In most cases, this saying is used with three little green frogs or small monkeys. They cover their ears, so they cannot hear bad language or dirty jokes. They cover their mouths, so they will not say anything bad or nasty. Lastly, they cover their eyes, so they cannot see anything evil. Hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil! These little frogs or monkeys are very good examples for us to follow.
We are told in 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Do not be deceived: ‘Evil company corrupts good habits’” (NKJV). Therefore, we do not want to be with those who speak evil, do sinful things and enjoy hearing evil talking. We must be careful with whom we spend our time. We should try to pick our friends from among those who are trying to live as Christ wants us to live. It is much easier for those who do evil to influence us than for us to influence them for good.
Look around at those who have become Christians and now no longer attend worship services. With all the converts over the years, our church buildings should be full and overflowing instead of evidencing dwindling attendance as they do now. Some congregations used to house over 300, and now they are fortunate if they have 100 in attendance on Sunday morning; the evening service and Wednesday Bible class have fewer than that attending.
These words “Hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil” are not quoted precisely in the Holy Scriptures. Yet, if we investigate many books of the Old and New testaments, we can find these commandments to obey. In James 1:19, we are told to “be swift to hear, slow to speak and slow to wrath.” God gave us two ears and one mouth. This should be a good sign that we are to listen more than we are to talk. Unfortunately, most of us are more likely to run our mouths and turn on our hearing to evil things. If we are swift to hear, then, we should be hearing and listening to good things. We are not to listen to dirty jokes or tell them either.
The second little frog or monkey sees no evil. We are not to watch things on our televisions that are immodest, immoral or filthy in any way. We each have a television remote, and therefore, we can turn off the evil things coming into our homes.
I have a friend, that when he was a young boy, whose father set the best example I have ever heard. When something came on television or if they were in public and someone was dressed immodestly, he and his dad would stare at each other instead of looking on the immodestly dressed girl or woman. This young man instilled this good action into his sons. What a great way to teach our children to see no evil.
The last little frog or monkey was to speak no evil. He was not to swear or to take the name of our God (or our Savior Jesus Christ) in vain. To use the name of God or Jesus in a profane way is to swear. We hear God’s name used all the time, even by very young children. Of course, they have heard adults use these words all the time. We say things like gosh, golly, gee and, the worst to me, is “OMG.” In Exodus 20, God gave Moses the Law or the Ten Commandments. In verse seven it states, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” Most people do not realize what they are saying. To them, it is just another word, but God says we will be held accountable for such language. We should really think and act like the frog or monkey to speak no evil.
This does not just mean our word choices but includes gossiping, lying or saying nasty things about and to others. We should follow the golden rule in Matthew 7:12, which reads, “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” In other words, treat others as you want to be treated.
Let us all act like the frogs or monkeys. “Hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil.” We want to do all we can to inherit eternal life and also not to hinder others from entering Heaven.
