Friday!

Proverbs!

If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, 

and if he is thirsty, 

give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head, 

and the Lord will reward you.

Proverbs 25:21-22 CSB

At the battle of Gate Pa during the night of April 29 1864 as the British soldiers were left wounded and dying after being defeated that day, Heni Te Kiri Karamu took water to the injured. 

The enemy.

Events like this are famous for their grace and mercy because they're rare. 

The word for enemy here literally seems to mean "hater". 

As Heni collected up her own dead and wounded she must have seen the "haters" as people still. And chose to give them water. 

They were still the enemy, hadn't been forgiven, what they'd done wasn't forgotten. 

It's easy to dehumanise the enemy, our haters, and maybe that's what this proverb is about, simply reminding us that those who are against us are people, even if they haven't or don't treat us in the same way. 

It doesn't say that there shouldn't be accountability or justice.

At the very end of this proverb is the curious phrase that the Lord will reward you. The word here is "shalam", it's a verb that means to be complete or sound. 

The Lord, Yahweh, is going to complete things. 

There will be justice.

#proverbs

#wisdom

#somethingtochewon