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Here you have wheat typifying the sons of the kingdom, and dewan the sons of the
wicked one:--
"The enemy that sowed them is the devil . . . . . They shall gather out of His kingdom
all things that offend (the word offence refers to traps set to catch the unwary, the first
trap being set in the garden of Eden itself by this enemy), and them that do lawlessness,
and shall cast them into a furnace of fire" (Matt. 13: 39-42).
Will you note at this point that the words of the parable, "bind them in bundles to burn
them", are interpreted as a literal furnace of fire? It is difficult to see how this fire can in
any sense eventuate in reconciliation, but that is not our immediate concern. There is an
expression here which I translated "them that do lawlessness" (verse 41).
(To be continued).
#2.
(contd.).
The Two Seeds, The Master Key.
pp. 129 - 144
Lawlessness and Satan's mystery.
A.--Yes, I noticed it at the time. Has that some special significance?
B.--In Matt. 7: 23 the Lord says:--
"Then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me ye that work
lawlessness."
and Matt. 13: 41 speaks of "them that do lawlessness".
In Matt. 23: 28 those to whom the Lord's "woe unto you" is addressed are said
to be "full of hypocrisy and lawlessness", and these are further addressed in
verse 32 and 33:--
"Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers, ye serpents, ye progeny of vipers. How
can ye escape the judgment of Gehenna?"
Compare this with the "tares". Matt. 24: 12 says:--
"Because lawlessness shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold."
Here are all the occurrences of "lawlessness" in Matthew, and they appear to refer to
some one definite thing, and not to the sins and shortcomings of men in general. We
must reserve judgment on this until we examine "the mystery of lawlessness" itself.
Meanwhile we will turn to I John 3: In the fourth verse we read, "for sin is the
transgression of the law", literally "the sin is the lawlessness".