Unnecessary Obstacles to Christ

[Nahum]

"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in." (Matthew 23:13 RSV).

[Nahum]

The name Pharisee in its Hebrew form means separatists, or the separated ones. They were also known as chasidim, which means loyal to God, or loved of God - extremely ironic in view of the fact that by His time, they made themselves the most bitter, and deadly, opponents of Jesus Christ and His message.

[SDG]

Are you subbing for the Swordsman today ???

[Nahum]

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!" (Matthew 23:23-24)

[Nahum]

"The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice. They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, and salutations in the market places, and being called rabbi by men. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven." (Matthew 23:2-9 RSV)

[SDG]

I'm all for bible based fences but this group, in addition, being separatists ... created extrabiblical fences ....

They also had thing called “the fences.” The fences were to stop you from even getting close to breaking the law. They had a lot of fences, rules and regulations. It grew to be over 2,000 fences. They forgot what the command was because they were so taken up with the fences. They forgot these fences that kept you from breaking the law were manmade and they called them the Word of God, too. Manmade traditions became as important as the Law itself.

“But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.” Mark 7:7-8

[SDG]

They also called themselves “The Association.” They said they were associated with God’s Word and with those who love God’s Word. They did not associate with those who did not have their dedication to the Word of God. This is where it gets dangerous. Now comes the change for the worse.

Here they are becoming narrow, because now they not only separate from the world, they separate themselves from their brothers and sisters who are Jews. They would say, “You are not good enough for us. We are the Association.”

To get into the Association, initiation would take from 30 days to a year. You would have to study before you make your final vow to be a member of The Association. They saw themselves as the godly among the ungodly. They saw themselves as the true people of God because of their obedience. To them everyone else was phony. When they met each other on the street they would say, “Shalom, neighbor.” This was because the Scripture said to love your “neighbor” as yourself. They said what that really means is that you would love all members of the Association as yourself. I can hate everyone else because they are not like us. We are the neighbors. We are The Association.

[tv1a]

God called us to separate. Unfortunately many have a hard time distinguishing between separation and isolation.

[Nahum]

Originally Posted by Daniel Alicea

I'm all for bible based fences but this group, in addition, being separatists ... created extrabiblical fences ....

They also had thing called “the fences.” The fences were to stop you from even getting close to breaking the law. They had a lot of fences, rules and regulations. It grew to be over 2,000 fences. They forgot what the command was because they were so taken up with the fences. They forgot these fences that kept you from breaking the law were manmade and they called them the Word of God, too. Manmade traditions became as important as the Law itself.

“But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.” Mark 7:7-8

For example if I were a Pharisee and I was given the commandment not to steal, I would be so careful not to steal that I would tell myself that I could not even go into a store without an ample amount of money. This may have been a noble idea, but over time it came to be taken too far. Pharisees began to "build fences" around the "fences" that they had already built. In my example I would later go on to say that in order to keep myself from going into a store without an ample amount of money, I should not go into a store at all. Progressing from there I might later on say that it was not even right for me to go into town because I might pass in front of a store.

Fence upon fence upon fence.

[SDG]

Originally Posted by Pastor Poster

For example if I were a Pharisee and I was given the commandment not to steal, I would be so careful not to steal that I would tell myself that I could not even go into a store without an ample amount of money. This may have been a noble idea, but over time it came to be taken too far. Pharisees began to "build fences" around the "fences" that they had already built. In my example I would later go on to say that in order to keep myself from going into a store without an ample amount of money, I should not go into a store at all. Progressing from there I might later on say that it was not even right for me to go into town because I might pass in front of a store.

Fence upoin fence upon fence.

Living this way will steal your joy.