Proverbs 11 - The Wealth of Righteousness
In Proverbs 8, Jesus has the following to say about righteousness:Â
 20 I walk in the way of righteousness,
      along the paths of justice, 21 bestowing wealth on those who love me
      and making their treasuries full.
But then, in Proverbs 11, Solomon writes the following wisdom about righteousness:
 4 Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath,
      but righteousness delivers from death. 5 The righteousness of the blameless makes a straight way for them,
      but the wicked are brought down by their own wickedness. 6 The righteousness of the upright delivers them,
      but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires.
At first glance, verse 4 appears to conflict with Jesus’ words in Proverbs 8. Assuming a righteous person loves God, it seems to be saying that the wealth Jesus bestows is worthless! What gives?
Well, you need to look at the details, and must also consider different perspectives. The bible talks of getting real treasure in Heaven. Let’s suppose Jesus was talking about that in Proverbs 8. Then, when will your treasury be full? Answer: after you are judged in Heaven. When is wealth worthless? Answer: in the end times, either during the Tribulation or during Armageddon. Both are before you get judged in Heaven however, and so Jesus is basically saving your wealth for after all judgement. In other words, even if Jesus gives you wealth on earth, the enduring wealth Proverbs 8 would be referring to won’t be received until after those times in which wealth is worthless are over.
Another point to consider is that wealth won’t get you through the day of wrath. You might have such wealth, and you can try using it to pay off whoever you need, but it won’t work. When God’s wrath goes out, it will go out without respect to your wealth. If this is the wealth of a Christian however, well God won’t exactly be meting out his wrath against you, but if you are unfortunate enough to be on earth during that wrath, it is still true that your physical wealth will not be of much good… and that brings us to another kind of wealth.
Finally, there’s spiritual wealth. That is something that Jesus bestows on us today, and will be good for all time. As before, Solomon is writing of physical wealth in Proverbs 11, not spiritual, and so in that respect there is no conflict.
In conclusion, you can pick your interpretation for what kind of wealth Proverbs 8 is talking about… earthly, Heavenly, or spiritual, and you will find no conflict with Proverbs 11:4, that earthly wealth is worthless during the day of wrath. Personally, I think spiritual wealth is the best interpretation for Proverbs 8, while physical earthly wealth is the best interpretation for Proverbs 11, especially when you read on to verse 5:
 5 The righteousness of the blameless makes a straight way for them,
      but the wicked are brought down by their own wickedness.
Now, if your righteousness makes you spiritually wealthy, then it’s easy to see how such one’s path will be straight. Someone on the other end of spectrum however, with no spiritual wealth to speak of, will surely be brought down. He may think he’s wealthy, and that he buy himself out of God’s judgement, but…
 18 The wicked man earns deceptive wages,
      but he who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.
My prayer for today is that I reap the rewards of righteousness. Today God, I will believe and obey Your word, and will worship You in purity of heart.