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BIBLE STUDY LESSON 21

SERIES Q --- THE SAVIOUR

THE NARROW GATE

SPEAKING WITH AUTHORITY

From Matthew 7

[Don’t look for faults in others, or they will look for faults in you. Others will be critical of you in the same way you are critical of them, why do you look for the little speck of dirt in someone’s eye when you have something much worse in your own? How can you possibly talk about removing his speck of dirt before you clean out your own eye? You fake! Clean out your own eye first, then you will see clearly to help your friend clean his. Don’t throw what is holy to the dogs. They may turn upon you and tear you to pieces. Don’t throw pearls to pigs. They will only trample them into the mud. To receive, you must first ask. To find, you must first look. The door will open only when you knock first. For when you ask, you will receive. When you look, you will find. And when you knock, the door will open to you. If your child asks you for bread, would you give him a rock to eat instead? If your child asks for a fish, would you give him a poisonous snake? Even though you are sinners, you do know how to give good things to your children. Then how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who keep on asking Him! All of the Law and the teaching of the prophets can be summed up this way: Do for others what you want others to do for you. The way to heaven is a hard road and goes through a narrow gate. The way to hell is a wide, easy road, crowded with the multitudes who choose the easier way. The Way of Life is not easy, but it is not crowded either, for few seek to go on it. Watch out for false teachers who can be compared to hungry wolves disguised as gentle sheep. You can recognize them through the results of their work. Grapes do not come from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles. Good trees bear good fruit, and rotten trees give bad fruit. But the tree that produces bad fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. It is with these false teachers. Their fruits will identify them. Merely because a person calls Me {Adonai} does not mean that he will enter into My home in heaven. People do not get to My home by their religious talk. No, they come by pleasing My Father in their lives. When the Day of Judgment comes, many will say to Me, ‘Adonai! Adonai! We shared YHVH’s message in Your Name and drove out demons and performed miracles.’ But I must say to them, ‘Go away! You are not My own, and I do not know you. You are still sinners.’ Everyone who listens to My Words and does what I tell him will be like a wise man who built his house on a rock. When rains come, and the water rises, and the winds pound against that house, it will stand firm, for it is built on a rock. But everyone who listens to My Words and does not do what I say is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. When rains come, and the water rises, and the winds pound against his house, it will fall. And what a terrible sound it will make as it tumbles down.] The people were amazed to hear this sermon, for Yeshua spoke with great authority, not at all like their own teachers of the Law.

COMMENTARY

BIBLE-TIME HOUSES

For most people during Bible times, a house was a place of refuge from bad weather and a shelter where they could sleep at night. Only the rich had homes comfortable enough to stay in for any length of time, so most families spent their days out of doors. The average home was usually built of stone or clay bricks. The bricks were formed from a mixture of mud and straw, baked in an oven or in the hot sun. A mortar made of additional mud was used to hold the bricks in place. The roofs of most houses were wooden rafters covered by a layer of reeds or the broken branches of thorn bushes. On top of this a layer of clay was packed down hard with a heavy roller. The roller remained on the roof so that the mud could once again be packed down and allowed to dry after each rain. Often grass grew from the mud, creating a green top like those on thatch houses in some parts of the world today. Most houses had only a few windows. They were placed high on the walls to keep out as much dirt and dust as possible. The windows were usually put in the side of the house that faced away from the hot afternoon sun. This natural air-conditioning system kept the inside of the house dark and cool during the brilliant heat of the day. Wind and rain came through easily, because the window openings were not covered. Wooden lattices built across them were the only protection from the weather -- and robbers. The very poorest people lived in huts of only one room. Those not quite so poor might have two or three rooms. For their protection from thieves, whatever animals they had were brought indoors at night to sleep with the family. A common layout for houses had two stories. The low-hanging roof of the first level came forward to form a kind of patio that led into the room of the second level. With this arrangement, it was then customary for the family to sleep in the second level, and use the first story as a stable for the animals brought indoors each night. During the day, that same stable room was used as a workshop or a children’s playroom. Most of the larger houses were surrounded by a wall that formed a courtyard. It was more than a sort of front yard; it was considered a part of the house. The low long roof of the first floor and the courtyard were where families spent most of their time. They made it possible to be outdoors and at home at the same time. When the weather was good and warm enough, people slept on the roof. In larger towns, where the houses were built closer together, the roof made it possible for people to stand and exchange the day’s news without going away from home. The insides of the houses were very simple. There were few of the pieces of furniture and other items that people today think of as necessary. Usually the house held a plain, sturdy table, and some mats spread on the floor to use as seats. Reed or rush mats were used as mattresses. Almost all the work performed in the house was done while seated on the floor. A hollow, lined hole in the middle of the floor held the fire, which was used both to cook with and to supply a little heat when necessary. There was no chimney, and the smoke would travel slowly out the windows. The room was usually hazy with smoke, as well as dark with the little light that came in through those windows. Water was supplied by the container, or cistern, that collected rainwater out in the courtyard. Only the very fortunate had a real well as part of their house. When the cisterns ran dry, most people had to walk to the village well and carry back large jars filled with water. For light, people used lamps shaped like small clay bowls and filled with olive oil. Usually, a short wick floated in the bowl, but sometimes it was set in the rim. The light it gave off was pale and dim. Most people kept a lamp burning throughout the night. They believed it kept out the evil spirits who lurked outside the walls. There was another very practical reason to keep a lamp burning. It discouraged thieves. Since the walls were made only of mud, it was a simple matter for a patient thief to dig his way into the house. Houses in Bible times were simple and held little. But they were home and shelter for the people who lived in them, and that is really what a house must be.

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