Proverbs 11:31
Recompensed
1. This passage makes another comparison…
• The righteous and the wicked…
• Recompensed in the earth vs. in eternity…
1. Righteous men will be recompensed…
a. The righteous refers to those who are righteous in God’s sight… saved… justified… born again…
b. Recompensed: rewarded; make restitution; repaid;
• This term can refer to either being rewarded for good or for evil.
• Ruth 2:12 – a prayer that the Lord would recompense her good work.
• II Sam. 22:21 – David expected the Lord to recompense him…
• Jer. 16:18 – recompense for iniquity…
c. This passage is similar to several others in this section—you reap what you sow!
• The righteous will be recompensed and so will the wicked…
• They will be repaid according to what they have done…
• They will REAP rewards according to how they have sown…
2. In the earth…
a. The righteous man is recompensed in the earth… in the world.
b. This was common, Old Testament, Jewish thought.
c. Their concept of eternity was linked to the earth… the kingdom.
d. God’s promises to Israel concerned the earthly, Messianic, Theocratic kingdom on earth.
e. The Jewish prayer the Lord taught His disciples to pray as he was preaching, “Repent for the kingdom is at hand…” = “Thy kingdom come; thy will be done ON EARTH… as it is in heaven.”
f. They hoped to live forever on the earth… a paradise-like earth… and their Scriptures gave them this hope…
• Isa. 2:4 – an earth in which they will learn war no more…
• Isa. 11:6-9 – a peaceful earth with Eden-like conditions…
• Isa. 30:23-24 – an earth in which prosperity is universal…
• Isa. 33:24 – an earth in which sickness is virtually wiped out…
• Isa. 35:1-2 – a rejuvenated earth…
• Isa. 35:5-6 – an earth in which the curse will be lifted…
• Isa. 61:1-3 – an earth in which the brokenhearted will be comforted and joy will replace grief…
• Isa. 65:20 – an earth in which longevity reigns…
g. God certainly DID give the Old Testament saints hope for recompense “in the earth.”
• And, under the Old Testament law, their blessings were linked together with their obedience.
• Hence, a righteous man, who lived a righteous life, could expect to be recompensed in the earth.
• If he sowed righteousness, he would reap righteousness in the earth.
• Deut. 28:1-8 – God promised to bless their obedience in the earth. He would bless them “in the land.” (vs. 8)
3. The righteous are recompensed on the earth, but also in heaven.
a. This is not stated in the proverb, but it is certainly true.
b. For the Christian, promises of blessings in the earth aren’t always realized.
c. SOMETIMES God rewards His faithful children of the church age in this world… but that is not guaranteed.
d. In the world we shall have tribulation!
e. All they that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
f. As we walk in obedience to God, expect hatred and rejection.
g. Many godly Christians are poor in this world’s goods…
h. So don’t be discouraged if you don’t seem to experience recompense in the earth… our REAL reward comes in glory!
4. On the other hand, it is also true that God will recompense the righteous on earth for any wickedness that he may commit.
a. In the second part of the analogy, (the wicked) it is clear that the “recompense” is for evil that is committed, not good.
b. Hence, many try to make the parallel by interpreting the recompense of the righteous a payback for EVIL they have done.
c. When sin is committed, God deals with it—regardless of from whom it comes!
d. The best of saints are but sinners… and God recompenses our sins.
• He dealt with David’s sin of numbering the people… and his sin with Bathsheba…
• He dealt with Peter’s sin of denial—with a piercing look…
• He dealt with Jonah’s sin… by sending a great fish…
• He dealt with Asa’s sin—and he became diseased in his feet.
• He dealt with the sin of the prophet from Judah who lied—a lion met him and slew him.
• He dealt with the sins of the saints in Corinth too.
• God will deal with sin in MY life too… and YOURS…
• Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth…
e. Amos 3:2 – There is support for this principle found in Scripture.
• It is certainly true that righteous men do not always behave in a righteous way.
• When that is the case, God does CHASTEN His own…a sort of “recompense.”
f. I Pet. 4:17-18 – Judgment must begin at the house of God. The Lord will not spare judging or chastening His children.
• And if God will not spare in His own house, then where shall the sinner stand?
• In other words, his judgment shall be even MORE severe.
• This seems to be what the second half of Prov.11:31 says.
• In fact, it is likely that Peter was quoting from the Septuagint version of Prov. 11:31 in I Pet. 4:18.
1. God is the Judge of all the earth. He always does that which is right.
a. Because He is a righteous God, He feels obligated to reward the righteous.
b. And if God judges the righteous man for sin in his life, how much MORE shall God judge the sinner for sin in his life!
c. He is also obliged to reward the wicked and the sinner too!
2. God’s justice WILL fall on the wicked…
a. They too shall reap what they sow.
b. This would include wicked individuals… wicked nations… wicked groups… wicked families…
c. The terrorists who kill innocent men, women, and children shall not escape the retribution of God.
d. The thief, the mugger, the rapist, the child abuser, the corporate criminal, shall not escape the righteous sentence of God.
e. It may at times APPEAR that the wicked are getting away with murder, but this passage is designed to put our hearts at ease. They are NOT. God’s eyes are everywhere. God’s justice WILL be executed.
f. If the righteous don’t escape God’s justice, MUCH MORE will the wicked not escape.
3. Note that there is no parallel to the phrase “in the earth” in the second half of the proverb.
a. The wicked are often recompensed in the earth.
• They are often caught in their crime.
• Prison time; execution;
• They sometimes suffer a vigilante type wrath…
• They lose their good name… lose friends… lose their freedom…
b. But sometimes the wicked seem to suffer NO recompense for their evil doings in the earth. They seem to have it all!
c. Sometimes it seems like the wicked prosper in the world…
• Ps. 73:3 – it even makes the righteous jealous!
• Ps. 73:17 – until we consider their “end.” Their end is an eternity in the Lake of Fire!
• They may seem to live it up on earth and not have a care in the world, but this world is not all there is.
• Rev. 20:11-15 – Ultimately, the wicked SHALL be paid back for their sin… and none shall escape God’s justice in that day.
• This is the ultimate “much more” element to the comparison between God’s justice for the righteous vs. His justice toward the wicked and sinners. Theirs is much more…