Genesis 29:15-28, Psalm 105:1-11, Psalm 105:45, Psalm 128:1-6, 1 Kings 3:5-12, Psalm 119:129-136, Romans 8:26-39, Matthew 13:31-33, Matthew 13:44-52
A). A LESSON IN PATIENCE.
Genesis 29:15-28.
Jacob had been on the run from his twin brother Esau. Jacob, being the younger twin, had duped his elder sibling of both his inheritance and his blessing. Esau’s understandable anger was beginning to look dangerous, so their mother Rebekah devised a plan to send Jacob to her relatives to find a wife for himself from among her relatives.
As we open today’s reading, Jacob had arrived at last in Haran, the city that his grandfather Abraham had left so many decades ago. Jacob met Rachel his cousin at the same well where Abraham’s servant had met Rebekah when he was on a mission to find a wife for Isaac. Jacob was already in love with young Rachel, and for a month now Jacob had been accepting hospitality from his mother Rebekah’s brother, Laban.
GENESIS 29:15. Laban opened a negotiation with his nephew in which we begin to see that Jacob had at last met his match. First of all, Laban announced that hereafter Jacob would be his servant, and asked Jacob what his wages should be. This was not as reasonable as it might sound, as it shifted the relationship of uncle/ nephew to employer/ employee. Also, Jacob was inexperienced in negotiations. Laban had been involved in the negotiations concerning his sister Rebekah’s marriage to Isaac, and was always going to have the upper hand.
GENESIS 29:16-17. It is at this point that the narrative tells us that Laban had two daughters. The younger, Rachel, was “beautiful and well favoured.” The elder, Leah, was not so attractive.
GENESIS 29:18. Jacob loved Rachel, and set a high price for himself to pay for her hand in marriage. Unlike Abraham’s servant, who had arrived with ten camel loads of goodies as the bride price for Rebekah, Jacob had nothing to offer but his service. Jacob was clear though: he would serve seven years for Rachel’s hand in marriage.
GENESIS 29:19. Laban made it sound as if he was doing Jacob a favour: “It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man. Abide with me.” So saying, Laban at least hinted that, if industrial relations between employer and employee should turn sour at any stage, he had the option to give her hand to another suitor.
GENESIS 29:20. “And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.” This is a lovely verse. Perhaps here we see the beginning of the mellowing of Jacob, the former trickster. But he had a shock to come!
GENESIS 29:21. At the end of the seven years, Jacob took the initiative, went to Laban, and demanded “my wife.” In the Ancient Near East, a betrothal was as binding as a marriage: in the New Testament we read of Joseph going to be taxed with Mary his ‘espoused wife’ (cf. Luke 2:5). All that remained for Jacob to do – or so he thought – was to consummate the marriage.
GENESIS 29:22. We hear no reply from Laban, but he sprung into activity, gathering the men of that place for a feast.
GENESIS 29:23. Then, at last (or so Jacob thought), Laban brought Jacob’s beloved to him. It was evening, and no doubt dark in the bed-chamber, and the bride had most probably been veiled during the festivities. But it was Leah, not Rachel!
GENESIS 29:24. For a dowry, Leah received Zilpah, Laban’s maid as a handmaid. She and Rachel’s handmaid Bilhah (cf. Genesis 29:29) would also become mothers in Israel (cf. Genesis 35:25-26).
GENESIS 29:25. Imagine Jacob’s surprise when he realised that he had been duped! Jacob’s anger was firm, but controlled, as he remonstrated with Laban. He would not want to blow his chances of ever having Rachel his beloved wife!
GENESIS 29:26. Laban’s answer was lame, “It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.” That was probably the first time that Jacob had ever heard of such a thing – and why did Laban not say so before this? However, this would have alerted Jacob to the fact that elder siblings do have rights!
GENESIS 29:27. Laban was now setting the terms for further negotiation: fulfil Leah’s “week” of honeymoon - do not reject her - “and we will give you this also for the service which thou shalt serve me yet seven other years.” This was all before the writing of the law forbidding a man from marrying two sisters (cf. Leviticus 18:18).
GENESIS 29:28. “And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week; and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.” Jacob had persevered, love had prevailed. God was working behind the scenes towards the fulfilment of His promises to Abraham.
B). REMEMBER, REMEMBER.
Psalm 105:1-11, Psalm 105:45b.
PSALM 105:1. There is a call to “give thanks to the LORD.” It is always appropriate to remember and acknowledge the LORD’s gracious dealings with us.
Then there is an exhortation to “call upon His name.” We offer our praise and thanksgiving always to Him. His name (or names) represent who He is. We worship the one true and living God; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel; and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And there is a call to “make known His deeds among the people.” Not just the people of God, but all the peoples of the earth. It is a call to witness; a summons to testimony; and a commission to world mission.
PSALM 105:2. The next imperative is to: “Sing unto Him.” It is to the LORD that we are offering our praises. It is not for the choir to entertain the congregation, but for all to lift their voices in praise to the LORD.
And the Bible even provides us with a hymn book: “sing Psalms unto Him.” The book of Psalms is full of ‘psalms, hymns and spiritual songs’ (cf. Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). And it is a part of the inspired word of God.
Then we are told what to talk about: “talk ye of all His wonderful works.” We can all find plenty to talk about, but the best conversation is godly conversation. The “ye” is plural, so that each one of His children is encouraged to speak of God’s mighty works of creation and of grace, and of mercy and love. We can share what we understand of Him from the Bible, and testify to what He has done in our own lives.
PSALM 105:3. Then there is a call to: “Glory ye in His holy name.” What a wonderful God we have! In this verse we are told that His name is holy. Everything about Him is holy.
And we are exhorted, “let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD.” Our priority is to ‘seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness’ (cf. Matthew 6:33) – and it a joy to do so. Even after we have sought the Lord and found Him, it is a joy to go on seeking and learning in order to get to know Him better.
PSALM 105:4. So we are called to: “Seek the LORD and His strength.” We depend upon Him. His strength is made perfect in our weakness (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:9).
We are encouraged also to “seek His face evermore.” We desire His presence at all times, and look for the day when we shall see Him face to face, and be like Him evermore.
PSALM 105:5. And we are exhorted to: “REMEMBER His marvellous works that He hath done.” How can we forget? Yet time and time again His people do forget. Then trouble comes, and we are forced to remember: ‘Hitherto hath the LORD helped us’ (cf. 1 Samuel 7:12).
His marvellous works are described as “His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth.” God spoke, and it was done. Deliverance came, enemies were scattered. Both sin and death were vanquished at the Cross.
PSALM 105:6. These imperatives are addressed to: “O ye seed of Abraham His servant, ye children of Jacob His servant.” Abraham saw the judgment on Sodom. The children of Jacob saw His marvellous works in Egypt. Yet Christians, too, are children of Abraham, chosen in Christ Jesus: and we are called to remember what Jesus has done for us!
PSALM 105:7. After all, “the LORD is our God.”
And along with that particularity, that special place that we have through the Lord Jesus Christ, “His judgments are in all the earth.” He is still ‘judge of all the earth’ (cf. Genesis 18:25).
PSALM 105:8-10. “He hath REMEMBERED His covenant.” From our need to “remember” (cf. Psalm 105:5), we come to His unfailing remembrance of His everlasting covenant with Abraham, Isacc and Jacob. It is because He has remembered that we too should remember to give Him the praises due to His name.
PSALM 105:11. He has promised us an inheritance - in Christ Jesus - and we should not fail to enter into it.
PSALM 105:45b. “Praise ye the LORD.”
C). BLESSED SHALT THOU BE.
Psalm 128:1-6.
There are two words translated “blessed” in this Psalm. The first is ‘Esher,’ from which we have the name ‘Asher,’ and it means ‘how blessed,’ or ‘happy.’ So we have, “How blessed is every one that fears the LORD” (Psalm 128:1); but then, “happy shalt thou be” (Psalm 128:2).
The second word is ‘Barakh,’ and the context indicates that this blessing is the blessing wherewith the LORD blesses man. Hence we have, “thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD” (Psalm 128:4); and “The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion” (Psalm 128:5).
PSALM 128:1. The “fear” of the LORD is not craven fear, a fear of dread; but rather to reverence Him, to honour Him for who He is. ‘The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom’ (cf. Proverbs 9:10). And the God fearing man has present blessings, even as he “walketh in His ways” (cf. Psalm 119:1).
PSALM 128:2. “For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands.” The LORD promises a blessing on those who labour for their living. Employment is a gift of God, and we are commanded ‘with quietness to work’ (cf. 2 Thessalonians 3:12) in the full knowledge that the LORD thus supplies all our needs.
Thus also, “happy shalt thou be.” Happiness heaped up for those who are hardworking and God fearing! “And it shall be well with thee.”
PSALM 128:3a. ‘It is not good for man to be alone’ (cf. Genesis 2:18), so the next person to be mentioned is the good man’s good wife. She is at “the sides of thine house” – at his side, supporting him. “Like a fruitful vine” – not only fruitful to bear children, but fruitful in the things of God, and fruitful in the right management of the home.
PSALM 128:3b. “Thy children” shall be “like olive plants around thy table.” The picture is of tender young olive plants growing up around their parent tree. I have recollections of my own upbringing, when we would remain around the table after Sunday dinner, making conversation as a family. Reflecting on his afflictions, Job mentioned the loss of his children as the foremost indication that the Almighty had withdrawn from him (cf. Job 29:5).
Sometimes we may fear that our children are but wild olives, but nurture will yet catch up with them that they may be grafted in to partake of the ‘root and fatness of the (good) olive tree’ (cf. Romans 11:17).
PSALM 128:4. “Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD” (cf. Psalm 1:1-3). Not all blessed men are fathers, but this Psalm speaks of such blessings as the appropriate portion of godly parents. ‘I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth’ (cf. 3 John 1:4).
PSALM 128:5. “The LORD shall bless the out of Zion.” The blessings of special grace flow from the place where the LORD is (cf. Numbers 6:24-26; Psalm 20:2). “And thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.” Blessings overflow in all directions: to the family, to the worshipping community, and to the nation. And the blessed man can look forward to a long life.
PSALM 128:6a. “Yea, thou shalt see children’s children.” ‘Children's children are the crown of old men’ (cf. Proverbs 17:6).
PSALM 128:6b. “And peace upon Israel.” We pray regularly for the ‘peace of Jerusalem’ (cf. Psalm 122:6), and for the salvation of Israel. Thus we pray also for the welfare of the church of our Lord Jesus Christ throughout the world, and to the end of the age.
The LORD here pledges to favourably answer such prayers with ‘the peace which passes all understanding’ (cf. Philippians 4:7); even ‘peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (cf. Romans 5:1).
D). SOLOMON CHOOSES WISDOM.
1 Kings 3:5-12.
Solomon started well: ‘he loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father’ (cf. 1 Kings 3:3a). Yet there is a warning signal, which would become a motif throughout the books of Kings: ‘only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places’ (cf. 1 Kings 3:3b). Evidently, however, since the Temple was not yet built (cf. 1 Kings 3:2), the LORD tolerated this for the time being. The language suggests that Solomon habitually offered lavish sacrifices in Gibeon (cf. 1 Kings 3:4), and it was there that the LORD first appeared to him (1 KINGS 3:5a).
It is interesting that Solomon had the word of the LORD come to him (cf. 1 Kings 6:11), like he was a prophet (cf. Jeremiah 1:2; Ezekiel 1:3). Later, at the dedication of the Jerusalem Temple, he will pray and benedict like a priest (cf. 1 Kings 8:14; 1 Kings 8:22; 1 Kings 8:55). Jesus ultimately combines the three offices of prophet, priest, and king in His own Person; and we (Christians) are a kingdom of priests in Him, speaking (witnessing) on His behalf.
“Ask what I shall give thee,” offered the LORD (1 KINGS 3:5b). We should take up these offers of the LORD: ‘Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you’ (cf. Matthew 7:7). Jesus said, ‘Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full’ (cf. John 16:24).
Solomon began his response by reflecting upon the LORD’s mercy and covenant kindness towards David. Humbly, he acknowledged that he, like David his father, is but a servant. In fact, he acknowledged that he is “a little child” in that “I know not how to go out or come in” among such an innumerable multitude of “thy” people (1 KINGS 3:6-8).
Ministers should take note here: it is God’s church, not ours. David did make one disastrous attempt to number them, as if they were his own (cf. 2 Samuel 24:10). Certainly, the church of our Lord Jesus Christ is a ‘number which no man can number’ (cf. Revelation 7:9).
“Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart (literally, a listening heart) to judge THY people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this THY so great people?” (1 KINGS 3:9). Sometimes the size of the task might all but overwhelm us, especially when we consider our own smallness. But against that attitude, we must lay hold upon the greatness of our God!
It pleases God when we pray unselfishly. Rather than long life for himself, riches for himself, or the life of his enemies, Solomon had asked for himself “understanding to discern judgment” (1 KINGS 3:10-11).
Solomon’s wisdom is a gift of God (1 KINGS 3:12; cf. Proverbs 2:6; Proverbs 8:15-17). When we pray aright, God grants all that we ask, and more besides (cf. 1 Kings 3:13; Proverbs 3:16).
E). AN ODE TO THE WORD OF GOD.
Psalm 119:129-136.
Psalm 119:129. Reason to keep God’s “testimonies”? Because they are wonderful. Indeed, the Word of God is a ‘wonderful’ thing, full as it is of an extraordinary supernatural wonder! The Psalmist engages not just his “soul” but his whole man to the keeping of God’s Word. It is in the keeping of His “testimonies” (or ‘decrees’) that we discover them to be “wonderful”.
Psalm 119:130. The “entrance” or ‘unfolding’ of His “words” gives light. Thus God’s words impart understanding even to the simple (cf. Psalm 19:7-8). Without this in-breaking of the Word of God into our lives we are left ‘dead in trespasses and sins’ (cf. Ephesians 2:1). God is the source of this light (cf. 1 John 1:5), and light is come into the world in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ (John 8:12; 2 Corinthians 4:6). How wonderful it is to have the Lord as my light (cf. Psalm 27:1). How terrible, though, to refuse the light and to go on dwelling in darkness (cf. John 3:19)!
Psalm 119:131. To “pant” after God is to “long” for His “commandments” (cf. Psalm 42:1). It is to ‘hunger and thirst after (His) righteousness’ (cf. Matthew 5:6). When we lack water, we hunt for it: because without water, we die. What a terrible thing, then, to be caught in a famine of the words of God (cf. Amos 8:11-12)!
Psalm 119:132. Petition for favour. “As you do” or ‘as your custom is’ = “As your law is” (Hebrew). Thereby all eight words for “law” are used in this eight-verse section. God has graciously bound Himself by His own “law” - or literally “laws” - to be gracious (merciful) to those who love His name. ‘All things work together for good’ - for who? - ‘for those who love God’ (cf. Romans 8:28).
Psalm 119:133. “Order my steps” suggests a willingness, a readiness, to go God’s way. It is a petition for the support of God’s “word” against the threat of iniquity’s dominion. (My earliest attempts at poetry were kept in a handwritten book entitled, ‘Going My Own Way’. The title of my second handwritten book of poems reflected the change that being born-again had brought into my life: ‘Going His Way’! Neither of these books is extant.)
Psalm 119:134. Petition for deliverance (cf. Matthew 6:13), so that we can keep His “precepts”. We are saved from sin, death, the devil; from man and from ourselves. But what are we saved unto? We are saved unto ‘good works which God has before ordained that we should walk in them’ (cf. Ephesians 2:10).
Psalm 119:135. Petition for benediction (cf. Numbers 6:24-26; Psalm 67:1). It is the shining of God’s face that brings us the light of the Word and the light of the Spirit to understand and apply the Word. Bless us with a teachable heart so that we may learn Your “statutes”, and live lives of love and praise to You, and of obedience to Your Word.
Psalm 119:136. When God’s “law” is not kept, it brings tears to the eyes of His people. This is not self-righteousness, for we have also mourned over our own sins (cf. Matthew 5:4). Lot ‘vexed his righteous soul’ with the unlawful deeds of Sodom and Gomorrah (cf. 2 Peter 2:8). In like manner, Jesus wept over Jerusalem (cf. Luke 19:41-44).
In this section we began with the wonder of God’s Word (Psalm 119:129), but we ended with the horror of people refusing God’s Word (Psalm 119:136).
May we ever be of those who love the Word of God, keep it, obey it, and rejoice in it. And may we ever celebrate the God of the Word, who has loved us by the sending of His Son (cf. John 3:16). And may His Spirit give us grace to persevere, in all love, in the life which He has set before us in His Word, and which He has settled in our hearts. Amen.
F). CALLED TO BE CONQUERORS, CONFORMED TO CHRIST.
Romans 8:26-39.
We are, it seems, surrounded by “infirmities” (Romans 8:26). These may be caused by lack of strength (which is what the word means), emotional weakness (including ‘burnout’), financial hardships, sickness, or sin. Paul also speaks of the possibility of ‘weakness in faith’ (Romans 4:19).
Sometimes we do not know what to pray; sometimes we do not know how to pray. Yet it is here that we encounter the Holy Spirit: that ‘other Helper’ promised by Jesus (John 14:16). Just as Jesus intercedes for us in heaven (Romans 8:34); the Holy Spirit prays with us (Ephesians 6:18), in us (1 Corinthians 14:14-15), and for us here on earth (Romans 8:26).
It is with His prayers that we, too, receive an audience before God the Father. We pray in the name of Jesus (who is ever interceding on our behalf at God’s right hand), and in the authority of His shed blood. We pray in the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus we, unworthy though we think we are, may ‘boldly’ approach the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16).
There is an intensity to the prayer offered by the Spirit which reaches beyond the mere ‘obtaining of an audience’ with God. His intercession reaches beyond mere petition and appeal. With audible sighs and moans the Holy Spirit gives wordless voice to our groaning, and the groaning of creation (Romans 8:26).
Not only this, but we can also be sure that our prayers are heard, because the Holy Spirit’s intercession, like that of Jesus, is also heard. His prayers on our behalf are “according to the will of God” (Romans 8:27). This is the efficacy and the power which lies behind all true prayer.
I have often heard unbelievers say, ‘All things work together for good.’ Believers might correct them, adding ‘for those who love God.’ But the whole verse must be put in context, as it continues: “who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
God, in His foreknowledge, predestined some out of the mass of fallen mankind to be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). He called them, justified them, and glorified them (Romans 8:30). He continues to work all things for good in favour of those whom He has “called”: those who thereafter, incidentally, have come to love Him (Romans 8:28).
It is because of the efficacy of this call that Paul, and the believer, can be assured of the affirmations that conclude this chapter. Since God is for us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31)? The Apostle points us to the cross, and encourages us to embrace all that God so lavishly bestows upon us (Romans 8:32).
Paul goes on to reassure us that there is no-one to accuse us, because God has chosen us (Romans 8:33). Because God condemned sin in Jesus’ flesh (Romans 8:3), there is now no-one to condemn us (Romans 8:34): Christ died for us, and the Father accepted the sacrifice of the Son by raising Him from the dead. The Lord is seated at the right hand of God, His work completed (cf. Hebrews 1:3), ever interceding on our behalf.
Who can separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8:35-36)? The answer is clear: there is nothing, and no-one, that can possibly separate us from the love of God which is ours in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39)! “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).
G). SAMPLING SOME PARABLES.
Matthew 13:31-33, Matthew 13:44-52.
I. The Mustard Seed (Matthew 13:31-32).
This Sermon had its roots in a children’s address given long ago and far away. At that time I was interested (for all the best practical reasons) in gardening. I brought some seeds as a visual aid, and drew attention to their smallness.
A mustard seed is about the size of a pin-head: and in the right climate, the plant might grow big enough to hold the weight of an adult male. I have heard of a man who built a swing in his mustard tree; another was able to cover his tent with a branch of it, and partake of its produce. So much for small beginnings!
The point of the parable is self-evident: “The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed” (Matthew 13:31). It begins small and insignificant, but grows like a mighty tree. That which looked so delicate in the beginning will grow big, yield fruit, and provide shelter (Matthew 13:32).
The kingdom of heaven is currently operating both through the church, and in the individual Christian. Although the two ideas are not mutually exclusive, we shall look more at the operation in the individual when we come to discuss the leaven. In the meantime, we might view the parable of the mustard seed as one in which Jesus predicted the phenomenal growth of the church, which from small beginnings in Galilee is now as ‘world-wide’ as the Web - and still growing.
From small beginnings, and not without persecution, the church has grown into a force to be reckoned with. There have been internal troubles, but so long as the truth is proclaimed, souls have been won for Christ - sometimes in great numbers as at Pentecost, and in the great revivals - other times in the two and threes which also will make up the company of heaven: one at the mill, another in the field, another in a bed (perhaps of sickness). We must not despise the day of small things (Zechariah 4:10).
The “fowls of the air” (Matthew 13:32) are not to be taken in a negative sense, as if they had no right to be there: but as the Gentiles, who come to find their shelter in the Messiah (cf. Ezekiel 17:23; Daniel 4:12; Daniel 4:20-22). I thank God that it is so.
II. The Leaven (Matthew 13:33).
Leaven has a bad press.
First, there is the purging away of leaven at the Passover (Exodus 12).
Then Jesus warns us of ‘the leaven of the Pharisees’ (Matthew 16:6).
Paul also has strong words about ‘the leaven of malice and wickedness’ (1 Corinthians 5:6-8).
Despite this, Jesus uses leaven as a similitude of “the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 13:33).
My mentor, prior to becoming a student of the Ministry, was a Master Baker. Subsequently - through a lifetime of Christian service - he never relinquished the habit of rising early in the morning, preparing his ingredients, mixing and kneading everything together, adding yeast, and going away for his devotional quiet time with the Lord. One dear relation commented on the aptness of the two exercises.
What is so remarkable about leaven, is that it is “hidden” (Matthew 13:33). This shows us that the principle of the kingdom of heaven might be in operation in places - and in people - where we do not perceive it. The Word has been planted in someone’s heart, and yet we often do not know that it is so: time reveals an unexpected result.
This serves as a great encouragement to those who preach, and who minister. We may not always see the results of our labours, but we must persevere, nevertheless.
There are things which go on in the hidden parts of a life, which though out of our sight, are not unknown to God: and His Word will not return unto Him void (Isaiah 55:11).
III. The Discovery of Treasure (Matthew 13:44-46).
Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is like a man discovering treasure in a field, and selling all that he has to buy that field; or like a merchant man who discovers a pearl of great price and sells all that he has to buy it.
These two parables begin from different perspectives, but have the same result.
The first man merely stumbled upon the treasure, sold all, and bought the field in which it was thus accidentally found.
The second was at pains to seek out goodly pearls. With his expert eye he attained his goal, perhaps beyond his wildest dreams. He also sold all his belongings to buy it.
Whether we have merely stumbled upon the way of life offered by Jesus, or have sought it out, we must make it our priority to attain peace with God through His sacrifice - no matter what it may cost us in terms of reputation.
IV. The Parable of the Net (Matthew 13:47-50).
Like the parable of the wheat and the tares, the parable of the net leads us from what would have been a familiar concept to the early disciples, to the very end of time.
A boat heads out onto the Sea of Galilee and casts a net. There are weights at the bottom of the net, and floats at the top. As the boat heads for shore, the fishermen drag in whatever happens to be caught in the net.
Once the catch is ashore, the fishermen sort out what is good, and what is bad: what is ceremonially clean, and what unclean; what is fit to eat, and what is not.
The coming of God's kingdom is compared to the casting of that net.
Just as it is Jesus Himself who sowed the good seed in the earlier parable (Matthew 13:37), so it would appear here that He is the One who let the net into the water.
The sea represents the world, just as in the earlier parable Jesus stated, ‘The field is the world’ (Matthew 13:38).
When Jesus spoke these words, there are thought to have been 54 different types of fish in the sea of Galilee. These represent all men, both good and bad, called forth for judgment at the end of the world.
Jesus equates the fishermen with the angels - and it is their task to separate the wicked from the just (Matthew 13:49).
Bad fish are cast aside, perhaps even cast back into the sea: but at the final judgment the wicked are cast into the “furnace of fire” where shall be, in Jesus' own words, “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
V. Things Old and New (Matthew 13:51-52).
After presenting His disciples with several wonderful parables, Jesus in Matthew 13:51 asked, “Have ye understood all these things?” - to which they answered in the affirmative.
It is important that we apply the Word of God in our own lives. As our knowledge of the Bible grows, we must make the effort to understand what application it has for ourselves. We must engage our minds to grapple with the truth, and to see what God is saying to us today. It is a living Word, not some dead letter.
Jesus continues in Matthew 13:52: “Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.”
Here the disciples are named Scribes. They were being instructed in the kingdom of heaven by Jesus Himself, and it was their calling to convey His message to others. They must bring forth the new treasure of the Gospel, but not fail to apply the truths found in the writings of the Old Testament.
