Bible Study on Matthew 6, verses 16 to 18, fasting

 

Matthew 6:16 ¶  Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 17  But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18  That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

 

Fasting is a very interesting practice mentioned here. Is it to be a calculated practice where you schedule a fast or is it, as some say, the consequence of a trial you are going through or a supplication you are making for God and there is no desire to eat food as you are too consumed by what you are facing?

 

Commentators say that under the Law there was one fast on the Day of Atonement when men were to afflict their souls which was understood by the Rabbis to mean fasting. See Leviticus 23:27 and Numbers 29:7. In times of distress there were other fasts in times of distress or penitence. See;

 

Joel 1:14 ¶  Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD, 15  Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.

16  Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?

 

A fast was used for a nefarious purpose;

 

1Kings 21:7  And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.8  So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth. 9  And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people: 10  And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die.

 

A fast could be the expression of extreme concern and anxiety;

 

2Samuel 12:15 ¶  And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, and it was very sick. 16  David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.

 

 Mourning over sin;

 

Ezra 10:6 ¶  Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away.

 

Mourning for Jerusalem as well as the sins of the people;

 

Nehemiah 1:1 ¶  The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace, 2  That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 3  And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.

4  And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven, 5 ¶  And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments: 6  Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned.

 

But God also spoke through Isaiah with a criticism of the intentions of the fasting that so-called holy men would perform, bringing us to Jesus’ explanation here in Matthew 6.

 

Isaiah 58:3 ¶  Wherefore [why] have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. 4  Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. 5  Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? 6  Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 7  Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

 

There are things in God’s will that are more important than others. Humans tend to enjoy worship that is self-glorifying rather than glorifying to God. In Isaiah God lays out what He is seeking that is more important than ritual.

Bible Study on Genesis 35, verses 6 to 15, there God appeared unto him

 

Genesis 35:6 ¶  So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him. 7  And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother. 8  But Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth. 9  And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him. 10  And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. 11  And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; 12  And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. 13  And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him. 14  And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon. 15  And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel.

Luz and Bethel are the same place.

Genesis 28:19  And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.

Jacob builds an altar and calls the place Elbethel. El means God and Bethel means house of God.

Genesis 28:16 ¶  And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. 17  And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. 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.

Rebekah’s nurse, mentioned when Rebekah left her family to marry Isaac, dies at this point in the narrative. Strong says that Allonbachuth means, “oak of weeping.” It is likely that Jacob had visited his former home and carried this elderly nurse with him, as his parents were now dead.

Genesis 24:59  And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant, and his men.

We are now reminded of God’s appearance to Jacob and his renaming to Israel.

Genesis 32:28  And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

We are now given more detail of the blessing and the promise that God bestowed on Jacob. This is a similar device in the narrative to Paul’s Damascus road conversion where on other occasions in which it is related we get more information. It is important to take both accounts when we try to imagine what went on here. Another possibility to consider is that in this visit to Bethel these events occur a second time. So, you can view these as a recap or you can see them as a second event of God’s repeating His blessing and His promise. Either way would satisfy the demands of the overall narrative.

We do not know until later that when God appeared or walked with a person it was the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word by which all things were created, the second part of God called the Son of God, the physical image of God’s person (Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 1:15). He is in other places called the angel of God or the angel of the LORD, the meaning of an angel being an appearance of someone who is also somewhere else, which we have seen (see Genesis, chapter 16, 21, 22, 31).

Isaiah 63:9  In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

God walked with Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:8). He spoke to Noah (Genesis 6). He appeared to Abraham (Genesis 12, 17, 18). He appeared to Isaac (Genesis 26). God spoke to Jacob in a dream (Genesis 31).

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.

---

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