The Present Crisis: The Necessity of Pastors Correctly Interpreting the Word of God

The Present Crisis: The Necessity of Pastors Correctly Interpreting the Word of God

“Where There is No Word (Bible) the People Are Out of Control”

Proverbs 29:18

Ernest L. Williams, Sr. March 12, 2022

KJ21

Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

AMP

Where there is no vision [no revelation of God and His word], the people are unrestrained; But

happy and blessed is he who keeps the law [of God].

CSB

Without revelation people run wild, but one who follows divine instruction will be happy.

CEB

When there’s no vision, the people get out of control, but whoever obeys instruction is happy.

CJB

Without a prophetic vision, the people throw off all restraint; but he who keeps Torah is happy.

CEV

Without guidance from God law and order disappear, but God blesses everyone who obeys his Law.

EXB

Where there is no ·word from God [ L vision; prophecy], ·people are uncontrolled [ T the people

perish], but those who ·obey what they have been taught [ L guard the law] are ·happy [blessed].

GNV

Where there is no vision, the people decay: but he that keepeth the law is blessed.

GW

Without prophetic vision people run wild, but blessed are those who follow ⌞God’s⌟ teachings.

HCSB

Without revelation people run wild, but one who listens to instruction will be happy.

ICB

Where there is no word from God, people are uncontrolled. But those who obey what they have been taught are happy.

KJV

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

NASB1995

Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is he who keeps the law.

NLV

Where there is no understanding of the Word of the Lord, the people do whatever they want to,

but happy is he who keeps the law.

NLT

When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.

Our translation:

Chaos will always follow a people or society that does not take heed to God’s Word (The

Scriptures), but people or society that are obedient to God’s Word will be blessed!

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Introductory story: The man that was hanging from a cliff…Is anybody else up there?

Who listens to the preacher or preaching today? Indeed, we question preaching that is self-

centered or when words that are used belittle or demean others or even when such words are

meant to get people to do something that has no scriptural foundation. Does God give

preachers/pastors visions today for their congregation and where can that teaching be found in

the Bible? There is a serious need for sound preaching (interpreting) today.

First, what is a proverb? Who wrote the book of Proverbs? What is the date of the book? What

was the purpose of writing this book and to whom as the book written? What is this book

teaching the first reader and what does this book teach us today? More specifically, what is the

relevance of this passage in 29:18 for us today?

What is a Proverb?

A proverb is a short witty statement that seeks to teach a truth based on experience. Proverbs

have great meaning among those who fear God. The book of Proverbs is said to be a part of the

wisdom literature of the Bible which includes Psalms, Job, Ecclesiastes. Wisdom literature is

found throughout the OT and NT.

The Author/Dating of Proverbs

In 1:1, Solomon is noted. In 25:1, the scribes of Hezekiah are noted as having complied the

proverbs of Solomon. 30:1 speaks of Agur and 31:1, King Lemuel. If Solomon, then a date

around 931 B.C. is acceptable. If some were copied and given public notice during Hezekiah’s

reign, then somewhere around 700 B.C. would be sufficient.

Overview of Proverbs

Proverbs can be broken up into two divisions: Proverbs 1–9 and 31 with instructional teaching to

youth and Proverbs 10–30 as sayings. Further divisions are Solomon’s words directly Proverbs

10–24; Solomon’s proverbs copied by Hezekiah’s men, 25–29; Agur, 30; and King Lemuel, 31.

Key verses of the book are 1:5–7, “ 5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man

of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: 6 To understand a proverb, and the

interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. 7 The fear of the Lord is the

beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

(3:5, 6), “ 5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Themes or topics of the book are how to deal with the practical affairs of everyday life, obeying

parents, watching the company you keep, avoiding women of immoral influence,

working/laziness, controlling your tongue, and making wise decisions. The instructions of the

book are given as a wise father to a son and at times wisdom is personified as a woman.

“Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: She crieth in the chief place of

concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, …” (1:20–21a).

Proverbs can be described in several ways. Some proverbs can be classified as descriptive or

prescriptive. Words and sentences are contrasted and compared throughout the book called

parallelism. An example of a comparative proverb is (Prov 26:17): Like one who grabs a stray

dog by the ears is someone who rushes into a quarrel not their own. An example of a contrastive

proverb is Proverbs 14:34, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people.”

Contextual Nature of the Chapter

Chapter 29 is consisted with the rest of the book. The chapter contains comparative and

contrasting terms such as righteous rulers contrasted with wicked rulers (2, 12, 26), wisdom from

a father is contrasted with keeping company with harlots (3), justice for the poor contrasted with

men who scheme (4, 7, 13, 14), the wise vs. the foolish (9, 11), servants vs. sonship (17, 19, 21),

and correction vs. shame (15).

This backdrop of the book is given to give us a better understanding of Proverbs 29:18. There is

a problem in the interpretation of the verse. (KJV): Where there is no vision, the people perish:

but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. The problem is how the word vision is interpreted

today. To many of us, when we hear this verse, we think in terms of people or preachers still

being able to receive visions from the Lord. The Hebrew word translated to vision in the KJV is

חָזוֹן (ḥāzôn), which is compared in the parallel sense to the word law in this verse. From this we

can ascribe the meaning. Here is our translation of the verse again,

Chaos will always follow a people or society that does not take heed to God’s Word (The

Scriptures), but people or society that are obedient to God’s Word will be blessed!

The word vision can be translated as revelation. Understand that at the time of the writing, God

was still communicating to prophets and holy men the inspired word of God. Peter says that

“ 20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the

prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were

moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Pet 1:20–21). Today we understand and accept the Bible as

inspired, complete, infallible (wholly reliable and trustworthy), and inerrant (wholly true). What

does that mean? When you say you believe the Bible to be the inspired Word of God, you are

also saying that God does not speak to man today as he did with the prophets and apostles by

means of inspiration and revelation. If you are saying this (that is that God is still speaking today

different than what is in the Bible), then you should make for yourself a fourth Gospel. Thus, the

word revelation, translated for vision has more to do with God’s word revealed in Scripture

rather than you or I receiving a direct word from God today.

The Problem of Interpretation Expounded 1

D. A. Carson gives a situation that I believe helps to illustrate the problem.

Occasionally a remarkable blind spot prevents people from seeing this point. Almost

twenty years ago I rode in a car with a fellow believer who relayed to me what the

1 In 1 Cor 10:4, Paul described the rock that Israel drunk from figuratively. Interpreters should be mindful that

certain text are literal, some figurative, and others symbolic. See Virkler, Hermeneutics, 26. “If one believes God to

be the large piece of limestone at the quarry and proceeds to worship it, idolatry will have replaced true worship.

Likewise, had Moses overlooked the actual rock to which God directed him and instead sought out an individual

who was solid and dependable, the blow from his staff would have resulted in blood rather than water!”

Lord had “told” him that morning in his quiet time. He had been reading the KJV

of Matthew; and I perceived that not only had he misunderstood the archaic

English, but also that the KJV at that place had unwittingly misrepresented the

Greek text. I gently suggested there might be another way to understand the passage

and summarized what I thought the passage was saying. The brother dismissed my

view as impossible on the grounds that the Holy Spirit, who does not lie, had told

him the truth on this matter. Being young and bold, I pressed on with my

explanation of grammar, context, and translation, but was brushed off by a

reference to 1 Cor 2:10b–15: spiritual things must be spiritually discerned–which

left little doubt about my status. Genuinely intrigued, I asked this brother what he

would say if I put forward my interpretation, not on the basis of grammar and text,

but on the basis that the Lord himself had given me the interpretation I was

advancing. He was silent a long time, and then concluded, “I guess that would mean

the Spirit says the Bible means different things to different people.

As a response to this situation, Virkler’s reproduction of Alexander Carson’s words are apropos:

No man has a right to say, as some are in the habit of saying, “The Spirit tells me that

such or such is the meaning of a passage.” How is he assured that it is the Holy Spirit,

and not a spirit of delusion, except from the evidence that the interpretation is the

legitimate meaning of the words?

Listen to this scenario. “A woman comes to you at the request of her husband. She says she has

had a vision that instructed her to leave her husband and family and go to Bulgaria as a

missionary. Her husband has tried to reason with her that this vision must have some explanation

other than being sent from God since (1) her children and her husband need her, (2) God has not

given the rest of the family a similar call, (3) she has no financial support, and (4) the mission

boards to whom she has applied have not accepted her. Her continuing response to all this is to

quote Proverbs 3:5–6 (“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own

understanding; in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths”). Do you see the

problem?

The problem of interpreting this verse deals with words changing meaning with time. For

example, the word nice in Old English used to mean ignorant. The English word enthusiasm

originally meant “possessed by a god.” When you pick dandelions are you picking a “loin’s

tooth?” However, this is the French meaning of the phrase. 4 Or, just because we know the parts

of a word, that does not imply word meaning such as pineapple or butterfly. Pineapples are not

composed of pines and apples and neither does a butterfly consist of butter and a fly. 5 But we

have either heard or made these erroneous statements in attempting to interpret Scripture.

The problem with interpreting Scripture is that we are reading somebody else’s mail, passed over

time, different languages, and over different cultures. So, just a simple reading is not adequate to

understand the nuances in the literature. Think about this, how difficult would readers two

thousand ago reading our mail with our different figures of speech. How would they interpret our

idioms like “his eyes are bigger than his stomach,” or “this fog is thick as pea soup,” or “I’m

broke,” or “We’ll hit Athens at 2:00 PM,” or better yet, “her food was so good, it tasted like she

put her foot in it!” This is also the danger of not interpreting Scripture the correct way. And with

respect to the language difference, the Kentucky Fried Chicken slogan, “Finger Lickin Good” in

Chinese is “Eat your fingers off.” So, at best, we seek to fully comprehend the Scriptures with

the Holy Spirit as our guide.

For example, consider Exodus 23:19, “The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into

the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.” (KJV). If we are

not careful, we would reach the wrong conclusion concerning this verse. A better translation

reads: “Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.” (NIV).

Here is another verse: Matthew 28:20. “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have

commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (KJV).

Here is a better translation and watch the correction to the old English word “observe.” “and

teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to

the very end of the age.” (NIV)

If we are not careful, just because we see a familiar word to us, that does not necessarily mean

that that word has the same meaning or nuances to us today. Take for example the word “fried”

like in fried chicken.

Lev 7:12, If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving

unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled

with oil, of fine flour, fried.

1 Chron 23:29, Both for the shewbread, and for the fine flour for meat offering, and for the

unleavened cakes, and for that which is baked in the pan, and for that which is fried, and for all

manner of measure and size;

Lev 6:21, on a girdel with oil it is made -- fried thou dost bring it in; baked pieces of the present

thou dost bring near, a sweet fragrance to Jehovah. (YLT).

Lev 2:7, And if thine offering is a present made on the frying-pan, of flour with oil it is made

(YLT). If your offering is a grain offering made in a pan, it must be made of choice wheat flour

deep fried in olive oil (NET).

Did the ancient Hebrews fry meat in a frying pan similar to how we fry food today? Before

jumping to a conclusion because we see familiar words in a passage, the phrase and context in

Scripture may have a different meaning. Word studies and historical backgrounds must be

researched before making a hermeneutical interpretation.

The word for fried or baked (depending on the translation) is the Hebrew verb in the Hophal,

מֻרְבֶּכֶת (with root, רָבַךְrabak). Strong defines its meaning as bread that is soaked in oil, baked, or

that which is fried. This word is in the original Hebrew for Lev 6:21; 7:12; 1 Chron 23:29. The

word is not in the original for Lev 2:7. The translation in the KJV for that verse is not reliable.

The NIV is probably closer to the original: If your grain offering is cooked in a pan, it is to be

made of the finest flour and some olive oil. Of the four verses in the Bible that has or assumes

the word “fried,” only 1 Chron 23:29 may have implication to meat being fried. A deeper study

on that verse and context is warranted.

Now, let us examine the verse in Proverbs. The historical setting is that in those days, God was

still speaking to prophets. People would hear an inspired word from one of God’s prophets.

Written documents were not as common as today. Thus, people had to rely on prophets to hear a

word from God. Today, this is not the case. God’s complete word is written in the book that we

call the Bible. There is no new revelation today. We must not believe those on social media who

are falsely applying Biblical meaning to COVID-19, 911, Trump, Hitler, and this war with

Russia and Ukraine, (gas prices?). All of God’s revealed Word is in the Bible. You cannot give

authority to anyone today who says, “God told me this or that…” If whatever anyone is saying

does not come directly from Scripture, more than likely, God did not say it. The challenge for us

today is to properly interpret what we read in Scripture. We are in the same position as the

Ethiopian eunuch that Philip encountered along the road. The eunuch responded to Philip, “How

can I [understand], except some man should guide me? (Acts 8:31).

Chaos will always follow a people or society that does not take heed to God’s Word (The

Scriptures), but people or society that are obedient to God’s Word will be blessed!

The verse says two things in parallel sequence (double meaning): (1) people will be unruly if

they don’t heed God’s Word and (2) those who do follow God’s word will be blessed.

 Those who hear God’s Word…

 Are like those who heed God’s Word…Will be blessed

 Doing these things will put you in harmony with God: this is called Blessing.

This word vision in Proverbs 29:18 can be translated as the Scriptures. We can sum it all up this

way: It is God’s word that teaches and instructs us on how to live a moral and righteous life.

Following God’s plan (Word) for your life will give us a happy, blessed life. Doing the opposite

will result in unproductive living.

What am I saying:

1. I am not saying that God does not speak to us today. He does, but only through his Word.

2. For those who seek to obey God’s word: this is called fellowship with God (1 John 1) and

allow the inner witness of the Holy Spirit that always lifts up God’s word to exhort or

convict you. If God is saying anything to us today, he is convicting us to stop sinning,

convincing us to yield to Christ, instructing us to love ye one another. In essence, the

Spirit speaks to us today TO FOLLOW GOD’S WORD.

3. God will bless your life when you follow these instructions.

So, how to be blessed by God? (This is by no means exhaustive)

1. Live the way the Bible says live.

2. Give

3. Forgive

4. Love your enemies

5. Read your Bible

6. Take time each day to pray earnestly.

7. Obey and submit to those who are in authority over us: The Lord, the government,

employers, teachers, parents, husbands, and pastors/elders.

8. Be in constant fellowship one with another.

9. Yield to the Holy Spirit.

This does not mean if you don’t like what I am saying, somehow you can look up to heaven and

say, “Is there anybody else up there?” What this means is according to the text in question, if I

follow God’s way, I will be blessed.

What is God’s way? God’s way is surrendering your life completely to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ is our example. He lived in harmony with the Scriptures. (Jesus answered them, Is it not

written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?  If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God

came, and the scripture cannot be broken, John 10:34, 35).

He submitted himself to his Father. He received the blessing from the Father in that he was

resurrected from the grave and ascended to heaven.

Philippians 2

5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in

the likeness of men:

8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death,

even the death of the cross.

9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and

things under the earth;

11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of

sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his

season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the

righteous.

6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

What the Verse Doesn’t Say

The verse does not say we are to look to visions from prophets today. All prophecy is contained

within the canon of Scripture that we call the Bible. There are no one endued with revelatory

power today. No preacher/prophet today has received any divine insight from God other than

what we read in Scripture. Then, are we allowed to have a vision for the church, job, company,

family, or individual? Yes and no. The word vision may be a bit to strong and misguided. In

church when we hear of a “vision” we take that to mean a special revelation. Special revelations

come from God. The last revelation that God gave was that of our Lord Jesus Christ. He closes

the book.

So, what about visions today? When we speak of a vision for our church, family, employment,

retirement, or ourselves, we should say “plan” and not vision. Further, we need to distinguish

that this is our plan and not anything that we have received from the Lord. When people say

“God told me” or “I had a vision or revelation from the Lord,” they are trying to put emphasis on

something that they want universal acceptance since or “if” this idea came from God. The

problem with this is that if it came from God and it doesn’t work out the way you thought or

said, did God lie or fail? Saying that God gave you a revelation or vision in the name of the Lord

is the same as blasphemy. We are commanded by the word of the Lord not to use his name in

vain (Ex 20:7, “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold

anyone guiltless who misuses his name”). I think people are in danger of God’s judgment when

we make claims alleging that they are endorsed by God.

So, What Shall We Do?

Instead of saying that this is a vision for the Lord, why not simply tell the truth. If it is a pastor to

a church, “Here is my five year or ten-year plan for the church.” If you are talking about a

company or family, say, “Here is my five (or whatever the term) year plan for this

company/family.” Our plans are subject to change. God’s plans cannot ever be revoked. It is

nothing ungodly for an individual or a group or even a church to have a plan. Plans are goals that

you set in order to have some meaningful direction. Plans may be adjusted as you go along.

There is no harm in submitting your plan before the Lord. You can ask the Lord to bless your

plan. This means that when you ask the Lord to bless your plans, it is not a guarantee that he will

allow your plan to come into total fruition. The Almighty does not have to honor our plans. His

ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. But he does honor our sincerity and

commitment to him.

Here are some verses that speak about the wisdom of making plans.

Proverbs 15:22 - Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. (NIV)

Proverbs 16:9 - In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.

(NIV)

Proverbs 16:3 - Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. (NIV)

James 4:13-17 - 13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city,

spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will

happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then

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vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.

Proverbs 16:1 - To humans belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the proper

answer of the tongue. (NIV)

Proverbs 3:6 - In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Why Plan if God Does Not Honor Plans?

It is futile not to set goals. A person will wander in life like Cain without having a plan. Again,

plans will change. The best plans change. Life without plans end in heartbreak because there was

never anything set to live for. It is not that God doesn’t honor our plans, it is that he doesn’t

follow man’s guidance. He’s God. He created us to follow him.

What Are God’s Plans for Our life So We Can Govern (Plan) Our Lives Around and For

Him?

God’s will (plan) for our lives are in his Word. The word plan suggests the possibility to change.

God does not in that sense gives plans. The Bible calls God’s desire, his will. God’s plan (will)

for our lives is that we are saved, spirit filled (wisdom, godly knowledge, and maturity),

sanctified in order to give God glory, submitted, suffer like Christ, share the gospel to others,

help those who are affrighted (poor, widows, and orphans, and the disabled), be a part of God’s

family, the church, and to look with joy to the coming of our Lord to behold his glory in heaven.

Thus, every and anything we do in life should be to fulfill these purposes of God for our lives.

God gives us a part of his divine nature, a natural desire on each of our parts to fulfill God’s

purposes. Why? We were made in his image. A person’s desire to get married and have a family

is a part of God’s purpose (will) for us to be a part of the family of God. We learn about God’s

family by being a part of our local family. A person desires to be an engineer. The purpose of

God that is fulfilled in engineering or in the sciences/medicine is to work in this field to explore

how life, society can be improved. This honor and brings glory to God. People who teach or

work with children or in other assisted careers are fulfilling the “helps” ministry in the list of

spiritual gifts outlined in 1 Corinthians 12 and in Romans 12 (See also Galatians 4). A person

who studies culinary arts gives glory to God in seeing people happy when they eat.

You don’t have to guess or wonder what your gift or purpose is in life. Your purpose is given to

you from God the same way we receive our taste buds. Different people have different taste. All

working together helps to achieve harmony in God’s great world of diversity. Some people like

certain food. They gravitate to certain food. It is the same way with our purposes in life. We all

gravitate toward certain things. Some people like teaching and they are a natural fit. Some have

tried teaching and realized that teaching was not for them. And so, they try something else until

they do something that they like (like how some like only butter on their sweet potato and

someone else likes butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar on their sweet potato and some just like

theirs plan). You can pray to ask God to reveal your purpose. He already gave you certain desires

from birth. You just have to figure out what they are like our taste buds. Your purpose is what

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you (your heart) like. Why is this so? Why would God call you to do something that you don’t

like? It is in what you love that you will discover God’s calling (purpose/plan/will) for your life.

He already gave you the desire. He gave you the desire from birth.

A Word on Suffering

When we suffer for righteousness sake, we should not think that something strange has come

upon us. Remember beloved, Christ suffered for the unjust sinner. If we are to be true to Christ,

when we suffer for his sake, we should not desire that God would rid us of the suffering.

Wisdom and godly maturity teach us that when we suffer, we count ourselves worthy in Christ to

suffer in his name. This was true of the apostles (Acts 5:41) and let it even be spoken of us (Mt

5:10–12). Suffering for Christ’s sake is a part of God’s will. This sounds strange because no one

in their right mind prays for suffering. Typically, our prayers are for the Lord to get us out of

suffering. However, we need to learn God’s lesson in suffering. (Heb 5:8, “Son though he was,

he learned obedience from what he suffered”).

1 Peter 4

12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some

strange thing happened unto you:

13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be

revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God

resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in

other men's matters.

16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this

behalf.

A Warning Against Causality

I want to be clear with what I said earlier about interpreting the will of God for a person’s life in

terms of what they like (as a natural connection). Anything that we seek to do should be by

prayer and by seeking guidance from the Holy Spirit. Making major decisions such as who to

marry or whether to enter into ministry should not be left to feelings alone.

It is possible to do good things and still be outside of the will of God. The story that Jesus tells

concerning the teachers who prophesied and casted out devils but would not enter into heaven,

not because they didn’t do good works, they did. They would not go to heaven because they

acted outside of the will of God.

Matthew 7: 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of

heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy

name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

24 Therefore whosoever heareth (hear the word) these sayings of mine, and doeth (take heed to

the word) them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house;

and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a

foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house;

and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his

doctrine:

29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Saul did good works (he made sacrifice to the Lord), but he lost his position because he did not

heed the will (Word) of God by the warning of the prophet (1 Sam 15). Suppose God’s will

consisted of salvation, sanctification, being Spirit-filled, submitted, and suffering for the sake of

Christ. A person may be committing to ministry as a part of sanctification and as an operation of

a gift of the Spirit but if that person does not believe in being submitted to godly authority, this

person is operating outside of the will of God. Remember the polemic in Matthew 7 is the

opposition of the Pharisees and scribes (Mt 5:20). So, the targeted audience to whom the Lord

was referencing in Matthew 7 were more than likely that same crowd. The Pharisees were doing

good works, but they also rejected Christ. Jesus even condemned them because their works were

not sincere (Mt 6:2, 5, 16). I am assuming that hypocrites in Jesus’ day were the Pharisees and

other Jewish religious leaders.



The conclusions of Matthew 7 and of 1 Samuel 15 both have exegetical significance to Proverbs

29:18.