We see in this story three specific destinations:
Destination 1: The Far Country (v. 13)
The far country represents the world and all of its attractions. It looks so alluring with all of its big lit-up signs. “Pleasures!” “Do whatever you want!” “Follow your heart!” “Join us, we will show you a good time!”
These are empty promises.
Proverbs 1:10-14, “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse.”
But Solomon fires back: “My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood” (v. 15-16).
It’s been said, “The grass is always greener on the other side.” I think of Lot, who lifted up his eyes and saw the plain of Jordan. It looked amazing, so he pitched his tent toward the city of Sodom, and it wasn’t long that he was living in that wicked city.
Once the son got to the city, he wasted his substance on riotous living. He did not invest; he did not trade or barter; he wasted his substance. That is what sin does—it wastes you. Sin will waste your money, your time, your abilities, your mind, your character, and before it is through, sin will have wasted your entire life.
He wasted his substance. Who gave him that substance? It was his father. Think about this: sin will waste the very things that God has given to you.
With riotous living. This is reckless living, like a wild dog that has been let loose from his leash. You follow the passions of your sinful heart; you go wherever they take you, and the result is a wrecked life, a life of ruin and shame. You have stepped into sin’s trap.
W. W. Melton pastored in Waco, Texas in the early 20th century. In his book The Waste of Sin, he says this concerning sin’s traps: “Appeals are made to our sense of beauty, to our desire for social prestige, to our love for praise, to our financial ambitions, and to a thousand other points of interest. We yield for the moment because the indulgence is sweet, with no thought that it will prove our undoing…Temptations, and snares, and pitfalls are found off the main road; in the dark and along the by-paths of life. Watch the crowds that gather around you, listen to the language they use, the songs they sing, the games they play, and the way they spend their idle hours, for their character is expressed in their behavior.”
The far country, the place the son longed for, proved to be his undoing. He learned the hard way that this was not where he belonged.
Destination 2: The Pigpen (v. 14-16)
Things go from bad to worse as the son becomes desperate. His money is gone. His friends are gone. His reputation is gone. He cannot find a good job. So he gets a menial job feeding pigs. Soon he finds himself with the pigs in the mud eating slop. Is this where he belongs?
The pigpen represents the misery of sin. The Apostle Peter expresses it best when he says in II Peter 2:22, “The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”
The Christian does not belong in the mudhole of this world, but sometimes he finds himself there. Drugs, debauchery, darkness—the Christian is covered in the dirt and filth of this world.
The Bible gives us a shocking picture of this in Ezekiel 23. Read v. 1-2a. The two daughters represent Samaria and Jerusalem. Read verses 5-8a, 9-11, 16-19, 22-26, key v. 35.
God’s people had defiled themselves, which eventually brought God’s chastisement. God saw His people as two beautiful daughters that had committed great acts of wickedness. The son in Luke 15 was a little different. He recognized something very important. He came to his senses and realized that he did not belong in the pigpen.
Final Destination: The Father’s House (v. 17-19)
Pigs belong in the mud, but sons do not. J. Vernon McGee believes that the father would say something like this: “All my sons are coming home. My sons don’t like pigpens because they do not have the nature of a pig. They have the nature of a son. They have My nature, and they won’t be happy except in the Father’s house. The only place in the world where they will be content is the Father’s house. And every one of My sons that goes out to the far country and gets in a pigpen—regardless of how dirty he gets, or how low he sinks—if he’s My son, one day he’ll say, ‘I’ll arise, and I’ll go to my Father.’”
He came to his senses! “What am I doing here? How good I had it back in my father’s house! I don’t belong in the city. I don’t belong in this pigpen. I belong in my father’s house!”
What is it that triggered this moment of realization? W. W. Melton says it well: “What brought him to himself? His misfortune. If life had been filled with prosperity, and reverses had not come, it is quite certain that the turning point would have never been reached. Hardships, and sorrow, and misfortune are often agents of mercy.”
And so, he starts the journey back home (read verses 20-24).
You would think that the father would be ready to reprimand the son, but there is no need. The son learned his lesson the hard way. There is not a single word of rebuke. Instead the long lost son receives a robe, a ring, shoes, and a celebration of his return. But most of all, he receives the loving embrace of his father. This is the grace of God to all of His wayward children.
The Father’s house represents sweet fellowship with God. This is the place where we belong.
I John 1:6-7, “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
God is not an abusive Father. He will never unjustly beat you or ever harm you for that matter. God is not a neglectful Father. He will never forget about you or fail to help you in your time of need. God is a loving and protecting Father. He wants all of His children to be with him at home—that’s where they belong.
CONCLUSION
Psalm 40:2, “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.”
Perhaps today you are in a pit of despair, a pit of sin. You don’t belong there. Ask your Father to pull you out. Perhaps today you’re out in the far country, far from sweet fellowship with God. You don’t belong there. Turn your heart back to the Father today. Perhaps you’re in the mudhole, covered in the filth of sin. You’ve fallen into sin’s trap and it seems hopeless. You don’t belong there. You’re not a pig, you’re a son, so get up and head for the place where you belong. You belong in the Father’s house, and your heavenly Father is waiting for you. He will not rebuke you; He will welcome you.
