BE CAREFUL ON WHAT YOU SAY
Welcome to biblical teachings brought to you by Ezra Devotional Ministries. Your teacher today is
Rev. John Mwaniki Gathogo.
We are going to study a verse in the gospel according to
St Matthew 12:36 “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken”.
Jesus said these words after they had brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. All the people were astonished and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"
But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub the prince of demons that this fellow drives out demons."
25Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
29"Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house.
30"He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. 31And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
Jesus is teaching us about accountability of every spoken word we speak. Sometimes we talk without caring the effect what we say has on other people.
Pharisees attributed Jesus miracle to Beelzebub the prince of demons. Jesus healed the demon-possessed man by the Spirit of God.
He therefore cautioned them on the danger of speaking against the Holy Spirit. Any negative word against the Holy Spirit would result to eternal damnation.
What about us? How often do we utter negative utterances against the third person of the Trinity? Let us all take care and heed to Jesus’ warning.
Okay! Every day we are involved in talk especially about other people. We discuss how they look, how they behave, about their possession or their poverty.
Jesus referred to these kind of words in our daily talk which are spoken carelessly. He said
“But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken”.
This is a serious matter considering how negative we have been when we talk about our neighbors, people of other tribes or nationalities, despising them instead of appreciating that they are created in the image of God.
Let me give you a practical example. In the book of
Numbers 12:1-16
“ Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. 2 "Has the LORD spoken only through Moses?" they asked. "Hasn't he also spoken through us?" And the LORD heard this.
3 (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)
4 At once the LORD said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, "Come out to the Tent of Meeting, all three of you." So the three of them came out. 5 Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the Tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them stepped forward, 6 he said, "Listen to my words:
"When a prophet of the LORD is among you,
I reveal myself to him in visions,
I speak to him in dreams.
7 But this is not true of my servant Moses;
he is faithful in all my house.
8 With him I speak face to face,
clearly and not in riddles;
he sees the form of the LORD.
Why then were you not afraid
to speak against my servant Moses?"
9 The anger of the LORD burned against them, and he left them.
10 When the cloud lifted from above the Tent, there stood Miriam—leprous, like snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had leprosy; 11 and he said to Moses, "Please, my lord, do not hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed. 12 Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother's womb with its flesh half eaten away."
13 So Moses cried out to the LORD, "O God, please heal her!"
14 The LORD replied to Moses, "If her father had spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back." 15 So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back.
16 After that, the people left Hazeroth and encamped in the Desert of Paran”.
This was a general talk by Miriam and Aaron. Whatever they said was against their sister in law, Zipporah Moses’ wife.
Similar problems occur in families where one of them intermarries. Always family squabbles based on hatred of other tribe or nationality.
Miriam and Aaron could have been reacting to something Zipporah did or was doing which was contrary to their culture. No matter what it was: it was against the will of God.
The second part of their talk was the challenge against the high authority of Moses. Moses was the sole mediator of Israel and God. This could have been instigated by jealous because the two were a prophet and prophetess. They claimed equal share of authority.
What happened?
“The LORD heard this”. Miriam and Aaron were rebuked immediately. Miriam became leprous. This was instant judgment.
This passage is teaching us that God hears every conversation. In His mercy we do not receive instant judgment: but let us remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken”.
The second lesson is that when we get involved in gossip and malicious talk about our brethren, our development is halted, Israel could not move for seven days.
What shall we do? Let us dedicate ourselves to the will of God as Paul is saying in Romans 12:1-5
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others”.
May the Lord bless you as you meditate on these words.
Till we meet again Shalom.