shout unto God. [197]

by: erika opalecky

Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. - Matthew 10:27

In the past few weeks I have been apart of and witnessed some conversations/debates concerning God, religion, scripture, etc. and after seeing some of the words that were said, I find it necessary to post this little tid bit that I found while studying today during my devotion time. It seems to me that we Christians could all stand to learn a little about grace, self control, and obedience, myself included for sure.

I have found that many times, in my past, when I come to a level of understanding on a certain subject, I feel the need to blab it out whenever I get the chance. Or even worse, I have somehow considered myself a scholar on the subject and proceeded to advise my peers on how much they don't understand about the topic in which I had recently been "enlightened." The above scripture has often times took the blame for my immaturity, as I quoted it to justify myself and my lack of self control and consideration of others. "God says we're supposed to preach it from the roof tops!" But after some more in depth studying of this verse I found out a few things:

1.how i had taken this scripture totally out of context and manipulated it to serve my own purposes

and

2. how much this scripture speaks self control and obedience (which is the opposite of how i was applying it :/ )

here it goes :)

This scripture starts off with the phrase, "Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light."

Face Value: What God tells you personally (in your devo time, through worship, through his Word) shouldn't be kept in the dark. Don't keep it all to yourself.

buuttt, I was curious and looked up the word "dark" in Greek which was skotia. It actually means darkness due to the want of light and the word "light" comes from a word that literally means to shine or make manifest.

So when we consider the literal meaning of these words, we see that God will speak to us when we seek after and want his light, and in return we are supposed to make it manifest in our lives. We do this by living it, more than saying it.

I was read a quote in a book once that said, "I'm sorry, your actions are so loud I can barely hear you talking."

think about that for a second.

but wait, there's more ;)

The next part of his instruction is to preach on the housetops what we hear. (paraphrasing of course.)

I think this is the part where we may get a little carried away. We all want to be heard, especially when we have something we feel is really important to say, but when Jesus says the word "preach" he doesn't mean screamin', spittin', soap box preaching.

When He says preach, the greek says that He means "proclaim as a herald." Well, to be honest, I didn't know what a herald really was :) haha so I looked it up on dictionary.com.

Herald- n. royal messenger, esp. one representing a monarch.

wooww, don't you think that we would be a little slower to speak if we understood that we were representing a monarch? Moreover, THE monarch. The king of kings and lord of lords?

In this scripture God is saying a few things, (probably more, but this is all I can understand now)
1. You are royalty. Act like it.
2. You are representing Him.
and here is my question, are you an accurate representation of a loving, graceful, merciful, self-sacrificing god?

Finallyyy :)

- It is always helpful when studying the Bible to consider the setting of the verse that you are studying. When did it happen? How was it influenced by culture? Who was the audience and why?
- While studying this scripture I found myself wondering, Why a housetop? aka roof top There are many other possibilities if it is only used because of its height - why not preach it from a mountain top?
Here's why.

Housetops in the this culture, even now are what is considered oriental.
Unlike our housetops which are most commonly angular and sloped, this type of roof is flat and frequently used to do several things including:
a) walking
b) praying
c) meditating

Is it a coincidence that God tells us to go to a place of walking, prayer, and meditation to preach?

Let me see if I can wrap this up and make some sense out of all this.

Does God want me to tell others about the Word and what He speaks to me personally?
- Absolutely! But God is a God of order and not of confusion. It's crucial to be attentive to his Spirit so you know WHEN you should say it.

I think this verse provides a nice little checklist for us to consult when we feel the need to speak up.

1. Are YOU personally seeking after his light? Will what you say be a light to others?
2. Is what you are saying accurately representing His majesty or are you merely proof-texting scripture?
3. Are you behaving like royalty?
4. Have you applied this in your personal walk?
5. Have you prayed about it?
6. Have you meditated on it?

* Remember, when Mary the mother of Christ received the Word that she was to birth the Messiah, the Bible says she hid it in her heart. (Luke 2:19)

Proverbs says that where words are many, sin is not absent.

and finally.. i'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes.

"Preach the Gospel, use words if necessary."

love,
ericka.