Proverbs 25:15-28
If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat,
Proverbs 25:21-22
and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,
for you will heap burning coals on his head,
and the LORD will reward you.
I once encountered some teaching that tried to explain away the “burning coals” part of this proverb by saying that it was really a nice blessing and not serious injury. The teaching was that in ancient days starting a fire was difficult, so rather than rubbing sticks together each day, folks would maintain a fire and carry coals around — often in a pot on their heads. And so, heaping burning coals on his head, would be doing the guy a big favor by saving him a lot of labor, something just as nice as giving him food and water. Hogwash! It means what you thought it meant the first time you read it; it means roasting your enemy’s head under a pile of hot burning coals!
This proverb has always intrigued me for two reasons. The first reason is that the first half sounds like the kindly “love your enemies” (Mt. 5:24; Lk 6:26,35) message that we say we want to hear from Jesus, but the second half seems a bit Machiavellian — that the ultimate goal is to really stick it to the enemy after all. And that makes us uncomfortable, partly because we don’t really want to hear “love your enemies” (because that is hard and goes against our nature), and partly because we really do want to stick it to our enemies (in keeping with our nature), but that seems contrary to what we think we understand about “love your enemies”. And so we try to make excuses for the verse (and for God), like what we started with above. In the end, I must conclude that there is still a lot that I don’t understand, and so I must simply trust and obey — and let the Lord work things out.
The second reason this proverb intrigues me is that Paul quotes it in Romans 12:20. So let’s hear what the Apostle has to say:
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:14-21
So maybe that notion of letting the Lord work things out isn’t so far off after all.
That said, the next time you think I am being nice to you, beware! 🙂
Don’t you love it when people try to make God’s word more palatable? Wouldn’t it be lovely if every law God gives us were nicer? More politically correct?
I vividly remember the morning when I walked into adult Sunday school at our previous church to get something for another group I was teaching. I heard our priest saying he didn’t believe in hell, because the God of Love he knew wouldn’t send anyone to eternal punishment. My, didn’t that sound nice? But WRONG! Jesus himself mentioned hell many times.
There are teachings in the Bible that make me uncomfortable because they sound judgmental (not “good news” for people who want freedom of choice), or elitist, or … (pick your adjective). But I recognize that I have to wrestle with these truths and trust God that His ways are just and right and merciful, and I don’t know but the tiniest piece of Truth. I can’t simply revise them to fit my comfort zone.
Anyway, that morning was a turning point that eventually led us to St. Andrew’s. Praise the Lord!
And here we get some clarity from one much wiser than I: