What He Deserves

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles; lest YHWH see and it be evil in His eyes, and He turn away His wrath from him. Proverbs 24:17-18  (Darby modified)

Not – It’s a new year.  This year the wicked will get what they deserve.  This year all those ingrates, political miscreants, welfare abusers and criminals will be delivered justice.  This year things will be different!

Is this your secret hope?  Surely we wouldn’t admit publicly that we want bad things to befall bad people, but maybe underneath the social politeness we really do hope that “they will get what they deserve.”  Such feelings are common enough for the Bible to address them directly.  Unfortunately, the Bible’s perspective isn’t ours.  Proverbs quite specifically tells us not to rejoice or exult when the evil ones receive their due.  al-tismah and al-yagel are the two verbs.  You can see the prefix al attached to each.  In Hebrew, there are two negatives meaning “not.”  They are lo (which is usually associated with “it is never the case” – like the Commandments) and al (which is circumstantially not the case).  In the first verse, the author reflects on human circumstances and notices how easy it is for us to wish evil upon the wicked.  We are to resist this pathway; not because of some altruistic motives but because of the deeper questions of justice.  Let’s see why.

Notice the second verse in our selection.  This verse implies that YHWH’s wrath is already directed toward the enemy.  YHWH does not dismiss the wicked nor does He overlook their evil deeds.  Celebrating their chastisement, however, indicates a heart empty of humility, appreciation and forgiveness – the very qualities that rescued us from the same fate.  When we rejoice in the punishment of the wicked, we act as they would act, not as our suffering and crucified Savior acted.  Proverbs warns us that such actions are likely to turn YHWH’s wrath away from the wicked because now He has to deal with recalcitrant children.

The Talmud says that when a man declines to forgive and preserves enmity toward his enemy, he thereby becomes the guilty party because he has acted in opposition to the deepest love of His creator and usurped the role of the Judge of all Mankind.  In the view of the rabbis, this is a matter of “measure for measure.”  My unwillingness to wish benevolence and repentance on my enemy comes back to me in the form of punishment.  I reap what I sow.

Yeshua had every right to wish judgment and destruction upon His enemies.  In fact, He is the only human being who ever lived who would have been justified in His desire.  But He wept over their fate and forgave them in His suffering.  Can we do the same?

This year our enemies will get what they deserve – our compassion and our tears.  May God grant them renewal as He did you and me.

Topical Index:  rejoice, be glad, forgive, deserve, Proverbs 24:17-18