Gnats and Camels



Matthew 23:23-24
23“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
24You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

The “woes” aimed at the Pharisees are piling up. Jesus pointedly blasts them for a determined show of tithing while neglecting the characteristics of mercy and justice. Turning a blind eye to the struggles of the poor, the needs of the widow, and the plight of those facing injustice is reprehensible to God. These words of judgment fall not only on the Pharisees but on us as well. We too can be guilty of the same neglects.

When reading this passage, the Bible student is reminded of Micah 6:6-9.
6“With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
7Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Those listening to Jesus expound on God’s love for justice and mercy would have immediately remembers the words of Micah and known that He was reminding them that God has not changed. The reference to gnats and camels comes from the book of Leviticus where the laws that God established for the protection of His people are explained. In Leviticus 11, both gnats and camels are exposed as unclean for God’s people to consume.

Leviticus 11:41-43
41“Every swarming thing that swarms on the ground is detestable; it shall not be eaten.
42Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, any swarming thing that swarms on the ground, you shall not eat, for they are detestable.
43You shall not make yourselves detestable with any swarming thing that swarms, and you shall not defile yourselves with them, and become unclean through them.
Leviticus 11:3-4
3Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat.
4Nevertheless, among those that chew the cud or part the hoof, you shall not eat these: The camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you.

There were some Pharisees who passed all of their water through a cloth sieve lest they accidentally swallow a gnat. Yet they were willing to consume the “camel” of greed and injustice. The picture Jesus paints is startlingly vivid. In Christianity today, do we have any “gnats” or camels? Most likely we do. Many years ago I heard the phrase, “we can be so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good.” I think that might sum it up. We can be so focused on our own rules that we are willing to forget about those who need our help. This will never be God’s choice for His people. Jesus came to offer salvation to all so we don’t get to look away from those in need.

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