Golden Text: Deuteronomy 20
Readings for the week:
Day 1: Deuteronomy 20
Day 2: Psalm 6
Day 3: Proverbs 27-28
Day 4: Jeremiah 31-32
Day 5: 1Corinthians 3
Day 6: 1Corinthians 11:1-16
I- The attitude towards the battle.
Deuteronomy 20:1 speaks of not being afraid. How can one expect to reach such a high level of spirituality to the point of not fearing when, for example, one goes to war? In this portion God commands not to fear an impending battle, and every believer should be able to fulfill this. God provides important clues on how to overcome “fear” and avoid all kinds of fears in order to attain perfection.
If the promises or conquests God gives are holy and perfect, then our lives must live up to them. And for that God gives us the opportunity to behave in the hope that He dominates everything before facing any battle. The person who does not trust, because he believes that God’s promises are not always fulfilled, and in addition to that he justifies evil so as not to be involved in the battle, will surely come a sentence contrary to what was promised.
II- The special thing about the commandments.
Something that the commandments implicitly bring is that within each of them there is a hidden principle, a concept that guides and that in turn allows to be fulfilled in many more situations than those directly mentioned in it. And even some commandments seem to be addressed to certain people or specific times. This has led to confusion for several theologians who think that they might lose value or meaning in another context. For example, some commandments seem to be for priests, others for women, others for farmers or that apply only in the land of Israel, others for when in the temple, etc.
Why does God refer to them as if they could all be fulfilled forever? As we have said, the answer lies in the principles or essence that each one implicitly brings.
In this portion we find a very curious one in Deuteronomy 20:19. It prohibits cutting down a fruit tree during a war. But if there is no war and there is no need to cut down a fruit tree when surrounding a city, does this not seem meaningless? As we said, it must be understood that God teaches something beyond what is explicitly seen: “You have to learn to value the things that bring benefits.” A fruit tree benefits many people, it should not be destroyed unless you have a very good reason. If we take this principle a little further, we can learn that we must be careful not to waste any of the resources that surround us.
Let’s look at another example that will help us understand how this commandment is fulfilled even when the literal conditions in which it must be fulfilled are not present: If someone buys a piece of candy, why should he need to ask for a nylon bag to carry it? The society in which we live, where everything is “disposable”, seems to have generated a personality of irresponsibility with the environment, which subtly fights to distance us from God. That is: “Everything is lawful for me, but not everything is convenient; everything is lawful for me, but not everything edifies.”[1]
III- The good influence.
Deuteronomy 20:8 commands anyone who is afraid to go to war not to go to the battlefield, as he may be negatively influencing his comrades by his behavior. Others, seeing their fear, could feel it themselves, something that will obviously end up being harmful to everyone, even to the brave.
Some might ask: Why are you condemned for the influence of your actions on others? Why suffer when others imitate you negatively? It must be understood that our actions do not occur in a bubble, there is always someone watching them. We must be aware of the effect of our actions on others, even when we do not communicate directly with them to do so.
You should try to be an influence for the opposite, for example: Those who always arrive on time to the service can influence their friends to do the same, who works all day, but every day allocates a fixed amount of time to study. They are an example for those who do not find the time for this; Those who take care to gossip show, with their mere presence, which making that mistake is harmful to those around them.
IV- Do without tripping.
In Deuteronomy 8 there is also an implicit truth and that is that there are two groups of people in the world:
(1) The ones they do, because everything matters to them.
(2) Those who devalue those who do, because the only thing they care about is destroying those they do care.
It must be understood that, if you do not want to be part of the solution, at least you should not be part of the problem. If someone decided not to leave traces in the sand of time, it is no reason to ruin the effort of others.
We are to observe and support those God is using in specific leadership in the congregation and society, rather than all the time looking for the details of where he might be wrong.
Questions:
1.- How can you balance not fearing with fearing yes? (Prov 28:14)
2.- What other commandment do you see here that cannot be fulfilled literally, but its principle does allow it to be obeyed?
3.- Tell your study group about a ministry in your local church that you support 100%, even if you don’t belong to it, and how you do it.
[1] 1Cor 10:23.
Under Construction..
Deuteronomy 20
1 “When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. 2 And when you draw near to the battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the people 3 and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, 4 for the LORD your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.’ 5 Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying, ‘Is there any man who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it. 6 And is there any man who has planted a vineyard and has not enjoyed its fruit? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man enjoy its fruit. 7 And is there any man who has betrothed a wife and has not taken her? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man take her.’ 8 And the officers shall speak further to the people, and say, ‘Is there any man who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go back to his house, lest he make the heart of his fellows melt like his own.’ 9 And when the officers have finished speaking to the people, then commanders shall be appointed at the head of the people.
10 “When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it. 11 And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you. 12 But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. 13 And when the LORD your God gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword, 14 but the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourselves. And you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the LORD your God has given you. 15 Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here. 16 But in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, 17 but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the LORD your God has commanded, 18 that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the LORD your God.
19 “When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. You may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the trees in the field human, that they should be besieged by you? 20 Only the trees that you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, that you may build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it falls.
Psalm 6
TO THE CHOIRMASTER: WITH STRINGED INSTRUMENTS; ACCORDING TO THE SHEMINITH. A PSALM OF DAVID.
1 O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. 2 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled. 3 My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O LORD—how long?
4 Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love. 5 For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?
6 I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. 7 My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes.
8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping. 9 The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer. 10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.
Proverbs 27.
1Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
2 Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.
3 A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty, but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.
4 Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?
5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
7 One who is full loathes honey, but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet.
8 Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who strays from his home.
9 Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.
10 Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend, and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity.
Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.
11 Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him who reproaches me.
12 The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.
13 Take a man’s garment when he has put up security for a stranger, and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for an adulteress.
14 Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, will be counted as cursing.
15 A continual dripping on a rainy day and a quarrelsome wife are alike; 16 to restrain her is to restrain the wind or to grasp oil in one’s right hand.
17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.
18 Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who guards his master will be honored.
19 As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.
20 Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man.
21 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and a man is tested by his praise.
22 Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, yet his folly will not depart from him.
23 Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds, 24 for riches do not last forever; and does a crown endure to all generations?
25 When the grass is gone and the new growth appears and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered, 26 the lambs will provide your clothing, and the goats the price of a field.
27 There will be enough goats’ milk for your food, for the food of your household and maintenance for your girls.
Proverbs 28.
1 The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.
2 When a land transgresses, it has many rulers, but with a man of understanding and knowledge, its stability will long continue.
3 A poor man who oppresses the poor is a beating rain that leaves no food.
4 Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law strive against them.
5 Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand it completely.
6 Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.
7 The one who keeps the law is a son with understanding, but a companion of gluttons shames his father.
8 Whoever multiplies his wealth by interest and profit gathers it for him who is generous to the poor.
9 If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.
10 Whoever misleads the upright into an evil way will fall into his own pit, but the blameless will have a goodly inheritance.
11 A rich man is wise in his own eyes, but a poor man who has understanding will find him out.
12 When the righteous triumph, there is great glory, but when the wicked rise, people hide themselves.
13 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
14 Blessed is the one who fears the LORD always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.
15 Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a poor people.
16 A ruler who lacks understanding is a cruel oppressor, but he who hates unjust gain will prolong his days.
17 If one is burdened with the blood of another, he will be a fugitive until death; let no one help him.
18 Whoever walks in integrity will be delivered, but he who is crooked in his ways will suddenly fall.
19 Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.
20 A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.
21 To show partiality is not good, but for a piece of bread a man will do wrong.
22 A stingy man hastens after wealth and does not know that poverty will come upon him.
23 Whoever rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than he who flatters with his tongue.
24 Whoever robs his father or his mother and says, “That is no transgression,” is a companion to a man who destroys.
25 A greedy man stirs up strife, but the one who trusts in the LORD will be enriched.
26 Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.
27 Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.
28 When the wicked rise, people hide themselves, but when they perish, the righteous increase.
Jeremiah 31.
11 “At that time, declares the LORD, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.”
2 Thus says the LORD: “The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest, 3 the LORD appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. 4 Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. 5 Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant and shall enjoy the fruit. 6 For there shall be a day when watchmen will call in the hill country of Ephraim: ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.’ ”
7 For thus says the LORD:
“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘O LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel.’ 8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here. 9 With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
10 “Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’ 11 For the LORD has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. 12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more. 13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. 14 I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the LORD.”
15 Thus says the LORD:
“A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.”
16 Thus says the LORD:
“Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work, declares the LORD, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. 17 There is hope for your future, declares the LORD, and your children shall come back to their own country. 18 I have heard Ephraim grieving, ‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf; bring me back that I may be restored, for you are the LORD my God. 19 For after I had turned away, I relented, and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh; I was ashamed, and I was confounded, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’ 20 Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the LORD.
21 “Set up road markers for yourself; make yourself guideposts; consider well the highway, the road by which you went. Return, O virgin Israel, return to these your cities. 22 How long will you waver, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth: a woman encircles a man.”
23 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:
“Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I restore their fortunes: “ ‘The LORD bless you, O habitation of righteousness, O holy hill!’
24 And Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and the farmers and those who wander with their flocks. 25 For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”
26 At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me. 27 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. 28 And it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, declares the LORD. 29 In those days they shall no longer say: “ ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
30 But everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
35 Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the LORD of hosts is his name: 36 “If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the LORD, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever.”
37 Thus says the LORD:
“If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the LORD.”
38 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when the city shall be rebuilt for the LORD from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 And the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah. 40 The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be sacred to the LORD. It shall not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.”
Jeremiah 32.
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2 At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah. 3 For Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying, “Why do you prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall capture it; 4 Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye. 5 And he shall take Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall remain until I visit him, declares the LORD. Though you fight against the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed’?”
6 Jeremiah said, “The word of the LORD came to me: 7 Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you and say, ‘Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.’ 8 Then Hanamel my cousin came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the LORD, and said to me, ‘Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.
9 “And I bought the field at Anathoth from Hanamel my cousin, and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. 10 I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the money on scales. 11 Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions and the open copy. 12 And I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my cousin, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in the court of the guard. 13 I charged Baruch in their presence, saying, 14 ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware vessel, that they may last for a long time. 15 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.’
16 “After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD, saying: 17 ‘Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you. 18 You show steadfast love to thousands, but you repay the guilt of fathers to their children after them, O great and mighty God, whose name is the LORD of hosts, 19 great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds. 20 You have shown signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and to this day in Israel and among all mankind, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day. 21 You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and outstretched arm, and with great terror. 22 And you gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. 23 And they entered and took possession of it. But they did not obey your voice or walk in your law. They did nothing of all you commanded them to do. Therefore you have made all this disaster come upon them. 24 Behold, the siege mounds have come up to the city to take it, and because of sword and famine and pestilence the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you spoke has come to pass, and behold, you see it. 25 Yet you, O Lord GOD, have said to me, “Buy the field for money and get witnesses”—though the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.’ ”
26 The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 27 “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me? 28 Therefore, thus says the LORD: Behold, I am giving this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall capture it. 29 The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city shall come and set this city on fire and burn it, with the houses on whose roofs offerings have been made to Baal and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods, to provoke me to anger. 30 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth. The children of Israel have done nothing but provoke me to anger by the work of their hands, declares the LORD. 31 This city has aroused my anger and wrath, from the day it was built to this day, so that I will remove it from my sight 32 because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah that they did to provoke me to anger—their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33 They have turned to me their back and not their face. And though I have taught them persistently, they have not listened to receive instruction. 34 They set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. 35 They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
36 “Now therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, ‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence’: 37 Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. 38 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. 41 I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.
42 “For thus says the LORD: Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them. 43 Fields shall be bought in this land of which you are saying, ‘It is a desolation, without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’ 44 Fields shall be bought for money, and deeds shall be signed and sealed and witnessed, in the land of Benjamin, in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb; for I will restore their fortunes, declares the LORD.”
1 Corinthians 3.
1 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?
5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21 So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
1 Corinthians 11: 1-16.
1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
2 Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. 3 But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. 4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, 5 but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven. 6 For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head. 7 For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. 8 For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. 9 Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 10 That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. 11 Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; 12 for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God. 13 Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, 15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. 16 If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God.