Matt 23
The 7 woes to the Pharisees are the following criticisms:
1.Shutting the kingdom of heaven in men's faces.
2.Making converts twice as much a son of hell as the converters themselves are.
3.Claiming that swearing by the temple is nothing, but claiming that swearing by the temples gold is everything.
4.Obeying the minutiae of the law (such as giving up a tithe) but neglecting the important facets (such as justice, and mercy) - straining at a gnat but swallowing a camel.
5.Being shallow - cleaning the outside of the cup and dish but leaving the inside full of greed and self-indulgence.
6.Hypocrisy - appearing righteous but actually being full of wickedness, metaphorically like whitewashed tombs, beautiful on the outside, but full of dead men's bones.
7.Claiming that they would have behaved better than their forefathers - even though they build and respect the tombs of those who murdered the prophets.
Interesting post!! I saw this very thing in action this weekend while out of town. Very disturbing, they are so caught up in the pride of their "holiness" they are missing the point. The anger and uncaring towards sinners sickened me. I left there so disturbed by all that happened. Made me very thankful to be part of a church that cares for the sinner and reaches out in KINDNESS (no strings attached) and believes in grace and mercy it's not a hell religion rather a Heaven religion.
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