Read Revelation 22:12-17 …
When one reads the Proverbs, the wisdom that is presented is often presented in contrasts, opposing thoughts that make the truth easier to understand. The proverb recorded at 10:11 is a perfect example – “The mouth of the righteous is a well of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.” The mouth, or what is said, is the object under consideration and the result – life or violence – depends on the righteousness or wickedness of the person. While this figure is common, some proverbs that have this configuration can seem to have a different meaning depending on which translation is read. Consider two translations of Proverbs 13:13 …
“The one who despises the word will be in debt to it,
But the one who fears the commandment will be rewarded” (NASB).
“He who despises the word will be destroyed,
But he who fears the commandment will be rewarded” (NKJV).
The obvious difference is in the result of despising “the word,” which is equated with “the commandment,” so how one understands and applies the instructions of wisdom will result in one of two options. The problem is that one translation renders the Hebrew in this place as “destroyed” while the other “be in debt.” There are certainly many scholars in Hebrew so the lexicographical meaning of the word in question has been documented (which is a wonderful help for those of us that are not Hebrew scholars). Interestingly, both thoughts – to be destroyed and to be in debt to – are part of the meaning of the word. So, in which sense should one take the meaning? Perhaps both meanings have value in our understanding and perhaps Jesus is the one that makes this duel understanding plain.
After Jesus makes His final entrance into Jerusalem, He is teaching about what it means to be a person that walks in the light. In that block of teaching Jesus says, “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). Jesus can say this because what is said is not said on His own authority but is based upon the authority of the Father. Therefore, when the time comes and judgment is given, a person will not be able to say they were unaware of what was expected of them, for the words which Jesus spoke have been preserved. The rich man hears this same idea from Father Abraham, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them” (Luke 16:29). The Word of Truth has been given so that everyone of every time, when that final day great comes, will have a standard by which they will be judged. The rich man understood what it meant to be “in debt” to the Word, for after he realized he could not save himself from the consequences of his actions, the plea becomes a concern for his brothers who need to repent.
Yet there is also another statement made by Jesus, this time recorded near the end of the Apocalypse of John – “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work” (Rev. 22:12). The “reward” that is mentioned by the glorified Son of God is a similar idea, although many do not like the sound of it, of earning wages. Jesus says He will bring the wages appointed to each one “according to his work.” Paul is very straight forward telling us what that the wages, or what one earns when they serve sin, is death (Rom. 6:23). The reward that Jesus brings with Him for those that work iniquity is to be “destroyed,” and in the context of Revelation 22:12-15, the wages earned by not keeping “His commandments” is to be shut out from “the city” in which is the tree of life. This is “the second death” (Rev. 21:8).
Here we are, all of us – every human that has ever lived or will ever live – standing on this side of eternity either storing up wrath for ourselves because of the hardness of our hearts (Rom. 2:5-7), or submitting ourselves to the commands of God and running our race with diligence so that we might receive a “crown of righteousness” (2 Tim. 4:7-8). In the end there will be either debt or reward, let us not be among those that will hear those terrible words, “‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
“He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul,
But he who is careless of his ways will die” (Prov. 19:16).
the odd weekend preacher 