't get a fool to relay a message for you. If you do, you will regret it,  and will have yourself to blame as well as the fool for trusting him. I can't think of a time it's  happened to me again, so hopefully I've learned my lesson! 

"Dear Yahweh, may we be faithful messengers of the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. Forbid that we would distort the  message into legalism on the one side, or licentiousness on the other. For Your name's sake, amen" 


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