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THE MOST IMPORTANT PARABLE IN THE BIBLE (Mark 4:13)

08-28-11This message may be viewed live streaming video at www.tabernacleofmoses.org commencing at 11:00am on Sunday, and thereafter repeated 24/7 for one week; the audio and notes without video are thereafter archived.

Commentary: Dictionary synonyms of most “important”: significant, vital, imperative, central, chief, key, main, essential, principal, critical, crucial, focal, weighty, of great consequence, of great magnitude, of the essence.

THE AMPHITHEATER PRESENTATION

(Mat 13:1,2)  The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side [the “sea” is a biblical symbol of humanity]. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship [the Gospel ship, supported by the water of the word], and sat [in teaching mode]; and the whole multitude stood on the shore [in student mode].

1.      (Mat 13:9)  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

2.      Commentary: He went into a ship to achieve “better hearing,” better acoustics conveyed over water for the multitudes. May we also note that Jesus Christ, as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, figuratively sat upon a holy throne consisting of the Gospel ship and the water of the Holy Spirit, but not as King over the separated unbelieving multitudes standing on the dry shore. He is our King but not theirs.

3.      Commentary: What wonderful miracle symbolically may have happened to those few seeking persons of the multitude who undoubtedly stepped forth from the shore into the water seeking to better hear the words of Jesus, thereby manifesting their willingness to hear, and to come closer to Jesus?

4.      (1 Chr 28:9)  And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

5.      (2 Cor 8:12)  For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted [by God who sees the heart] according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.

THE WAY SIDE (the sown Word is attacked from outside of you by demonically possessed men)

(Mat 13:3,4)  And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower [a farmer] went forth to sow [Gk: scatter] [“his seed” Luke 8:5]; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side [Gk: road], and the fowls [Gk: birds] [demons, fallen angels, unclean spirits, devils] came and devoured them up [“and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved” Luke 8:12]:

1.      Commentary: “And he spake many things unto them” = Unto the great unbelieving multitudes standing upon the (dry) shore; these words purposefully indicate an absence of water, i.e., of the Holy Spirit.

2.      parables = Gk: (symbolic) fictitious narratives of common life conveying a moral: comparisons.         

3.      (Luke 8:11)  Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

4.      Commentary: “the way side” = The way side is a common road or path running between the harvest fields where the vast multitude of people walked; hence, Luke 8:5 has it “and it was trodden down…” and thereby hardened by other people, by friends, by peer groups, and by various peoples of the multitude. The additional use of the word “side” was employed to distinguish between but yet to also indicate early Christianity that was then called “The Way,” and the actual road side or way side.

5.      (Rom 12:2)  And be not conformed [Gk: fashioned alike, conformed to the same pattern] to this world: but be ye transformed [Gk: changed] by the renewing [Gk: renovation: restoration][back to Eden] of your mind [Gk: mind (in thought, feeling, or will): understanding], that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

6.      Commentary: Jesus spoke to the unsaved multitudes in the parable (tongue): “the fowls” in Mat 13:4, and “the fowls of the air” in Mark 4:4 and Luke 8:5. Jesus interpreted these references for His disciples in the parable (tongue) as “the wicked one” Mat:19, “Satan” Mark 4:15, and “the devil” Luke 8:12.

7.     (Mat 13:19)  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. [Thus Satan has gotten the victory over these.]

STONY PLACES (the sown Word is attacked from the inside of you by demons - fallen angels)

(Mat 13:5,6)  Some fell upon stony places [strong holds], where they had not much earth [softness capable of receiving the seed]: and forthwith they [the living Words (angels) of God] sprung up, because they had no deepness [Gk: profound; mystery: depth] of earth [of the recipient’s mind into to which to go]: And when the sun was up [when the consuming fire of holiness had risen], they were scorched [burned as stubble]; and because they had no root [of salvation of Jesus Christ: Rev 5:5; 22:16], they withered away [Gk: shriveled: dried up].

1.      Commentary: “stony places” = Are hard stone castles or strongholds of resistant thoughts built up and occupied by large numbers of fallen angels (demons, evil thoughts, devils), interestingly signified by an individual as “Legion” Mark 5:9, and by a group as (lower case) “the legion” Mark 5:15, most Roman legions numbering about 6,000 soldiers. This leads one to speculate that demons or fallen angels (Hebrew and Greek = messengers), are individual evil thoughts assembled together by an in-common association, that form composite evil thoughts (strong holds in the mind), which may then be manifested (articulated in words that are thought containers) as evil sentences, e.g., “Go kill your dear old grandmother,” or “Drink another cold beer.” A sentence consists of a series of connected words conveying a thought. By analogy, a sentence is like a series of connected railroad train boxcars wherein each word is a visible boxcar containing invisible or hidden thoughts. It is intended by the sender (ultimately either God or Satan) of the messengers (angels) for the hearer or reader to open each boxcar in order to acquire the meaning. The evil thoughts (messages), of course, are all derived from Satan.

2.      (2 Cor 10:3-5)  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal [Gk: fleshly], but mighty through God [i.e., spiritual] to the pulling down [Gk: demolition: destruction] of strong holds [Gk: (meaning to fortify, through the idea of holding safely); a castle (fig. an argument];) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

3.      “they sprung up” = (Heb 4:12a)  For the word of God is quick [Gk: alive], and powerful….

4.      Commentary: “not much earth” = “The God of this world” (2 Cor 4:4) has already planted his own seed and almost fully occupies the stony soil mind. This soil is an example of demonic possession that is never complete possession, but it may become almost complete at its best, because God always provides “a way to escape” (1 Cor 10:13). Witness the demoniac of the Gadarenes in the wilderness. This soil is the tight, densely packed, stony soil of the mind (heart) that is unwilling to receive the conflicting, antithetical and thereby destructive seed of God. The remaining much lesser unoccupied soil (not much earth) of the mind that is not in Satanic captivity is willing to receive the seed into itself, to embrace and hold the seed, but having “no deepness of earth,” this mind cannot sustain the seed. Predominately “stony places” minds that have professed a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ dwell continually in the exceedingly stressful state of constant inner conflict called spiritual warfare, and “dureth for a while,” (Mat 13:21), i.e., somewhat painfully endure the throes of mental conflict for a time, and then they “fall away” (Luke 8:13) from their newly found Lord. In the original Hebrew language, to “fall away” means to remove (oneself), instigate to revolt.; to desist, to desert: depart, draw (fall) away, refrain, withdraw self. Thus Satan has gotten the victory over these.

Amen

Ps. The Lord willing, we shall continue with the exegesis of “The seed is the word of God” next week by examining “among thorns” and “good ground,” and other interesting things, the Lord willing.