Classic KJV - Proverbs 11:31

Translation

As surely as night follows day, and winter follows summer, so God’s wrath follows sin—regardless of who sins.

The Hebrew word, הן (hēn, pronounced “hen”), can function either as the beginning of a conditional statement —“if” in the NASB—or as an exclamation—“behold” in the KJV. But I think that translating hēn as a conditional “if” statement is a little misleading. That would imply uncertainty about God’s responses in this life. The KJV seems to get the sense better in suggesting that God uses both positive reward and negative retribution—the carrot and the stick—in this present life.

Loving Discipline

The text could read that God will certainly discipline lovingly the righteous ones, his children on Earth. God will not hesitate to give us painful medicine, if we need it. Therefore, the text goes on, be very sure that pain will also come to the wicked and the sinner—those who are openly rebellious against Him. Further, if a loving God would send his sinless son Jesus to an agonizing death on a cross, just think of what He will do to Satan and his followers!

Who is Righteous?

Let’s be clear that the only righteousness God rewards is built on faith in the Son of God, either as Lord Jesus Christ under the New Covenant, or as the coming Messiah under the Old Covenant. The righteous deeds of humanity, apart from personal faith and obedience to God, are all “filthy rags” in the eyes of the Holy God (Isaiah 64:6). Some recompense, though certainly not all, is given to us by God on Earth. Those who make sacrifices for Christ on Earth receive a hundred times more than they gave up (Mark 10:28-31).

Classic Comments

The great English Biblical scholar Matthew Henry makes the following comment on this text:

If the righteous, who do not deserve the least reward, yet have part of their recompense here on earth, much more shall the wicked, who deserve the greatest punishment, have part of their punishment on earth, as an earnest [first instalment] of worse to come. Therefore stand in awe and sin not. If those have two heavens that merit none, much more shall those have two hells that merit both.

Remember the righteous are saved only through the merits of Jesus Christ and his sacrificial death on the cross. If righteousness before God were achievable through good human living, then the sacrifice of Christ would have been unnecessary.

Our Maker, Saviour, and Friend

In Jesus’ parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), He described both positive and negative compensation, reward, and punishment.

The servants who worked busily received enormous rewards. The servant who did nothing not only lost his job, but was also painfully punished. Note also the giving of reward and punishment in the parable of the minas (Luke 19:12-26).

Be sure of this: The deeds of a man’s hands will return to him (Proverbs 12:14).