Bible Study on Matthew 6, verses 9 to 15, part 2, deliver us from evil

 

Evil, synonymous with a temptation here, can be in context simply trouble, the calamity that comes to our lives from giving into temptations or the trouble that comes to us naturally living in fallen bodies in a fallen world. It can also be judgment’s consequences.

 

Matthew 6:34  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

 

Genesis 47:9  And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.

 

In this prayer that which challenges our faith is a malicious event that can bring us down. The person praying was pleading to be delivered from all such harms, griefs, disappointments, and discouragements that challenge faith.

 

Then, in Luke, Jesus gives a short parable on being persistent in prayer, promising that God will provide your needs. As Jesus said in regard to our basic needs in Luke, chapter 12, and in Matthew, chapter 6, quoted above.

 

Of course, your cellphone service payment and the mortgage on the house at the beach don’t count as needs. We’re talking about what is needed to get by from day to day. God uses other people sometimes to provide our needs and needs are met most assuredly while we are doing our part. I have always been amazed at Christians who are struggling and yet refuse employment, refuse to improve their work skills, or insist that not only do they need someone to give them something but want to have the right to demand exactly in what form it is given.

 

With regard to temptation Paul offered this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

 

1Corinthians 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

 

In the context of verse 13 evil is that capacity to be malicious and hard-hearted, capable and willing of doing harm.

 

Genesis 37:33  And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.

 

Genesis 50:20  But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

 

We know this is an accurate description of even the best of people at their core from our own experience if we are honest and from the Bible.

 

Jeremiah 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

 

The point here is that God will answer this prayer if made sincerely, persistently, and within the confines of what we know to be His will. This is a promise we are challenged to press for the fulfillment of, being constant in prayer. We ought to pray it every day.” UNQUOTE

 

Now, back to the passage here in Matthew 6. Notice that the talk in Matthew and in Luke are given on different occasions. Matthew, in verse 13 says;

 

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

 

Compare that to;

 

1Chronicles 29:11  Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.

 

Notice the debt we owe when we sin against someone. Clearly by looking at the context and comparing to the passage in Luke this is not a financial issue but clearly about our sin, a sin we sin against another and against God. We are expected to forgive sins against us as we ask for our sins to be forgiven.

 

Salvation for the Jews was contingent upon their obedience and our relationship with Christ, indeed the Holy Spirit’s light within us can be dimmed by our sin although most of us do not believe we can lose our salvation.

 

Read Ephesians 4 about grieving the Holy Spirit with your sin.

A Psalm for Sunday, Psalm 67, verses 1 to 7, God be merciful unto us, and bless us

 

Psalm 67:1 ¶  «To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm or Song.» God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah. 2  That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations. 3  Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. 4  O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah. 5  Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. 6  Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us. 7  God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.

 

Here is a Psalm of pure praise from an agricultural people we can use in our personal prayers if we memorize it. I also can see this as a prophecy of Christ’s millennial reign on earth.

 

The first part of this Psalm seems a lot like the High Priest’s form of blessing from Numbers 6.

 

Numbers 6:22 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 23  Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, 24  The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: 25  The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: 26  The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. 27  And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.

 

God is the saving health of the nations of the earth in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Psalm 98:2  The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen. 3  He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

 

Praise God o people and sing for joy as God’s government is just and fair and good.

 

Psalm 97:1 ¶  The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.

 

Psalm 138:4  All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth. 5  Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great is the glory of the LORD.

 

Can you see the millennial reign of Christ in this Psalm?

 

Psalm 22:27  All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

Bible Study on Matthew 6, verses 9 to 15, part 1, the Lord's Prayer

 

Matthew 6:9 ¶  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11  Give us this day our daily bread. 12  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. 14  For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15  But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

 

Let’s first look at my comments on the so-called Lord’s Prayer from Luke;

 

“Luke 11:1 ¶  And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. 2  And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. 3  Give us day by day our daily bread. 4  And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. 5  And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; 6  For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? 7  And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. 8  I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. 9  And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 10  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 11  If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? 12  Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13  If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

 

In a great passage on prayer one of Jesus’ disciples asks a logical question about how His followers should pray. Jesus replies with a model that starts with identifying to whom you are praying, God the Father in Heaven. He then praises the Father and prays that the name of God be hallowed, holy, set apart. Of course, in our world His name is all too often used as a curse word with no reverence or respect with even Christians using substitutes for God and Jesus Christ like gosh, golly, and gee whiz. I heard a child once say that when you love someone their name is safe in your mouth. Using God’s name flippantly as a curse word or exclamation does not show love at all, of course.

 

Jesus then tells the disciple to pray for the kingdom of God, the kingdom of Heaven, to arrive on earth, to be fulfilled, and that God’s will, clearly His perfect, directive will rather than just permission, be done on earth as it is in Heaven. He then brings the prayer down to asking for God to supply daily needs. In history, for the common man at least, hunger and starvation were constant threats, as well as the disease that consumed a body weakened by day-in and day-out hunger…

 

…After asking for what was needed in that day Jesus told the disciple to pray for their sins against God to be forgiven in the same manner that they forgave sins committed against them. This rather radical statement says that we are not worthy to have our sins forgiven if we are not willing to forgive others. Peter questioned such a command.

 

Matthew 18:21 ¶  Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22  Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

 

Certainly, the nature of our forgiveness is a little different than God’s due to our finite and weak position. When God forgives He restores fellowship with Him. We dare not always do that. The shop-owner who forgives the cashier who stole money from them would be an idiot to put that person back on the cash register if the person was even kept in the employment at all. They might forgive the person and wish them no harm but dismiss them from their job for prudence sake.

 

In the same respect if a person in a position of trust and authority harms a child sexually or physically in some other manner it is possible to forgive them but it is never acceptable to ever let them be in a position of trust and authority again where they can hurt children. And, if the offender were a Christian they would never want to be put in that position again or ask to be.

 

So, our forgiveness does not always involve restoration although it could. A spouse may forgive an adultery and restore their cheating spouse to the marriage or they may forgive and simply acknowledge the irreconcilable breach caused by the adulterer and move on.

 

But, regardless of the ability or willingness to restore or not, it is essential that we forgive those who sin against us, even the most egregious sins against our person or soul. One of the greatest causes of mental illness is the unwillingness to forgive or to be forgiven. It will eat you alive and ruin your life even more than the actions of the perpetrator. By not forgiving them you give them power to hurt you again and again and again.

 

Christ calls us to forgive trespasses against us. It is not only a command but it is a healthy thing to do lest bitterness consume us. This statement of Christ underscores that we are in a time before the Resurrection and this is still a very Jewish prayer that suggests you will not be forgiven if you do not forgive. Jewish and Gentile Christians are not saved or lost based on their willingness to forgive but on their faith in Christ and in His righteousness, the fact that He forgave them, to get to Heaven. Be careful how you apply this verse and this prayer although it is a great prayer for us all to remind us of our need to forgive and how much Christ has forgiven us.

 

Then, we come to a very confusing statement for those people who do not read and cross-reference their Bible. What is a temptation? Biblically defined a temptation is a test, a trial, a proving of your faith and trust in God. The Devil tempts us in the hopes that we will fall away from Christ and reject Him, while God tempts and tries us to reveal our faith.

 

James 1:13 ¶  Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14  But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

 

So, a temptation can be sin itself as it leads you away from God. Many people, especially young people, have abandoned their faith when the lusts of youth demanded their attention. A noted evolutionary biologist, Edward O. Wilson, wrote a book entitled Consilience in which he writes in chapter one about the joy he felt when he found and believed in the theory of evolution and the unity of all sciences with that atheistic determinism as their foundation, well unquestionable fact more than theory to him with the following as part of his journey to atheism;

On a far more modest scale, I found it a wonderful feeling not just to taste the unification metaphysics but also to be released from the confinement of fundamentalist religion. I had been raised a Southern Baptist, laid backward under the water on the sturdy arm of a pastor, been born again. I knew the healing power of redemption. Faith, hope, and charity were in my bones, and with millions of others I knew that my savior Jesus Christ would grant me eternal life. More pious than the average teenager, I read the Bible cover to cover, twice. But now at college, steroid-driven into moods of adolescent rebellion, I chose to doubt.

It can also be suffering that puts pressure on your faith and, if you are not grounded in God’s word, can lead you away from Him in your pain and anguish.

 

Galatians 4:14  And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

 

And it can be persecution that forces you, in order to be accepted by people or to keep from losing life, liberty, family, employment, or property, to consider turning your back on God. Essentially, though, a temptation is a test, a time of trial, and it can be caused by many different circumstances. It is rarely a pleasant experience and if our faith is weak and not grounded it can lead to disaster.

Bible Study on Genesis 35, verses 1 to 5, put away the strange gods

 

Genesis 35:1 ¶  And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. 2  Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: 3  And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. 4  And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. 5  And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.

Jacob’s tribe consists of not only himself and his wives, one of which had stolen her father’s household idols, but their children, servants, and their Canaanite captives. There would have been quite a mix of idols and gods among them. God calls a halt and intends to shake all these things out. He orders Jacob to build an altar to Him, where Jacob had vowed to serve God in return for His protection in chapter 28.

18  And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. 19  And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. 20  And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, 21  So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: 22  And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.

God had reminded Jacob of this event when He told Jacob to leave Laban with his family.

Genesis 31:13  I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.

For not the last time a leader that God has selected will tell his people to put away their foreign (strange) gods. Jacob is sanctifying his people for God, setting them apart for God’s purpose.

Genesis 18:19  For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

Joshua 24:15 ¶  And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Deuteronomy 7:25  The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God.

This is a recurrent theme in God’s ministry of reconciling man to Himself. Notice verse 4. Not only the images that Rachel and probably many of the servants had in their possession but also their earrings were given and buried out of their sight. Jewelry played a part in ancient worship. Earrings were not merely ornamentation for both men and women but were, scholars tell us, sometimes amulets and charms to protect the openings of the face and head from entry by evil spirits. They were clearly part of the idol worship of the ancient world, the spiritual system that developed after the Flood.  If you have difficulty seeing that side of facial jewelry just look at the hundreds of occult earrings on a website like Etsy.com. Some verses of note regarding men and women wearing earrings and of a possible link to their occultic practices are;

Exodus 32:1 ¶  And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 2  And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. 3  And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. 4  And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

Judges 8:24  And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) 25  And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey.

Here is this passage in chapter 35, though, we have a very clear indication that something linked the earrings to the household gods that must be put away. Oak trees also play a part in ancient worship.

Ezekiel 6:13  Then shall ye know that I am the LORD, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols.

The reference to changing their garments also bears some note. Changing garments signified a change of heart and clearly has a religious significance.

Zechariah 3:4  And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.

Revelation 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

And Jacob’s fears did not come to fruition. The towns by which he and his family passed were terrified of them and made no effort to attack them.

Bible Study on Matthew 6, verses 1 to 8, charity and prayer

 

Matthew 6:1 ¶  Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 2  Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 3  But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4  That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

 

Giving of alms, what we call charity today, was the giving of food and money to the poor and indigent. From the Jewish Encyclopedia we have this;

 

According to the Mosaic conception, wealth is a loan from God, and the poor have a certain claim on the possessions of the rich; while the rich are positively enjoined to share God's bounties with the poor. A systematic mode of relief of the needy was, therefore, provided by the law and by the institutions of the synagogue. But all these provisions could not entirely remove want. "The poor shall never cease out of the land," says the lawgiver, and commands: "Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land" (Deut. xv. 11). In the course of time the giving of Alms out of mere pity and without regard to the permanent relief of the recipient, became a meritorious practise, possessing, like sacrifice, the power of atoning for man's sins, and redeeming him from calamity and death.[1]

This principle shows us that if you give money and services openly trumpeting your charity publicly like a corporation presenting a giant check to some group and posting the picture of the ceremony online you have your reward.

Matthew 6:5 ¶  And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6  But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7  But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8  Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

 

This is a tough one for me to talk about because I am not known for long-winded prayers nor do I like it when someone preaches at me while allegedly praying to God. But is this a condemnation of public prayer? I don’t believe God rejects any sincere prayer and it does look like Solomon made a very public prayer on his knees in 2Chronicles 6 although some would insist that the text does not literally say he said the prayer loud enough for a crowd to here. I mean, he could have. Remember that Ben Franklin noted that George Whitefield, in certain venues, could be heard a half mile away. Whether he was exaggerating or not I can’t say.

 

In any event, the context of the entire passage tells us that repetitive prayers, pagan chanting; the repetitive chanting of words and phrases which I’ve read was common among pagan religions is condemned by Christ. Prayers should be sincere, from the heart, asking God or praising God. We must understand that it is not the power of prayer but the power of the one being prayed to that matters.

 

Some sources say that ancient priests would claim power over their gods and natural events with a chant repeated over and over again, much like a misguided Christian who thinks if they repeat the so-called Lord’s Prayer over and over they will be protected from harm.

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[1] Kaufmann Kohler, “Alms,” Jewish Encyclopedia, https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1295-alms (accessed 05 Aug 2022).

Bible Study on Genesis 34, verses 25 to 31, the slaughter of the city of Shechem

 

Genesis 34:25 ¶  And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males. 26  And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went out. 27  The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister. 28  They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field, 29  And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house. 30  And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house. 31  And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?

Simeon and Levi were the two who did the slaughter. You might assume that they had the help of their many servants, as Abraham did in his rescue of Lot. The third day is a recurrent thread throughout the Bible as a significant time elapsing between two things.

On the third day God created dry land and plant life, food for man and beast, in Genesis 1. Abraham saw where he thought he was supposed to sacrifice Isaac in Genesis 22. It is on that day that Laban realized Jacob had escaped in chapter 31. So, while it is hard to connect these four events as having a relationship with each other we do know that God separated land from ocean in chapter 1, that God separated Abraham for Himself in chapter 22 by his willingness to obey, and Jacob’s separation from Laban, a type of the world and a type of antichrist, was revealed on the third day. Here, in this chapter, there is no going back. Jacob’s sons will not become merged with the Canaanites. This act forever seals their separation and the understanding of them as a dangerous people.

In this regard the third day shows an action which separates one from the other, as Christ rises on the third day forever separating His own people from the fate of unbelieving mankind.

But here we also see that Simeon and Levi steal the wealth and the families of the men they’ve killed as plunder. This has not been commanded by God and is condemned, but not very strongly, by Jacob. Certainly, this city would have been of no more size than a small town by our standards today but, nevertheless, circumstances and the young men’s lust for revenge have placed Jacob’s family in grave peril. Jacob fears a union of Canaanite city-states that could wipe out his family and servants. His sons demanded revenge for a wrong done to them as a proud family.

Please note that these Canaanite children and women are now added to the servants that Jacob and his family have with them.

Bible Study on Matthew 5, verses 43 to 48, Love your enemies

 

Matthew 5:43 ¶  Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46  For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47  And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 48  Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

 

Commentators note that the addition to the end of verse 43 was a tradition added by the Rabbis. This shows that Jesus was dealing not only with the Law given to Moses but also tradition as He does elsewhere in Matthew, chapter 15 and in Mark, chapter 7. Jesus is about to explain God’s standard as we who are followers of Christ are dealing with eternity not some temporary squabble.

 

Verse 44 is a standard that most of us Christians are unable to comply with on a consistent basis without a great deal of prayer. But Jesus says to be the child of God you are supposed to be you must think like God Himself. He blesses the good and the bad just as we learned from Job that good things can happen to bad people and bad things can happen to the good and the innocent.

 

Other New Testament references to this include Christ’s plea from the Cross;

 

Luke 23:34  Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

 

…the martyr Stephen’s prayer;

 

Acts 7:60  And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

 

Paul told the Christian;

 

Romans 12:14  Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.

 

Publicans were tax collectors and Matthew was one. They were not highly regarded, as tax collectors for the Romans, and were often extorting money from the people making themselves rich.

 

Jesus makes a very important point here for us to understand, about how God treats everyone. Just as the book of Job tells us how bad things can come upon good people for no apparent reason Jesus here explains that God is kind to the good and to the bad. Bad people derive joy from life and blessings from nature. Does that not disturb some of us? God’s greater purposes are often a mystery to us. That is a mystery we must accept.

 

Deuteronomy 29:29  The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

 

Look at the command to be perfect like God is perfect. See here for the definition of perfect, as in complete and lacking nothing..

 

2Chronicles 8:16  Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD, and until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was perfected.

 

Colossians 4:12  Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

 

James 1:4  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

 

It is so clear that God has tolerated so much of mankind’s rebellion and yet given him good things when mankind has deserved only judgment. Are we not to show restraint when dealing with the persecution we might face? Is that too much to ask seeing how God has put up with you?