Stupid Is as Stupid Does

“Now why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who is prophesying to you? For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, “Your exile will be long; build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their produce.”” (Jeremiah 29:27–28, ESV)

In the movie, “Forrest Gump,” there is a popularized idiom, “Stupid is as stupid does.” In my 74 years I have seen this expression exemplified countless times.

When I was in the Army serving as a tank company Executive Officer, I was called to a location where a tank that was out of commission. They had broken, sheared off, the shaft on the final drive that drove the track on the right side. The solid steel shaft was about 6-8 inches in diameter. I asked, “How in the heck did you do that.” They said that they threw the track, meaning it partially slipped off the sprocket. I had seen many thrown tracks in my life but never one that sheered off the final drive shaft.

Through investigation, I discovered what actually happened. They put a large chunk of hardwood about 6-8 inches square between the track and the sprocket on the final drive. Then they drove forward trying to get the track back on the sprocket without even loosening the track tension adjuster.

What they did was not in accordance with the proper procedure and it did not work. In fact, we worked from sunset to sunrise the next day to replace the final drive and sprocket. Well, “Stupid is as stupid does.”

After Jeremiah sent the first letter to the exiles, a self-professed prophet, named Shemaiah, wrote to the leaders in Jerusalem demanding that they punish Jeremiah. He was upset with the letter’s content as it stated that exile would be lengthy and that they were to settle down in Babylon. He dismissed the prophetic word as being from the Lord.

Shemaiah had not recognized the word of the Lord. Jeremiah had continually warned the nation of the coming Babylonian conquest due to idolatry and apostasy. Any casual observer should have seen that the nation had followed the ways of evil and heeded the earlier warnings. Jeremiah had proven that his prophetic words were from the Lord. Yet Shemaiah contended with the word of God and called for Jeremiah to be punished. As a result, Jeremiah sent a second prophetic letter to the exiles.

“therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants. He shall not have anyone living among this people, and he shall not see the good that I will do to my people, declares the Lord, for he has spoken rebellion against the Lord.” (Jeremiah 29:32, ESV)

Shemaiah would experience the Lord’s judgment due to his “rebellion against the Lord.”

What does this mean to us? We must heed the words of the Scriptures, God’s word. Too often professing believers summarily write off portions of our Bible as not applicable today. This is not what the Bible says about itself.

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16–17, ESV)

In the Greek text the word “all” still means all. It is a dangerous thing to add to or take away from the word of God (Rev 22:18-19).