“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
Growing Dominion, Part 161
“Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof: so he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured” (Pr 27:18).
We are all familiar with the Old Testament adage that the ox shall not be muzzled as it treads out the grain. The apostle Paul repeats it in his argument for the reasonable payment of ministers. This proverb contains the same principle, only with an odd twist. Just as the man who tends the fig tree should get to partake of those figs, so also the butler should receive honor from his master. The oddity is in the reversal of the picture. Instead of the owner being the farmer, the owner is the farm. The employee is the one who “tends the tree.” The word is for diligent employees—as they labor for their employers, they should look for honor. Of course, they should not do that in the way proscribed by the Lord as He chastised all forms of social climbing. But they should know that this is part of how the world works.