The Gospel Of Matthew Chapter 23 Part 9 The Fifth Woe Against Scribes & Pharisees: Woe Upon Those Who Ignore God's Commands

Matthew 23:23-24  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 24  Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. 

Pronouncing this "Woe" Jesus addressed their specific sin, showed their point of departure from spiritual duties and gave an illustration of their error.

Scribes and Pharisees viewed themselves as the only ones who understood God's law and how to rightly interpret and apply it.

However, Jesus told us that they elevated traditions of men to the place of ultimate authority, even higher than inspired scripture that God gave them.

Such arrogance bred contempt for the scriptures and led scribes and Pharisees to add many man made rules that they said must be followed.

What impact did traditions of scribes and Pharisees have on the sacred scriptures from God?

Jesus said they made the scriptures of none effect, that is the people were led to disobey God's commands.

Mark 7:8  For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.

Mark 7:13  Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye. 

First, traditions made the Word of God of no effect in the minds of the people (See Matthew 15:6).

In Mark's example, scribes and Pharisees created a loophole so that adult children could shield their wealth for themselves and avoid taking care of elderly parents as God commanded them to do.

Therefore, scribes and Pharisees sinned because they added their own rules and demanded that they be followed as if they came from God.

Jesus said scribes and Pharisees added many rules about hand washing, what sabbath day activities were permitted, and how to clean pots or cups.

They made hundreds of rules and regulations that were rigidly enforced upon common people, but scribes and Pharisees were very lax in their own conduct. 

This is why Jesus called them hypocrites. They loved the praise of men not the praise of God.

Their great sin was adding to the Word of God which is clearly forbidden by God.

This can happen in two ways.

First, they added words or rules and said that they came from God when they did not come from Him.

Second, they twisted what scripture says by giving a clearly false interpretation.

This is a tool often used by the Devil for when he tempted Eve to sin, he added one three letter word to what God actually said.

Genesis 2:16-17  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 

Genesis 3:4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 

God told Adam and Eve that if they ate the fruit He said not to eat, that "thou shalt surely die."

The devil added one small word that twisted the truth into a lie. He said "Ye shall not surely die."

Matthew 23:23-24  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 24  Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. 

The law of Moses said that they should pay tithes of the “fruits of the earth." 

God's law said nothing about giving a tithe of herbs. 

Anise, cummin and mint were herbs of little monetary value as they grew profusely in that area.  

The Pharisees strictly maintained that people must give tithes of herbs but God never commanded to do this. 

While focusing on things that God never said to do, scribes and Pharisees ignored or avoided the weightier matters of God's law.

Here is what God actually said about tithing of fruit or grain or vegetables.

Deuteronomy 14:22-23  Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. 23  And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.

God said the Hebrews must bring in tithes of the increase of their seed crops. This would include grains, fruits, vegetables.

Thus, tithes of oats, barley, wheat, corn, nuts, figs, olives, grapes were to be given once each year, in addition to wine, oil and cattle or sheep.

Jesus denounced scribes and Pharisees for omitting the important matters of God law.

The following texts show how scribes and Pharisees neglected their spiritual duty toward God.

Leviticus 10:8-11  And the LORD spake unto Aaron, saying, 9  Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: 10  And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; 11  And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses.

This command was given to Aaron and the priests.

They were not to drink wine or any strong drink because they were sanctified for serving God in the tabernacle and later, the temple.

In order to show the common people how to live a clean and holy life before God, the priests were to teach the Israelites all that God's law contained.

Instead, scribes and Pharisees taught traditions of men.

Deuteronomy 33:10   They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar.  

Levites were commanded to teach all God's people His law each year and there are many examples of this contained in the Old Testament.

Revival broke out when David, Solomon, Josiah, Hezekiah made sure to observe God's feasts and that His law was taught to the people.

Thus, the scribes and Pharisees sinned greatly in that they failed to teach the law of God to all the people at least once a year.

They failed miserably because they did not live in accord with God's commands and became bad moral examples.

They sinned by adding traditions and teachings of men to the scriptures and enforcing them as if they came from God.

Deuteronomy 4:2  Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

The Bible is very clear about condemning those who add something to the scriptures or who take something away from it (See Deuteronomy 12:32; Proverbs 30:5-6; Revelation 22:18-19).

The Bible is very clear that scripture must interpret scripture by making careful comparisons. Many heretics have twisted the truth into a lie by inventing a new "interpretation" that no one else has ever heard of.

This is why we must avoid private interpretations because they lead to spiritual error (See 2 Peter 1:20).

Scribes and Pharisees did not address the fact that God is holy and He will judge all sin.

They failed to tell the people about the mercy and grace of God such that He will cleanse and forgive those who repent and trust Him for salvation.

Exodus 34:5-8  And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6  And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7  Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. 8  And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped. 

Moses asked God if he could see His glory and God said He would place Moses in a cleft of the rock and pass by him, and would cover his eyes.

Why? Because God is a consuming fire and no man can see the glory of God and live.

Therefore, Jehovah passed by and proclaimed His holy name to Moses.

He is merciful, full of grace and compassion and is patient.

God is good through and through and is full of truth, life changing, eternal truth.

God is merciful and will forgive iniquity and sin but He will not pardon sinners who refuse to repent and beleive.

These are the vital and important matters neglected or ignored by scribes and Pharisees.

Now we come to the illustration that Jesus gave to show how flawed and foolish Judaism was.

Matthew 23:24  Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. 

Again Jesus called them blind guides who will lead their followers into a ditch.

Wine and water were poured through a cloth to separate any gnats that might have gotten into the liquid.

Gnats were unclean according to God's law (See Leviticus 11:44).

Thus, they strained out gnats which correlates with demanding that tithes of mint, anise and cummin be offered when God did not say to do this.

Scribes and Pharisees only cared about enforcing traditions of men and not about teaching God's moral law to the people.

They did not live in accord with God's moral law, which is why they tolerated adulterous thoughts, murderous thoughts, and permitted divorce for a wide variety of reasons.

This is why they were content to be religious hypocrites who did all things to garner praise from men.

Thus, by tolerating sin in their own lives, Jesus compared them to swallowing a camel, which is also an unclean animal according to God's law.

Straining out gnats illustrates how foolish they were to insist on tithes of herbs that God did not command to bring.

Swallowing a camel illustrates how foolish they were to ignore and tolerate sin in their lives and in the lives of the people.

This illustration showed how scribes and Pharisees did not care for the great things of the law, God's holiness, justice, mercy, love and the need for repentance, confession of sin, and receiving cleansing from God.

Matthew 5:7  Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

The fifth beatitude stands in contrast to the fifth "Woe."

Those who are merciful are those who have contrite spirits and humble hearts before God.

They have repented of their sins and received cleansing as God promised to give.

Scribes and Pharisees lacked mercy and compassion because they ignored the important things of God's Word.

They loved traditions of men that were of no spiritual value and they shunned moral commands from God.

They tolerated sin in their lives and did not experience His forgiveness.

What does this "Woe" teach us?

First, it teaches us that we must make much of what God says to us in His Word.

If we ignore His Word then our heart will eventually become cold and calloused toward the things of God and we will grieve or quench His Spirit.

Second, it teaches us that we must be faithful followers of Jesus and turn away from any person who tells us to do something that God does not tell us to do.

We are not to blindly follow spiritual leaders when they ignore God's moral law.

Third, we must avoid the sin of hypocrisy where what we say we believe about God does not match how we live.

Learning His doctrines brings spiritual duties for us to live by.

What we believe from scripture is meant to shape and mold our behavior.

If what we say we believe about God is not lived out in the choices we make, the things we say or do, then that makes us a hypocrite.

God is merciful and full of grace and compassion and He will forgive us when we repent and confess our sins to Him.

May the Spirit of God who lives in us strengthen us so that we can live in accord with God's Word and will.

May He convict us of any sin so that we confess and forsake and receive fresh cleansing.

May He guide our thoughts, words and actions each day.

May He bless and teach us as we read and study the Word of God.

Bob