Proverbs 25:21-24

 

Prov 25:21-22 (KJB)

{21} If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: {22} For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.

 

We must define who our enemy is. The enemy of the Christian is every unbeliever in the world. There are only two kingdoms in this world, the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan. The saved belong to God’s Kingdom and the unsaved belong to Satan’s Kingdom. So if our enemy hungers or thirsts, then we are to give them food and drink. Now what food and what drink are we to give them? Is it physical food? Well, yes we can give them physical food and drink if they need it but is that what is in view here? The key to understanding this is the phrase about the coals in verse 22. I have heard it said that if we feed and give drink to our enemies, then that will make them so angry it will be like coals of fire. That is not a proper understanding.

 

Prov 25:21-22 KJV) If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: {22} For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.

(Isa 6:6-7 KJV) Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: {7} And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

Notice in Proverbs 25:22, we see that if we feed and give drink to the enemy, then the Lord will reward us. The key to understanding the idea of the reward is found in Isaiah 6:6-7. Notice Isaiah was receiving his commission and we see an angel took a live coal from the altar and laid it on the mouth of Isaiah. Then what was the result of that coal on Isaiah’s mouth? We read that his iniquity was taken away and his sin purged. This is the language of salvation. The coals of fire is the Gospel. We are to give the Gospel to those who are our enemies, namely, the unbelievers. In verse 22, we read that it is like heaping coals of fire on their head.

If a person becomes saved, then they too, like Isaiah, will have their iniquity taken away and their sins purged. (Psa 103:12 KJV) As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Now to the subject of the reward. (1 Cor 3:14 KJV) If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. What is the only work which will abide or continue on into eternity? It will be the salvation of a person. So the reward we gain is the soul of that person who became saved. If they do not become saved, then we suffer loss and that loss will be the time, effort, and material goods which we put into that witness but we never know who God is going to save. Sometimes we may witness to a person and then years go by and we never see them again and then when we get to Glory, we will see them, and this is why we are never to say that a certain person will never become saved.

Prov 25:23 (KJB)

The north wind driveth away rain: so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue.

 

A Backbiting tongue - A secret tongue

 

The verse is not speaking that the north wind drives away the rain but rather the language is stating that it brings forth the rain. The normal pattern of rain in Israel is that it comes from the west, off of the Mediterranean Sea. The north wind here may be speaking of the rain which come to Egypt which is south of the Mediterranean sea. Just as the north wind brings the rain, the person who has an angry face will have a backbiting or gossiping tongue. You can basically look at a person and if you see they have an angry look on their face, then you can be sure that they are not far from planning action against the one who made them angry. In this case, it is backbiting or gossiping, both of which could ruin a person’s reputation. (Prov 22:24 KJV) Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: This is why we never make friends with an angry man because their anger will not let them rest until they plot something against someone.

 

Prov 25:24 (KJV)

It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house.

 

Brawling - Contentious person who brings quarrels and disputes

In Middle East homes, the roofs were normally flat and they were used for sleeping in summer and just for repose because of their location. (Acts 10:9 KJV) On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: Peter had gone up on the housetop to pray. This would tell us the roof was a good place to pray, meaning that it would also be a quite place. The verse is teaching that it would be much better for one to find repose in a small place than to have a contentious lifestyle in a large house. It goes back basically to the point that a peaceful home, although small, would be much more desirable than a large house with much disputing. The word “wide house’ can also point to a place like a boarding house which would house many families and that close proximity to others could cause problems in the marriage if the wife feels threatened of having no home but only a motel room. Sitting on a housetop in rain or bad weather would be more desirable than sitting in a house with the quarrelsome woman.

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