AS A DOG RETURNETH TO HIS VOMIT

Dogs are often described as being ‘man’s best friend’, but in the forty-one uses of the word in the Bible virtually nothing positive is said of them, instead they are viewed as a simile for unclean and wicked men, cf. Ps. 22. 16; Phil. 3. 2; Rev. 22. 15.

One of their most repugnant habits is the enthusiasm with which they return to eat what their stomachs had found relief in rejecting, returning to what has caused their sickness, and find­ing no revulsion in so doing. What a graphic picture of one who turns from that which is harmful, acknowledging his sin, only to later return to it with a renewed zeal. Scripture is not without examples of such men. Consider Pharaoh who, in the face of God’s judgement, requested Moses and Aaron to, ‘Intreat the Lord’ for him, but as soon as deliverance was granted, immedi­ately ‘hardened his heart’, Exod. 8. 8, 15. Peter applies this proverb to apostates, men who seem to embrace the moral impli­cations of the teachings of Christ and in response turn from ‘the pollutions of the world’, but, while there is outward reforma­tion, they lack inward reality, for, just like the ‘dog’, they later return to that which they formerly renounced, wilfully rejecting the commandment to holiness, 2 Pet. 2. 20-22. Why do dogs, fools and apostates behave like this? The answer is found in their nature. Despite a dog’s disgusting habit, it is sobering to observe that God’s people can sometimes behave little better, as aptly demonstrated in the wilderness journeying of the children of Israel, Ps. 78. 12-37, and the repeated cycle of failure found in the book of Judges. May we learn to hate sin as much as this picture of a dog surely repels us and resolve to ‘make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof’, Rom. 13. 14.

Is there anything worse than a fool returning to his folly? In light of what has been said, we might think not, yet Solomon says look at a man ‘wise in his own conceits’. Despite his folly, a fool might be teachable, but not so a man conceited and self­opinionated. The apostle wrote, ‘Be not wise in your own conceits’, David said ‘Lord, my heart is not haughty’, Rom. 12. 16; Ps. 131. 1. To summarise, be holy, do not return to past sinful ways; be humble, teachable and open to correction.