Proverbs 13:21-25

 

Prov 13:21 (KJB)

Evil pursueth sinners: but to the righteous good shall be repayed

 

Pursueth - Following in the sense of pursuing or persecuting

Repayed -Good reward

 

Since sinners, the unsaved, are continually living their lives in sin, sin itself is never very far from them. (Gen 4:7 KJV) If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. God had warned Cain that if he did good he would be accepted but if he did not do well, then sin lies at the door. In other words, sin is everywhere in the sinner’s life and it never leaves them. In fact, the sinner does not even have to go looking for it because it will find them. It will find them because sin knows it has a home with the unbeliever. On the other hand, the believer will receive a good reward for the good that they do. (Heb 6:10 KJV) For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have showed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. God states in Hebrews 6:10, He will not forget the work and labor of love that the righteous have shown toward our fellow believers. The believers are rewarded with eternal life in Heaven forever. (Luke 18:30 KJV) Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting. It is a sad thing that many Christians feel that they are going to receive some kind of special rewards for the works which they have done. Isn’t it enough that God has saved us from

hell and promised us a grand inheritance in Heaven?

 

Prov 13:22 (KJB)

A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.

 

Here we have a verse which carries with it a spiritual and physical aspect. The physical aspect is that a good man who has accumulated wealth through hard and legitimate work is able to leave an inheritance to not only his children, but to his grandchildren. Then the unbeliever who has gained wealth will lose all of it upon death and somehow it will be given to the believers, who are the just. (Luke 19:24 KJV) And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. In the parable of the Pounds in Luke 19, Jesus tells of a nobleman who gave three of his servants ten, five and one pound respectively. The ones who were given the 5 & 10 pounds had doubled the amount and both were rewarded accordingly. However, the steward who received the one pound did nothing with it and his reward was to give that pound to the one who had ten. So what he had, was taken away from him and given to the one who was able to double the ten pounds. So here we have an example of the wealth of the unbeliever given to the believer by the Lord Himself. (Mat 25:29 KJV) For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. The Lord is basically showing us that diligence in vocation will have its reward. A lazy individual in business may have a high position and maintains it not by his own merit but by the merits of others. Along comes a diligent worker and their diligence is seen by the higher ups and they decide to replace the lazy individual with the diligent worker. The lazy individual loses everything and the department that he managed was now given to another.

 

Let us look at the spiritual aspect of this verse. A believing man, will not only train his son in the ways of the Lord but will also train his grandchildren in the ways of the Lord by imparting the wisdom of Scripture to them. He may also have prayed thousands of times for his son and also his grandson and those prayers will have a life long effect upon the grandchildren, long after the grandfather has gone to glory. (Rev 8:3 KJV) And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. In the second part of this verse it speaks of the wealth being given to the Just. Here we see a person who has a ministry but is unsaved. He brings the gospel but he does not have the Holy Spirit and he is not supposed to be in ministry anyway, probably doing it for a job. (Psa 50:16-17 KJV) But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? {17} Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee. The unbeliever wants nothing to do with the true Gospel since in his case it is self-convicting. So they make up a peripheral gospel which is based solely on a false love which keeps everybody happy but still in the dark. Then one day God removes this person and sets up a true believer in his place and all the wealth of those souls who were partakers of that false ministry will be transferred to the new preacher who will preach the truth. As God raises up kings and brings them down, He also removes preachers and raises them up.

 

Prov 13:23 (KJB)

Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment.

 

The tillage - Newly tilled ground

Destroyed - Carried off or swept away

Judgment - Judge or govern

 

In the fallow ground of the freshly cultivated soil, there is much food because the soil has been properly prepared for the planting of the seeds. Within the soil are the minerals necessary to grow a good crop and that is why the poor has much in their field. They take the time to cultivate the land correctly. Unfortunately, on the other hand, the one who does not till the land properly and does not follow the proper rules of farming, will lose their entire crop because it will be swept away, simply because there was no one governing it properly. It may be that the owner of the land had hired a lazy person and they cut so many corners that they lost the entire crop.

 

There is also a spiritual aspect to this verse. The poor in spirit are the true believers who continually cultivate the word of God and are always planting the seeds they find. When a person does evangelism with the word of God and not man’s teachings, then there will be many who will come to be saved, maybe not right away but in the future. As seeds are planted in individuals, some may grow slower, some faster, some not at all but they have been in the field planting the seeds. On the other hand, there is the person that is cast away because there was no proper preparation for witness and as a result, they could not plant the right seeds in the people therefore they will have no crop. People who sow poems, happy stories, or man’s teachings will never reap a crop equal to those who plant according to the word of God.

 

Prov 13:24 (KJB)

He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.

 

Spareth - Withholds

Chasteneth - Discipline or warning

Him betimes - Seek him

 

Discipline is a very important part of raising a child. If we do not discipline them, then basically we are allowing their sin nature to take over their lives while we stand idly by. Too many parents have seen children get into trouble with the law simply because they were undisciplined. The rod here does not necessarily mean only corporal punishment, but is any type of discipline which helps bring not only a child, but even an adult back to obedience. A parent who loves their children, would not hesitate to correct them especially since a child growing up does not really know how to order their life yet. We need to not only discipline them when they are disobedient but we are to seek them out to try and keep them straight, even before they commit any unlawful acts. Parents need to try and act in a preventive manner to protect their children. Discipline is something that never leaves the Christian’s life, for if we get out of kilter, then God chastens us and He does not stop until we learn not to be disobedient. In this way He is showing His fatherly love toward us.

 

Prov 13:25 (KJB)

The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: but the belly of the wicked shall want.

 

(Psa 22:26 KJV) The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. Not only is physical food in view here as the Lord provides for His people but this verse is mainly speaking of a spiritual feast. The righteous are the ones who study the Scriptures and are continually feasting at the word of God. Therefore as they study, their souls are well satisfied because the word of God fills them up. Psalm 22:6 states that the meek, the believers, will eat and be satisfied and Proverbs 13:25 confirms this. Keep in mind that David was Solomon’s father so he would have learned this principle from him. On the other hand, the belly of the wicked will always lack because they care not for the spiritual things of the Lord and when a person cares nothing about the spiritual things of God, they sometimes lack physical things as a direct connection. They see the righteous being satisfied, even with little, and they become jealous and the more they despise the righteous, the more hungry they become. They refuse to believe that only God can satisfy their spiritual hunger but they only look at the things of this world to satisfy them.

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