Don’t Cast Your Pearls to Swine
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. Matthew 7:6 KJV
Today I would like to focus on the underlined part of the scripture. Do not cast your pearls before swine sounds like something pretty harsh to say. Wouldn’t you agree? I believe in this day and age people are doing this constantly in the name of love. The church is doing this because they want to help someone or assist them to know the Lord. The intentions of the heart are good but Jesus taught us not to do it. We have been given something valuable from the Kingdom of Heaven. It may seem strange that the Lord would not want you to minister to someone but if we take note of how he ministered it would make sense. I believe many in the church do not understand the Lord or why he said certain things.
If we are supposed to love why wouldn’t you try to reach anyone and everyone with the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ? The answer is simple, many will not receive it and there are obvious signs we need to be aware. Dogs and swine are harsh words to say to someone but these are people who would not value the Lord or his Word. This means we would have to make a judgment call about someone based on their actions. But how would you determine this? My first impression would be to search the scriptures to see who did the Lord call a dog.
* The Canaanite Woman *
Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. (22) And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. (23) But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. (24) But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (25) Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. (26) But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. (27) And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. (28) Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. Matthew 15:21-28 KJV
This is such a powerful passage. I remember being shocked to read Jesus called this woman a dog and she did not seem bothered by it. So who is this woman? If we observe where Jesus was going he was headed to the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. This would be considered modern day Lebanon about 12 miles from the border of Israel. At that time it was also known as Phoenicia. These were not the people of God. This was the bordering country. It is not written what he was going to do but if we know from past scriptures and what he normally did after times of ministry he would go to secluded places to get away from the crowds and spend time with the Father. From my perspective, it would be a type of regrouping and refreshing after a time of ministry.
As Jesus and his disciples where headed to a secluded place this woman of Canaan came to him seeking healing for her daughter. If you notice Jesus was not going to give this woman any attention because she did not belong to Israel. Jesus said he was sent to minister only to the lost sheep of Israel. But of course, word spread there was a prophet who does many miraculous signs and this woman was hoping to run into him and she did.
What I would like to point out is notice how the woman was called a name and Jesus was basically not going to give the woman any attention or help. Many times modern day followers of Christ would have a hard time ignoring someone. We want to do good to anyone. It seems we would still want to throw our pearls before swine.
You may wonder what is a pearl? A pearl is actually many things lumped together. It is knowledge and experience of the Word of God. What one learns from the Word is very valuable. So we should value it and not just give it to someone who will not appreciate it. We are running out of time and the darkness is closing in rapidly. We do not need to waste time on people who are not interested in knowing the Word. There are people who need to hear what you know about him before it is too late.
Because we have the light in us people are drawn to us. There are times people will want to be near us because of what we can give them. Children of God are blessed and often walk in financial blessings. There are takers and users all around us. These would be equivalent to dogs and swine in biblical terms. We need to be observant to these kinds of people. The bible says to guard our heart. In our attempt to do good we can be hurt if we are not careful.
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23 KJV
In Jesus’ time there were people who only wanted what he could give them. These times are no different. Observe how Jesus did not go out of his way because he knew their heart. He could see they were not interested in the Word he was preaching but only what he could provide at the end of a sermon. Something to fill their bellies. There are still those people all around us. Be vigilant!
But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, (25) And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man. John 2:24-25 KJV
Things to pay attention are behavior. This is a tell sign. Do they contribute? Many times you will see them always ready to receive but they never contribute. They are always in a corner looking busy on their phones when others are doing chores as servants in a group setting. When it comes time to pay the bill if you went out as a group, they always have to go to the bathroom and somehow they never pitch in a portion. If you have bible studies are they participating or is their head down observing their phone? Usually they don’t contribute any opinion about a topic or give simple answer like yes, no or I don’t know answers. Do they continue to do the same mistakes even after they know and heard the truth?
Have you encountered a dog or swine? We all have! We just have to be vigilant and don’t let them take advantage. If we do we are being an enabler for them to continue this behavior. If they want to participate in the kingdom blessings they will need to earn it just like the Canaanite woman did with Jesus. She did not back down because she truly wanted to receive what the kingdom has to offer. Sometimes it’s called tough love but it can weed out the dogs and swine. This is what Jesus would do.
Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. Philippians 3:2 KJV
