February 26

Feb 26 - Today from Proverbs 26 we look at verse 17
"Like one who seizes a dog by the ears is a passer-by who meddles in a quarrel not his own."

If one were to go to a concordance and look up the word 'dog' and all of its forms, one would quickly discover that a dog in ancient Israel was considered 'a different animal' than the cute, pampered and domesticated animals we think of in our culture. It seems they were mostly street curs whose only apparent purpose was to eat garbage. They are not fondly spoken of in the Bible.
First, let's look at the analogy, to 'seize a dog by the ears'. Frankly, I don't know why one would do this - especially to a street cur. But, suppose one did. What do you picture? I see one agitated dog that is ready to do whatever it takes to relieve himself of excruciating pain. Twisting, kicking, yelping, snarling, snapping. I see a man who knows immediately that he made a mistake and now finds himself in a predicament. He is holding the angry animal by the ears at arm's length to keep the flashing teeth and claws away from his body. Hanging on is difficult due to all the thrashing around, but he knows that if he lets go, the animal is very likely going to retaliate and inflict some pain of his own.
Passer-bys stop at a safe distance and stare. They are probably wondering the same thing I did, "What on earth did he ever pick that dog up by the ears for?" Poor guy, five minutes ago he was on his way to the market to look for a new pair of sandals. Now he is a public spectacle, forced to hold onto this enraged cur, not knowing what to do to next. Somehow he's going to find a way to blame somebody else for this - as soon as he figures out how to get himself out of it.
Well, the proverb never indicated how he got out of it. Only how he got into it. And the analogy is a lesson for us to avoid something much more subtle, but just as foolish, dangerous and perplexing - "meddling in a quarrel not (our) own." People who would never think to pick up a cur dog by the ears get caught in this trap every day. There are any number of reasons; They may be naive do-gooders who think they can fix complex things of which they know nothing about. They may be impulsive know-it-alls who jump in before thinking about the consequences. They may be busybodies in hopes that they can discover some new 'dirty laundry' in the process. Or, one of the most popular, they may feel obligated to take up someone else's offense and enter into the fray. Whatever the reason, it isn't long before they are standing in a very uncomfortable situation wondering how they can get out without getting hurt themselves, and often looking for someone else to blame because it's such an embarrassing predicament to be caught in.
The next time you get the urge to jump into a quarrel in which you have absolutely no business being in . . . just picture the poor guy standing in the street holding an angry, snapping, snarling cur by the ears. Perhaps it will be just a long enough pause, and strong enough picture to send you on your way to get that pair of sandals you were after.