Some time ago I had to prepare a small group study so I started doing some research which lead me to a Jewish idiom. This all started because I had dinner with Messianic Jew and he was speaking about giving with a good eye (another Jewish idiom) - Ten Be-ayin Tovah.
"Any-who!" I digress...back to the camel and the needle eye. In St. Matthew 19:24 Jesus says "...it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." In Sunday School I was told that this was a place in the middle east (during Jesus' time) and that was that. I've come to understand that this (needle eye) was a gate the merchants and travelers would have to use when the came to a city/town during the night, since the main gate would have been closed.
Now to get the camel through this gate; the eye of the needle, you would have to take off all the baggage and have the camel come through on its knees. If your camel was not mistreated this wouldn't be such a difficult task. So what was Jesus saying?
He's saying that the camel quicker come to it's knees, loose it's baggage and go through the eye of a needle than we would humbly approach the throne of God, seeking to become enlisted as citizens of His kingdom.
Some how understanding this Jewish saying has made me appreciate this scripture more and I want to be at a place where I (without hesitation) constantly approach the throne of my King.
Are you as stubborn as a mule or a camel...? Selah
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