PARABLES OF THE KINGDOM – THE FIRST - THE SOWER OR RATHER THE SOIL – Part 2 of 5
In the first message of the Parable of the Sower, we studied the introduction to the 7 Parables of the Kingdom from Matthew’s Gospel chapter 13. We looked at the seed being sown and the four types of soil. All the seed was good seed but the soils varied hugely. I think a better name for this very well known parable would be “The Parable of the Four Soils”.
In this message, Part 2, we shall look at the deeper explanation of this Parable. We will do just the first “soil”, that of the pathway or road. I have to break it that way because of length.
THE PARABLE IS EXPLAINED
FROM MATTHEW - {{Matthew 13:18-19 “Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom AND DOES NOT UNDERSTAND IT, THE EVIL ONE COMES and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.”}}
FROM LUKE – {{Luke 8:11-12 “Now the parable is this: THE SEED IS THE WORD OF GOD and those beside the road are those who have heard, then THE DEVIL COMES and takes away the word from their heart, so that they may not believe and be saved.”}}
[A]. THE FIRST RESULT – THE ABSENCE OF SOIL
In Luke, one concise statement informed the disciples exactly what the seed was. The seed is the word of God and ever remains so. Whenever the word is preached or taught or issued in printed form or committed to radio waves or displayed through the Internet, the seed is being sown. The scripture does not directly state it, but the Lord is the Sower and the word preached during those three years shows the Sower at work.
We can’t emphasise enough that the seed is THE WORD OF GOD! When we sow the seed, it is the gospel preaching, that of God’s word for salvation. It is an ugly distortion these days from the Prosperity Doctrine that sowing the seed means giving money to these corrupt charlatans so they can grow fat in absolute luxurious materialism. The seed you sow is the preaching of the gospel not money given (deluded) in the hope that God pays off your debt and takes away your sickness.
It is important that the Lord is the Sower, because the true word begins with Him. All who follow after are just transmitters of that true word of the Lord’s.
The explanation was then given. The FIRST group comprises those in whom the word has had no effect at all. It is even worse than “in one ear and out the other.” It did not even get into the ears! They reject the preaching, scoff at the message, ridicule the messenger and readily apply modern psychological rationalism, i.e. skepticism, liberalism, to the message.
The outcome of these hearers is hardened hearts and willful disobedience. Luke explains it as - they hear, and the devil or his agents snatch away the word, so that they can (may) not believe and they can’t be saved. Luke had already seen this principle in operation as he accompanied Paul, and he certainly had seen it with the Jews and the Gentiles. “Snatches” pictures the greedy selfishness that is seen often in the animal world and interesting to observe in the birds of prey.
Mark is very similar to Matthew but he says this – {{Mark 4:15 “and these are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown, and when they hear, immediately SATAN COMES and takes away the word which has been sown in them.”}} He attributes the failure of the seed (preaching) to Satan who comes immediately. That is, the seed has not a chance to even think of germinating.
Matthew says they hear but don’t understand, then the devil snatches away the word. It is not correct to assume that Luke proposes these hearers have no opportunity to believe because the devil leaves them with no other option. Matthew clarifies that further with the “understanding” part. He says they don’t know it or understand it so there can be no conviction, no sense of need or no desire for repentance. Luke 13:27 says, {{“I do not know where you are from. Depart from Me . . .”}} i.e. there was no relationship there. {{“The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked”}} (KJV Jeremiah 17:9). Such battles rage in the unconverted hearts.
The word must crash through a fortress framework of unbelief and rationalism cemented through the errors of evolution, socialism (humanism), and rock music and the dead religiousness of the world. People’s hearts in some countries today are so hard, so cynical and so self-centred, yet so needy and empty. Nevertheless God’s word is not bound and the Lord’s power is not limited, and can overcome the wickedness of the human heart, but we should appreciate what the conditions on the road and beside it, are like.
Paul wrote to the saints at Thessalonica – {{2 Thessalonians 3:1-3 “Finally, brethren, pray for us that THE WORD OF THE LORD MAY SPREAD rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you, and that we may be delivered from perverse and evil men FOR NOT ALL HAVE FAITH, but the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and PROTECT YOU FROM THE EVIL ONE.”}}. The evil one who snatches away the seed in a faithless heart, also turns on the sowers to try to harm them.
ABOUT THESE BIRDS OF THE AIR OF LUKE 8:5
{{Luke 8:5 “The sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed, some fell beside the road and it was TRAMPLED under foot, and THE BIRDS OF THE AIR ate it up.”}}
The seed sown in this first instance suffered two fates. It was either trampled underfoot or gobbled up by hungry birds. This world loves to trample on God’s word grinding it into power so the winds of human wickedness might blow it away. We see that in operation in universities under godless lecturers who mock the bible; in these homosexual Mardi-Gras parades as they mock and blaspheme Jesus in the streets; in the restrictions of bibles in schools, and the withdrawal of Gideon bibles from places where they were once allowed and welcomed.
All who trample God’s word under their feet are as guilty as King Jehoiakim who cut away the scroll of God’s word piece by piece as Baruch read it and burned it in the fire. God is not mocked and the fate of Jehoiakim was sealed. {{Jeremiah 36:30-31 “Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah, “HE SHALL HAVE NO ONE to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. “I SHALL ALSO PUNISH HIM and his descendants and his servants for their iniquity, and I shall bring on them and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah all the calamity that I have declared to them - but they did not listen.”}}. Be warned you destroyers of the bible! Calamity awaits all of you. You false teachers, you liberals – God will judge you unless you repent.
“BIRDS OF THE AIR” is a Type in scriptures and all scripture types have uniform meanings. Never forget that all types in the bible are consistent. A type can’t mean one thing in some passages and the opposite in another. The meaning for “birds” and “birds of the air” is always bad when the birds are pictured as free agents. Birds taken by the hand of man are for good purposes and mainly for sacrifice as the Pentateuch books reveal. When we trace “birds (of the air)” as a type, we can see this principle in operation, as the following passages bring out.
* * * Genesis 15:7-11. God was about to establish a momentous covenant with Abram relating to the land from the river Nile to the Euphrates (Genesis 15:17-18) (From the River to the River – will be Jewish land). Five items had been prepared for sacrifice and laid out in order but the birds of the air, the birds of prey, arrived as agents of the devil seeking to destroy or contaminate the items prepared for sacrifice, so diligent Abram drove the birds away. It was Satan’s attempt to thwart God’s covenant from being enacted. Satan either destroys or contaminates or eliminates or lessens the effectiveness of the word of God. We see that in the parable of the sower.
* * * Genesis 40:16-19. The chief baker had had a dream wherein three baskets of baked white bread for Pharoah were on his head. The birds came and were eating the food out of the basket. Part of Joseph’s interpretation was that the birds would eat the baker’s flesh. The birds stood for carrion eaters, evil creatures that devoured the baker in verse 19. These devouring carrion eaters will be active in the future at the battle of Armageddon – {{Revelation 19:17-18 I saw an angel standing in the sun and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all THE BIRDS WHICH FLY IN MID-HEAVEN, “Come, assemble for the great supper of God, in order that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.”}}
* * * Matthew 13:32. In the third of the Kingdom Parables Jesus told of a mustard seed that grew up to fill the whole earth and THE BIRDS OF THE AIR came to roost in the branches. The usual interpretation for this parable is that the mustard tree is the church and it grows so much that it spreads through the earth and people can come to it and find shelter in its hallowed regions. This is just so far from the truth.
Although we will do this parable in detail when we come to it, here is just a snippet - The mustard plant is no more than a small shrub, but this thing has grown up to become a monstrosity. It represents what Christianity has become with all its corruption, and anyone seriously reading the history of the church will wonder just how far this professing Christian church through history has departed from the real Church established at Pentecost.
The birds of the air that sought refuge in the branches represent the foul doctrines and practices that have invaded the true Church in its original form and caused it to become such a monstrosity. This happened with the so-called conversion of Constantine when thousands of unconverted pagans flocked into the church when Christianity was popularised, bringing their pagan beliefs with them.
* * * Luke 8:5, 12. In our current passage the birds of the air stand for the work of the devil and his agents and the work is bad. These other references are also pertinent - 2 Samuel 21:10, the birds of the air (sky) were prevented all day from evil intent; and Jeremiah 12:9, birds of prey against God’s inheritance (Israel) on every side. See also Ezekiel 39:4 and Revelation 18:2.
There is so much in this world today that will snatch the seed away. The evil one has been active through governments and education systems to bring about regulations and practices that are antichristian in origin and procedure. An apathy to Christian matters operates, and there is a spirit of rationalism pervading the whole system and the professing church. These are means whereby the seed is snatched away. Sometimes the fields are strewn with pathways and barren patches beside the roads where the message has no entry. We may even despair in this country (Australia) but some distant fields have “fewer pathways” and there is prepared soil (good soil) and the sower is joyful over the harvest. Right now (2025) there are reports of millions being converted in Iran. I do not know any details of that yet.
It should be added that it is possible for the devil and his agents to snatch away the word from Christians also! The word of God is the good seed whether applied in preaching the gospel message, or in a teaching ministry context to Christians. Carnality and worldliness and mixed allegiances and ulterior motives will all contribute to non-effectiveness of the word among Christians.
This first group in the parable is made up of the mockers and scoffers and Christ-rejecters and can not be considered even as donning the team’s uniform to enter the field of play. That would conclude the seed wasted by the roadside.
