Bible Study on Matthew 13, verses 24 to 43, good seed and bad

 

Matthew 13:24 ¶  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25  But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26  But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27  So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28  He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29  But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 30  Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. 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. 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. 34  All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: 35  That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world. 36  Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. 37  He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; 38  The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; 39  The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. 40  As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 41  The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 42  And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43  Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

 

This passage begins with the tares and the wheat but these parables are linked if we think of the age of the Christian church. The Devil has planted false Christians in the church and I doubt many of them know they are fake any more than Judas will know he is a devil, according to Christ in John 6:70.

 

The institutional church will grow amazingly large but birds of the air, likened to the Devil in the previous passage contrasting verse 4 with verse 19, will lodge in its uppermost branches, the height of authority.

 

The woman, think of the whore of Babylon in Revelation, uses leaven, considered false doctrine in Matthew 16 coming up, in three measures of meal, representing the three great branches of Christianity, perhaps, the Roman Catholic Church, the Greek Orthodox Church, and Protestantism which controlled governments or were controlled by them, waged wars, bought and sold slaves, and murdered non-conforming Christians throughout history, spreading false doctrines and deceit around.

 

Of course, this is my interpretation from studying history and comparing it with the Bible but it seems so plausible as a warning of what is to come.

 

For these disciples, however, they are a mystery that only the Holy Ghost can unlock for them and they say they understand in the next passage.

Bible Study on Genesis 44, verses 1 to 17, a dilemma for the brothers of Joseph

 

Genesis 44:1 ¶  And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth. 2  And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken. 3  As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses. 4  And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good? 5  Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing. 6  And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these same words. 7  And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing: 8  Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold? 9  With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord’s bondmen. 10  And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless. 11  Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack. 12  And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 13  Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city. 14  And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house; for he was yet there: and they fell before him on the ground. 15  And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine? 16  And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found. 17  And he said, God forbid that I should do so: but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace unto your father.

Joseph sets the brothers up yet again for a shock by not only filling them with food and wine and also giving them provisions for their return journey, but then placing a special silver cup in the sack of Benjamin. All of the men’s money was returned again to them.

This silver cup, which it is said that Joseph used to drink from and to divine with has some special significance. It was common for nobility in the ancient world to use cups for the purposes of divining the will of the spiritual world. Several sources attest to this. The same instrument used by the pagan was also used by the people of God before the Law was given and after to divine God’s will. As an example the casting of lots takes place many times to divine God’s will because, unlike we today who believe heavily in randomness and luck based on randomness, the ancients believed that there was a point to everything even if humans were unable to discern it. Just type in the word lots in a computer concordance or look it up.

Divining was used to try to understand that plan or the intention of spiritual entities; gods, devils, and, in the sense of the people of God, His will. If you believe that no flip of the coin results from chance and that God is in control of all reality and events then this becomes easier to understand although its purpose may be truly ungodly and an abomination based on intent. Judging from Joseph’s character and his close relationship with God, being used by Him, I am confident that Joseph was not seeking answers from devils, pagan entities, but from God alone.

In this bit of deception, as you read, Joseph accuses them of stealing his cup in order to bring them back to him. Now, Joseph states that he is going to keep Benjamin as a servant, even though Judah offered all of them as Joseph’s servants, and they can go back to their father.

Bible Study on Matthew 13, verses 1 to 23, Jesus speaks in parables

 

Matthew 13:1 ¶  The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. 2  And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. 3  And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 4  And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: 5  Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: 6  And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7  And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 8  But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. 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. 12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 15  For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. 17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. 18  Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. 19  When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. 20  But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; 21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. 22  He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. 23  But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

 

I am not going to expound on these parables much here but to make a few comments on each passage. I will save a more detailed exposition for another time. This is a curious passage. Jesus gives parables to the multitudes who cannot understand them. He explains the parables to his Apostles. The reasoning for doing this is based in Isaiah.

 

Isaiah 6:9 ¶  And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10  Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

 

This should give us pause. There are clearly things stated in the Bible that we should understand but don’t because of our spiritual state. Perhaps this gives us a clue to difficult prophecies. It is our sorry spiritual state that keeps us from understanding and allows unscrupulous preachers to fill our heads with their own agenda.

 

The words of God in this parable have different effects based on the spiritual state of the people it falls upon. Christ makes it plain that this is so, so this is not a contradiction of the following verse from the Old Testament;

 

Isaiah 55:11  So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

 

The verse in Isaiah is not about passing out gospel tracts and Jesus makes it clear here that the words of God have little effect on certain types of people.

 

But in the end it is made apparent that the word of God does bear fruit in people who hear it and understand it, having their hearts prepared. God has dealt varying measures of faith to different people as shown in the following;

 

Romans 12:3  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

 

We are not robots and we are all different. But with a heart that seeks God’s truth we can all be blessed by His words.

A Psalm for Sunday, Psalm 68, verses 32 to 35, Sing unto God

 

Psalm 68:32 ¶  Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth; O sing praises unto the Lord; Selah: 33  To him that rideth upon the heavens of heavens, which were of old; lo, he doth send out his voice, and that a mighty voice. 34  Ascribe ye strength unto God: his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds. 35  O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God.

 

In the previous Psalm we had this;

 

Psalm 67:3  Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. 4  O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah. 5  Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.

 

God’s voice is mighty inasmuch as He spake the physical universe into existence. Think of Psalm 29.

 

Psalm 29:1 ¶  «A Psalm of David.» Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength. 2  Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. 3  The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters. 4  The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. 5  The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. 6  He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn. 7  The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire. 8  The voice of the LORD shaketh

the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh. 9  The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory. 10  The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever. 11  The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.

 

God’s mighty voice has reached millions for Christ and they are His. His judgment will terrify a lost world. And yet there will come a time when all of heaven and earth will sing praises to God with reverence to Christ. In the end there will be a multitude of voices praising God.

 

Revelation 19:5 ¶  And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. 6  And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

 

Bible Study on Matthew 12, verses 46 to 50, Behold my mother and my brethren!

 

Matthew 12:46 ¶  While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. 47  Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. 48  But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? 49  And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! 50  For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

 

Notice here that Jesus is not rejecting his mother and brothers but is making the claim that His greater family consists of those who obey Him. Remember how hate was used in Luke?

 

Luke 14:25 ¶  And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,

26  If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. 27  And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 28  For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? 29  Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, 30  Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. 31  Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? 32  Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. 33  So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

 

Now remember back in chapter 10 of Matthew;

 

Matthew 10:37  He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

 

By comparing passages that express the same or similar sentiment we can determine the meaning of passages that are difficult for us. Clearly, to hate, in this context, is to hold one in lower regard than one would reasonably expect rather than to hold in contempt, to despise, to abhor, and reject as in other contexts. You cannot properly interpret the Bible without cross-referencing. Any version that destroys the cross-referencing traits of the Bible should be dismissed outright. If we believe that the Bible was given by inspiration as it says it was, that the Holy Spirit had a hand in translations and copies, then we must understand that the ultimate author was God Himself and in order to understand a word or phrase we need to look within the text itself.

 

It is important, I think, to consider a common-sense view of Jesus’ words in light of the clear admonitions of the entire Bible. We do not reject our families. That is not called for. Jesus is making a point about the kingdom of Heaven and God here, not banning His human family from His presence.

Bible Study on Isaiah 1, verses 2 to 9, Ah sinful nation

 

Isaiah 1:2 ¶  Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. 3  The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. 4  Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. 5  Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 6  From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. 7  Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. 8  And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. 9  Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

Compare Isaiah 1:2 with Genesis in the creation of heaven and earth and the establishment of the children of Israel, who will rebel against God. Think of Adam and Eve as God’s children as mankind rebels against God. There are other connections between Isaiah, chapter 1 and Genesis if you will look for them.

Isaiah is speaking for God, from God, and what is to follow is an important pronouncement.

Deuteronomy 32:1 ¶  Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

The Jews were specifically God’s children and they rebelled against Him in their idolatry. Remember what He had said under the Law given to Moses.

Deuteronomy 21:18 ¶  If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: 19  Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; 20  And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. 21  And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

John Gill quotes a Targum, the Jewish understanding and paraphrase of what the Old Testament, their Bible, meant, in saying that specifically the Jews rebelled against the Word of God, that part of the Godhead by which everything was created, who Christians acknowledge as the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

And so, Israel, unlike even a domestic animal, doesn’t know their place or their owner, their master. Israel was a sinful nation, doing what it was not called to do, rebelling against God.

Deuteronomy 7:6  For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

The indictment against Israel is terrible. They are full of sin, corrupters of others, and have turned their backs on the God who created them, provoking Him to anger.

From verse 5 on Isaiah pleads with them to see how low their apostasy has brought them and to realize why they are suffering so horribly. Do you not see what you’ve done and why you are suffering?

In verse 8 references are made to a cottage in a vineyard or a lodge in a garden of cucumbers. These were small booths where the farmer would stay to keep others from stealing his produce according to John Gill, quoting Jewish sources. They were lonely sentinels and there was no one around them to talk to or to help them keep intruders away. Jerusalem was cut off from other besieged cities, many of them destroyed, and like the lonely farmer had no one to go to for help because they had denied their only help, the Lord God.

Bible Study on Matthew 12, verses 38 to 45, this wicked generation

 

Matthew 12:38 ¶  Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. 39  But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 40  For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41  The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. 42  The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. 43  When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 44  Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. 45  Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

 

Here Jesus speaks of His impending death and resurrection as the only sign the Pharisees will get, a sign most of them will reject.

Verse 40 presents the modern man and woman with a dilemma. A whale is a large sea creature and can be what we today would call a mammal or it can be one of the many types of fish we observe. The scientific classifications of mammal and reptile came after the Bible was written and are purely man’s way of categorizing animals as the word mammal once had to do with the breast and a reptile was any creeping or crawling thing, not just a snake, but included an earthworm. Comparing Jonah 1:17 to verse 40 here and then being appalled that the fish in Jonah is called a whale here is a sign of the mental sickness of modernism. Look at not only what words mean but when did they come to mean that. This is a very important thing in Biblical interpretation and understanding.

Verse 41 is also a reference to the events of the book of Jonah.

For verse 42 consider;

1Kings 10:1 ¶  And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions. 2  And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. 3  And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not. 4  And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon’s wisdom, and the house that he had built, 5  And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of

his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her. 6  And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. 7  Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. 8  Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom. 9  Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the LORD loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice. 10  And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon. 11  And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones. 12  And the king made of the almug trees

pillars for the house of the LORD, and for the king’s house, harps also and psalteries for singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day. 13  And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

 

Here is another modern interpretation problem. Matthew says the Queen of Sheba came from the uttermost parts of the earth. Modernism says that could mean as far away as South America or perhaps Siberia but this just means a long, long way off. Sheba or Sabea, was said to be in modern day Yemen in Southern Arabia by some authorities. We have to be careful when taking some Bible phrases too literally, confusing us or making the Bible contradict itself when there is no contradiction.  Hyperbole is not exact but just as the stars of heaven for multitude does not mean that there were that many Israelites but merely a vast number of them.

 

Jesus makes this statement to the Jewish nation and religious elite that their state is like a man who was delivered of an evil spirit only to find themselves possessed many more times by even worse spirits because of that nation and that religious elite’s rejection of their messiah. If you think you had it bad before just wait until you see what happens.

 

This can also be a warning to the church not to turn their back on the doctrines they’ve been given by God to follow after worldly pursuits of big numbers, big donations, and big churches lest the state of those people be worse than when they started. It can also be a warning to us to not turn back to the sin from which we’ve been delivered lest we have it ten times worse than we did in the beginning. There are a lot of good sermon possibilities from this.