“Like one who takes away a garment
on a cold day,
or like vinegar poured on a wound,
is one who sings songs to a heavy
heart.
If your enemy is hungry, give him
food to eat;
if he is thirsty, give him water to
drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning
coals on his head,
and the Lord will reward you.”
After our prayer and declarations, we dove right into a war between the verses. On one side, we have a description of what ‘they’ do. This is a view of the tortured existence that is for those inside Folly’s house. The youth that lacks discernment and is mislead by the adulteress, finds himself lost in the grip of those whose joy comes from bullying others. Taking away a kid’s coat during recess in winter time or pouring vinegar on a wound typically won’t kill anyone. Their tactic may fall short of federally recognized illegal activity, but on the playground, the bully makes the rules.
Upon reading this proverb, my daughter asked the question raised by many, “Who would do such a thing?” Those of us who have had our coats taken, we know the terms. If we want it back, we have to capitulate to their demands. Maybe, it was lunch money, maybe, it was a dare. Maybe, like a local fisherman on the South China Sea, you have to give way lest the larger ships put you under. Either way, the solution is to relinquish your freedoms, dignity, or your coat, to reveal the power struggle at hand. At the foundational level of the book of Proverbs, that is how Folly’s house gains: To steal, kill, and destroy. And as the saying goes, “The house always wins.” But does it? What do ‘they’ really win?
The following verses give a different picture, a different view than that of the tortured existence in Folly’s house. Right off of the bat, we see the other side, the dwellers of Wisdom’s house already at work giving away their coats. They are preempting Folly’s house by feeding the enemy as they hunger and thirst. For at the foundational level of the book of Proverbs, that is how Wisdom’s house gains: Vengeance is the Lord’s and He will reward you, Deuteronomy 32:35.
When I asked my kid’s, “How did Jesus fulfill these proverbs to make us into new creations?” they didn’t have to look very far. Near the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Matthew chapter 5, He gives us the teaching of the beatitudes which revealed a better solution. He helps us to see that like Wisdom’s house our reward is in God’s hands. For to those who hunger and thirst, Jesus is the bread and water of life, John 4:1-42, 6:35-40. Jesus had His garment taken away and vinegar was offered while He was on the cross, Matthew 27:34-35. Through Him, our burdened hearts find peace, Philippians 4:7.
Jesus gives us a greater reward than the one received by the dwellers of Wisdom’s house, our salvation. Through Him we have an inheritance that will never perish, spoil, or fade, 1 Peter 1:3-5, 5:5-7. We gain a greater robe than our coats here could ever be, the robes of Jesus’ righteousness, 2 Corinthians 5:21. So we can say, “Let them have our coats. We have a greater one coming that can’t be taken away,” Romans 12:9-21. To the bully along with the wicked we can say, “Enjoy those coats, and that lunch money. They will be your reward here. They will fade, and without coats and cash to steal where will you be? Under the wrath and judgement of God. Better to give your stolen coats and cash away to gain better ones that won’t fade than to be cast naked into the outer darkness where the worm does not die and the flame is not quenched.” Isaiah 66:24, Mark 9:48
