Tim Maas Supporter Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

In my opinion, the possible confusion about the meaning of this verse stems from it speaking of the righteous being repaid on earth. The natural inclination might be to interpret the word "repaid" in the case of the righteous as speaking of their being rewarded by God. However, I think that the word, in fact, carries a negative connotation.

The verse is pointing out that, if even people commonly acknowledged or depicted as being righteous (including, for example, individuals such as Moses and David) did not escape punishment from God for those occasions when they disobeyed Him (such as when Moses struck the rock with his staff (rather than speaking to it, as God had instructed him) in order to provide water for the Israelites in the wilderness, and also spoke presumptuously as if he (rather than God) were the one providing the water to the people, for which God told him that he would not enter the Promised Land (Numbers 20:1-12); or when David committed adultery with Bathsheba and ordered the death of her husband Uriah, and God punished him by taking the life of David and Bathsheba's child, and also by the rebellion of David's son Absalom (2 Samuel 11:1-12:23; 2 Samuel 15-18)), then there is even more certainty that God will punish the egregiously wicked and sinful for their deeds, also.

(And, of course, there is also the fact that no human (other than Jesus) has ever been truly "righteous" (in the sense of being without sin) in God's eyes, and that it is only by God's grace and faith in Christ's atoning death and resurrection that any of us are (or can be) saved)

January 22 2018 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report