Did Adam and Eve know about the doctrine of eternal rewards? What about subsequent generations? Enoch (generation seven)? Abraham (generation twenty)? Moses (generation twenty-six)? King David (generation thirty-four)?
Various words are used in the OT to refer to the idea of rewards: reward, recompense, reap, and judgment are four of the most prominent. While it is clear that OT believers knew that God rewarded godly behavior, the question is whether they knew God’s rewards would extend beyond this life. Did they know that they would gain eternal rewards for faithful service?
There are many OT passages that teach or imply eternal rewards. I have chosen two to consider.
Daniel 12:2-3. He wrote, “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.”
This is one of the clearest OT texts on eternal rewards, though most commentators think the issue here is eternal destiny only, not eternal life and possible eternal rewards. For example, consider J. Dwight Pentecost’s comments in The Bible Knowledge Commentary:
Unbelieving Jews will be resurrected to shame and everlasting contempt and will not partake in the covenanted blessings. Jews, however, who believe the Messiah will be resurrected bodily to everlasting life and to positions of honor in Christ’s millennial kingdom. Being glorified in the kingdom, they will shine like the brightness of the heavens. (Cf. Matt. 13:43, “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”) They will be wise, for they will trust in the Messiah even though it will result in their suffering (“Daniel,” pp. 1372-73).
The problem with this view is that not all OT believers were wise and not all turned many to righteousness.
Daniel is talking about two different types of believers. All believers will be raised to everlasting life. But wise believers who have led many to righteousness will be raised to special fullness of everlasting life.
A comparison of Dan 12:2-3 with Matt 13:43 and Rom 8:17b shows that the issue here concerns eternal rewards, not eternal destiny.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14. Solomon concludes this book with these words: “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.”
Here is what Brad Doskocil says in the upcoming Grace Old Testament Commentary about these key verses:
12:13. After all the evidence has been examined, the conclusion is fear God and keep His commandments…
12:14. The conclusion is universal in scope. God is going to judge every human work. Everyone’s works will be evaluated by Jesus because He is the judge (John 5:22-23). The Bible presents two separate judgments of human works: one for believers who have everlasting life and another for unbelievers who are unregenerate.
For believers, their judgment happens when Jesus returns to the earth to conquer it and establish His earthly kingdom (Matt 16:27, Luke 14:14, 2 Tim 2:12, Rev 2:26-27, 3:21, 20:4-6). This judgment is called the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor 5:10). Jesus will evaluate every believer’s works, whether good or bad, and reward him accordingly. These are eternal rewards which last forever. Jesus is fair. He compensates His workers for their service.
There are also some NT texts that tell us that OT believers were motivated by eternal rewards.
Hebrews 11. It tells us that:
- Moses was looking for an eternal reward (v 26). He considered future reward greater than all the treasures of Egypt.
- Abraham was looking for the New Jerusalem (v 10).
- Martyrs suffered in anticipation of “a better resurrection” (v 35).
Hebrews 12:2 tells us that the Lord Himself was motivated to go to the cross for eternal rewards: “for the joy that was set before Him.”
The Four Gospels. When the Lord Jesus taught about eternal rewards, He was teaching OT people, not church age people. The Church did not begin until after Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and ascension.
The Parable of the Minas (Luke 19:11-27) is clear pre-church teaching that when Jesus returns some will hear, “Well done, good servant,” and be given rulership over ten cities. Some will not hear, “Well done,” but they will be given rulership over five cities. And some will be rebuked and will not receive any rulership, though they will get into the kingdom in contrast to the unbelievers who are slain in verse 27.
The Parable of the Just and Unjust Servant (Matthew 24:45-51) teaches OT people that if a believer who is doing well and in line to rule in the life to come begins to think, “My Lord delays His coming,” he might well fall out of fellowship with the Lord and forfeit the right to rule and reign. He will retain everlasting life, but not the reward of rulership.
Other examples of rewards teaching in the Gospels include: the Parable of the Ten Virgins, the Parable of the Talents, the Judgment of the Sheep and the Goats, and Matt 6:19-21.
Believers before the birth of the Church knew a lot more about eternal rewards than we give them credit for.
It is quite possible that a higher percentage of OT believers believed in eternal rewards than do NT believers today.
God has made us so that we are motivated in part by rewards. That is true in all aspects of life, including the Christian life. And it was also true in the life of OT believers, whether Jew or Gentile.
Keep grace in focus by being motivated by the prospect of eternal rewards.
