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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
February, 1938
III. T he C o n d em n atio n (6-13)
■Justwhat you have been looking fo r ! BIBLE STtlht^ /P ä 'YÖUNG PEOPLE’S ^ SOCIETIES With the use of this Course, every . Young People’s Society may be converted into a School for Bible Training. ” 1938 , Course in Bible Prophecy ; h r ist ian PUBLICATIONS. INC 1506 TH IRD ST., HARRISBURG , PA. Best Wishes FROM W . A . BROWN SOUTH AFRICA G EN ERA L MISSION 23 Flatbush Avenue Brooklyn, N. Y. “How can I except some man should guide me” ; said the AFRICAN to Phil ip. “How shall they hear without a preacher” ; said Paul. Thousands of na tive AFRICANS are waiting to hear of Jesus. The S.A.G.M. is pioneering in uncovered territories, and through its band of faithful workers seeking to make Christ known. Information will be furnished on request. God’s Program for the Future A Scriptural Study Each Week—52 Lessons. What Prophecy Is, How It Can Be Interpreted, Its Relationship to the Jew, the Gentile, and the Church. Send 15c in stamps for current issue.
tradition. They regarded the Word of God as a mere collection of moral teachings which they themselves did not follow, or as a system of ethics which they them selves denied by their manner of life, or as a philosophy of religion without authority over the actions of men. While occupied with outward purification, they were in wardly defiled. Their religion had self, not God, in view. Their question would be, “What will this profit me?” Selfishness lay at the heart of their evil religion, as it does in all false religions of today. Points and Problems 1. “According to the tradition of the elders” (Mk. 7:5). This “ tradition of the elders” which they valued so highly was not the Law itself, but the Jewish interpre tations of the Law. According to these tradi tions, the act of which the Pharisees and scribes complained, namely, eating “ with unwashen hands,” was on the same level as the sin of sexual impurity, and exposed all guilty of it to the excommunication of the Sanhedrin (See Ellicott). No wonder that our Lord made such a scathing attack upon the “traditions” of these Pharisees! 2. “For Moses said” (v. 10). The parallel passage in Matthew 15:4 reads: "For God commanded.” Thus we may learn that, in the mind of our Lord, what Moses wrote is the commandment of God. The same idea is set forth in Mark 7:13 where the quotation from Moses is called “the word of God.” 3. “ Corhan” (v. 11). Mark explains that the term means “ a gift.” It is a Hebrew word used many times in the Old Testa ment, and generally rendered “ offering" (cf. Lev. 1:2). It occurs but twice in the New Testament, once here in Mark, and once in Matthew where it is translated “ treasury” (27:6). In the latter passage, it is applied to the place where the “ offerings” were deposited in the temple. , 4. “He shall be free" (v. 11). It will be noted that in the Authorized Version every one of these words is in italics, which means that there are no corresponding words in the original Greek text. The translators supplied them to aid the English reader in understanding a rather difficult passage. However, the American Revisers have made the passage much clearer without supply ing all these words. “ But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or his mother, That wherewith thou mightest have been profited by me is Corban, that is to say, Given to G od; ye no longer suffer him to do aught for his father or his mother.” Thus, by a trick of interpretation, the Jewish son could disregard one of the most solemn obliga tions of the Mosaic Law. Since everything “given” or “ devoted” to God was sacred to His use and could not be alienated to any other purpose, the unfaithful son could say of all his property, “ It is Corban,” and refuse to use it any further to support his aged parents, although he might delay until the day of his own death the fulfillment of his vow to God. Thus the Jews had made the Word of God of none effect.
First, our Lord condemned their wor ship (vs. 6, 7). He pointed them to what their prophet Isaiah had written long be fore concerning their fathers (cf. Isa. 29: 13). Their worship was only of the lips. The, words spoken would sound well to human hearers, but to God who reads the heart, they would constitute detestable hypocrisy. Hence their worship was all “in .vain”— that is, it was a thing of vanity, inutility, a mere waste of time which would bring judgment upon them from the Lord. Of I some in o u r day the Holy Spirit has written, “ They profess that they know G od; but in works they deny him” .'(Tit. 1:16). Second, our Lord condemned their doc trine (vs. 7, 8). They taught the com mandments of men rather than those of God. These commandments of men were calculated to appeal to the self-righteousness of the Pharisees; to feed their natural pride, and to enable them to look down upon others with scorn. But in teaching as doctrines: the commandments of men, they: •were forced to lay (aside the command ments of God, and this practice led them into flagrant disobedience to the Lord. We have today the same tendency in much that passes for Christianity. The traditions of men often are placed upon a higher plane than God's written Word. The solemn truth that “the natural man receiveth not the things of ¡the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him” (1 Cor. 2:14) frequently is forgotten, and the natural man is hailed as a leader in spiritual matters. Following him, the manner of the indi vidual’s life, however punctilious before men, becomes an abomination to God. Third, our Lord condemned their prac tice (ys.. 9-13). He charged them directly with rejecting the commandments of God in order that they might keep their own traditions. Sin acts in its blinding power upon all who abandon the plain declara tions of the Scriptures. God’s Word brings every one down into the dust before Him, revealing the sin and shame of man to such an extent that no relief is found until the heart turns to Him with true r e pentance and willingness to accept His deliverance. The Pharisees not only rejected God’s commands, but they also neglected their duty. Moses, whom they professed to follow, had set forth definitely how parents should be honored and supported. But, to pamper their self-righteousness, the complainers of Jesus’ day had distorted and perverted Moses’ teaching. They could allow their . parents to suffer want, while they professed to honor God with their substance. They said, when the need of the parents was presented, that they could give them nothing because they had dedicated what they had to the Lord—yet they- kept it for themselves! But Jesus would have them know that God was more interested in having the pressing need met than that such meaningless wor ship as theirs should be offered to Him.' Finally, He accused them of making the Word of God of none effect through their
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