Proverbs 28:21 ¶ To have respect of persons is not good: for
for a piece of bread that man will transgress.
To have respect of persons is to show partiality
to a person because of social position or rank. Sometimes it involves accepting
a bribe such as a Congressman voting for a particular appropriations bill that
helps out a corporate interest in return for a job offer once he retires from
Congress. Or, it could be a local official granting a waiver for some rule to a
person of importance in the community.
Deuteronomy 1:17 Ye shall not respect persons
in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be
afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too
hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.
Deuteronomy 16:19 Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect
persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and
pervert the words of the righteous.
God doesn’t show partiality because of your
social status that you obtained or were born with on earth.
Romans 2:11 For there is no respect of
persons with God.
Gill points out how people will show
that partiality, that respect of persons, for the most basic of needs, as he
points out the Roman Cato said, “that he might be hired, for a morsel of bread,
to speak or hold his peace.”
When you consider the parties involved more than
the merit of the case there is injustice. When a parent supports his or her favorite
child over another regardless of their rightness or wrong there is injustice.
When a Pastor refuses to hear a complaint against an important contributor in
the congregation there is injustice. Having respect of persons is not something
that God wants from Christians, either.
James 2:1 ¶ My brethren, have not the faith
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. 2 For if
there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and
there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; 3 And ye have respect to him
that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place;
and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: 4 Are ye
not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of* evil thoughts? 5
Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich
in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love
him? 6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you
before the judgment seats? 7 Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the
which ye are called?
(* of can mean by, with, through, and from depending on
context. Here it means “judges with or judges having. Compare “of” and
“through” in Romans 3:30 and look at Luke 4:2.)
Judge and discern rightly, not with prejudicial
favor toward someone who can do you some small good regardless of the merit of
their cause.
Proverbs 28:22 ¶ He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye,
and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.
Here is another warning about hurrying to be
rich. Remember, earlier in 23:6 there was a discussion of what an evil eye is.
What is “an evil eye”? From a purely literal and
practical point of view there is this paragraph in Matthew where Jesus is
telling His disciples where to store what is truly valuable;
Matthew 6:19 ¶ Lay not up for yourselves
treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break
through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor
steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22 The
light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body
shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be
full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great
is that darkness! 24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the
one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the
other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Apparently there is something wicked in the
greedy way the person with the evil eye sees things. Again, in the parable of
the householder, which is typically understood as it is not our concern that
some work most of their lives for Christ and some come to Christ at the end of
their life and yet both are saved. Notice verse 15.
Matthew 20:1 ¶ For the kingdom of heaven is
like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to
hire labourers into his vineyard. 2 And when he had agreed with the labourers
for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And he went out about the
third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 And said unto
them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you.
And they went their way. 5 Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour,
and did likewise. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others
standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? 7 They
say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into
the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. 8 So when even
was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers,
and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. 9 And when
they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a
penny. 10 But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received
more; and they likewise received every man a penny. 11 And when they had
received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, 12 Saying, These
last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which
have borne the burden and heat of the day. 13 But he answered one of them, and
said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? 14
Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto
thee. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye
evil, because I am good? 16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for
many be called, but few chosen.
And then in Luke Jesus reproves the people listening to Him
for rejecting what He has said,
Luke 11:29 ¶ And when the people were
gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek
a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.
30 For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be
to this generation. 31 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment
with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost
parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon
is here. 32 The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this
generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas;
and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. 33 No man, when he hath lighted a
candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a
candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. 34 The light of the
body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is
full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.
35 Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. 36 If
thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall
be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.
A single eye is healthy and whole while an evil
eye is sick and imperfect, worldly and focusing on the wrong things. Our
Creator, God, has made us for His pleasure (Revelation 4:11). He wants us to
see things His way voluntarily (Isaiah 1:18.) The warning here is that the
person who views wealth in the wrong way, who wants to get rich quick, will
eventually be destined to poverty. Now, this verse was certainly written under
the Law given to Moses but the principle definitely applies to us living under
Grace.
The way you look at things, your viewpoint,
determines usually how you live and what you hold valuable. There are tons of
get rich quick schemes out there that people try to get you hooked into. Rarely
does either a business or a career yield quick riches. If it does it usually
ends up in ruin. Many people who have won great lottery fortunes have wound up
filing for bankruptcy. We have a hard time with wealth suddenly acquired. Look
at the stories of athletes from poor backgrounds who can’t handle the money
they make and wind up in prison or ruined.
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