Even those who followed Christ and loved the Light couldn't handle all of it being poured out upon them all at once. The Saviour taught the principle of Bearing - which means that the Light-bearer shouldn't give out more Truth than the receiver can bear.
So, even sharing with fellow Light-lovers needs to be done with prayerful discretion. Only Yahweh knows how much a person can bear. But, as I mentioned before, there are two mind-sets which should not be given the gems of Truth at all. In fact, Christ commanded us not to share with them:
We are not to share with the spiritual "swine" mind-set nor the "dog" mind-set.
Let's begin with the dog mind-set. We will start by looking at what is "holy", so that we can know what should not be shared with spiritual "dogs". Holy
means “sacred,” “morally blameless,” “ceremonially consecrated”. So what kinds of things does Scripture call "holy" and warn us not to share with "dogs"?
• Yahweh’s
Law is Holy, and Torah teachings should not be shared with spiritual "dogs".
–Romans
7:12 “Wherefore the Law is holy, and the
Commandment holy, and just, and good.”
• The Appointed times, Sabbaths and Feasts of Yahweh are Holy, and should also not be shared with spiritual "dogs".
–Leviticus
23:2
“Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the Feasts of
Yahweh, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are My
Feasts.”
The "dog" mind-set are persecutors. When the holy things are given unto the "dogs", they turn and "rend" the bearer. This is a reference to persecution. And the "rending" that the "dogs" do is entirely avoidable. We are not to give what is holy unto spiritual dogs.
Philippians 3:2 "Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision."
•The Hebrew word for “dogs”
is keleb = meaning “a male
prostitute”
•Deuteronomy
23:17-18
“There shall be no whore of the daughters of
Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel. Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or
the price of a dog, into the House of Yahweh thy El for
any vow: for even both these are
abomination unto Yahweh thy El.”
In the ancient Hebrew culture, it was a
despicable thing to be called a dog.
When Elisha
predicted that Hazael would burn the strongholds of Israel,
kill young men with sword, dash children against stones to kill them, and rip
open women with unborn children, Hazael exclaimed, “Is thy servant a DOG, that
he should do this great thing?” 2 Kings 8:13.
Those who participated in crucifying Christ were prophetically called "dogs" by the Psalmist (Psalm 22:16, Psalm 22:19-20).
Not only are dogs cruel and persecutory, they are also
spiritually blind, failing to overcome sin, and greedy for personal gain.
Isaiah 56:10-11 "His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter."
Proverbs 26:11 "As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly."
2) The Swine Mind-set
We are also counselled to not give Yahweh's "pearls" to spiritual swine. What are "pearls"? Pearls are a symbol of something which has great Eternal value.
Matthew 13:44-46 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto
treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and
for joy thereof goeth and selleth."
Diamonds, sapphires, rubies, all can be
divided. But pearls, like the body of Messiah, cannot be divided.
If you try to divide a pearl, it is destroyed. On both the inside and the
outside, it is shiny and pure and white. And it is
of great value to the
merchant.
Revelation
21:21 “And the twelve gates were twelve pearls:
every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold,
as it were transparent glass.”
The spiritual swine is a mind-set of spiritual uncleanness. Uncleanness is spiritual foolishness, which is the opposite of wisdom. In a swine-mindset, the person will be more interested in his/her own ideas and getting to know "himself" than in knowing God's Truth.
Leviticus 11:7-8 "
And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud;
he is unclean to you.
Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you."
• Proverbs
23:9 “Speak not
in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.”
• Proverbs
18:2 “A fool
hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself.”
Swine
are a symbol of mankind without discretion.
Proverbs 11:22 "As a jewel of gold in a swine's snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion."
Just as an angry swine is a dangerous beast, so an angry
fool is dangerous to be around (Proverbs 10:23).
Matthew 7:6 "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."
While spiritual dog-mind-set individuals will persecute you for sharing Light with them, swine will trample the gems of Truth in the mud. Mud represents deception, filth, lies, and distortion of Truth. Those with the swine mind-set cannot appreciate the Truth. And when they receive it, they soil it.
Now, having pointed these things out, let me also point out that God can work with folks, even when they are in these dangerous mind-sets. Just as He did with Paul, He can transform anyone, so long as they confess their sin:
Leviticus 26:40-42 "If they shall confess their sin, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against Me, and that also they have walked contrary unto Me; And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: Then will I remember My Covenant with Jacob, and also My Covenant with Isaac, and also My Covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land."
But the work of restoring dogs and swine is not accomplished by sharing the gems of Truth with them. Yahshua, Himself, forbade it.
Dogs
and pigs are not impressed with jewels. If
we think we are doing the swine a favor by throwing pearls to them, we do not
understand their true nature. Dogs and pigs only have interest in jewels if
they assume the pearls will satisfy their natural appetites. But, once they
realize that the jewels do not gratify their appetites, they trample the jewels
we gave them and may even turn to attack us.
The treasures of Yahweh’s Truth are
precious to the believer, but they cannot be understood by
those who reject Yahweh’s Law, and desire to continue in sin. If these gems are
cast before such hard-hearted and foolish hearers, they will be misunderstood,
misrepresented and reviled. And the one who shared the gems may even become the
object of needless persecution as a result.
When we have the opportunity to share
Truth with someone, discretion requires that we first pray to discern the
condition of the hearer’s heart. We are never to
be so excited about the Truth that we carelessly cast it before any and all.
First, we need to consider the audience. We need to be eager to listen to the
needs and problems of our hearers rather than trying to teach them truths that
they are not ready to hear or able to receive.
COMING JANUARY 1!
