These false teachers appear to be followers of Jesus, but they are not true disciples at all. Urlich Luz says “In my judgment the intensive Matthean redaction is understandable only if the struggle with false prophets is an actual problem in his community.” “The community obviously knows of whom the text is speaking.” ( Matthew, 376). Who are these ravenous wolves? Commentators have suggested virtually every Second Temple period group as the false prophets in Matthew 7:15-23: the Pharisees, the Zealots, the Essenes, Bar Kokhba, Simon Magus, Gnostics, representatives of Pauline Christianity, a degenerate form of Pauline Christianity, antinomians, and Jewish legalists (Nolland, Matthew, 335). In this case, the sheep are the members of the church under the care of these elders. Paul uses this same metaphor in Acts 20:29-31 when he warns the Ephesian elders of false teachers who will appear within the church seeking to distort the truth and draw disciples away. A wolf disguised as a sheep is trying to look and act like his prey, to lull them into a sense of safety before attacking them. But these dangerous wolves are disguised as sheep. The verb in Ezekiel 22:27 (טרף) is the same word used Jacob used to describe the fate of his son Joseph, he has been “torn apart by wild animals” (Gen 37:33). Ezekiel 22:7 describes wolves attacking on the poor and needy. The metaphor of wolves attacking sheep is drawn from the Old Testament. 1.Jesus describes false prophets as “ravenous wolves” (7:15). Such is this our Lord inveighs against, and bids his followers beware of.į20 Abarbinel Nachalath Abot, fol. ``There are some men, (says one of their F20 writers,) who appear to be humble, and fear God in a deceitful and hypocritical way, but inwardly lay wait: this humility our wise men call ( tybaz hwne), "wolfish humility".'' The Jews speak of a "wolfish humility" like that of the wolf in the fable, which put on a sheep skin. Though, it seems, by what follows, that Christ has respect, at least also, to such, who bore his name, and came in his name, though not sent by him, and called him Lord, and prophesied, and cast out devils, and did many wonderful works in his name who, that they might get the good will and affections of the people, clothed themselves, not in garments made of sheep's wool, but in the very skins of sheep, with the wool on them, in imitation of the true prophets, and good men of old pretending great humility, and self-denial, and so "wore a rough garment to deceive", ( Zechariah 13:4 ) when they were inwardly greedy dogs, grievous wolves, of insatiable covetousness and, when opportunity offered, spared not the flock to satisfy their rapacious and devouring appetites. ``it was the way of deceivers, and profane men, to cover themselves, ( Mtyljb), "with their talith", or long garment, "as if they were righteous men", that persons might receive their lies.''Īll which agrees very well with the Pharisees, who would have been thought to have been holy and righteous, humble, modest, and self-denying men when they were inwardly full of hypocrisy and iniquity, of rapine, oppression, and covetousness and, under a pretence of religion, "devoured widows' houses". The Babylonish garment Achan saw and stole, Rab says, was ( atlymd aljuya), a garment called "melotes": which is the very Greek word the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews uses for sheep skins, persecuted saints wandered about in, ( Hebrews 11:37 ) and the gloss upon the place, in the Talmud referred to, says, that this was ( yqn rmu lv tylj), "a talith", or "garment of pure wool" and Jarchi F19 says, that ( tyljb), in a garment which reached to the feet, and was made of the wool of sheep. Which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenousįor these "loved to go in long clothing", ( Mark 12:38 ) It may be queried, whether our Lord has not respect to the Scribes and Pharisees, who sat in Moses's chair, and taught, for doctrines, the commandments of men? and of whose doctrines he elsewhere bids men beware: for whatever plausible pretences for holiness and righteousness might appear in them, they were repugnant to the word of God, and destructive to the souls of men such as their doctrines of free will, justification by the works of the law, the traditions of the elders since it follows, Or false teachers for not such who pretended to foretell things to come, but such who set up themselves to be teachers of others, are here meant see ( 2 Peter 2:1 ).
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