Bible Study on Matthew 7, verses 1 to 6, judge yourselves first

 

Matthew 7:1 ¶  Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2  For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3  And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4  Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5  Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye. 6  Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

 

Judgment and discernment are essential to being alive. You cannot survive without making judgments about things and people. However, the point of this passage is to be careful in your judgment as you will be judged by the same standard you use. This is not a threat of eternal damnation nor is it locking God into your mistakes if you use a false standard. It is a principle that we have used proverbially in American English that if you point your finger at someone you typically have three other fingers on your hand pointing back at you.

 

Often as not, we bear at least the beginnings of a sin in our hearts that we condemn. In fact, some of the most vicious detractors of other people are people who are guilty of the sin they are incensed about, even if only in thought or inclination. I thought the following part of a prophecy against Jerusalem was interesting speaking of Samaria and Sodom as her sisters.

 

Ezekiel 16:52  Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than thou: yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.

 

Also pay close attention to the following from Luke;

 

Luke 6:37 ¶  Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:

 

The principle here is reinforced, that we should consider our own sins before we focus on the sins of others. This is very clear.

 

Verse 6 seems, at first, awkward in this context unless we look at the fact that Christ is talking to His people, in the context the Jews and in a greater context to Christians. This leads from the statement about judging yourself by the same standard you judge others and about dealing with your own sin before you point out the sins of others. Dogs and swine are unclean animals and some of God’s people here are likened to them. When you judge others, even if you have fulfilled the requirement of dealing with your sin first there is a certain kind of God’s people who will turn on you and attack with all the fury of an unsaved person.

 

In 2Peter 2, the great chapter on false teaches and prophets, dogs and swine, sows, are used also, so is this last verse a warning about false teachers and prophets?

 

It is true that many modern commentators refer to the swine and dogs of verse 6 as the unsaved and unclean. However, it seems to me that they are detaching that verse from the passage, which I call taking a verse out of context. We must at least try to examine a verse in the passage the Holy Spirit places it in order to understand the point that is being made. We are not moving from your brother and your brother’s eye suddenly to a standalone verse on the vicious heathen, I don’t think. But we may be in a context that warns us to judge ourselves first and to be discerning about who we reprove and try to correct as they may turn again and attack us. A vile unrepentant person may be a very frustrating person to witness to, as many of you have discovered, and as John Gill pointed out.