February 19, 2025 • 30 mins
There are some people you can't teach. Even Jesus was not successful every time He taught people. This is a hard lesson to learn when you love others and try to help them to be saved. After all, Jesus said to go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation in Mark 16:15–16. But it is a fact that some people are so hardened against God and against his Word that they will only berate you if you try to teach them. Jesus used strong and very straightforward language to talk about people like this. He compared them to two repulsive animals in Jewish culture: dogs and hogs. In this lesson from the Sermon on the Mount, we will hear Jesus teaching us how to avoid unnecessary and unproductive arguments with people. This one verse will help us to be wiser and more patient as we spread the gospel.
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- Scriptures: Matthew 7:6, Acts 13:46; Proverbs 23:9
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Episode Transcript
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Kerry Duke (00:00):
Hi, I'm Kerry Duke, host of My God and My Neighbor podcast from Tennessee Bible College, where we
see the Bible as not just another book, but the Book.
Join us in a study of the inspired Word to strengthenyour faith and to share what you've learned with others.
Christianity is a taught religion.
And we as Christians are to teach other people the gospel.
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There's no question about that.
Jesus said in Mark chapter 16, verse 15, “Go into all the worldand preach the gospel to every creature” or the whole creation.
In Matthew chapter 28, verse 19, Jesus said, “Go therefore and teach allnations, baptizing them in the name of the father, son, and the Holy spirit,
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo,I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” In 2 Timothy, chapter 2,
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verse 2, Paul said, “The things that you have heard of me among many witnesses,the same commit to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.” So
yes, it is our duty, it is our privilege to teach other people the gospel.
But are there any limits?
Are there times when you cannot teach someone?
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Are there some people that we are not to try to teach the gospel?
What if a person won't listen?
What if he scoffs at what you say?
What if he turns against you in anger and heblasphemes God and he blasphemes the Bible?
Are you obligated as a Christian to keep trying to teachthat person, and even to insist that he listen to you?
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Well, obviously, it's just good sense to avoid people like this,if you can, because the Bible even says in the Old Testament, in
Proverbs 23, verse 9, “Do not speak in the ears of a fool, forhe will despise the wisdom of your words.” That is the lesson.
That is the principle that we're going to studytoday, because it is found in the Sermon on the Mount.
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We're looking at Matthew chapter 7 verse 6.
Here's where Jesus taught this same lesson.
He said, “Give not that which is holy to the dogs, neither cast you yourpearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn
again and rend you.” Jesus uses two animals here to teach the same lesson.
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These are two illustrations.
He talks about dogs and then hogs.
So, let's look at the first one.
Jesus said, “Do not give that which is holy to the dogs.”The word “holy” means that something has been set apart.
It has been separated for special use.
Now the Jews were very familiar with what Jesuswas talking about here when he used this word holy.
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Remember, Jesus is a Jew.
He's living under the Law of Moses.
He makes constant references to practices in that law.
And He's talking to Jewish people who fully understood what he meant.
So when He talks about something being holy, that wasn't a strange idea to them.
They knew that He was talking about thingsthat had been dedicated to God in special ways.
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And it's very important for us to remember theJewish sacrificial system under the Law of Moses.
The Jews would bring an animal to the altar at the temple in Jerusalem.
They would present that animal to the priest.
He would place that animal on the altar and then he would kill it.
Then he would separate the parts of that animal.
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Now parts of that animal that were used in that sacrifice,and that's why it's called a burnt offering or a burnt
sacrifice, were to be left on the altar and burned.
But parts of that animal were to be taken by the priest as food.
So, in other words, he would get some of the meat, and he wouldtake that, and that was to feed him and to feed his family as well.
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Now, the illustration here, then, is obvious.
To a Jew, the idea of taking some of that meatand throwing it to dogs would be repulsive.
That would be irreverent.
That would be absolutely profane.
Because a dog, under the Old Testament system, was a repulsive animal.
He was an undomesticated animal.
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He was a scavenger.
He was just a filthy, vile animal.
They didn't keep them as pets, and theyespecially didn't keep them as house pets.
You do read about the Syro-Phoenician woman in Matthewchapter 15 that mentioned dogs being in the house.
But she was a Gentile; she was not a Jew.
The Jewish sentiment toward dogs is one that we in our culture todaymight have a hard time relating to, because they despised them.
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But try to put yourself in the shoes of a Jew living in the firstcentury, especially these Jews that heard this at Jesus’ feet,
because Jesus is using two things that are a sharp contrast.
On the one hand, something that is holy, that's dedicated to God.
And on the other hand, something that isdespised, a very lowly creature, which is a dog.
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And so, this sharp contrast is a powerful, it is a vivid, illustration.
And something else that shows how vivid that illustration was is this.
The Old Testament even said that someone who was not of the priest’sfamily, someone who was outside of the nation of Israel itself, an
outsider, was not to eat of that food that was taken from the altar.
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Only the priest and his family could eat that food.
If he had a hired servant, that servant was not to eat that food.
That's what the Bible teaches in Leviticus chapter 22.
So in other words, even some human beings were not to eat that which was holy.
So, that's how we need to look at this illustration.
Now the question is, what does this illustration represent?
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What does it mean?
Well, in the first place, let's talk about the dogs.
The dogs here represent people.
The dogs are men or women.
Obviously, I'm using the word men in a generic sense here.
Men are called dogs in the Bible several times.
In the Old Testament, the Bible says in Psalm 22, verse 16,that David was surrounded by dogs in his prophecy of Christ.
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In Isaiah, chapter 56, verse 11, the prophet says that some of theleaders in Judea were like greedy dogs who could never have enough.
In Philippians 3 verse 2, Paul said, “Beware of dogs.” In 2Peter chapter 2 verse 22, Peter said that a Christian going
back into the world is like a dog turning back to its own vomit.
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In Revelation chapter 22 verse 15, the Bible says, “Forwithout,” that is outside, “are dogs” and other kinds of people.
That means they are shut out from the city of Godthat's talked about in the book of Revelation.
So these are people.
These are people who have no regard for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It's not just that they're disinterested.
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It's not that they just don't understand and maybethey don't appreciate the gospel like they should.
These are people that are antagonistic against the gospel of Jesus Christ.
So that's the idea of these dogs.
Now let's look at the word holy.
Again, the word holy means that these things are separated.
They are holy in God's sight because they have been setapart in service to God, in honor of God, in worship to God.
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So these are spiritual things.
The things of God.
The things of the gospel.
The Bible itself especially, but not just the Bible.
This would include prayer, worship, the name of God, the sanctity of marriage.
And these dogs don't respect or appreciate these things.
They're like wild animals.
You give these things to a wild dog and he'lltear it to pieces and then he'll turn against you.
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Some people are like this today.
If you mention God or you mention the church, they get mad,they insult you, they mock you, and they even curse you.
If you mention the fact that marriage is pure, that marriage is between a manand a woman, that God designed, that God gave us marriage, they get dirty.
They talk ugly about sex outside of marriage.
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If you mention prayer to them, if you have a prayer in their presence,if you ask them to pray with you, or if you ask them if they would
like for you to pray with them or for them, they laugh at you.
They ridicule you.
And if you mention the Bible in general, whether it's talking aboutsalvation in heaven or eternal damnation in hell, they turn that back on you.
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Now, what does Jesus say?
He says, “Do not give that which is holy to the dogs.” Why?
Because they will turn again and they will tear you to pieces.
That's illustration number one.
The second illustration is about the hogs.
He says, “Do not cast your pearls before swine.” And again,swine or hogs were another lowly, unclean animal to the Jews.
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The Jews were forbidden to eat pork, so they regarded this as an unclean animal.
And that's why in the Bible, swine are used as an illustrationof unclean people or of uncleanness in a person's life.
In Proverbs 11, verse 22, the Bible says, “As a ring of gold in a swine's snout,so is a lovely woman who lacks discretion.” There's a strong contrast here.
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This woman is beautiful, but she doesn't have good judgment.
She's not a godly woman.
She's a very immoral woman.
It just doesn't fit, Solomon is saying.
It's like having a ring of gold in a swine's snout.
You would never do that, especially a Jewish person.
So in the Bible also you find in 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 22that a Christian who goes back into the world is like the
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sow that is washed returning to her wallowing in the mire.
And so with the kind of mindset that the Jews had towardhogs, it's no wonder that Jesus mentioned the prodigal
son being sent out into the fields of a man to feed swine.
So on top of the fact that the Jews recognized that hogs were notthe smartest animal on earth, they also despised them and wouldn't
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have anything to do with them because they were an unclean animal.
So Jesus said, “Do not cast your pearls before swine.” He's buildingon, he's following up on, what He said about that which is holy.
He talks about something being holy and that it shouldn't be given to dogs.
And then He says, don't throw or cast your pearls before swine.
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Now, obviously a pearl is a valuable gem.
It always has been.
And in the Bible, you will find that God refers to valuablegems as illustrations of the value of spiritual things.
Now, this is why the Bible says, for instance, inProverbs 8, verse 11, that wisdom is better than rubies.
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This is why the Bible says that the trying of your faith is more precious,it's more valuable than gold that perishes [1 Peter chapter 1 verse 7].
So, here is something that is very valuable.
Here's a pearl that is very costly.
And Jesus said you wouldn't imagine just throwing that to a hog.
What would happen if you threw a string of pearls before a hog?
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Would he recognize them?
Would he appreciate them?
Would he be able to tell their value?
A pig doesn't know the difference between a pearl and a gravel.
And there are some people like that.
If you give them a Bible, they'll lose it.
They'll throw it away.
They'll put it with junk they don't even use.
And if you teach some people the Bible, they will stomp on it.
They will do exactly what Jesus is saying here.
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Don't cast your pearls before the swine lest they trample them under their feet.
There are people like that.
If you share the Bible with them, if you try to teach them, they'll ignore it.
They'll put it off.
They'll treat it like it's nothing because they don'tsee any difference between a Bible and a newspaper.
So Jesus said with that kind of person, at least aslong as that person is thinking like that or acting
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like that, don't waste your time with that individual.
Don't throw your pearls before the swine.
It's interesting that years ago, preachers used to use that kind of language.
They would talk about the fact that we teach other peoplethe gospel and sometimes they throw it back in our face.
And those preachers and older Christians at that timeespecially would say, “Don't cast your pearl before the swine.”
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They were using wisdom that comes straight from Matthew chapter 7 verse 6.
So now at this point what I want to do is to connect what Jesus talksabout here with teaching in the rest of the Bible on this point.
Let's go back to the book of Proverbs and seethat God has always taught this principle.
We've already cited Proverbs chapter 23 verse 9.
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“Do not speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise thewisdom of your words.” Solomon said don't argue with a fool.
Don't waste your time with him.
Earlier in that book in Proverbs chapter 9, beginning in verse 7,here's the advice that Solomon gives us about people like this.
He says, “He that reproves a scorner gets to himself a shame.
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And he that rebukes a wicked man gets himself a blot.
Do not reprove a scorner, lest he hate you.
Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser.
Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.”
So Jesus said you can teach a wise man.
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You can teach a man who is just because he's honest.
But don't try to correct a scorner, becausehe's going to kick that back in your face.
That's what Jesus is warning about in Matthew chapter 7 verse 6.
Jesus said don’t give what's holy to thedogs and don't cast your purr before swine.
Also in the book of Proverbs, in chapter 29 verse 9, Solomon said, “Ifa wise man contends with a foolish man…” Now this is where a wise man is
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getting into a quarrel. He's trying to correct, he's trying to straightenout a foolish man. “If a wise man contends with a foolish man, whether he
rage or laugh,” it doesn't make any difference what that foolish man does.
You can't win with a person like that.
So, as best you can, try to avoid people like that.
And above all, try to avoid getting into some kind ofconfrontation with people like that because Jesus said
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they're just going to turn on you and tear you to pieces.
Now what I want to do is to show that Jesus used this samekind of principle in his teaching of other people in the Bible.
So, let's go to Matthew chapter 10, because there's an expressionhere that in days gone by used to be heard more than it is today.
Sometimes people quote it today, but it just doesn't seemto me like that people refer to this like they used to.
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It's found in Matthew chapter 10.
In Matthew chapter 10, Jesus sent forth the 12 apostles and hetold them to go and preach that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
And here's what the Bible says that they were to do.
He says in verse 11, “And into whatsoever city or town you shallenter, inquire who in it is worthy, and there abide till you go thence.
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And when you come into a house, salute it.
And if the house be worthy, let your peace be upon it.
But if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.
And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words…”Now remember, this is in the setting of the apostles
going out and preaching the gospel to other people.
So what happens if people will not receive them?
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What happens if people are antagonistic against them?
Jesus said, in verse 14 of Matthew 10, “And whosoever shallnot receive you, nor hear your words, when you depart out of
that city or that house, shake off the dust of your feet.”
Now that's what I was talking about a minuteago, because older Christians used to say that.
If you were to go to them and say, “I've been trying to convince thisperson that he needs to be saved, and all that person does is just to
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berate me and abuse me and use harsh words toward me,” then they wouldsimply tell you, according to Matthew chapter 10 verse 14, “Well, it's
time for you to shake the dust off of your feet and just move on.”
But Jesus, by the way, went on to say in verse 15, “Verily Isay to you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom
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and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.”
Another good example is in Matthew chapter 15.
Now here's where the scribes and the Pharisees were very critical ofJesus’ disciples because they didn't wash their hands when they ate bread.
And that was against the tradition of the elders of the Jews.
It was not against the teaching of the Old Testament.
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This was against a Jewish tradition or a Jewish law.
So, they came to Jesus and they said, “Why do your disciples,” this is Matthew15 verse 2, “Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?
For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.
But He answered and said to them, Why do you alsotransgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
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For God commanded, saying, Honor your father and your mother,and he that curses father and mother, let him die the death.
But you say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother,it is a gift by whatsoever you might be profited by me, and
you honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free.
Thus have you made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.”
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Now the best commentary in the world on this is in Mark chapterseven, because Mark chapter seven explains what this tradition was.
And He even gives us the name of it.
It was called Corban.
The Corban tradition, which the scribes and Pharisees had invented[it was not in the Bible, but it said this, that if a Jewish man
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or woman had a parent that needed their help financially, that thatJewish man could take the property that he had or the money that he
had and just say, “Well I'm dedicating that to God, I can't help you”].
That's what the Scribes and the Pharisees, these supposed great rabbisand great teachers of the people, were telling these Jews to do.
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Can you think of anything more ungodly than that?
By saying that these people could avoid helping their own parents whowere in need, by simply saying, “Well, I can't give you that because I'm
going to dedicate that to the temple of God or to the service of God.”
So, it's no wonder that Jesus said that they had broken one of the TenCommandments, which says, “Honor your father and your mother,” and he
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called them hypocrites. In verse 7 he said, “You hypocrites, well didIsaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people draws nigh unto me with their
mouth, and honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Butin vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”
And notice what happens in verse 12 (18:36):
“Then came his disciples…” Now these are the disciples of Jesus.
They're on his side.
But they have a question here.
They came to him and said, “Do you know that thePharisees were offended after they heard this saying?”
You've offended these people.
Do you understand?
Do you realize that?
But Jesus said this in verse 14, “Let them alone. They be blind leaders of theblind, and if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” That
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is the same principle that we're looking at here in Matthew chapter 7 verse 6.
Jesus said, don't give what's holy to the dogs,and don't cast your pearl before the swine.
That's what these scribes and Pharisees were, although,these Jewish people looked at them as almost angels, as
almost being on the level of God Himself in their authority.
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And if you think that language is strong, considerwhat Jesus said about the scribes and the Pharisees.
In Matthew chapter 23 verse 33, he said, “You serpents, you generation,”that is, you brood “of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell?”
But this brings up a question about what Jesus means when He says don'tgive what's holy to the dogs and don't cast your pearl before the swine.
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It's obvious when you read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Johnthat Jesus spent a lot of time debating these Jewish leaders.
He argued with them from the Scriptures, and I'mnot talking about some kind of innocent quarrel.
I'm talking about a reasoned debate that He had with thembecause they would bring up something that was false.
Jesus would respond from the Bible; they would respond back.
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This is something that you read in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
So in Matthew chapter 12, they want to talk to Jesus about the Sabbathand about what should be done on the Sabbath and what should not be done.
So Jesus responds with the Bible.
He is debating them.
He is trying to reason with them.
You find the same thing in Matthew chapter 15, the passage that we just quoted.
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You find that in Matthew chapter 19 wherethey talk to Him about divorce and remarriage.
Then in Matthew chapter 23, He refers to them as being fools many times.
He calls them scribes and Pharisees.
He calls them fools and blind.
Remember what Solomon said?
“Do not speak in the ears of a fool, forhe will despise the wisdom of your words.”
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Remember what Jesus said?
Don't give what's holy to the dogs.
Don't cast your pearls before swine.
So why is Jesus debating them?
Why didn't Jesus just say, “I'm not going to talk toyou. I'm not going to have anything to say to you”.
It must be because Jesus is not trying to convince them.
He is saying this for the people who heardhim because there were many people around.
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There were his disciples, there were Jewish people,who heard these debates, who heard these discussions.
And so Jesus was not violating what He said.
He wasn't going back on his words.
He didn't lose his temper and forget whathe had taught in the Sermon on the Mount.
It's simply that when the Sermon on theMount is taught, this is a general rule here.
That is, you don't want to waste your time with these people.
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Because there are other people, of course, that obviously would want to listen.
And Proverbs 23 verse 9 is a general statement.
It's a general rule of thumb.
But there are situations where you're going to have to defend yourself.
You're going to have to defend the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And that's what you find when Jesusrefers to thesepeople as being fools and blind and He engages them.
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He contends for the faith.
So, this is just a brief survey of how Jesus put these words into practice.
That is, don't give what's holy to the dogsand don't cast your pearls before the swine.
Now, let's go to the book of Acts because it's interesting herethat you see the disciples of Jesus practicing this very thing.
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For instance, In Acts chapter 13 verse 9 on the first missionaryjourney, Paul and Barnabas encountered “a certain sorcerer, a
false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar Jesus, which was with thedeputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man, who called
for Barnabas and Saul and desired to hear the word of the Lord.”
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So you have two men here who are opposites.
They're together in presence, but they are opposite in spirit.
One is a good man who wants to hear the word of God, and the other one does not.
The Bible says that this “Elymas the sorcerer, forso is his name by interpretation, withstood them.
He stood against Paul in Barnabas, speaking the wordof God, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.
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Then Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Ghost,set his eyes on him and said, O full of all subtlety and all
mischief, you child of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness,will you not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?”
So Paul didn't get into a discussion with him and say, “Let mego over this material again. Let me teach you what I just said to
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this other man.” He stood against him because trying to teach thisman would have been like casting your pearls before the swine.
Now you find this same kind of thing later in this same chapter inActs chapter 13 where Paul and Barnabas are in a synagogue in Antioch.
Now listen to what the Bible says in Acts chapter 13 beginning in verse 44.
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“And the next Sabbath day came almost thewhole city together to hear the word of God.
But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy and spokeagainst those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.
Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessarythat the word of God should first have been spoken to you.
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But seeing you put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy ofeverlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.” So Paul said, if you don't
want to hear it, then we're not going to cast our pearl before swine.
He didn't say those exact words, but that's the lesson.
That's the principle that he was applying here.
There's no point in trying to teach these people if they don't want it.
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They are speaking against what he's saying anyway.
They are contradicting and they are blaspheming.
They're tearing at what he said.
They're doing exactly what Jesus warned about in Matthew chapter 7 verse 6.
Don't give that which is holy to the dogs, and don'tcast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them
under their feet, and turn again, and tear you to pieces.
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That's what they were doing with Paul as far as his words were concerned.
They were tearing his words or his preaching to pieces, just like wild animals.
You have another example in Acts chapter 18.
This time Paul is in the city of Corinth.
Listen to what the Bible says in verse four of Acts 18.
The Bible says, “And he reasoned in the synagogueevery Sabbath and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.
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And when Silas and Timothy were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressedin the spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.
And when they opposed themselves and blasphemed, he shookhis raiment and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own
heads; I am clean (25:37):
from henceforth, I will go to the Gentiles.”
Now, I referenced just a few minutes ago, what older Christiansand older preachers used to say straight from the Bible.
They would say, “Well, sometimes you have to shake the dustoff your feet. Sometimes you have to remember that you're
not to cast your pearl before the swine.” And they wouldsometimes allude to what Paul says here in Acts chapter 18.
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And that is, if you've done what you can, then just realizethat their blood is going to be upon their own head.
It's not going to be on your hands.
And here's something else that Paul said later to the youngpreacher Titus in Titus chapter three, verses 10 and 11.
He said a man that is “a heretic after the first and second admonition,reject: knowing that he that is such is subverted and sins, being
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condemned of himself.” There comes a time where you've done your duty.
You've done all that you can do and there's no morethat really can be done without wasting your time.
And in those situations, it's not just that you're saying, “Okay, I'mnot going to cast my pearl before the swine. You're also saying, why
should I spin my wheels? Why should I waste my time when I could put mytime and my effort teaching someone who actually does want the gospel?”
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Now that's what Paul said in Acts chapter 13, verse 46.
He said basically to those Jews who were trampling the Word of God undertheir feet, who were tearing his preaching to pieces, he was saying to them,
“If you don't want it, then the Gentiles will. If you don't want to hearthis, then others will receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” And that's been
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a principle of God's teaching and God's ways throughout the generations.
Now, let's go back to Matthew chapter 7 and I want to put Matthewchapter 7 verse 6 in the context here before we end the lesson today.
Remember in Matthew chapter 7 verses 1 through5 that the context here is about judging.
Jesus said, do not judge that you be not judged.
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And then He talks about the kind of judging that he's describing.
This is hypocritical judgment.
It's not righteous judgment.
Remember, John 7, verse 24 says judge righteous judgment.
Matthew chapter 7, verse 1 through 5 is unrighteous judgment.
It's hypocritical judgment.
This is a man who's criticizing something very smallin someone else's life, and he has a huge problem.
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He has a much greater sin in his life.
That's the context.
But as we said, many times people take Matthew 7, 1 5 and they overapply it.
They misapply it.
They tell us that we cannot judge a situation.
They tell us that we cannot tell someone thatsomething is wrong or that someone is a sinner.
And they always go back to Matthew 7, verse 1 and misquote the words.
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They take them out of context where Jesussaid, “Judge not that you be not judged.”
And here's my point.
In Matthew 7, verses 1 through 5, Jesus said, “Do not judge.
And there are people who say that this meansthat you can't judge anybody about anything ever.
And yet, in the very next verse, Jesus tells us that we have to do some judging.
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Because he said, “Give not that which is holy to thedogs, neither cast you your pearls before swine.”
Who are the dogs?
People.
Who are the hogs?
People.
Here's the question.
How can you determine that someone is in the category of a dog or ahog, spiritually and morally, unless you make a judgment about it?
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Unless you hear their words, see their actions, notice their responses, and lookat their overall life and attitude, and say, “This is contrary to God's Word.
This is what Jesus is warning about.” And how can you do that without judging?
How can you do that without discerning?
That's what I mean by judging.
I'm not talking about sitting on the judgment seat of Christ at theend of time, but I am talking about looking at a situation and using
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God's Word, taking God's Word and applying it to that matter of life.
That involves a judgment on our part.
And if we're never to judge anybody about anything ever in ourlives, then we could never obey Jesus words, “Give not that which
is holy to the dogs, neither cast you your pearls before the swine.”
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Thank you for listening to My God and My Neighbor.
Stay connected with our podcast on our website and on Apple,Spotify, YouTube, or wherever fine podcasts are distributed.
Tennessee Bible College, providing Christian education since 1975 inCookeville, Tennessee, offers undergraduate and graduate programs.
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Study at your level, aim higher, and get in touch with us today.
Hi, I'm Kerry Duke, host of My God and My Neighbor podcast from Tennessee Bible College, where we
see the Bible as not just another book, but the Book.
Join us in a study of the inspired Word to strengthenyour faith and to share what you've learned with others.
Christianity is a taught religion.
And we as Christians are to teach other people the gospel.
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There's no question about that.
Jesus said in Mark chapter 16, verse 15, “Go into all the worldand preach the gospel to every creature” or the whole creation.
In Matthew chapter 28, verse 19, Jesus said, “Go therefore and teach allnations, baptizing them in the name of the father, son, and the Holy spirit,
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo,I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” In 2 Timothy, chapter 2,
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verse 2, Paul said, “The things that you have heard of me among many witnesses,the same commit to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.” So
yes, it is our duty, it is our privilege to teach other people the gospel.
But are there any limits?
Are there times when you cannot teach someone?
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Are there some people that we are not to try to teach the gospel?
What if a person won't listen?
What if he scoffs at what you say?
What if he turns against you in anger and heblasphemes God and he blasphemes the Bible?
Are you obligated as a Christian to keep trying to teachthat person, and even to insist that he listen to you?
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Well, obviously, it's just good sense to avoid people like this,if you can, because the Bible even says in the Old Testament, in
Proverbs 23, verse 9, “Do not speak in the ears of a fool, forhe will despise the wisdom of your words.” That is the lesson.
That is the principle that we're going to studytoday, because it is found in the Sermon on the Mount.
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We're looking at Matthew chapter 7 verse 6.
Here's where Jesus taught this same lesson.
He said, “Give not that which is holy to the dogs, neither cast you yourpearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn
again and rend you.” Jesus uses two animals here to teach the same lesson.
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These are two illustrations.
He talks about dogs and then hogs.
So, let's look at the first one.
Jesus said, “Do not give that which is holy to the dogs.”The word “holy” means that something has been set apart.
It has been separated for special use.
Now the Jews were very familiar with what Jesuswas talking about here when he used this word holy.
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Remember, Jesus is a Jew.
He's living under the Law of Moses.
He makes constant references to practices in that law.
And He's talking to Jewish people who fully understood what he meant.
So when He talks about something being holy, that wasn't a strange idea to them.
They knew that He was talking about thingsthat had been dedicated to God in special ways.
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And it's very important for us to remember theJewish sacrificial system under the Law of Moses.
The Jews would bring an animal to the altar at the temple in Jerusalem.
They would present that animal to the priest.
He would place that animal on the altar and then he would kill it.
Then he would separate the parts of that animal.
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Now parts of that animal that were used in that sacrifice,and that's why it's called a burnt offering or a burnt
sacrifice, were to be left on the altar and burned.
But parts of that animal were to be taken by the priest as food.
So, in other words, he would get some of the meat, and he wouldtake that, and that was to feed him and to feed his family as well.
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Now, the illustration here, then, is obvious.
To a Jew, the idea of taking some of that meatand throwing it to dogs would be repulsive.
That would be irreverent.
That would be absolutely profane.
Because a dog, under the Old Testament system, was a repulsive animal.
He was an undomesticated animal.
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He was a scavenger.
He was just a filthy, vile animal.
They didn't keep them as pets, and theyespecially didn't keep them as house pets.
You do read about the Syro-Phoenician woman in Matthewchapter 15 that mentioned dogs being in the house.
But she was a Gentile; she was not a Jew.
The Jewish sentiment toward dogs is one that we in our culture todaymight have a hard time relating to, because they despised them.
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But try to put yourself in the shoes of a Jew living in the firstcentury, especially these Jews that heard this at Jesus’ feet,
because Jesus is using two things that are a sharp contrast.
On the one hand, something that is holy, that's dedicated to God.
And on the other hand, something that isdespised, a very lowly creature, which is a dog.
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And so, this sharp contrast is a powerful, it is a vivid, illustration.
And something else that shows how vivid that illustration was is this.
The Old Testament even said that someone who was not of the priest’sfamily, someone who was outside of the nation of Israel itself, an
outsider, was not to eat of that food that was taken from the altar.
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Only the priest and his family could eat that food.
If he had a hired servant, that servant was not to eat that food.
That's what the Bible teaches in Leviticus chapter 22.
So in other words, even some human beings were not to eat that which was holy.
So, that's how we need to look at this illustration.
Now the question is, what does this illustration represent?
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What does it mean?
Well, in the first place, let's talk about the dogs.
The dogs here represent people.
The dogs are men or women.
Obviously, I'm using the word men in a generic sense here.
Men are called dogs in the Bible several times.
In the Old Testament, the Bible says in Psalm 22, verse 16,that David was surrounded by dogs in his prophecy of Christ.
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In Isaiah, chapter 56, verse 11, the prophet says that some of theleaders in Judea were like greedy dogs who could never have enough.
In Philippians 3 verse 2, Paul said, “Beware of dogs.” In 2Peter chapter 2 verse 22, Peter said that a Christian going
back into the world is like a dog turning back to its own vomit.
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In Revelation chapter 22 verse 15, the Bible says, “Forwithout,” that is outside, “are dogs” and other kinds of people.
That means they are shut out from the city of Godthat's talked about in the book of Revelation.
So these are people.
These are people who have no regard for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It's not just that they're disinterested.
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It's not that they just don't understand and maybethey don't appreciate the gospel like they should.
These are people that are antagonistic against the gospel of Jesus Christ.
So that's the idea of these dogs.
Now let's look at the word holy.
Again, the word holy means that these things are separated.
They are holy in God's sight because they have been setapart in service to God, in honor of God, in worship to God.
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So these are spiritual things.
The things of God.
The things of the gospel.
The Bible itself especially, but not just the Bible.
This would include prayer, worship, the name of God, the sanctity of marriage.
And these dogs don't respect or appreciate these things.
They're like wild animals.
You give these things to a wild dog and he'lltear it to pieces and then he'll turn against you.
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Some people are like this today.
If you mention God or you mention the church, they get mad,they insult you, they mock you, and they even curse you.
If you mention the fact that marriage is pure, that marriage is between a manand a woman, that God designed, that God gave us marriage, they get dirty.
They talk ugly about sex outside of marriage.
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If you mention prayer to them, if you have a prayer in their presence,if you ask them to pray with you, or if you ask them if they would
like for you to pray with them or for them, they laugh at you.
They ridicule you.
And if you mention the Bible in general, whether it's talking aboutsalvation in heaven or eternal damnation in hell, they turn that back on you.
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Now, what does Jesus say?
He says, “Do not give that which is holy to the dogs.” Why?
Because they will turn again and they will tear you to pieces.
That's illustration number one.
The second illustration is about the hogs.
He says, “Do not cast your pearls before swine.” And again,swine or hogs were another lowly, unclean animal to the Jews.
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The Jews were forbidden to eat pork, so they regarded this as an unclean animal.
And that's why in the Bible, swine are used as an illustrationof unclean people or of uncleanness in a person's life.
In Proverbs 11, verse 22, the Bible says, “As a ring of gold in a swine's snout,so is a lovely woman who lacks discretion.” There's a strong contrast here.
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This woman is beautiful, but she doesn't have good judgment.
She's not a godly woman.
She's a very immoral woman.
It just doesn't fit, Solomon is saying.
It's like having a ring of gold in a swine's snout.
You would never do that, especially a Jewish person.
So in the Bible also you find in 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 22that a Christian who goes back into the world is like the
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sow that is washed returning to her wallowing in the mire.
And so with the kind of mindset that the Jews had towardhogs, it's no wonder that Jesus mentioned the prodigal
son being sent out into the fields of a man to feed swine.
So on top of the fact that the Jews recognized that hogs were notthe smartest animal on earth, they also despised them and wouldn't
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have anything to do with them because they were an unclean animal.
So Jesus said, “Do not cast your pearls before swine.” He's buildingon, he's following up on, what He said about that which is holy.
He talks about something being holy and that it shouldn't be given to dogs.
And then He says, don't throw or cast your pearls before swine.
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Now, obviously a pearl is a valuable gem.
It always has been.
And in the Bible, you will find that God refers to valuablegems as illustrations of the value of spiritual things.
Now, this is why the Bible says, for instance, inProverbs 8, verse 11, that wisdom is better than rubies.
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This is why the Bible says that the trying of your faith is more precious,it's more valuable than gold that perishes [1 Peter chapter 1 verse 7].
So, here is something that is very valuable.
Here's a pearl that is very costly.
And Jesus said you wouldn't imagine just throwing that to a hog.
What would happen if you threw a string of pearls before a hog?
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Would he recognize them?
Would he appreciate them?
Would he be able to tell their value?
A pig doesn't know the difference between a pearl and a gravel.
And there are some people like that.
If you give them a Bible, they'll lose it.
They'll throw it away.
They'll put it with junk they don't even use.
And if you teach some people the Bible, they will stomp on it.
They will do exactly what Jesus is saying here.
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Don't cast your pearls before the swine lest they trample them under their feet.
There are people like that.
If you share the Bible with them, if you try to teach them, they'll ignore it.
They'll put it off.
They'll treat it like it's nothing because they don'tsee any difference between a Bible and a newspaper.
So Jesus said with that kind of person, at least aslong as that person is thinking like that or acting
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like that, don't waste your time with that individual.
Don't throw your pearls before the swine.
It's interesting that years ago, preachers used to use that kind of language.
They would talk about the fact that we teach other peoplethe gospel and sometimes they throw it back in our face.
And those preachers and older Christians at that timeespecially would say, “Don't cast your pearl before the swine.”
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They were using wisdom that comes straight from Matthew chapter 7 verse 6.
So now at this point what I want to do is to connect what Jesus talksabout here with teaching in the rest of the Bible on this point.
Let's go back to the book of Proverbs and seethat God has always taught this principle.
We've already cited Proverbs chapter 23 verse 9.
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“Do not speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise thewisdom of your words.” Solomon said don't argue with a fool.
Don't waste your time with him.
Earlier in that book in Proverbs chapter 9, beginning in verse 7,here's the advice that Solomon gives us about people like this.
He says, “He that reproves a scorner gets to himself a shame.
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And he that rebukes a wicked man gets himself a blot.
Do not reprove a scorner, lest he hate you.
Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser.
Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.”
So Jesus said you can teach a wise man.
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You can teach a man who is just because he's honest.
But don't try to correct a scorner, becausehe's going to kick that back in your face.
That's what Jesus is warning about in Matthew chapter 7 verse 6.
Jesus said don’t give what's holy to thedogs and don't cast your purr before swine.
Also in the book of Proverbs, in chapter 29 verse 9, Solomon said, “Ifa wise man contends with a foolish man…” Now this is where a wise man is
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getting into a quarrel. He's trying to correct, he's trying to straightenout a foolish man. “If a wise man contends with a foolish man, whether he
rage or laugh,” it doesn't make any difference what that foolish man does.
You can't win with a person like that.
So, as best you can, try to avoid people like that.
And above all, try to avoid getting into some kind ofconfrontation with people like that because Jesus said
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they're just going to turn on you and tear you to pieces.
Now what I want to do is to show that Jesus used this samekind of principle in his teaching of other people in the Bible.
So, let's go to Matthew chapter 10, because there's an expressionhere that in days gone by used to be heard more than it is today.
Sometimes people quote it today, but it just doesn't seemto me like that people refer to this like they used to.
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It's found in Matthew chapter 10.
In Matthew chapter 10, Jesus sent forth the 12 apostles and hetold them to go and preach that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
And here's what the Bible says that they were to do.
He says in verse 11, “And into whatsoever city or town you shallenter, inquire who in it is worthy, and there abide till you go thence.
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And when you come into a house, salute it.
And if the house be worthy, let your peace be upon it.
But if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.
And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words…”Now remember, this is in the setting of the apostles
going out and preaching the gospel to other people.
So what happens if people will not receive them?
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What happens if people are antagonistic against them?
Jesus said, in verse 14 of Matthew 10, “And whosoever shallnot receive you, nor hear your words, when you depart out of
that city or that house, shake off the dust of your feet.”
Now that's what I was talking about a minuteago, because older Christians used to say that.
If you were to go to them and say, “I've been trying to convince thisperson that he needs to be saved, and all that person does is just to
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berate me and abuse me and use harsh words toward me,” then they wouldsimply tell you, according to Matthew chapter 10 verse 14, “Well, it's
time for you to shake the dust off of your feet and just move on.”
But Jesus, by the way, went on to say in verse 15, “Verily Isay to you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom
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and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.”
Another good example is in Matthew chapter 15.
Now here's where the scribes and the Pharisees were very critical ofJesus’ disciples because they didn't wash their hands when they ate bread.
And that was against the tradition of the elders of the Jews.
It was not against the teaching of the Old Testament.
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This was against a Jewish tradition or a Jewish law.
So, they came to Jesus and they said, “Why do your disciples,” this is Matthew15 verse 2, “Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?
For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.
But He answered and said to them, Why do you alsotransgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
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For God commanded, saying, Honor your father and your mother,and he that curses father and mother, let him die the death.
But you say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother,it is a gift by whatsoever you might be profited by me, and
you honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free.
Thus have you made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.”
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Now the best commentary in the world on this is in Mark chapterseven, because Mark chapter seven explains what this tradition was.
And He even gives us the name of it.
It was called Corban.
The Corban tradition, which the scribes and Pharisees had invented[it was not in the Bible, but it said this, that if a Jewish man
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or woman had a parent that needed their help financially, that thatJewish man could take the property that he had or the money that he
had and just say, “Well I'm dedicating that to God, I can't help you”].
That's what the Scribes and the Pharisees, these supposed great rabbisand great teachers of the people, were telling these Jews to do.
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Can you think of anything more ungodly than that?
By saying that these people could avoid helping their own parents whowere in need, by simply saying, “Well, I can't give you that because I'm
going to dedicate that to the temple of God or to the service of God.”
So, it's no wonder that Jesus said that they had broken one of the TenCommandments, which says, “Honor your father and your mother,” and he
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called them hypocrites. In verse 7 he said, “You hypocrites, well didIsaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people draws nigh unto me with their
mouth, and honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Butin vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”
And notice what happens in verse 12 (18:36):
“Then came his disciples…” Now these are the disciples of Jesus.
They're on his side.
But they have a question here.
They came to him and said, “Do you know that thePharisees were offended after they heard this saying?”
You've offended these people.
Do you understand?
Do you realize that?
But Jesus said this in verse 14, “Let them alone. They be blind leaders of theblind, and if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” That
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is the same principle that we're looking at here in Matthew chapter 7 verse 6.
Jesus said, don't give what's holy to the dogs,and don't cast your pearl before the swine.
That's what these scribes and Pharisees were, although,these Jewish people looked at them as almost angels, as
almost being on the level of God Himself in their authority.
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And if you think that language is strong, considerwhat Jesus said about the scribes and the Pharisees.
In Matthew chapter 23 verse 33, he said, “You serpents, you generation,”that is, you brood “of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell?”
But this brings up a question about what Jesus means when He says don'tgive what's holy to the dogs and don't cast your pearl before the swine.
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It's obvious when you read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Johnthat Jesus spent a lot of time debating these Jewish leaders.
He argued with them from the Scriptures, and I'mnot talking about some kind of innocent quarrel.
I'm talking about a reasoned debate that He had with thembecause they would bring up something that was false.
Jesus would respond from the Bible; they would respond back.
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This is something that you read in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
So in Matthew chapter 12, they want to talk to Jesus about the Sabbathand about what should be done on the Sabbath and what should not be done.
So Jesus responds with the Bible.
He is debating them.
He is trying to reason with them.
You find the same thing in Matthew chapter 15, the passage that we just quoted.
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You find that in Matthew chapter 19 wherethey talk to Him about divorce and remarriage.
Then in Matthew chapter 23, He refers to them as being fools many times.
He calls them scribes and Pharisees.
He calls them fools and blind.
Remember what Solomon said?
“Do not speak in the ears of a fool, forhe will despise the wisdom of your words.”
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Remember what Jesus said?
Don't give what's holy to the dogs.
Don't cast your pearls before swine.
So why is Jesus debating them?
Why didn't Jesus just say, “I'm not going to talk toyou. I'm not going to have anything to say to you”.
It must be because Jesus is not trying to convince them.
He is saying this for the people who heardhim because there were many people around.
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There were his disciples, there were Jewish people,who heard these debates, who heard these discussions.
And so Jesus was not violating what He said.
He wasn't going back on his words.
He didn't lose his temper and forget whathe had taught in the Sermon on the Mount.
It's simply that when the Sermon on theMount is taught, this is a general rule here.
That is, you don't want to waste your time with these people.
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Because there are other people, of course, that obviously would want to listen.
And Proverbs 23 verse 9 is a general statement.
It's a general rule of thumb.
But there are situations where you're going to have to defend yourself.
You're going to have to defend the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And that's what you find when Jesusrefers to thesepeople as being fools and blind and He engages them.
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He contends for the faith.
So, this is just a brief survey of how Jesus put these words into practice.
That is, don't give what's holy to the dogsand don't cast your pearls before the swine.
Now, let's go to the book of Acts because it's interesting herethat you see the disciples of Jesus practicing this very thing.
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For instance, In Acts chapter 13 verse 9 on the first missionaryjourney, Paul and Barnabas encountered “a certain sorcerer, a
false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar Jesus, which was with thedeputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man, who called
for Barnabas and Saul and desired to hear the word of the Lord.”
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So you have two men here who are opposites.
They're together in presence, but they are opposite in spirit.
One is a good man who wants to hear the word of God, and the other one does not.
The Bible says that this “Elymas the sorcerer, forso is his name by interpretation, withstood them.
He stood against Paul in Barnabas, speaking the wordof God, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.
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Then Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Ghost,set his eyes on him and said, O full of all subtlety and all
mischief, you child of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness,will you not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?”
So Paul didn't get into a discussion with him and say, “Let mego over this material again. Let me teach you what I just said to
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this other man.” He stood against him because trying to teach thisman would have been like casting your pearls before the swine.
Now you find this same kind of thing later in this same chapter inActs chapter 13 where Paul and Barnabas are in a synagogue in Antioch.
Now listen to what the Bible says in Acts chapter 13 beginning in verse 44.
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“And the next Sabbath day came almost thewhole city together to hear the word of God.
But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy and spokeagainst those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.
Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessarythat the word of God should first have been spoken to you.
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But seeing you put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy ofeverlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.” So Paul said, if you don't
want to hear it, then we're not going to cast our pearl before swine.
He didn't say those exact words, but that's the lesson.
That's the principle that he was applying here.
There's no point in trying to teach these people if they don't want it.
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They are speaking against what he's saying anyway.
They are contradicting and they are blaspheming.
They're tearing at what he said.
They're doing exactly what Jesus warned about in Matthew chapter 7 verse 6.
Don't give that which is holy to the dogs, and don'tcast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them
under their feet, and turn again, and tear you to pieces.
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That's what they were doing with Paul as far as his words were concerned.
They were tearing his words or his preaching to pieces, just like wild animals.
You have another example in Acts chapter 18.
This time Paul is in the city of Corinth.
Listen to what the Bible says in verse four of Acts 18.
The Bible says, “And he reasoned in the synagogueevery Sabbath and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.
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And when Silas and Timothy were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressedin the spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.
And when they opposed themselves and blasphemed, he shookhis raiment and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own
heads; I am clean (25:37):
from henceforth, I will go to the Gentiles.”
Now, I referenced just a few minutes ago, what older Christiansand older preachers used to say straight from the Bible.
They would say, “Well, sometimes you have to shake the dustoff your feet. Sometimes you have to remember that you're
not to cast your pearl before the swine.” And they wouldsometimes allude to what Paul says here in Acts chapter 18.
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And that is, if you've done what you can, then just realizethat their blood is going to be upon their own head.
It's not going to be on your hands.
And here's something else that Paul said later to the youngpreacher Titus in Titus chapter three, verses 10 and 11.
He said a man that is “a heretic after the first and second admonition,reject: knowing that he that is such is subverted and sins, being
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condemned of himself.” There comes a time where you've done your duty.
You've done all that you can do and there's no morethat really can be done without wasting your time.
And in those situations, it's not just that you're saying, “Okay, I'mnot going to cast my pearl before the swine. You're also saying, why
should I spin my wheels? Why should I waste my time when I could put mytime and my effort teaching someone who actually does want the gospel?”
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Now that's what Paul said in Acts chapter 13, verse 46.
He said basically to those Jews who were trampling the Word of God undertheir feet, who were tearing his preaching to pieces, he was saying to them,
“If you don't want it, then the Gentiles will. If you don't want to hearthis, then others will receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” And that's been
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a principle of God's teaching and God's ways throughout the generations.
Now, let's go back to Matthew chapter 7 and I want to put Matthewchapter 7 verse 6 in the context here before we end the lesson today.
Remember in Matthew chapter 7 verses 1 through5 that the context here is about judging.
Jesus said, do not judge that you be not judged.
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And then He talks about the kind of judging that he's describing.
This is hypocritical judgment.
It's not righteous judgment.
Remember, John 7, verse 24 says judge righteous judgment.
Matthew chapter 7, verse 1 through 5 is unrighteous judgment.
It's hypocritical judgment.
This is a man who's criticizing something very smallin someone else's life, and he has a huge problem.
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He has a much greater sin in his life.
That's the context.
But as we said, many times people take Matthew 7, 1 5 and they overapply it.
They misapply it.
They tell us that we cannot judge a situation.
They tell us that we cannot tell someone thatsomething is wrong or that someone is a sinner.
And they always go back to Matthew 7, verse 1 and misquote the words.
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They take them out of context where Jesussaid, “Judge not that you be not judged.”
And here's my point.
In Matthew 7, verses 1 through 5, Jesus said, “Do not judge.
And there are people who say that this meansthat you can't judge anybody about anything ever.
And yet, in the very next verse, Jesus tells us that we have to do some judging.
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Because he said, “Give not that which is holy to thedogs, neither cast you your pearls before swine.”
Who are the dogs?
People.
Who are the hogs?
People.
Here's the question.
How can you determine that someone is in the category of a dog or ahog, spiritually and morally, unless you make a judgment about it?
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Unless you hear their words, see their actions, notice their responses, and lookat their overall life and attitude, and say, “This is contrary to God's Word.
This is what Jesus is warning about.” And how can you do that without judging?
How can you do that without discerning?
That's what I mean by judging.
I'm not talking about sitting on the judgment seat of Christ at theend of time, but I am talking about looking at a situation and using
(29:33):
God's Word, taking God's Word and applying it to that matter of life.
That involves a judgment on our part.
And if we're never to judge anybody about anything ever in ourlives, then we could never obey Jesus words, “Give not that which
is holy to the dogs, neither cast you your pearls before the swine.”
(29:53):
Thank you for listening to My God and My Neighbor.
Stay connected with our podcast on our website and on Apple,Spotify, YouTube, or wherever fine podcasts are distributed.
Tennessee Bible College, providing Christian education since 1975 inCookeville, Tennessee, offers undergraduate and graduate programs.
(30:13):
Study at your level, aim higher, and get in touch with us today.
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