“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. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.”
Matthew 23:23-24 KJV
As Matthew recorded, ““Great sorrow awaits you religious scholars and Pharisees—frauds and pretenders! For you are obsessed with peripheral issues, like insisting on paying meticulous tithes on the smallest herbs that grow in your gardens. These matters are fine, yet you ignore the most important duties of all: to walk in the love of God, to display mercy to others, and to live with integrity. Readjust your values and place first things first. What blind guides! Nitpickers! You will spoon out a gnat from your drink, yet at the same time you’ve gulped down a camel without realizing it!” The law of Moses only obligated tithing on grain, wine and oil. The religious scholars added to the law their interpretation, which added vegetables and herbs to their list of what should be tithed. Justice, grace which is loving kindnesses and faith and truth is what Jesus talked about. The Aramaic for gnat and camel is similar and gnat becomes a metaphor for what is least and insignificant - swallowing a gnat will not hurt you. But the camel becomes a picture of self-righteousness. To swallow a camel would indeed kill you. Let’s not focus on insignificant things in our relationship with Christ but remove the huge block of those hindrances that stop us from being effective and fruitful. Amen!
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