 |  |
The eight parables of Matthew 13:
A | 1-9. The SOWER. | The sowing of the seed into
--\
four kinds of ground.
\
They (Israel) did not understand.
\ The first four parables
B | 24-30. The TARES. | Good and bad together.
\
spoken outside
Separated at the harvest (the end of the age);
}
the bad are cast into a furnace of fire,
/
the house
there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. /
to great multitudes.
C | 31, 32. The MUSTARD TREE. | One Tree.
/
D | 33. The LEAVEN. | Hid in three measures of meal. --/
D | 44. The TREASURE. | Hid in a field.
--\
C | 45, 46. GOODLY PEARLS. | One pearl.
\
B | 47-50. The DRAG NET. | Good and bad together.
\ The last four parables
Separated at the end of the age;
\
spoken inside
the bad are cast into a furnace of fire,
}
there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. /
the house
They (disciples) did understand.
/
to the disciples.
A | 51, 52. The SCRIBE. | The treasure opened to
/
those in the house.
--/
[NOTE.--Appendix 145 of The Companion Bible was our contribution
at the request of the Editor of that wonderful work.]
It is not our purpose to give an exposition of these parables. We content ourselves
here with their place in the testimony. One positive feature that gave added weight to this
interpretation of the parables, however, must be included.
We observed that not until the Lord was evidently rejected (Matt. 11:, 12:) did the
word "mystery" appear upon the pages of Scripture, and that it is coupled with a very
solemn quotation from Isa. 6: 10. An examination of the Acts of the Apostles shows
that as Israel in the land rejected their Messiah, so did Israel of the dispersion, and
therefore Acts 28: stands to the wider testimony as Matt. 13: does to the people of
the land. In Acts 28: Israel fail, and evidential miracles cease. This failure is
anticipated in Matt. 11: 20-24 and 13: 58. There (Acts 28:) as in Matt. 13:,
Isa. 6: 10 is solemnly quoted, and immediately after the rejection of Israel which then
took place "mystery" again follows, this time, not the mystery of the kingdom of heaven,
but the dispensation of the mystery as made known to Paul, the Lord's prisoner.
We gather from this testimony, that one of the greatest hindrances to the full
acceptance of the truth is the blinding power of tradition, that confuses kingdom with
church, and does not recognize the true place of the gospel of the kingdom in the purpose
of the ages. We commend this testimony to all who seek to know "what is the
dispensation of the mystery" (Eph. 3: 9, R.V.).