What Does It Means "Kicking Against The Goads?" Acts 26:14

 

What Does It Mean “Kicking Against The Goads?” (Acts 26:14) 

"Kicking against the goads" was a Greek proverb familiar to the Jews. God used this analogy in describing the waywardness and stubbornness of Saul, a notoriously zealous Pharisee before he became a follower of Jesus. For countless generations most Jews worked as farmers. Oxen were used to work and plow the soil. The goads (pricks) were necessary tools used by them to steer the animal in the direction they needed to be going. A goad was usually a long, wooden shaft with a pointed, sharp, metal spike at one end. The farmer working the oxen would position the goads in such a way as to exert influence and control over them. If the oxen were stubborn and refused the commands directed by the farmer, the goads would be used to jab or prick them. If the ox resisted their master by kicking at the goads, the prick would be driven even deeper into the flesh of the rebellious animal causing greater pain. The more the ox rebelled, the more it suffered.

This example of kicking against the goads is used to teach the lesson that it is foolish to rebel against God, and any attempt to do so will simply result in much greater distress and discomfort.

God had been trying to urge Saul to go in a certain direction, but Saul, believing he was being faithful to God by persecuting the disciples of Christ, was resisting the conviction of the Holy Spirit. And in doing so, he was not just hurting himself, he was also hurting others. He was not just persecuting the Christians, he was actually persecuting Jesus! 

Saul's resistance to the gospel, self-righteousness and misdirected zeal became uncontrolled as he threatened murder and used brute force to capture both men and women and turn the followers of Christ over to the authorities for punishment and execution (Acts 22:1-5, 26:9-12). 

Proverbs 15:10 says that "Stern discipline awaits him who leaves the path." When we disobey God and stray from the paths of righteousness, we are kicking against the goads that ultimately cause greater harm.  

Early in our lives, we should learn the importance of submission and obedience to our parents. Later, we should learn to cultivate respect for our teachers in school, our supervisors in the workplace and the authorities in the community and the state. If we resist and rebel against these authority figures in our life, we will have difficulty in learning to be humble and submissive to the Lordship of Christ and our Father in heaven.

In Psalm 32:8-9, the psalmist wrote:

"I will instruct you and teach you 

in the way you should go;

I will guide you with My eye.

Do not be like the horse or like the mule,

Which have no understanding,

Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle,

Else they will not come near you."

We need to wise up when the Lord chastens us because we are His children as He leads and guides us through the journeys of life. We must follow Him, and not expect Him to follow us! When we resist the promptings of the Holy Spirit, think we have all the answers, refuse to relinquish control, and seek to go our own way, we only hurt ourselves. When God pricks our heart and we resist His will and direction, we are driving the goad deeper, inflicting more pain and hurt to ourselves.

Scripture tells us that when we disobey, we pay. Living life the way we want to and stubbornly refusing to submit to our Lord and Savior is like kicking against a goad and will only inflict more pain. "The way of transgressors is hard," wrote Solomon in Proverbs 13:15.