“Don’t give
holy things to dogs, and don’t throw your pearls before pigs. Pigs will only
trample on them, and dogs will turn to
attack you.”—-Matthew 7:6 (NCV)
“Flatterers look
like friends, as wolves like dogs.”—George Chapman
Yep. You guessed it. We’re gonna “go there” today. J
Some
of my friends have been laughing at me, but I’m telling ya’ll that if you want
to get back to some good television (Philippians 4:8), please consider watching
“Little House on the Prairie”! I catch reruns
during the week and when I tell you it preaches to me—whew!
Anyway,
on my birthday (thanks for all of the well wishes, by the way), I caught an
episode that I know was custom-made
just for me. It was about a pack of
wolves, which were actually wild dogs (we’ll get to that in a second), that had
come to Walnut Grove and were raising cane: destroying crops, killing
livestock, torturing people.
In
one segment of the show, Andy (one of Laura Ingalls’ close friends) was talking
to his father, Mr. Garvey about some wild puppies that he and Laura wanted to
keep as pets. His father, however, wanted
them to leave the puppies in the wild after the grown pack attacked Laura’s
farm and tried to harm her, his son and her sisters.
Andy: “What makes
them become like that, Pa?”
Mr. Garvey: “When their masters get tired of them, they
stop loving and feeding them. Then they
become neglected and are turned loose to take care of themselves. Then, they turn on you.”
Holy
Spirit: “Shellie, that’s one of your biggest problems. You try and pet too many wild dogs.”
When
I tell you that I sat with my mouth open for like ten minutes, I ain’t
jokin’! I pet wild dogs? WOW!
I
mean, I know that I have somewhat of an affinity for what many of us would call
the “underdog”, mostly because I can so relate to feeling neglected, lonely,
abandoned and misunderstood. But how
could that be a bad thing? After all,
doesn’t the Word say that we are to tend to those kinds of folks?
“It’s criminal to
ignore a neighbor in need, but compassion for the poor—what a blessing!”—Proverbs 14:21 (Message)
“Do not forget or neglect or refuse to extend
hospitality to strangers [in the brotherhood–being friendly, cordial, and
gracious, sharing the comforts of your home and doing your part generously],
for through it some have entertained angels without knowing it.”—Hebrews 13:2
(AMP)
“But if anyone has
this world’s goods (resources for sustaining life) and sees his brother and
fellow believer in need, yet
closes his heart of compassion against him, how can the love of God live and
remain in him?”—I John 3:17 (AMP)
Then,
in my spirit, this scripture came to me:
“Jesus said, ‘Why
do you question me about what’s
good? God is the One who is
good. If you want to enter the life of God,
just do what he tells you.’”—Matthew 19:17 (Message)
I
mean, what can you really say after something like that? I’m a pretty smart gal ‘n all, but since the
Word says that even God’s foolishness is better than any of my so-called wisdom
(I Corinthians 1:25), I decided to
shut up, sit it out and see where God was taking me with this message.
For
years now, I have always been in love with Matthew 7:6, the lead scripture for
today. Because now, more than ever, I
believe that nothing is coincidental (Proverbs 16:9), I’m sure that my
birthstone being a pearl has something to do with why I am so enamored with a
message that would warn me against casting my pearls, myself, before swine or
dogs. A couple of years ago, I came
across two definitions for swine other than pig:
Swine: a coarse, gross,
or brutishly sensual person; a contemptible person.
Yeah,
I’ve had my share of swine in my time. However, it wasn’t until yesterday that I ever thought to look up
dog. Are
you ready?
Dog: a domesticated
carnivorous mammal (Canis familiaris) related to the foxes and wolves
and raised in a wide variety of breeds; a despicable man or youth; something
worthless or of extremely poor quality; someone who is morally reprehensible; an investment that produces a low return or
a loss.
Oh
my goodness, OH…MY…GOODNESS!
Now,
let me put up one disclaimer before I continue. This is not going to be a male-bashing message. As a matter of fact, I have always believed
that it is blasphemous to call men dogs. After all, they are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27) and I wouldn’t
dare call God a dog! No, this message is
about the characteristics of a dog and of people (both male and female) who may
have dog-like tendencies (in the spiritual sense). This message is for the purpose of
discernment (Philippians 1:9-10), reproof (Proverbs 6:23, 2 Timothy 3:16) and protection
(Proverbs 4:23).
Moving
on…
So,
after reading “an investment that produces a low return or a loss”, again I
found
myself
staring at the computer screen in shock and awe. A despicable man or youth is considered a
dog. Something of extremely poor quality
is considered a dog. Someone who is
morally reprehensible is considered a dog. Oh, and the real “knock out punch”: AN INVESTMENT THAT PRODUCES A LOW RETURN
OR LOSS is a dog.
Again,
oh my goodness!
Something
that I asked some of my spiritual partners to do for me this year was provide
me with scriptures that I could carry throughout 34. More and more, I have come to accept that if
you don’t have THE WORD attached to your
words, I really ain’t too much interested in what you have to say when it
comes to speaking on/in/about my life. Well, with a message as raw as this, I knew I needed to provide you all
with more than one scripture on dogs to properly illustrate the point I believe
I am called to make. Let’s look at what
else the Bible says about dogs:
“As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool returns to his folly.”—Proverbs 26:11 (NKJV)
“Yes, the dogs
are greedy; they never have enough. And such are the shepherds who cannot
understand; they have all turned to their own way, each one to his own gain,
from every quarter [one and all].”—Isaiah 56:11 (NKJV)
“And I will appoint
over them four kinds [of destroyers], says the Lord: the sword to slay, the dogs
to tear and drag away, and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to
devour and to destroy.”—Jeremiah 15:3 (NKJV)
“And He answered,
It is not right (proper, becoming, or fair) to take the children’s bread and
throw it to the little dogs.”—Matthew 15:26 (NKJV)
“Look out for those
dogs [Judaizers, legalists], look out for those mischief-makers, look
out for those who mutilate the flesh.”—Philippians 3:2 (NKJV)
“There has befallen
them the thing spoken of in the true proverb, The dog turns back to his
own vomit, and, The sow is washed only to wallow again in the mire.”—2 Peter 2:22 (NKJV)
“[But] without are
the dogs and those who practice sorceries (magic arts) and impurity [the
lewd, adulterers] and the murderers and idolaters and everyone who loves and
deals in falsehood (untruth, error, deception, cheating).”—Revelation 22:15 (NKJV)
So,
in a nutshell, according to the Word, here are the characteristics of a dog:
*He
stays in his mess.
*He’s
greedy.
*He
tears and drags away.
*He
is not worthy of what belongs to children.
*He’s
a mischief-maker.
*Again,
he stays in his mess. (Hmm…)
*He’s
not suitable for the kingdom.
Now,
that’s just what the Word says about dogs, but what I watched was a story about
wild dogs/wolves. Let’s see what the definition of “wild” is
and what the Bible says about wild animals as well as wolves:
Wild: living in a state
of nature; not tamed or domesticated; growing
or produced without cultivation or the care of humans; of unrestrained
violence, fury, intensity, etc.; violent; furious; frantic or distracted;
crazy; undisciplined, unruly, or lawless; disregardful of moral restraints as
to pleasurable indulgence; unrestrained by reason or prudence; disorderly or
disheveled.
“If I cause
ferocious and evil wild animals to
pass through the land and they ravage and bereave it, and it becomes desolate
so that no man may pass through because of the beasts…”—Ezekiel 14:15 (AMP)
“Don’t be naive.
There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be
self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of
parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous,
ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They’ll make
a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these
people.”—2 Timothy 3:1-5 (Message)
Wolf: any of several
large carnivorous mammals of the genus Canis, of the dog family Canidae, esp. C.
lupus, usually hunting in packs,
formerly common throughout the Northern Hemisphere but now chiefly restricted
to the more unpopulated parts of its range.
“But you, God, you
have an eye for truth, don’t you? You
hit them hard, but it didn’t faze them. You disciplined them, but they refused
correction. Hardheaded, harder than rock, they wouldn’t change. Then I said to
myself, ‘Well, these are just poor people. They don’t know any better. They were never taught anything about
God. They never went to prayer
meetings. I’ll find some people from the
best families. I’ll talk to them. They’ll know what’s going on, the way God
works. They’ll know the score.’ But they were no better! Rebels all! Off doing their own thing. The invaders are
ready to pounce and kill, like a mountain lion, a wilderness wolf, panthers on the prowl. The streets aren’t safe anymore. And why?
Because the people’s sins are piled sky-high; their betrayals are past
counting.”—Jeremiah 5:3-6 (Message)
“’Beware of false
prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.’”—Matthew 7:15 (NKJV)
“I know that after
I leave, some people will come like wild wolves and try to destroy the
flock.”—Acts 20:29 (NCV)
Hmm…I
wonder if those are like hirelings:
“But a hireling, he
who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.”—John 10:12 (NKJV)
So,
the main difference between a dog and a wolf? Well, they’re in the same family and so it’s not much different (I hope
you catch that), but wolves are wild and run in packs mostly for the purpose of
hunting. However, according to
scripture, neither the dog or wolf is good for us to have in our intimate
space.
OK,
now let’s put this all together.
Matthew
7:6 says that we are not to give what’s holy to the dogs, right? This means to people who stay in their mess;
are greedy; tear things down and drag them away; are not worthy of having what
belongs to children; are mischief-makers, and are not acting “kingdom-worthy”. These people do not deserve the parts of us
that are worthy of respect and/or what’s designed to be treated as spiritually
pure. According to Matthew 7:6, if we
cast our pearls, what’s “precious” or “choice”, before them, all they will do
is turn and attack us.
Now ain’t that
deep? Something as beautiful, as valuable, as rare
as a pearl can be right in their face, but because they are messy, greedy and unsuitable
for the kingdom, rather than cherishing such a thing, they will actually turn
around and attack it!
Attack: to set upon in a
forceful, violent, hostile, or aggressive way, with or without a weapon; to
direct unfavorable criticism against; criticize severely; argue with strongly;
to blame or abuse violently or bitterly; to try to destroy, esp. with verbal
abuse; to begin to affect harmfully.
God, I hear
you. You have no idea how much. But what about the scriptures which say that
the wolves will one day lie down with the lambs?
GOD:
Shellie, you missed the beginning part of that scripture.
“The
Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the Spirit of
counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. His delight is in the fear of the Lord, and He
shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His
ears; but with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity
for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall
be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and
the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear
shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat
straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the
weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth
shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the
sea.”—Isaiah 11:2-9 (NKJV)
Several
years ago, I heard a pastor say, “God wants your boyfriend to be saved too, but
that doesn’t mean he’s calling you to do it.” When I think back on the conversation that Mr. Garvey had with his son
about those wild dogs, I found myself spending a long period of time on how he
said they got to be that way. When those
sweet, innocent pups came into the world, because they were not nurtured and
cared for, they had to learn how to fend for themselves. THEY DIDN’T START OUT WILD. OVER TIME, THEY BECAME THAT WAY.
In
the spiritual sense, I believe this is what happens to people when they are not
properly brought to Christ and his
teachings as young children. Proverbs
22:6 says to train up a child in a way he should go and when he is old, he will
not depart from it. But sadly, there are
so many people who have not been trained in the way of godly fear and reverence
for his way and his Word. Ephesians 6:4
instructs parents not to provoke their children to wrath (deeply resentful indignation), but because so many fathers/mothers/pastors/teachers/mentors
fail to heed to this instruction, angry kids grow up to be angry adults with no
fear and admonition for the Lord or any
respect for anyone else. Because they
were left to “fend for themselves”, they lose their innocence and become
wild. They take what they want/need and abuse
those around them with little or no thought about the pain that they cause or
the damage that they do.
And
then here we are trying to love on them, nurture them, care for them and they close
to bite our heads off! They simply don’t
know to handle that. They have relied on
the flesh rather than the Spirit to dominate their lives for so long that love
seems like their enemy. They would rather fight to the death for the things
that would be readily available to them if they would just submit their will to
God. (Romans 8:13)
Oh,
now Matthew 7:6 makes so much more sense. GOD LOVES ALL OF HIS CHILDREN,
but there are certain things in the soul of a man or woman’s life that ONLY GOD
can do. When we try to be, as Joyce
Meyer puts it, “Holy Ghost, Jr.”, we end up putting ourselves in harm’s way
because no matter how someone/something may look, God knows the real deal. God sees the heart (Proverbs 21:2). According to God’s Word, when the fruit of
the heart (Matthew 12:33) shows “wild
dog-like tendencies”, it’s not something we should cast…throw…give…deposit…hurl…fling…place
ourselves before. Pray? Sure. Witness? With God’s leading. But cast ourselves before? Uh-uh.
I
remember watching a movie awhile back about a woman who was always petting strays
and getting bit. She ended up getting
really sick as a result, because although those dogs looked pitiful (and to
live like a stray dog is a pitiful way of life), although she could readily
provide what they were kicking over trash cans to get, they were wild and
didn’t know any better. Not only that,
but due to their lifestyle, they carried disease and when they bit her, she got
ill, too. (Whole ‘nother message!)
I
don’t know about you, but I think this revelation, one that I know flesh and blood did not reveal to
me, (Matthew 16:17) has cured me of
my codependent, ill-informed, dangerous attachment to wild dogs. As it says in Isaiah, I’m just gonna “chill
in the cut “(slang for quietly mind my own business) and pray for the only
thing that can keep me from harm’s way, the Spirit of God, to take over their
lives.
Shoot,
ain’t no point in them attacking me and us both being needlessly wild as a
result. I know the good thing I got and I don’t want to lose it…or cast it
away. It’s just too valuable.
©Shellie R. Warren/2008