Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.
To do the work of the Lord deceitfully is to do it negligently, and His curse rests upon such deceitful and careless work. To keep back the sword from blood is to fail to do His work thoroughly and faithfully, to fail to defend the right and condemn the wrong, to fail to execute justice, and to fail to guard every avenue against the powers of darkness. The warning belongs with Moab being at ease from youth and settled on his lees, never emptied from vessel to vessel and never gone into captivity, so that his taste remained and his scent was unchanged, for which wanderers would be sent to cause him to wander and to empty his vessels and break their bottles. Service to God therefore requires care, precision, and faithfulness with supreme love that rejects half-hearted and carelessly performed work, for negligent labor puts a person on the losing side and leaves the lamp untrimmed and not burning. In daily life this condemns undervaluing possessions and falsely reporting their worth in systematic giving, and withholding tithes and offerings from the treasury because of dissatisfaction with brethren or with how the means are used, since those gifts are God's own property for His appointed work.
Meaning and Setting
To do the work of the Lord deceitfully is to do it negligently, and a curse rests on that deceitful and negligent work. Service to God is therefore to be carried out with care and precision and faithfulness.
The saying belongs with Moab being at ease from youth and settled on his lees, never emptied from vessel to vessel and never gone into captivity, so that his taste remained in him and his scent was not changed. For that settled ease wanderers would be sent to cause him to wander and to empty his vessels and break their bottles. To remain at ease and settled on the lees in this way is to excuse oneself from painful duty and to remain unchanged in character.
To keep back the sword from blood is to fail to do God's work thoroughly and faithfully, to fail to defend the right and condemn the wrong, to fail to carry out justice, and to fail to guard every avenue against the powers of darkness. The verse thus illustrates severity toward sin and deception and hypocrisy, terrible denunciations against pretended piety covering hypocrisy, unjust dealing, and inhumanity, and condemnation as judge that was fulfilled in terrible judgments upon the Jewish nation.
Faithful Service Required
Doing the Lord's work negligently brings a curse, so service to God must be carried out with care, precision, and faithfulness. He must be loved supremely and cannot accept half-hearted service or carelessly performed work. Such deceitful and negligent labor puts a person on the losing side. It leaves the lamp untrimmed and not burning, and makes it impossible to be a light to the world in good works.
Such negligence comes from a dull sense of wrong and lack of spiritual eyesight. It leaves a person at ease and settled while excusing himself from painful duty, and results in spiritual blindness. Faithfulness requires sustaining those called to reprove sin. A minister who follows personal pleasure and relies on human strength and wisdom instead of careful thought and earnest prayer places truth and souls in danger.
Practical Applications Today
In systematic giving the curse falls on undervaluing possessions and concealing their true worth when determining gifts. Falsely reporting value in benevolence reveals whether love of truth or love of the world and selfishness rules the heart. Such acts are recorded in heaven, and increase may be reduced to the low figures declared.
Withholding tithes and offerings from the treasury because of lack of harmony with brethren, dissatisfaction with how means are used or conference business is managed, or because unworthy ministers may receive some of the means is doing the work negligently and deceitfully and brings the curse. Those gifts are not any man's property but God's own property for a certain work. Withholding in this way is the withholder's own sin that braves the curse of God and tends to poverty of soul.
Each one must act his part and pay tithe gladly and freely of what is God's own. Grievances are to be stated plainly to those thought to have erred, with work to correct the evil and remove stumbling blocks, instead of withholding and fanning discontent. Mismanagement is the sin of the erring one, and God will not hold the faithful giver responsible for it when he does what he can to correct it. Ministers and elders must not sympathize with those who refuse to pay or aid that refusal, but must stand in place and do duty.
Every capability and power must be given to seeking to save what is perishing. Calls to open the Scriptures to unbelievers are to be answered by laboring freely in every place where entrance can be gained. Binding workers about with human restrictions keeps them from the full, free labor required and comes under the curse on negligent work.
The curse also rebukes professed friends who secretly work against those who love God and keep His commandments. Their underhanded conduct brings God's rebuke as deceitful doing of His work.
To do the work of the Lord deceitfully is to do it negligently, and His curse rests upon such deceitful and careless work. To keep back the sword from blood is to fail to do His work thoroughly and faithfully, to fail to defend the right and condemn the wrong, to fail to execute justice, and to fail to guard every avenue against the powers of darkness. The warning belongs with Moab being at ease from youth and settled on his lees, never emptied from vessel to vessel and never gone into captivity, so that his taste remained and his scent was unchanged, for which wanderers would be sent to cause him to wander and to empty his vessels and break their bottles. Service to God therefore requires care, precision, and faithfulness with supreme love that rejects half-hearted and carelessly performed work, for negligent labor puts a person on the losing side and leaves the lamp untrimmed and not burning. In daily life this condemns undervaluing possessions and falsely reporting their worth in systematic giving, and withholding tithes and offerings from the treasury because of dissatisfaction with brethren or with how the means are used, since those gifts are God's own property for His appointed work.
Meaning and Setting
To do the work of the Lord deceitfully is to do it negligently, and a curse rests on that deceitful and negligent work. Service to God is therefore to be carried out with care and precision and faithfulness.
The saying belongs with Moab being at ease from youth and settled on his lees, never emptied from vessel to vessel and never gone into captivity, so that his taste remained in him and his scent was not changed. For that settled ease wanderers would be sent to cause him to wander and to empty his vessels and break their bottles. To remain at ease and settled on the lees in this way is to excuse oneself from painful duty and to remain unchanged in character.
To keep back the sword from blood is to fail to do God's work thoroughly and faithfully, to fail to defend the right and condemn the wrong, to fail to carry out justice, and to fail to guard every avenue against the powers of darkness. The verse thus illustrates severity toward sin and deception and hypocrisy, terrible denunciations against pretended piety covering hypocrisy, unjust dealing, and inhumanity, and condemnation as judge that was fulfilled in terrible judgments upon the Jewish nation.
Faithful Service Required
Doing the Lord's work negligently brings a curse, so service to God must be carried out with care, precision, and faithfulness. He must be loved supremely and cannot accept half-hearted service or carelessly performed work. Such deceitful and negligent labor puts a person on the losing side. It leaves the lamp untrimmed and not burning, and makes it impossible to be a light to the world in good works.
Such negligence comes from a dull sense of wrong and lack of spiritual eyesight. It leaves a person at ease and settled while excusing himself from painful duty, and results in spiritual blindness. Faithfulness requires sustaining those called to reprove sin. A minister who follows personal pleasure and relies on human strength and wisdom instead of careful thought and earnest prayer places truth and souls in danger.
Practical Applications Today
In systematic giving the curse falls on undervaluing possessions and concealing their true worth when determining gifts. Falsely reporting value in benevolence reveals whether love of truth or love of the world and selfishness rules the heart. Such acts are recorded in heaven, and increase may be reduced to the low figures declared.
Withholding tithes and offerings from the treasury because of lack of harmony with brethren, dissatisfaction with how means are used or conference business is managed, or because unworthy ministers may receive some of the means is doing the work negligently and deceitfully and brings the curse. Those gifts are not any man's property but God's own property for a certain work. Withholding in this way is the withholder's own sin that braves the curse of God and tends to poverty of soul.
Each one must act his part and pay tithe gladly and freely of what is God's own. Grievances are to be stated plainly to those thought to have erred, with work to correct the evil and remove stumbling blocks, instead of withholding and fanning discontent. Mismanagement is the sin of the erring one, and God will not hold the faithful giver responsible for it when he does what he can to correct it. Ministers and elders must not sympathize with those who refuse to pay or aid that refusal, but must stand in place and do duty.
Every capability and power must be given to seeking to save what is perishing. Calls to open the Scriptures to unbelievers are to be answered by laboring freely in every place where entrance can be gained. Binding workers about with human restrictions keeps them from the full, free labor required and comes under the curse on negligent work.
The curse also rebukes professed friends who secretly work against those who love God and keep His commandments. Their underhanded conduct brings God's rebuke as deceitful doing of His work.