November 13, 2023

Proverbs 25: 21, 22 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. (NIV)

You can’t hate someone up close.*

It seems that the origin of the phrase, “heap burning coals on his head,” has been lost to the passage of time. Commentators speculate. One likens it to the ritual on the Day of Atonement when the high priest filled his censer with coals and burned incense.* Another writes, “As metals are melted by heaping coals upon them, so is the heart softened by kindness.”* A third says it refers to giving hot coals to someone whose fire has gone out.* And on and on. We may not know where the saying came from but we know what it means.

So, just how far do we have to go to try to appease our enemy? Solomon says, if he’s hungry, feed him; thirsty, give him some water. That doesn’t sound like we’re expected to do more than meet his basic needs. But does that reflect Jesus’ way of doing things? Jesus said if someone hits you on the right cheek, offer him your left cheek. If he wants your shirt, give him your coat, too. If you are required to walk a mile with someone, go ahead and go an extra mile. Love your enemies, he said, and pray for them. (Matthew 5: 39-44) That’s a BIG heap of burning coals!

Is your enemy going to turn around and thank you for what you’ve done for him? Chances are, he wouldn’t be your enemy if he was able to display such graciousness so readily. But Solomon says that the Lord will reward you – and Matthew Henry writes, “We shall be no losers by our self-denial.” I call that “win/win.”

It is possible to continue turning the other cheek when one has stopped counting.*