Fact: Kicking against the goads

Kicking against the goads. Goads were long, sharpened sticks used to prod oxen when they were hitched to yokes. Not wanting to be jabbed again with the stick, the ox would kick against it. It would soon learn that it was better to accept the direction of the farmer than to “kick against the goad.” In this context of 26:14, the expression means that it is foolish and futile to resist God’s will.