Study Audio Download

Pro 1:17-23 “The righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner” Part II

[Study Aired March 13, 2025]

I’ve kept the same title as last week for this section of chapter 11, seeing the majority of the verses point to the reality that “the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth much more the wicked and the sinner” (Pro 11:31) which is something the Lord wants us to “behold”, to know!

Many of the proverbs are written with a clear message of opposing positive and negative behaviour and the resultant effect of acting one way or the other. For a very blessed few on this earth, we do not separate ourselves from any part of the proverbs but see them as an ongoing, is was and will be admonition in this age [as we do the rest of God’s word], and a continual encouragement of how God can give us victory over the wretchedness that just naturally resides within flesh (Rom 7:24-25).

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. 

This section of chapter eleven has a lot to do with how God has called his people to be productive in this life, that we live by the faith of Christ (Gal 2:20-21), who can give us the power and ability to overcome the negative aspect of each of these proverbs to become fruit bearing trees to the glory and honour of our Great God (2Ti 1:9-10) who gives the increase in our life so that we can bring forth much spiritual fruit (1Co 3:6).

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Gal 2:21  I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.  

2Ti 1:9  Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, [Tit 3:8, Jas 2:14-17]
2Ti 1:10  But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: 

The “good ground” of (Mat 13:8) is in the house of God where the “manifold wisdom of God”(Eph 3:10) is “now made manifest” to the saints in every generation that is being judged (Mat 13:8, 1Ti 3:15, Mat 24:34, 1Pe 4:17).

Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, 

Mat 13:8  But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 

1Ti 3:15  But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. 

Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 

Pro 11:17  The merciful man doeth good to his own soul^H5315: but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh^H7607.

H5315  nephesh  neh’-fesh
From H5314; properly a breathing creature, that is, animal or (abstractly) vitality; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental): – any, appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, X dead (-ly), desire, X [dis-] contented, X fish, ghost, + greedy, he, heart (-y), (hath, X jeopardy of) life (X in jeopardy), lust, man, me, mind, mortality, one, own, person, pleasure, (her-, him-, my-, thy-) self, them (your) -selves, + slay, soul, + tablet, they, thing, (X she) will, X would have it.
Total KJV occurrences: 753

H7607 flesh she’êr sheh-ayr’
From H7604; flesh (as swelling out), as living or for food; generally food of any kind; figuratively kindred by blood: – body, flesh, food, (near) kin (-sman, -swoman), near (nigh) [of kin]
Total KJV occurrences: 16

This proverb gives more evidence to God’s elect that when we do good unto our own soul^H5315, or flesh and bones (Eph 5:29-30, Isa 58:7), or do evil unto it, we are doing this unto Christ (Mat 25:40-46). If we want to obtain mercy we need to show it to others (Mat 5:7) and if we trouble our own flesh and do belong to God, His grace will abound toward our sinful condition (2Co 9:8, Rom 5:20-21) burning out that evil spirit that troubles our “own flesh^H7607” [one spirit 1Co 6:17, one bread 1Co 10:17, one flesh Joh 6:51]. So in a healthy body of Christ we can say no healthy spiritual man ever hated His own flesh (Eph 5:29)

Eph 5:29  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: 
Eph 5:30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 

Isa 58:7  Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?[Eph 5:30] 

Mat 25:40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 
Mat 25:41  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 
Mat 25:42  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 
Mat 25:43  I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 
Mat 25:44  Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 
Mat 25:45  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 
Mat 25:46  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

2Co 9:8  And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: 

Rom 5:20  Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 
Rom 5:21  That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Joh 6:51  I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 

Pro 11:18  The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward. 

No one wants to think that their first tree works a “deceitful work”, but that is the point of this proverb. We all must first be the tree that is on the unproductive ground of Babylon where our talent is buried in the earth due to fear (Mat 25:25), to then by God’s mercy become a tree that is worked with on the good ground, which casts out that fear (Mat 13:8, 1Ti 3:15, Rom 5:5) as God’s workmanship that has been predestinated to bring forth works (Luk 13:6-9, Eph 1:4). God’s elect are called unto a lifetime of seeking and knowing and believing that there will be a “sure reward” for their labour of sowing righteousness through Christ (Heb 11:6, Mat 6:33) as we die daily and are washed by the word that gives us the power to progressively, “by little and little”, drive the beast out of our land, which represents our bodies (Exo 23:29-30, Tit 2:11-12).

The patient process of salvation:

Luk 13:6  He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. 
Luk 13:7  Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? [1Ti 3:15]
Luk 13:8  And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:
Luk 13:9  And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.[Heb 6:3]

Exo 23:29  I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. 
Exo 23:30  By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land. 

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 
Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 

God has purposed that we must experience both conditions, of being unproductive to then become productive, and the contrast blesses us and puts us in remembrance that He is the one who is working all of this holding and withholding of those spirits that inhibit our growth until they are destroyed by the brightness of His coming (2Th 2:3-8).

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 
2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 

“The day of evil” is something that God has made within us (Isa 45:7, Pro 16:4) that we will be delivered from when we begin to “soweth righteousness” through Christ, resulting in a “sure reward” (Pro 11:18). That ultimate reward at the end of a life of fighting a good fight of faith is to be found in that blessed and holy first resurrection (1Ti 6:12, Rev 20:6, 2Ti 4:8).

Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. 

Pro 11:18  The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward. 

1Ti 6:12  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. 

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 

2Ti 4:8  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. 

Pro 11:19  As righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death. 

By God’s grace we’ll recognize any evil thing that is within us (Rom 8:1-9) that must be cleansed by Him through Christ (Psa 51:10-11) who alone can bless us to have His righteousness ruling and reigning in our thoughts and actions (2Co 10:5) so that we can go unto perfection on the third day (Luk 13:32).

Rom 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 
Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 
Rom 8:3  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 
Rom 8:4  That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. [Rom 8:14-16]
Rom 8:5  For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh;[“so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death”] but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.[“As righteousness tendeth to life”] 
Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 
Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 
Rom 8:8  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 
Rom 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 

Psa 51:10  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. [“righteousness tendeth to life”]
Psa 51:11  Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; [“righteousness tendeth to life”] 

Pro 11:20  They that are of a froward^H6141 heart are abomination to the LORD: but such as are upright in their way are his delight. 

We are all that froward^H6141 man at first who God answers according to the idol of our own hearts (Pro 16:28, Eze 14:4, Mat 25:24).

H6141 ‛iqqêsh ik-kashe’
From H6140; distorted; hence false: – crooked, froward, perverse.
Total KJV occurrences: 11

Pro 16:28  A froward^H8419 man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends.

Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel [typifying the church] that setteth up his idols in his heart, [crooked, froward, or perverse words] and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity (Eze 33:13, Php 3:9) before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; 

Mat 25:24  Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: 
Mat 25:25  And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. 
Mat 25:26  His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: [“I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols”] 
Mat 25:27  Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. [Jas 2:20]
Mat 25:28  Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 
Mat 25:29  For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. 
Mat 25:30  And cast ye the unprofitable servant  into outer darkness:[Heb 10:29, Heb 6:9] there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The “but such as are upright in their way are his delight” part of this proverb can only happen if God will grant that we be dragged to His son in this age (Joh 6:44) through whom we are accepted of the Father (Eph 1:6). There is no boasting in the life of those that God chooses to bring forth much fruit (Rom 3:27, Gal 2:20, Php 2:12-13); the few who are being blessed to heed the admonitions of the Lord in this age, that reveal the needful severity and goodness of God upon all flesh (Rom 11:22, Rom 2:4).

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. 

Eph 1:6  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 

Rom 11:22  Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? 

Pro 11:21  Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered. 

Christ has delivered the elect over and over throughout history, most notably via the typical deliverance in the old covenant of the nation of Israel, which represents the very real spiritual deliverance from our Father who says that nothing shall separate the Israel of God from the love of God (Gal 6:16, Rom 8:35-39). Our old man does not go unpunished in this life, but it is through God’s chastening grace that we are received of Him (Heb 12:6) as we are delivered by the one seed, “the seed” Jesus Christ who abides within the body of Christ (Gal 3:16), “but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered” (Col 1:27). In other words, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Mat 16:18).

Gal 6:16  And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. 

Rom 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 
Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 
Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 
Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 

Gal 3:16  Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 

Pro 11:22  As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion. 

This proverb is talking about the “fair woman which is without discretion” who represents Babylon where we had our former conversation in the world (Eph 2:1-4) that we now must continue to die daily to. The “gold, and silver, and precious stones” of (Rev 18:12) represent our own confidence in our fleshly carnal reasoning that causes us to believe we are rich and increased with goods, not knowing we are actually wretched, miserable, poor and blind (Joh 9:41, Rev 3:17). All of these conditions are represented by the “jewel of gold in a swine’s snout”. In order for us to become a woman of discretion, we must have that gold on our snouts pulled off and put in the fire (Rev 3:17-18, Exo 32:3, Exo 32:20-24).

Joh 9:41  Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 
Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 

Exo 32:3  And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. 

Exo 32:20  And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. [the idol turned to nothing through a fiery process]

Pro 11:23  The desire of the righteous is only good: but the expectation of the wicked is wrath. 

Our desire will be what God has determined from the foundation of the world (Pro 16:1-2), and if we are His and Christ is working in us both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure (Php 2:12-13), then and only then “The desire of the righteous is only good” (Rom 3:10-12).

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD. 
Pro 16:2  All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 

Rom 3:10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 
Rom 3:11  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 
Rom 3:12  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

The only way that “desire of the righteous” can be realized in our lives is by having “the expectation of the wicked” destroyed by God’s “wrath” which abides on all unrighteousness of men [Rom 1:18]. We suffer so that we can cease from sinning (1Pe 4:1-2) and overcome all that is in the world within us (1Jn 2:16) via the power of God’s holy spirit that makes it possible for us to fulfill His will, and “be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (1Jn 2:15-17, Php 3:9).

1Pe 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; 
1Pe 4:2  That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men [all that is in the world of ], but to the will of God. 

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 
1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 
1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 

In conclusion, we thank God for His wonderful works onto the children of men that are setting us free from sin (Joh 8:36), which resides in a deceived world that is currently being held in bondage by the god of this world (2Co 4:4).

God’s elect are typified by Abraham’s one seed and are now the one holy seed with Jesus Christ within (Gal 3:16-17, Col 1:27), and so we give thanks to our loving Father for the process of salvation we’ve been called unto that will lead to the salvation of all men (1Co 15:22-23).

The elect are called to have these words fulfilled in their lives, “Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner”. The elect are recompensed with the life of Christ within our earth today, and outwardly by receiving a double portion, or inheritance (Col 1:12, Col 3:24, 1Pe 1:4, Heb 11:8, Heb 9:15). These last few verses incentivize us to keep fighting a good fight of faith as we strive for the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ (1Ti 6:12, Php 3:14).

Col 1:12  Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 

Col 3:24  Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

1Pe 1:4  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

Heb 11:8  By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 

Heb 9:15  And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.