Pro 24:11 | KingComments | STEP | God gives His people the responsibility to deliver people who are in mortal danger ( ). These are people who are “taken away” and face a certain death, without any possibility of delivering themselves from that situation. The words “death” and “slaughter” indicate the seriousness of the situation. These people are innocent victims of gangs of robbers or circumstances beyond their control. They are about to be killed, slaughtered. “Staggering”, exhausted, they are driven toward death. If deliverance does not dawn very soon from an unsuspected side, it is over with them. The assignment is clear. We must do everything possible to deliver them from death. An impending “Oh” sounds if we stand aside, if we remain aloof and passive. The Hebrew midwives did not throw the baby boys into the Nile against Pharaoh’s command, but saved them ( ). Esther risked her life to save her people who were doomed ( ). They saved and did not remain aloof. Even the prophet Obadiah who served in Ahab’s court saved prophets from death by hiding and providing food for them ( ). The spiritual application for us is that we tell the people of the world that they “are being taken away to death”. Because of sin, they are handed over to death. Here there is no question of being innocent, but rather of lacking any ability to save themselves. Our responsibility is to tell the people of the world that they can escape the judgment of God by confessing their sins and believing in the Lord Jesus. If we fail to do so, an impending ‘woe’ sounds for us. Paul understood this and said: “For woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” ( ). We will be held accountable for all those instances where we have known of eternal death to which people were headed and that we have not pointed out the possibility of escaping it ( ). We cannot come up with “see, we did not know this” ( ). Ignorance is not an excuse when we have deliberately closed our eyes to an evil. It sounds like the excuse Germans used after World War II regarding the Holocaust, which has become a winged word: ‘Wir haben es nicht gewusst’ (‘We did not know it’). With the excuse of ignorance you can sometimes get away with people, but not with God. He constantly tests the hearts and notices without mistaking whether truth dwells in them. He watches the soul, sees how life is lived and what drives it. Heart and soul are under His constant supervision, and no motive escapes Him. He therefore knows perfectly whether the claim not to have known is true or whether it is a lie. Based on His omniscience, He will “render to man according to his work” ( ), whereby it is impossible for Him to err. Rendering to man according to his work means that man is measured by the measure by which he has measured. Those who have not shown mercy will not receive mercy. He who could have saved the lives of others and failed to do so will die.

‏ Proverbs 24:11

Deliver Those Who Go to Slaughter

God gives His people the responsibility to deliver people who are in mortal danger (Pro 24:11). These are people who are “taken away” and face a certain death, without any possibility of delivering themselves from that situation. The words “death” and “slaughter” indicate the seriousness of the situation. These people are innocent victims of gangs of robbers or circumstances beyond their control. They are about to be killed, slaughtered. “Staggering”, exhausted, they are driven toward death. If deliverance does not dawn very soon from an unsuspected side, it is over with them.

The assignment is clear. We must do everything possible to deliver them from death. An impending “Oh” sounds if we stand aside, if we remain aloof and passive. The Hebrew midwives did not throw the baby boys into the Nile against Pharaoh’s command, but saved them (Exo 1:13-17). Esther risked her life to save her people who were doomed (Est 3:6-13 ; Est 4:13-16 ; Est 8:4-6). They saved and did not remain aloof. Even the prophet Obadiah who served in Ahab’s court saved prophets from death by hiding and providing food for them (1Kgs 18:4).

The spiritual application for us is that we tell the people of the world that they “are being taken away to death”. Because of sin, they are handed over to death. Here there is no question of being innocent, but rather of lacking any ability to save themselves. Our responsibility is to tell the people of the world that they can escape the judgment of God by confessing their sins and believing in the Lord Jesus. If we fail to do so, an impending ‘woe’ sounds for us. Paul understood this and said: “For woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (1Cor 9:16).

We will be held accountable for all those instances where we have known of eternal death to which people were headed and that we have not pointed out the possibility of escaping it (Eze 33:1-33). We cannot come up with “see, we did not know this” (Pro 24:12). Ignorance is not an excuse when we have deliberately closed our eyes to an evil. It sounds like the excuse Germans used after World War II regarding the Holocaust, which has become a winged word: ‘Wir haben es nicht gewusst’ (‘We did not know it’).

With the excuse of ignorance you can sometimes get away with people, but not with God. He constantly tests the hearts and notices without mistaking whether truth dwells in them. He watches the soul, sees how life is lived and what drives it. Heart and soul are under His constant supervision, and no motive escapes Him. He therefore knows perfectly whether the claim not to have known is true or whether it is a lie.

Based on His omniscience, He will “render to man according to his work” (Rev 22:12), whereby it is impossible for Him to err. Rendering to man according to his work means that man is measured by the measure by which he has measured. Those who have not shown mercy will not receive mercy. He who could have saved the lives of others and failed to do so will die.