Jeremiah 33:3 ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’
Just recently, I had a conversation with someone about the parable Jesus taught concerning the “mustard seed sown” that later became a tree that could house nests for the birds of the air. I told them my view and things I’d read and heard were that the birds were demonic and a mustard seed becoming a “real tree” is a “freak of nature”. We had opposite opinions so before getting into the bathtub that night I prayed and said, “Lord if my understanding that the birds of the air are represented as being demonic and a mustard “tree” is a freak, give me something else to build my belief if it is correct.” The other person had said, “the verse says the kingdom of God (or heaven depending which Gospel account you read) is like ….. how can the kingdom of God be bad”? Almost instantly, after I prayed my prayer and before I even got into the tub this thought came, “the answer is in the phrase “the kingdom”.
Many times in the bible, from cover to cover, the mind of God is revealed only to certain people. Noah heard from God, believed God and he and his family acted on that belief, everyone else refused to believe and perished. When Jesus walked the earth, He did many things, and John says the whole world wouldn’t be able to contain the books if it were all written. One of the things Jesus did was teach the Word of God that had already been written so it’s principles and requirements would be known by those wanting to be part of the “Kingdom of God” and the “Kingdom of Heaven”. Some say there’s a difference between the two, others have good reasons why they are the same.
The phrases “the kingdom of God” and “the kingdom of Heaven” occur 86 times in the Textus Receptus, (Greek manuscript) of the gospels. Matthew exclusively uses the phrase “kingdom of heaven” 32 times in his gospel. The “kingdom of God” occurs 32 times in the Gospel of Luke.
The bible and Jesus say that He taught them by telling them parables, stories as an example of a principle but having a hidden meaning that only some would understand. In Matthew 13 it says this,
34 All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, 35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:
“I will open My mouth in parables;
I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.”
ALL the parables are about the mysteries of “kingdom of God and Heaven” in one way or another. Father God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit reveals understanding and revelation to whom He chooses as Jesus stated on many occasions. Check out these verses, (Matthew 11:25-27, Matthew 13:10-17, Matthew 16:17, Matthew 24:35)
The parables are told in a way to hide the deeper meaning from certain ones!!! ALL 3 accounts of certain parables repeat this!!!
First, In Matthew, when the disciples ask Him “why do you speak in parables, Jesus says this,
Matthew 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Second, Mark 4:2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said:
Later in Mark 4, Jesus tells them why He taught in parables and sternly rebukes them for Not Understanding.
10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that, “ ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’” 13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?
Third, Luke also says the disciples have to ask Jesus what the parable means but in this account Jesus doesn’t rebuke them for not understanding, He just explains it to them.
Luke 8: 9 His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, “ ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’
Everything I have written so far is to present a basis and belief that I have and a couple sermons I have heard on the topic of sin and deception in the “Kingdom of Heaven” and “Kingdom of God”. You might instantly think, “There’s NO sin or deception in God’s Kingdom!” Just read on and think about what Jesus says.
First Parable – The Seed Sown
First, Matthew 13: 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.
KJV verse 4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up.
Jesus explains, Matthew 13:18 “Therefore hear the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.
Second, Mark’s Gospel, chapter 4, in his account of this same parable, again Jesus explains that the seed is the Word about God’s kingdom, the manual to God’s Kingdom. Jesus, Himself is the “Word of God” that took on flesh to dwell among us. People are the “soil”, the dust of the earth.
Mark 4:3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.
Mark 4:14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their heart.
Third, Same parable in Luke 8, The sower in the parable is Jesus and the seed is the word of God (both Jesus’s spoken word and today the Bible). Remember, all the parables are related to the mysteries of God’s kingdom, for certain people to understand. In this account Jesus says “BIRDS” ate the seeds (Word) instead of “Satan taking it away” from the people.
Luke 8:5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed some fell by the wayside; it was trampled down, and the birds of the air ate it up.
Jesus explains it in Luke 8:11 “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the wayside are the ones who hear, then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
Notice in ALL 3 accounts of the seed sown by the wayside, the birds of the air are Satanic and rob the Word of God sown into the hearts of men. Matthew 13:18 said it’s “the Word of The Kingdom”. Jesus is saying the enemy of our souls is working against God’s Kingdom work in the earth.
In the second parable in Matthew 13 Jesus says, without mincing words that the “kingdom of heaven” has been infiltrated by the enemy. Jesus implied it when He said, “the Word is the Seed, we are the dust of the earth it’s planted into but Satan and demonic bird spirits are among us trying to snatch away the understanding of the Word of God”. Jesus will say that again in other ways before we get to the end of this discourse.
Second parable in Matthew – Tares Sown Along With The Wheat.
Matthew 13:24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field: 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
The Apostle Paul agrees we are God’s kingdom being built on earth, His field!!!
1 Corinthians 3:6, 9 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.
Third Parable in Matthew 13 – The Mustard Seed
Matthew 13:31 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: 32 which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
In three parable accounts of “seed”, ALL of the “birds of the air” are explained by Jesus to be Satanic. Why would He change the application of His metaphor and not say why? I don’t think He changed it’s meaning.
I read a lot about it and normally it’s a stretch to call it a “tree”. After multiple trips to the Holy Land, the man in this pic posted on this website what he found in a quest to find a “Mustard Tree” of biblical proportion. Can you imagine a bird “lodging,” getting shelter in this “tree”?
I also found an article on a website about “Bible Plants” addressing the parable of the Mustard Tree on this website. Reputable bible scholars, actually bible edition writers, had this to say about it.
Normal growth, or aberrant?
What did the Lord Jesus mean by this parable? Does it speak of the miraculous, Divine growth of the Kingdom of God, as many exegetes have contended? Many dispensationalist expositors on the contrary, following a line suggested by J. N. Darby (Darby Bible Translation ‘DARBY’) and C. I. Scofield (Scofield Reference Bible) , have made a strong case for a negative meaning: ‘a garden-shrub out-doing itself;’ ‘the mustard-seed shows an unnatural, an abnormal growth and the birds lodging there bring defilement. Such is Christendom with its worldly ambitions and its unsaved masses.’ ‘Christianity … becomes in the hand of man a great power on the earth.’ ‘The birds are used as a picture of evil powers, with a reference to Rev. 18:2, where Babylon is said to be a cage for every unclean and hated bird’.
Then Jesus changes things up a little and tells a parable about “bread”. Maybe it’s the crop from the seeds that grew up but again it contains something that is almost always spoken of as sin or evil in the bible as this website explains in part of it’s text below.
Q: #171. What is the significance of leaven/yeast in the Bible? By: Steve Shirley
A: Whenever leaven is mentioned in the Bible (22 times in the Old Testament and 17 times in the New Testament), it always (or almost always) represents sin or evil. The first instance in which this word is used is found in (Ex 12:15). This was just before the Passover, in which God destroyed all of the firstborn of Egypt, but spared the firstborn of Israel in the last of the 10 plagues that He visited upon Egypt.
***Note: The word “unleavened” is first used in (Gen 19:3), and is mentioned 51 times in the Old Testament and 9 times in the New Testament.
God gave instructions to Moses and Aaron that they were to command Israel to celebrate this Passover each year “throughout your generations” with a feast. This feast, called the “Feast of Unleavened Bread” followed the Passover day (the 14th day of the 1st month on the Jewish calendar). It lasted 7 days. During the first day of this week, they were commanded to remove all leaven from their houses. In addition, they were not to eat any bread which contained leaven for the whole week.
Just as most things in the Old Testament point to Jesus, the “unleavened bread” does as well. In the New Testament, Jesus referred to Himself as the “Bread of Life” (Jn 6:22-59). He was, of course, also without sin (1 Jn 3:5)(2 Cor 5:21)(Heb 4:15)(1 Pet 2:22). Because leaven is equated with sin throughout the Bible, the “unleavened bread” pictured bread (Jesus) without sin in it. In addition, a “blood sacrifice” (the blood also represented Jesus in the Old Testament: Heb 9:11-28, Heb 10:11-25) was not to be offered with leavened bread (Ex 23:18)(Ex 34:25).
Now for Jesus’ parable of “leaven” in Matthew 13 that follows the one about the “wheat and the tares”,
Matthew 13:33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
When you go to eat a beautiful loaf of leavened bread, so high and fluffy looking and you tear it open, what exactly do you have? You have a bunch of Hot Air, Not much substance, It’s Full of Hollow Spots. A large but hollow loaf of bread like the mustard seed that morphs into an unusually large tree, a freak of nature, is like some of the mega churches today, a lot of hype, glitzy productions for entertainment and hot air. Holy Spirit inspired manna for that day may be uncommon at their services. Maybe because like Elvis, “the spirit has left the building” and the leaders don’t have a clue it’s gone.
In the book of Ezekiel, God parks His chariot on the south side of the temple, eventually the Spirit of God departed the temple of God on earth but the priest continued to perform their daily ceremonies never noticing the Spirit was gone.
Ezekiel 10:1-3, 18-19 And I looked, and there in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim, there appeared something like a sapphire stone, having the appearance of the likeness of a throne. 2 Then He spoke to the man clothed with linen, and said, “Go in among the wheels, under the cherub, fill your hands with coals of fire from among the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.” And he went in as I watched. 3 Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple when the man went in, and the cloud filled the inner court.
18 Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim. 19 And the cherubim lifted their wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight. When they went out, the wheels were beside them; and they stood at the door of the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.
Ezekiel 11:22 So the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was high above them. 23 And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain, which is on the east side of the city.
In the New Testament, Jesus said,
Matthew 21:12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, 13 And said unto them, It is written, MY HOUSE shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
But later in Matthew 22, after Jesus has told the parables of the “Wicked Tenants” then the parable of “The Banquet” that those who were invited refused to attend, then followed by Matthew 23 and ALL the “Woes to Scribes and Pharisees” Jesus says this,
Matthew 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 38 Behold, YOUR HOUSE is left unto you desolate. 39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Did you get that, Jesus went from saying “My House” to “your house” just before He was crucified about 33a.d. Just as Jesus prophesied, the temple was destroyed in 70a.d. with not one stone left upon another along with Jerusalem. That means for about 37 years, the prophets and priest continued going through the motions of temple service, never noticing like in Ezekiel’s time that the presence of God had departed.
The Jewish people as a whole have still not said, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” And for almost 2,000 years, from 70a.d. until about 70 years ago Israel and Jerusalem did not exist as a Jewish state or nation, just like it was prophesied in the bible.
Folks, we are the generation that Jesus spoke of in the bible and that was prophesied about by so many, of those that would see the coming of the Son of Man in the clouds. The most important and first directive Jesus gave to His followers after leaving the temple and all these parables and woes was this, “Take heed that NO Man Deceive you,” and it wasn’t in the form of a parable.
Matthew 24:1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man DECEIVE you.
False Christs
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall DECEIVE many. 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
10 And then many will be offended, Will BETRAY one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then Many FALSE Prophets will rise up and DECEIVE many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And THIS Gospel of THE KINGDOM will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
23 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. 24 For FALSE Christs and FALSE Prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to DECEIVE, if possible, EVEN the Elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand.
If Satan or one of his demons appeared to you still smoking from the fires of hell, in full view of their horns, pitchfork and stench, or one of his minions, Could you, Would you be DECEIVED? I don’t think so. But if they appeared “As An Angel of Light” what then? Isn’t that the embodiment of the “wheat and tare” parable that Jesus prefaces with “the kingdom of heaven is like” (Matt. 13:24). Jesus has just said DECEIVE and FALSE a total of SEVEN times. Didn’t Jesus just say where the gospel of the kingdom of God and heaven is preached it will have been infiltrated by imposters?
I too had a problem understanding the first time I’d heard this concept in a bible verse saying, “the kingdom of God and heaven is like,” something that’s been corrupted and is still corrupted today. Jesus’ parables teach it, the evidence is all around us, it’s even in the news occasionally. Infiltration by the enemy is a real concern of Jesus, Mark, John, Peter and others in the New Testament. Don’t forget, after a 1,000 years of being with God in heaven the bible also says this,
Revelation 20: 7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to DECEIVE the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.
Repeated Types & Shadows In God’s Word Should Teach Us
When Jesus departed the temple and called it YOUR HOUSE He crossed the Kidron Valley and went sit on the Mount of Olives. That’s where Ezekiel said the Holy Spirit went after it finally and fully departed the temple. The Benson commentary on Ezekiel 11:23 gives a profound insight into God’s Mercy, Grace and desire that the people of Israel would repent by slowly withdrawing Himself from the temple in stages,
Benson – It deserves to be observed here, that God did not quit the temple and city all at once, but by little and little. The cloud of his presence was first withdrawn from the mercy-seat in the holy of holies, the usual place of its residence, and removed to the threshold of the house, (Ezekiel 9:1,) where it remained some time waiting for their repentance. Its second remove was from this threshold, leaving the house altogether, to settle upon the cherubim, which were hovering over the court, and upon the wing to depart, Ezekiel 10:18. It then, with these angelic ministers of the divine will, and the accompanying wheels of providence, withdrew to the east gate of the inner court, Ezekiel 10:19. And now at last it quits Jerusalem altogether, and fixes itself upon the mountain on the east side of the city. By withdrawing himself from his people by slow degrees, God gave them time for consideration and repentance, to which each remove of the Shechinah was a fresh and solemn call, and he thus also manifested with what reluctance he entirely abandoned the seed of Abraham his friend. And even his causing the symbol of his presence, before his final departure, to take its station on the mount of Olives, where it was, as it were, within call, and ready to return, if now at length in this their day they would have understood the things that made for their peace, was a further manifestation of grace as well as of justice; for while the cloud of glory lingered there, it gave fresh encouragement to them to repent,
Ever so slowly the Holy Spirit move away from where it desired to be, with the “seed of Abraham” His friend. Hoping, maybe they will come to their senses and “repent.”
Acts 17:30 KJVS
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
Don’t be deceived by the Satanic birds that whisper the things you love to hear in your ear or the ones that are so pretty to look upon or to lust after all their prosperity. They are on a mission for your soul by the enemy. Get rid of the leaven in your life and seek God with all your heart. Just maybe He will let you find Him and He’ll help you find the hidden leaven in you heart so you can do what Jesus said is possible for everyone who believers and follows His manual for the “Kingdom of God” and the “Kingdom of Heaven”.
Jesus explains it in Luke 8:11 “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the wayside are the ones who hear, then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, Lest They SHOULD BELIEVE and Be SAVED.
Mark 4:10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that, “ ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; Otherwise They MIGHT TURN and Be Forgiven!’” 13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?
Where does ANY true understanding or revelation of the Word of God come from?
Matthew 16:15-17 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
In The Word 