Parable -- Seed

(14/02/2003)

Our nation is in full swing at this time preparing for the unknown. America and Great Britain are determined to bring down the government of Iraq and disarm that nation (at least of its weapons of mass destruction). This present situation has been analyzed from every imaginable angle. YHVH’s Spirit of Holiness, however, continues to prompt this one little question from Peter: “What kind of people aught we to be?” (ref. 2 Peter 3:11). By this time we should not be surprised by wars and rumors of wars, nor should our hearts be troubled. YHVH has not changed His plan for His people Israel and Judah. As a matter of fact, I just read an article on Bush and Sharon, who are said to be bosom buddies since 9/11, and with the Israeli Ilan Ramon on board the ill-fated space shuttle Columbia, their two nations have been brought together as never before. Are we experiencing the jealousy of Ephraim departing, and are we about to see the enemies of Judah being cut off (ref. Isa. 11:13)? When we understand biblical prophecy and view it from revelation- knowledge (in this case, the ‘two house plan’), our prayer can become a statement of fact and faith, and not just a hopeful plea.

These past few weeks, upon being confronted about the validity of the two houses or two sticks “theory” (as some put it), the Father prompted me to respond to the challenge of the danger of apostasy and divisiveness, which it supposedly presents, with various parables of the “sower”.
“And He said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.’ Then He said, ‘to what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.’ And with many such parables He spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples” (Mark 4:26-34).

When YHVH made the covenant with Abraham, He spoke the anointing of His Word into the life of that forefather, and then swore by His own name to remain faithful to him and to that Word. In the parable, just preceding the one quoted above, Yeshua explains that the seed that is sown is the Word. In the case of the covenant with our forefathers, YHVH’s Word/seed fell upon human seed , that is, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. YHVH promises to multiply and to sow that anointed (mashiach) seed into the earth, and sometime in the future also to harvest it. Remember the seed principle? No matter how many seeds one has, if it is of the same parent plant it will always be a singular “seed”. If a farmer, for example, sows wheat in his field, when the harvest comes he will (hopefully) reap a hundred fold of that same seed (singular).

Another parable tells about an enemy who sowed his seeds in a field, along the seed sown by the husbandman (ref. Matt. 13:24). These two different seeds grew together, but it was not until the harvest that the farmer could do anything about the plant that grew from the other seed. YHVH knows what seed He planted in the fields of this earth; it is the same one that has the life that came from the ‘father plant’, that is, “Abraham”.

Paul phrases this idea in simple words, “Abraham is the father of all those who have the faith (ref. Rom. 4:16). Then again, in his Letter to the Galatians he says that all those who are in Messiah are of the seed of Abraham (ref. Gal. 3:29). Paul wants us to know that it is those who are of the faith who are sons of Abraham (Gal. 3:7), for there is no way to be in Messiah except through that faith. Perhaps this is why in the Letter to the Hebrews, the writer states that YHVH only gives help to the seed of Abraham (ref. Heb. 2:16). Yeshua points directly, in almost all of His parables, to the order of His Father’s kingdom on earth. He knows who the pearl of great price is, or the treasure that is hidden in the field.

What is always amazing to me, is that we somehow try to use scriptures to back up our particular doctrines or beliefs, rather than allowing the scriptures to interpret themselves. We know that YHVH is fulfilling His Word to those that He had originally spoken it to, and that He is doing it in the way He had originally planned. Speaking to the whole House of Israel, in Ezekiel 37 for example, He tells the dry bones to come up out of their graves and to stand on their feet. He then infuses them with His breath, so that they may live. Is this not what has happened to us, who have received the “breath” or “Spirit of Holiness”? Did we not come alive with this breath? Were we not in our graves of “sin and death”? So how is it that we do not understand that those scriptures are pointing directly at us, as the “whole house of Israel”? We must stop twisting the Word of God to support our religious convictions, and let the Word speak for itself. We see through a glass darkly, yes, but when we shall see Him, Yeshua the Word, we will be known as we are known, for He is the kinsman redeemer of Israel. 14/02/2003