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HOUSMAIL HM#025
30 April 1999 THE BIRDS OF THE AIR Matthew 13:3-4,
18-19 "He told
them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. And as
he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured
them ..... Hear then the
parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not
understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in his
heart; this is what was sown along the path." In
the Parable of the Sower, Jesus explained that the seed stands as a symbol of
the GOSPEL - "The Word of the Kingdom". (Matthew 13:19) This
"Word of the Kingdom" is sown in the HEARTS of those who hear. Alas
..... Many who hear this Word, have hearts as hard and impenetrable as a well-trodden
pathway. In such hearts the Gospel Seed remains useless on the surface,
without ever taking root. The
"Word of the Kingdom" is simply not UNDERSTOOD at all, by hard
hearted people. (Matthew 13:18) Without understanding, it cannot take root, and it is easily
snatched away by "The Birds of the Air". And
when the "Word of the Kingdom" has been devoured by "The Birds
of the Air", there is nothing left to understand, nothing to believe, no
hope of salvation. JESUS
DID NOT TELL THIS PARABLE FOR HARD HEARTED PEOPLE! It will not help them at
all! Nor did He tell it to encourage us to become judges of the hard hearted!
Instead, He told it for the benefit of those who want to UNDERSTAND so that
they themselves can believe .... and be saved. Jesus
explained that "The Birds of the Air", stand as a symbol for
"the evil one". (Matthew 13:19) And we note that instead of "the evil one" Mark 4:15 uses
"Satan", and Luke 8:12 uses "The Devil". However,
we have not taken notice of that point merely to be distracted by the usual
question about the identity and origin of this "evil one"! That
side track discussion would detract from the REAL POINT of this part of the
parable. (And I suspect that discussion too easily becomes one of the tools
by which the "Word of the Kingdom" is snatched away!) What
we need to do is look at the basic MEANING of the words "Devil" and
"Satan". These meanings describe the METHODS used to snatch away
the Word of the Kingdom. It is those we must learn to recognise, and resist,
if we are to progress beyond hearing, to UNDERSTANDING and BELIEVING of
"The Word of the Kingdom". It is for us who desperately want to
understand, that Jesus included this section of the Parable. In
Greek, "satan" means "adversary"; "devil" means
"accuser", "slanderer". That
is how "The Birds of the Air" work to snatch away the Gospel from
hard hearted hearers. Whenever the REAL Gospel is preached, you can almost
guarantee that the "birds" will soon appear on the scene, pecking
away at the "seed"! Agents of the "evil one" oppose the
REAL "Word of the Kingdom" by substituting their own different
version of the Gospel! And Jesus is slandered and falsely accused, when His
REAL teaching is FALSELY REPORTED! One
of the most common forms in which this is encountered, is the modern Gospel
which is no longer "The Word of the Kingdom", because it either
subtly distorts the meaning of the Kingdom, or else does not mention the
Kingdom at all! And a different HOPE is substituted! And forgiveness for sin
is offered on different conditions! In parallel with those counterfeits, the
teaching of Jesus about the way of life that pleases God is manipulated, or
explained away, until it becomes something else! There
is one more thing about these "Birds of the Air". I do not believe
that it is any mere coincidence that Luke also used that same phrase in the
other parable about the "Mustard Seed". (Luke 13:19) We must expect to
find "The Birds of the Air" taking shelter in the Church! ....
disguised as "Servants of Righteousness". (2 Corinthians 11:15) Of
course, there is ONE OBVIOUS CONCLUSION which we must take to heart: "Believing"
the wrong "gospel" is NOT believing at all. And "obeying"
the wrong commandments is NOT obedience at all! Both combine to lead to
eternal destruction. We
must be VERY careful to exercise proper discernment about what we hear, lest
we ourselves become numbered amongst the hard hearted who neither understand
nor believe. We must prayerfully search the scriptures asking for WISDOM TO UNDERSTAND.
(James 1:5-6)
And we are responsible before God for the honesty of our search. Only an
honest heart, truly dedicated to searching for God, and prepared to settle
for nothing less than TRUTH, will know WHAT TO BELIEVE in order to OBEY the
REAL Gospel and be SAVED. John
tells us that there are many FALSE prophets abroad, who speak from the
viewpoint of the world. (1 John 4:1,5 NIV) When we hear from "prophets" who claim to speak
for Jesus, we must learn to "TEST EVERYTHING. Hold on to the GOOD. Avoid
EVERY kind of evil". (1Thessalonians 5:21-22 NIV) By
prayerful and regular personal use of the WORD OF GOD, we must learn to guard
our own hearts from "The Birds of the Air". Allon |