Do Not Let the Left Hand Know the Right Hand
Mark McWhorter
"But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know
what the right hand doeth: that thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father
which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly." (Matthew 6:3,4).
There was a custom
in Palestine which had been observed many years ago to which these verses may
have reference.
When concluding a
bargain or when coming to a friendly agreement, the two individuals would
extend the forefinger of their right hand and the forefinger of their left hand
and hold them parallel to each other. They each would rub their two fingers
together and speak the words 'right, right' or 'together, together' over and
over.
This practice was to
show all around that they had come to a friendly agreement or completed a
contract of some kind. This was done in the open so that all could see that
each was happy with what they were doing. Thus, they had witnesses to the fact
that they both agreed on whatever they were doing.
It is not known if
this custom was being done at the time of Christ. But if it were, it would help
explain what Christ was saying in the above verses.
Our alms to God are
not to be done in a way that we
Our right hand does
not need to know what our left hand is doing when we give to the Lord. Besides,
God is a spirit. There would be no way to do the above custom with God. And we
are not making a contract with God nor are we making a friendly agreement when
we give our alms.
We are giving a portion
of what God has blessed us with back to Him because we love Him and He has commanded us to give.
This explanation is
true even if the finger custom was not being done at the time of Christ. Do not
make a show of what you give to God. Give to Him in love and in a quiet way.
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