13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.” (Matthew 23:13–14 (ESV)
The Old Testament Prophet was a herald of God’s oral and written revelation. The prophet’s God given message was an oracle. An oracle contained a vision, a forewarning, a foreshadowing, and a declaration of truth. The prophet was not to be audience driven in telling the people what they wanted to hear from God (Jeremiah 6:13-15). Rather, he was to be obedience driven to faithfully herald what the people needed to hear from God (Jeremiah 6:16-30).
The prophet of God had a two-fold message from God to the people. First, there was the oracle of weal. This was an oracle containing a blessing from God. The oracle of weal was always preceded by the word “blessed” (Psalm 1:1; Matthew 5:1-12). However, there was also a second type of oracle; the oracle of woe. It was an oracle containing judgment from God. The oracle of woe was always preceded by the word “woe.”
“The term woe has gone the way of other worn out exclamations like alas or alack or forsooth. The only language that has kept the expression in current usage is Yiddish. Modern Jews still declare their frustrations by exclaiming “Oy vay!” which is the shortened version of the full expression Oy Vay Is Mer. Ov Vay is Yiddish for “Oh woe,” an abbreviation for the full expression, “Oh woe is me,” explains Dr. R. C. Sproul.
In the context of Matthew 23:13-36, Jesus heralded seven woes against the scribes and Pharisees. Luke 11:37-54 records an earlier lamentation of six woes. Rather than an oracle from a prophet of God, these woes are an oracle from the God of the prophets.
“This series of seven woes is a prophetic pronouncement, for it brings God’s lawsuit against His people and announces the imminent realization of the covenant curses (Isaiah 5:8-23; Hab. 2:6-20), especially against Israel’s unfaithful shepherds (Jeremiah 23:1-6; Ezekiel 34),” states Dr. Sproul. “Leaders of the covenant community are judged more strictly because their words and example influence so many others, for good or ill (James 3:1).”
“Here begin The Seven Woes. Why did Jesus utter them? Probably because his soul was deeply stirred by the impenitence of so many of the scribes and Pharisees, and this in spite of all the evidences he had furnished of the fulfilment of Messianic prophecy in himself. Also, because he knew that they had so many followers among the people. His heart and mind were filled with sorrow when he thought of this. He knew that exposing his opponents was in the interest of the people. Add one more fact: this was going to be Christ’s final public address, hence his last opportunity personally to warn the people against these enemies of the truth. So he must make the best use of it,” states Dr. William Hendriksen.
May we who have ears to hear, let us hear what the Holy Spirit says in His Word. Have a blessed and God honoring day.
Soli deo Gloria!
His Word Today 