The Kingdom of Heaven Parables. (Matt. 13)
`Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers,....` (Rom. 15: 8)
When Jesus was manifest as a man He came to Israel to confirm those promises and He did so in parables. This was so that only those seeking God would understand.
In Matthew`s gospel we read of the `kingdom of heaven parables.` These refer to the Lord`s rule through Israel in the millennium and beyond.
Let us just focus on the Matthew chapter 13 parables as a unit. Each of the parables give a picture from the Old Testament of some important detail of God`s Rule through Israel. It was called `the kingdom (rule) of heaven.`
The Prophet Daniel presented this as `the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed.` (Dan. 2: 44) The phrase, `the kingdom of heaven` is short for that.
This (heavenly) Rule of God was to be Righteous, Universal and with His Authority.
1. God`s Righteous Character.
God made the foundation of the kingdom/rule of heaven of His character - righteous. To be righteous, people had to receive the word of the kingdom rule by faith and obey God.
The Seed - This illustrates how people either received God`s promises of His (heavenly) rulership through Israel, or they didn`t. Jesus quotes Isa. 6: 9 & 10, Matt. 13: 14 & 15.
`And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: `Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the heart of this people has grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eye and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their heart and turn , so that I should heal them.` (Matt. 13: 14 & 15)
`And he said, “Go, and tell this people: `Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.`
Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their heart, and return and be healed.` (Isa. 6: 9 & 10)
Those who did receive God`s promises of His rulership through Israel, and understood it were made righteous and went on to produce fruit.
The Wheat and Tares - This is a picture of what will happen at the end of the age. The righteous will shine forth as the sun, and the unrighteous will be taken away into the Lake of fire. (Matt. 13: 41 - 43, Dan. 12: 1 - 3)
`The Son of man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father.`(Matt. 13: 41 - 4)
`And at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament,...` (Dan. 12: 1 - 3)
`Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers,....` (Rom. 15: 8)
When Jesus was manifest as a man He came to Israel to confirm those promises and He did so in parables. This was so that only those seeking God would understand.
In Matthew`s gospel we read of the `kingdom of heaven parables.` These refer to the Lord`s rule through Israel in the millennium and beyond.
Let us just focus on the Matthew chapter 13 parables as a unit. Each of the parables give a picture from the Old Testament of some important detail of God`s Rule through Israel. It was called `the kingdom (rule) of heaven.`
The Prophet Daniel presented this as `the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed.` (Dan. 2: 44) The phrase, `the kingdom of heaven` is short for that.
This (heavenly) Rule of God was to be Righteous, Universal and with His Authority.
1. God`s Righteous Character.
God made the foundation of the kingdom/rule of heaven of His character - righteous. To be righteous, people had to receive the word of the kingdom rule by faith and obey God.
The Seed - This illustrates how people either received God`s promises of His (heavenly) rulership through Israel, or they didn`t. Jesus quotes Isa. 6: 9 & 10, Matt. 13: 14 & 15.
`And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: `Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the heart of this people has grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eye and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their heart and turn , so that I should heal them.` (Matt. 13: 14 & 15)
`And he said, “Go, and tell this people: `Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.`
Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their heart, and return and be healed.` (Isa. 6: 9 & 10)
Those who did receive God`s promises of His rulership through Israel, and understood it were made righteous and went on to produce fruit.
The Wheat and Tares - This is a picture of what will happen at the end of the age. The righteous will shine forth as the sun, and the unrighteous will be taken away into the Lake of fire. (Matt. 13: 41 - 43, Dan. 12: 1 - 3)
`The Son of man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father.`(Matt. 13: 41 - 4)
`And at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament,...` (Dan. 12: 1 - 3)
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