Bears are creatures that are referenced quite often in the Old Testament and once in the New Testament.
"Let [the brute ferocity of] a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a [self-confident] fool in his folly [when he is in a rage]." Proverbs 17:12, Amplified
Apparently, according to the Bible, it would be a more pleasant experience to be attacked by a bear than to meet a foolish man in his rage. The question is, Why?
A bear is an animal driven by instinct. She will do anything it takes to protect her cubs. But what happens when the perceived threat is eradicated, or the perpetrator neutralized? The Lord likened Himself to a bear when He spoke to the prophet Hosea, "I will meet them like a bear deprived of her cubs..." (Hosea 13:8a, NKJV) This is in regards to the judgement that He would bring upon Israel. But is the Lord going to continually judge His children? No. As punishment is doled out, so wrath is appeased. So like the bear, it will only attack so long as there is a threat.
The foolish man however is driven by emotion and lust. He will lash out at anybody or anything. There is no rhyme or reason to his ferrel state. When we read our history books, we find many different fools that the world met in their folly. Hitler was a man in folly killing so many Jews and even today that spirit resides in Aminijad. In Europe, the Catholic Church pioneered the Inquisition. On our own soil we can read about the Salem Witch Trials. And more recently, the fall of the Twin Towers. All these events were devastating to many people.
Just a side note: the bear has reason to attack whereas the fool needs no provocation.
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