What Should We Expect During This Period of Time? Part II In yesterday’s post, I provided a summary of the first four parables of Matthew 13 that were taught by Messiah to everyone. Today, we cover the second four parables that were taught by Messiah to His disciples. First, I’d like to again thank and provide credit to
for his excellent insights into these parables. Detailed explanations can be found in his book titled The Coming Kingdom.
Of course, there are many different viewpoints concerning these parables. I share these particular insights because I find them quite convincing. They are now presented for your consideration and reflection.
By way of review…
The context of the Matthew 13 Parables: The Messiah’s offer of a literal kingdom to Israel has just been rejected by the national leadership of Israel. They have wrongly attributed His miracles to Satan (Matt. ). Now, the offer of the King to restore the kingdom to Israel has been postponed. Postponed, not withdrawn. After the rejection of the kingdom offer, the Messiah began to teach in parables. He wants His disciples, and believers throughout the postponement period (Mystery Age/Church Age) to know what to expect. He begins to teach them about the “mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. )
The first four parables are taught by Messiah to everyone, outside the house.
The second four parables are taught by Messiah only to the disciples, inside the house. Woods suggests that the disciples, after learning about the kingdom being postponed (ie it would not be arriving when they had hoped/expected) may have been despondent after hearing the first four parables. Therefore, Messiah takes them inside the house and gives them four more parables to encourage them.
Parable Name: Parable of the Hidden Treasure
Reference: Matt. 13:44
Main Point: Although Messiah came to purchase Israel (The Treasure), the majority of Israel will remain in unbelief throughout the mystery age. However, Israel will be regenerated at the end of the age.
Note: This parable is frequently interpreted to refer to personal salvation, whereby the treasure is the gospel, the Scriptures are the field and the man who found the treasure is an awakened sinner. But this interpretation is longing for several reasons, covered in Wood’s book, The Coming Kingdom.
Parable Name: Parable of the Priceless Pearl
Reference: Matt. 13:45
Main Point: Messiah’s death will redeem many Jewish and Gentile peoples throughout the mystery age. Evil will advance throughout the mystery age but so does God’s redemptive program.
Parable Name: Parable of the Dragnet
Reference: Matt. 13:47-50
Main Point: As also taught by the parable of the Wheat & the Tares, the mystery age will be characterized by Satan’s tares & bad fish mixing with God’s wheat and good fish. These are both present at the same time and will not be separated out until the end of the age.
Note: Although the fishermen were responsible for distinguishing between the good and bad fish, it is the angels that will do the separating at a later time (v.49).
Parable Name: Parable of the Householder
Reference: Matt. 13:51-52
Main Point: The revealed mysteries of the present age must be studied in the light of both Old Testament & New Testament truths. Only when both are considered do we get a full picture of God’s kingdom agenda. Viewing the mysteries through only the Hebrew Bible, only the New Testament or only parts of either/or, will result in an incomplete picture of the present age.
Dr. Andy Woods quote for consideration:
“Since most dispensationalists adhere to a present mystery form of the kingdom, I too was taught this kingdom now theology early on. In fact, at one point, I even embraced this idea. However, I eventually became disillusioned with the concept after discovering its origin. The idea goes back to amillennialists… accusing dispensationalists … of dividing up the Bible to such an extent that the Scripture no longer contained a unifying and overarching theme. This charge upset dispensationalists to such a degree that they set out to find a unifying theme in the Bible. The theme they settled upon was the kingdom. Thus, they sought to show the presence of the kingdom in every age or dispensation. This ambition, in turn, led them to conclude that the kingdom is present in ‘mystery form’ only (Matt. ). However, the hermeneutical danger associated with trying to make all of Scripture adhere to a predetermined theme, is that one ends up bringing a theology to the text rather than drawing a theology from the text. This explanation of the origin of the ‘mystery form of the kingdom’ concept helps explain why so many dispensationalists source the idea in Matthew 13 despite the fact that this theology is not borne out by careful exegesis of this chapter.” (Woods, 140)