13:18 ¶ Then said he, Unto
what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it? 19 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a
man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and
the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it. 20 And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken
the kingdom of God? 21 It is like
leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole
was leavened. 22 And he went through the
cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.
Notice how Matthew
writes these using the phrase Kingdom of
Heaven in Matthew 13 and then note the other cross-references between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven, using only by Matthew
who also uses the Kingdom of God.
Evangelicals have often said these two phrases must refer to different things
and argue that the Kingdom of Heaven
has to refer to the physical millennium of Christ’s thousand-year reign.
However, there are plenty of references to Christ’s reign on earth before the
Great White Throne judgment of Revelation 20:11. Using cross-referencing as a
guide rather than mere opinion and denominational dogma let’s examine and
compare the two phrases.
Matthew 19:23 ¶ Then said
Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly
enter into the kingdom of heaven.
24 And again I say unto you, It is
easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to
enter into the kingdom of God.
Matthew 11:11 Verily I say
unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than
John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 And from the days of John the Baptist until
now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
With;
Luke 7:28 For I say unto
you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than
John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
…then…
Matthew 13:10 And the
disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
11 He answered and said unto them,
Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
With;
Mark 4:10 And when he was
alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable.
11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is
given to know the mystery of the kingdom
of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:
And…
Matthew 13:31 Another
parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man
took, and sowed in his field: 32 Which
indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest
among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge
in the branches thereof.
With…
Mark 4:30 And he said,
Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of
God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? 31 It is
like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than
all the seeds that be in the earth: 32
But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs,
and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under
the shadow of it.
Luke 13:18 ¶ Then said he,
Unto what is the kingdom of God
like? and whereunto shall I resemble it? 19
It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his
garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in
the branches of it.
And…
Matthew 13:33 Another
parable spake he unto them; The kingdom
of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three
measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
With…
Luke 13:20 And again he
said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom
of God? 21 It is like leaven, which
a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
[see comments on Luke
12:41-53]
And…
Matthew 18:3 And said,
Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children,
ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as
this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
With…
Mark 10:14 But when Jesus
saw it, he was much displeased,
and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them
not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever
shall not receive the kingdom of God as
a little child, he shall not enter therein.
Luke 18:16 But Jesus called
them unto him, and said, Suffer
little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. 17 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not
receive the kingdom of God as a
little child shall in no wise enter therein.
And…
Matthew 4:17 From that time
Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
With…
Mark 1:14 ¶ Now after that
John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye,
and believe the gospel.
And…
Matthew 5:3 ¶ Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven.
With…
Luke 6:20 ¶ And he lifted
up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.
A mustard tree can grow
as tall as 20 feet with a branch canopy as wide as it is tall with low branches
just above the ground. The parable of version 19 seems to be a prophecy of the
unnatural growth and temporal power of the institutional church and how the fowls of the air, notable as types of
Satan in Mark 4:4 and 15 become a part of it hiding either within its branches
or in its shadow. [see comments on Luke 12:41-53.] A possibility of the meaning
of the woman and the three measures of meal parable is found in those comments
as well.
The more positive
interpretations of these parables are that they represent the supernatural
growth of the Gospel. The woman in this interpretation is then the church, the
virgin bride of Christ. However, my opinion is that this presents some problems
when Christ uses typology like fowls of
the air and leaven, which have
negative connotations in prophecy.
Another example of this
type of reasoning is that some church traditions have the following character
as the Christian church.
Revelation 6:2 And I saw,
and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was
given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
However, Christ comes
with a sharp sword in Revelation 19:15 and the written word of God is likened
to a sword in Hebrews 4:12. Which Bible character comes with a bow?
Genesis 21:20 And God was
with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.
Who is Ishmael and who
are his spiritual descendants? Think about it. If the character in Revelation
6:2 is the Christian church representing Christ on earth, which is supposed to
have the fruit of the spirit, has no abiding country or kingdom on earth, and
is to love God and their neighbors why is he followed by war, famine, plague,
death, and Hell? You see how there are problems with that interpretation. It
sounds like whomever first came up with that interpretation of the verse in
Revelation 6 was trying to justify the extortions and murders of the institutional
church of the last two thousand years.
In Luke here, look at
the past dozens of verses. Jesus is giving warnings and negative statements,
admonitions, and making His disciples aware of some realities about their
present and the future. Just as the book of Job explains how painful reality
will be even for the most righteous Jesus’ prophetic warnings rightly divine
the events of the last two thousand years. We must remember that all reality is
a production of God’s perfect or His permissive will no matter how horrible
that reality might be. The book of Job explains that we will probably never
know why God allowed ten million Chinese to be killed by the Japanese in World
War Two, roughly the same amount of Congolese killed by the Belgians before
World War One and before or why the Holocaust was allowed to happen or why a
newborn baby has hydrochepalus and dies a horrible death. The book of Job and
other books simply teach us that as difficult as it may be we must trust God,
the hardest thing for a Christian undergoing a horror to do. He will allow what
He will allow and He will make happen what He will make happen and we have to
believe that He will make us understand His will when we are with Him in
eternity. Putting a happy face on prophecy by taking verses out of context does
not help us understand a fallen world under judgment. It certainly does not
help us interpret God’s word so we can apply it daily.
No, I believe these
prophecies, in keeping with the context, are negative.
Jesus is making His way
towards Jerusalem.
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