Matthew 15

Notes for BSF

OUR HEART DETERMINES OUR CLEANLINESS (Matthew 15:1-20)

The Scribes and the Pharisees cared more about fulfilling the traditions of man than the commandments of God
The religious leaders wanted Jesus to admonish His disciples for not following the traditions of the elders, specifically in regards to the hand-washing ceremony before partaking in a meal. And how did Jesus respond?

Matthew 15:3
Why do you transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?

What did Jesus mean by that? There are at least two levels of understanding here.

1. Specifically, hand-washing ceremony was a tradition of man, NOT God

2. Generally, the religious leaders cared more about fulfilling traditions of man than the commandments of God

The book of Leviticus (and some passages in Exodus and Deuteronomy) is a collection of laws that God gave to the Israelites. Comb through it (and even through the entire Bible), and we will find that while God taught the Jews to distinguish between clean and unclean things and how to cleanse something that had been defiled, the painstaking details of hand-washing, for example, were not part of God's commandments.

Historical documentation shows that the religious leaders took the commandments of God and developed hundreds of laws to further define what God "really meant." For example, God gave the commandment to rest on the 7th day (the Sabbath), to do no work. The idea of this rest is to remember that God created the world in 6th days and rested on the 7th, to bathe in God's provision, and to return our heart to the Lord (Exodus 31:16-17).

As always with God, it's always about our heart condition. However, not grasping this concept, the religious leaders created hundreds of laws that define "work," and to this day, when we visit Jerusalem, we will find these laws at work. For example, there are Sabbath elevators that automatically stop on every floor, because pushing a button on Sabbath is considered work, and the Sabbath elevator circumvents breaking this law. But whose law is this? God's or man's?

Similarly, the hand-washing ceremonies the religious leaders held so close to their heart weren't commanded by God but developed and defined by man. Worse, the heart condition of those who were so intent on obeying these man-made traditions has lost sight on the point of it all: To return our heart to God. The religious leaders held themselves above the rest because of their ability to carry out these man-made traditions to perfection. They used it to prove how they were better than the rest, how they were so much more holy than the rest. They certainly weren't keeping these traditions to get closer to God, to return their heart to God! This isn't just my opinion, as Jesus immediately rebuked the religious leaders for holding the traditions of man more dearly than the commandments of God (Matthew 15:3-9).

Mark 7:8-9
For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the traditions of men -- the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do. ... All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.

Jesus points out the hypocritical heart condition of the religious leaders
Jesus gave examples of how the religious leaders took the Law of Moses out of context and manipulate it so that the Law would benefit their own personal gain.

Matthew 15:4-6 (cf. Mark 7:10-13)
For God commanded, saying, "Honor your father and your mother"; and, "He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death. But you say, "whoever says to his father or mother, 'Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift/Corban to God' -- then he need not honor his father or mother."

Here, Jesus uses the Law, "Honor your father and your mother," as an example. Clearly, the Law tells us to treat our parents with respect and to take care of them. However, the Pharisees created their own law that states, any money they make is a gift to God – and so, they can’t give any it to their parents, because, gosh darn, that money belongs to God. (They had no qualms with using it to purchase beautiful priestly robes and silverware, etc., all in God's name, of course.)

"Corban" was a man-made practice set up by the religious leaders. The original intent was good (just like the original intent of hand-washing ceremonies), for it encouraged people to set aside money dedicated to God as a gift that could be given until a later date. However, here, Jesus rebuked the religious leaders for taking advantage of this tradition for their own personal gain.

The religious leaders used the law of Corban to avoid giving any financial support to their parents. They used methods such as these to siphon off money that was meant to go toward God to their own pockets instead. One of the most basic commandments of God is for us to honor our parents (Exodus 20:12). Yet, what did the religious leaders do? They manipulated the good intentions of the law of Corban to claim that since all that they have belonged to God, they had nothing left go give to their own parents.

Matthew 15:6
Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.

In sum, the religious leaders believed all the laws that they have created make them holy, but in reality, Jesus condemned them for caring more about the traditions of man than following the true commandment of the Lord. Jesus openly rebuked the religious leaders for their dishonest, hypocrite behavior. They claim to be the most holy representatives of their people, and yet, time after time, they chose to disobey God's commandment for selfish gains.

As a side note, it is good to tithe, to give back to the Lord, but not at the risk of missing the fundamentals of God's love -- and taking care of our parents is one of those fundamentals. God is not poor. God does not need our money. When we tithe, we give to help the church to continue to spread the Gospel, to do God’s work -- which includes taking care of our parents, the poor, the needy!

Jesus clarifies the true definition of cleanliness
Quoting Isaiah 29:13, Jesus said of the religious leaders, "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men" (Matthew 15:8-9).

While the religious leaders evaluated holiness based on outward actions, Jesus turned our attention back onto our inner heart condition.

Matthew 15:10-11
Hear and understand: Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.

Matthew 15:19
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. 

Bringing it back full circle, Jesus concludes:

Matthew 15:20
These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.

Be clean from the inside
While it is easy to point out the follies of the religious leaders, it is more important that we avoid making the same mistakes. The key lesson here is that we can get caught up with rituals and traditions and forget the essential element of worship: returning our heart to God.

We can say things and do things that do not reflect the true conditions of our heart. We might even be tempted to pretend we are doing a good thing and ignore the admonishment of the Holy Spirit. We can pat ourselves on the back thinking we're "good with God" because we regularly attend church or give tithe. However, if we are just doing it to look holy, to put on an act of holiness so that we can feel better about ourselves, if we are just doing it so that we can feel better about our continual indulgences in sin, what is that saying about our heart condition? Without humility, without truly bowing down our heart before God, there is no true worship.

Always check our heart condition. We know ourselves the best. We know the reasons we do certain things the best. There is no hiding our true thoughts from God. If we do something that looks holy but inside our heart, we’re only doing it for our own selfish benefit, we need to repent. God knows our heart. There is no point in hiding it. We may be able to hide it from our fellow human beings, but God always sees through it. Anything we do in the name of God, we have to do it with our heart.

Follow the path of righteousness and live
The power held by the religious leaders back then was to be feared. If a Jew wished to remain in the community, they thought twice and hard about crossing the religious leaders. Hence, upon hearing Jesus rebuking the religious leaders, the disciples timidly reported that the religious leaders were offended by Jesus' comments.

Matthew 15:12
Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?

Being human, we tend to fear the things we can experience. The disciples feared the Pharisees because they have witnessed and experienced the pain and humiliation inflicted by the power of the religious leaders.

The disciples forgot -- No, even we forget today! -- that if we fear men because of the power they hold over our heads, how could we not fear God? He is the Creator of everything that we know. He breathed our world into existence. No matter how powerful, what is man in the eyes of God?

Hence, Jesus comforted the disciples:

Matthew 15:13-14
Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.

If it was not of God, God will not allow it to remain. For a time, man may be able to get away with sinful deeds. People who take delight in this, who take advantage of this are extremely narrow sighted. They fail to understand that this is only possible because of God's Grace. He is withholding judgment so that as many as possible can choose to return to His side.

Who are we to be? We get to decide. Are we blinded, or do we see? We get to decide. Seek to delight man or God? We get to decide.


JESUS HEALS A GENTILE WOMAN (Matthew 15:21-28)

We learn a few tidbits from this story.

1. Even Gentiles recognized Jesus as the Messiah
The Canaanite woman claimed Jesus as her Lord, Son of David. To the people of the time, especially the Israelites, the title, "Son of David," was (and still is today) reserved for the Messiah the Jews had (and still are today) waiting for. Despite that as a nation, the Israelites continuously strayed away from God and thus failed to pass the knowledge of God to the rest of the world, the Gentiles had witnessed enough of God's deliverance of the Israelites to come to learn of God and His prophecies. Ironically, the faith in God shown by this Gentile woman was greater than God's chosen people -- She didn't need to be the apple of God's eye (Zechariah 2:8) to understand and embrace the love of God.

2. Jesus came first for the Jews
In His first coming, Jesus did not come as the Messiah for the Gentiles (Matthew 15:24). He came to be the Messiah for the Jews, as prophesied by many prophets.

3. Great faith heals
Of the multitudes that follow Jesus, many were there for the miracles and the hype -- Much like our society today: Be it at a traffic accident or a great revival, large groups of people gather, but those who are there to provide any kind of help or true devotion are few in numbers. Jesus did not come just to perform miracles; He came to fulfill His role as the Messiah, as illustrated by His initial response to this Gentile woman's request (Matthew 15:26). However, the Gentile woman's response revealed her deep understanding of Jesus as God, revealed her deep faith in God. She understood that Jesus came first to fulfill His role as the Messiah. At the same time, she also understood that Jesus is God and can heal her daughter. Her deep faith thus saved her and her daughter (Matthew 15:28).

We need to realize that God is concerned with our salvation. He is not a magical genie we summon when we need a miracle to save our butts from some catastrophe, natural or man-made. When we pray, what is our attitude toward God? How is our relationship with God? Do we have an understanding of God as mature as the one illustrated by this Gentile woman? When we pray with Faith, God answers. When we pray without faith, when we treat God as our magical genie, why are we surprised that God does not hear us?


JESUS HEALS AND FEEDS MULTITUDES (Matthew 15:29-39)

As mentioned above, of the multitudes that followed Jesus, few followed because they were serious about devoting their lives to Jesus. Instead, the majority followed because they needed something from Jesus. Despite this, Jesus still had compassion for the people.

Matthew 15:32
I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.

The feeding of the multitude was another miracle in itself. With a few loaves of bread and fish, Jesus fed thousands of people -- and still had leftovers (Matthew 15:34-39; cf. Matthew 14:13-21).

Just as Jesus satisfied their physical hunger, Jesus satisfies our spiritual hunger today. He is our Bread of Life, our Manna.

Matthew 14

Notes for BSF 

HEROD BEHEADS JOHN THE BAPTIST (Matthew 14:1-12; Mark 6:14-29)

Herodias used her daughter to manipulate Herod
Herodias had no interest in doing what is right in the eyes of God. John the Baptist rebuked her and Herod for committing the sin of adultery. Instead of repenting, Herodias schemed to be rid of John for good. She had her daughter dance seductively for Herod and his drunken guests just so Herod could be manipulated to give her what she wanted: John the Baptist beheaded.

Herod eagerly pleased men, despite knowing better
When Herod heard Herodias' daughter requesting the head of John the Baptist, he knew he had gotten himself in a hole.

Mark 6:26
And the king was exceedingly sorry; yet, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he did not want to refuse her.

Herod knew John was God’s prophet; he knew of God's word through John's preaching. Sadly, he never internalized this knowledge and live it out. Instead, he chose to remain in his sins, to pursue fame and wealth in the world rather than to follow God. When given the choice, he chose pleasing men over pleasing God every time.

Be cautious of the oaths we make
As God has warned, never make oaths, because that put our name on the line. Worse, it puts His name on the line. If we cannot fulfill the oaths we make, we not only make ourselves a liar but God as well.

Herod should not have made the oath in the first place. But because he made that oath, he put himself in a very difficult position. Herodias' daughter twisted his oath for evil, and now, he was damned if he fulfilled it and damned if he didn't If he didn't fulfill it, he would be known as a liar and lose respect among the influential men he often hosted. If he did fulfill it, he would commit a great sin against God, murdering the greatest prophet of the Old Testament.

Unfortunately, in a series of horrible decisions, we see Herod choose men over God, again and again.

Herod took an interest in Jesus
Herod knew he had beheaded John the Baptist (Luke 9:9). Hence, when people speculated that Jesus could be John who had risen from the dead (Luke 9:7), Herod took an interest in Jesus.

Jesus saw right through Herod
Calling him a fox (Luke 13:32), Jesus knew the heart of Herod (Luke 23:7-12). Jesus knew that Herod took an interest in Him only because Jesus was famous. Herod wanted to use Jesus’ popularity to his benefit, to help boost his own popularity. Jesus knew that and thus did not speak to him. If Herod was not interested in hearing the truth, then he will hear nothing -- for Jesus is nothing but Truth.


JESUS FEEDS A MULTITUDE (Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-13)

As Jesus gained popularity, it became more and more difficult to find private time with His disciples. Everywhere He went, people followed. Some sought Him for the Truth, but most sought Him to witness His miracles.

Regardless of the heart condition of the people who pursued Him, Jesus showed compassion. Even after a long day of traveling, teaching, and healing, Jesus continued to give, always welcoming people with love.

Jesus taught His disciples compassion
After a long day, the disciples were tired and hungry. It was late, and it was time that they had rest. They had been traveling with Jesus, working right along side of Him. Hence, when they saw a multitude of people, they wanted to send them away so that they could at least rest. However, 

Matthew 14:16
But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat."

We reside in enemy territory (Ephesians 6:12), and so, the work is never done as long as we remain on this earth. We may grow tired, as soldiers of war grow weary of the fighting. However, if we stop fighting, then who will stand up for the weak and the needy? Here, Jesus taught us to show compassion even when we are exhausted. We are here to serve others, not ourselves. We are here to help others, just as Jesus has helped us -- physically AND spiritually. As Jesus' disciples, we are to continue to spread the love of God.

For a deeper discussion on the 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, see this previous post:
http://aletheia-seekers.blogspot.com/2011/04/5-loaves-and-2-fish.html


JESUS CALMS ALL WINDS (Matthew 14:22-36; Mark 6:45-56)

Jesus slips away to pray
With multitudes of people following Jesus, many Israelites want Jesus to be their king (John 6:14-15). However, in His first coming, Jesus did not come to be King. He came as the sacrificial Lamb of God. He came this first time to serve and to provide salvation. As the pressure to "make" Jesus their king surfaced, Jesus slips away to be with the Father (Matthew 14:23).

The disciples were defeated because they did not rely on God
When facing the storm, they were afraid but did not rely on God for strength. They were troubled and did not even recognize Jesus as Jesus approached them: And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were afraid, saying, “It is a ghost!” (Matthew 14:26)

Peter was the only disciple who had strong enough faith to reach out to Jesus. However, even he lost faith sometimes. When he saw that the wind was boisterous, he became afraid, lost his focus on Jesus, and started to sink (Matthew 14:30). To Peter’s benefit though, he did immediately reach back out to Jesus.

We should not lose sight of Jesus. Although our situation can be really bad, although the storm may be really scary, we ought to remember that God made the wind, He made the water – He therefore has command over them. So, when we are scared and think nothing can save us – remember God. God can always save us.

Blood Moons Rising

From the November 19, 2013 eNews issue
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There has been much talk lately of what is termed the coming “Blood Moons.” We have put off any public comment on this due to our stance of extreme caution on these sorts of issues. In order to have a foundation from which to evaluate what you are hearing, we thought it wise to give you a framework of information from which you can build a perspective. This is in no way designed to be exhaustive.
It seems almost every day we are confronted with yet another prediction that culminates in the “world” getting its just due. Honestly, the world has ended some 20–25 times in the last twenty years. We do realize that some day, possibly soon, it will.

A rational and skeptical approach to the End Times can be healthy and a worthy use of the days we have been gifted with. That being said, we must be careful to not become part of the problem. We are called to be Watchmen, but false alerts are a detriment to the cause of Christ.

Biblically, those that were in error were dealt with in the harshest of manners. what caught our attention about this issue is that although there are timing issues still unresolved, the statistical probabilities involved are impressive.

The Facts of the Matter Are…
The “Blood Moons” that are spoken of are actually four somewhat rare eclipses. Blood moons are not uncommon in and of themselves. They are an astronomical event much like an eclipse. They occur cyclically.

The “blood” effect is from the sun being at just the right angle to project through the atmosphere onto the moon. It is actually more pink than red (unless it is harvest season and there is particulate matter in the air).

There are rarer occurrences when several blood moons occur in proximity. The ones spoken of as “The Blood Moons” are rarer still and consist of two sets of two, a year apart, occurring on Passover (Spring) and Succoth (Fall) in each of the paired years. This has only occurred three times in the last 500 years.

The Dates
The dates are reported as 1492–93. 1948–49 and 1967–68. As you can see these are somewhat momentous occasions. Those that are finding greater meaning in this right now are drawing patterns from the Jews being persecuted to God rescuing them to them being provided a safe haven.

In 1492, of course, the Jews in Spain were just coming out of the Inquisition. God rescued them by their being cast out. They were provided a safe haven by Columbus’ discovery of the New World, which came to house the largest population of Jews by any country in the world.

In 1948 the Jews were just coming out of the Holocaust and God rescued them by having, for all intents and purposes, cast out of Europe. A rightly guilty world provided them refuge as a nation in an area cut out of the deserts of Jordan–Only coincidentally this location was the site of the historic Israel, but only a small portion of it.

In 1967, not only did they win an impossible war against impossible odds and recapture Jerusalem, but they recovered large areas of Judea and Samaria, increasing their borders.

The fourth time in the last 500 years is about to occur in 2014–15. This Spring, April 15th will be the first of the next set of four Blood Moons.

This type of event will not occur for another 100 years.
Coincidentally, President Obama has said there must be a two-state solution achieved by March 15th, 2014. This will include requiring Israel to give up land. In the Administration’s words “there will be” an agreement. Obviously Israel is yet again being persecuted by the world (we certainly, as a country, no longer support them).

There is land that was given to Abraham that Israel doesn’t control yet. Psalm 83 is a reasonable use to achieve that. And we are told that there will be peace (no walls) by the time that Ezekiel 38–39 comes. The approximately 18-month period that is marked by the Blood Moons is an opportunity for the next great leap of the end times scenario. Maybe not the Second Coming, but certainly the Rapture and God finally dealing with Israel.

Can We Be Sure?
We have a saying that has held true for at least twenty years. “If you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything.” In these situations, we have to be extremely precise. In fact this type of situation actually supports the idea of a literal fulfillment of prophecy, as opposed to something that has to be “translated” to fit. Anything less than precision opens issues of a prophetic nature to manipulation.

Predictively, when these never come to pass (in our day and time) no one is ever held accountable. Although Israel became a nation in 1948, the actual years of the set of blood moons were 1949–50. It wasn’t until 1949 that the UN recognized Israel as a nation. This is (depending on who you listen to) the same situation with 1492 (actually 1493–94). Both dates actually fall outside the 18-month period. The 1967 event is the only one that falls inside.

The majority of times we have made mistakes in this regard it was by not taking the Scripture precisely enough. Again, we can watch and see if the pattern repeats itself this next year and the following. World events are in place that could quickly lead to Psalm 83 and following. God is very specific in these issues. Small “leaps” to fit the paradigm are a concern and we urge extreme caution.


For Further Study
* Four ‘blood-red’ total lunar eclipses will fall on Passover and Sukkot in 2014 and 2015, the same back-to-back occurrences at the time of 1492, 1948 and 1967
* “The Four Blood Moons” by John Hagee
* BOOK REVIEW: Pastor John Hagee’s “Four Blood Moons”

Matthew 13:31-35, 44-58

Notes for BSF

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (Matthew 13:31-50)

Jesus did not interpret the following parables most likely because His disciples told Him that they had understood everything that Jesus had told them (Matthew 13:51).

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed
No matter how small or insignificant the seed of faith may seem, once planted, it will grow to become a magnificent tree. As long as we allow the seed of faith to grow in us, it will continue to grow to become the strongest foundation in our lives.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like leaven
The preaching of the gospel works like leaven in the hearts of those who receive it. Leaven works from within, expanding from inside to out. Similarly, the kingdom of heaven comes from within. It works from within us and expresses outward.

This process describes the Church especially well.

In Genesis 18, Abraham was visited by 3 angels. To welcome them, he asked Sarah to make preparations: "Quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal" (Genesis 18:6). This was made WITHOUT leaven, because to the Jews, leaven represents sin. And from then on, three measures of meal without leaven is used to represent fellowship offering for honored guests. Hence, this parable would shock the Jews, because how could a symbol of sin be compared to the Kingdom of Heaven?

Matthew 13:33
The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.

While the Jews keep leaven away from all things holy, leaven is used throughout the Gentile world during holy celebrations. For example, leaven is used in the Feast of Pentecost, a celebration that marks the birth of the Church, with the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit.

What could Jesus be saying here then?

In the three measures of meal, leaven was HIDDEN in it. The Israelites were God's chosen people -- chosen, not because they were the only people to be saved; chosen, because they were to teach the rest of the world about God and thereby bringing them to God. They were to live by God's Word (therefore, sinless -- or, without leaven), so that they can reveal the sins of the world and bring cleansing to the world (which is in sin -- hence, represented by leaven). That is, it has always been God's intention to save ALL (2 Peter 3:9) -- The Jews as the chosen ones; the Gentiles as those who would come to understand God through the Jews (hence, "hidden").

The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure
The Kingdom of God is the true treasure of the world -- a thing so treasured, we should give up everything else in the world to keep it. Nothing we have is worth losing this treasure. As long as we are in the Kingdom of God, we will be blessed and have the best treasure.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls
Like leaven, pearls are unclean to the Jews. Therefore, this passage, similar to the passage about the Kingdom of Heaven being likened to leaven, would be confusing to them. They see no value in pearls and may even be abhorred that the Kingdom of Heaven would be likened to these "unclean" objects! Hence, it is clear that the pearl is not a picture of the Jews. Instead, it is a picture of the church.

The pearl is the end product of agitation. As the clam is agitated, it produces a secretion that after a long period of time, a pearl is formed. Just like the pearl, the Church was formed under a great amount of pressure. It has gone through trials and tribulations, trials and tribulations. Yet, because it endures and survives through all difficulty, the end product shines beautifully with the light of God.

Matthew 13:46
When he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

God the Father loved us so much, He gave up everything -- including His only Son -- to redeem us from eternal sin.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Compared to God’s perfection and love, we are very worthless. We are full of sin -- we are selfish, we are greedy, and we take advantage of anything we can. Yet, to God, we are His children, and despite all of our faults, He still loves us. He loves us so much, He sacrificed Himself to redeem us. There is no greater love that that of God.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a dragnet
The kingdom of heaven is like a large net used to catch fish. It is here to save as many souls as possible, like the net that is used to catch as many fish as possible. When the net is full, the fishermen will distinguish between the good and the bad fish -- just as angels will distinguish between the good and the bad souls. The good, they will keep; the bad, they will throw into the furnace of fire (Cf. Matthew 13:39-43).

God's grace gives every one of us the chance to repent and return to Him, but His grace cannot last forever because He is just. And because He is just, God cannot allow sin to continue without judgment. It can be intimidating to envision God in His wrath, but always remember: God is love. God is not a God who enjoys judging evil and punishing evil. God did not make this world to have sin or death. Sin and death came into the world because of pride, through Satan. God will one day deal with Satan once and for all (Revelation), but until then, He is giving the rest of us a chance to be under his love. When we are under His love, we do not need to fear His coming judgment or death!


JESUS IS REJECTED BY HIS HOMETOWN (Matthew 13:53-58)

Jesus was rejected by the people of His hometown, Nazareth. These people either saw Jesus grow up from a baby or grew up with Him. To them, he was a bastard child, who grew up as a carpenter's son with no education and no fortune. How could this boy bring any kind of peace or hope?How could this boy possibly be the Messiah they had been looking for? How could this boy be their King of kings? And because of their unbelief, Jesus left the town having done few miracles.

We should be aware of our personal prejudices. They can blind us and lead us astray.



Note:
The Holy Spirit is consistent in His use of idioms. Birds throughout the Bible, when used in a parable, always represents Satan’s demons, who go and snatch up God’s Word away from people.