PARABLES AND THEIR MEANINGS

The Parable of the Sower

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 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. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.” (Matthew 13:1-10)

It is most interesting that the development of Jewish society parallels God’s revelations of Himself throughout Old Testament Israel. For God has always revealed Himself, then and now, in a way that people can understand. As the agricultural system upon which Jewish society was based developed, so God revealed His character and purposes in deeper ways. Like many things in God, there are three distinct time periods of revelation. Amazingly, these are split by two approximate 400 year Gaps in Bible recording, the transition periods between the three. So let's investigate.

The Patriarchs, from Adam through Abraham and Isaac to Jacob (To the end of the Book of Genesis) lived primarily in nomadic family groupings, moving from one place to another as the grass in each area necessary for feeding their animals was exhausted. Some cropping was done by the time of Abraham. So presumably, they were able to stay in the one area long enough over the winter season when both grass and crops would grow in the cooler and wetter conditions.

This society operated under the very basic spiritual revelation of the Melchizedek priesthood, which we know very little about. Information had to be passed down the generations orally, so limiting its transfer. However, throughout that time, God built the foundations of what was to come later. In particular, He established one family, fathered by Abraham, as His chosen people. Because of the nomadic nature of the lifestyle, families would split up and go their own way in order to survive on the pasture available. Therefore, during this period, only one member of each succeeding generation retained the family ‘spiritual inheritance’. So by the time of Jacob ‘Gods chosen race’ only consisted of 70 people. Through the favour of the Pharaoh, as a reward for the work of Jacob’s long lost son Joseph, the family was allowed to settle in Egypt during a time of famine in their usual homeland of Palestine. Her they settled for approximately 400 years.

The Bible records virtually nothing about the 400 odd years the people spent in Egypt. It is simply silent. But this period saw huge developments in Jewish Society that would afterwards see God reveal, and man record, a far more detailed picture of His nature and plans for mankind. This was not simply ‘chance’, for there was another similar gap during a further tumultuous period of change, before God's final revelation of Himself through Jesus. Quite incredible, really!

Because of his huge gratitude to Joseph, the Pharaoh allocated the most fertile grassland area of Egypt to Jacob's family to graze their stock. They soon learned too, from their Egyptian hosts, the principles of growing annual and permanent crops. Made possible because of the reliable water flows of the huge River Nile, used for irrigation during dry periods. Because of this combination of fertile ground and abundance of water, the people became prosperous and rapidly multiplied in number.

Family wise too, this represented a big change, for towns could now be built and the people lived together in much closer proximity. So the ‘chosen race’ went from being a single-family unit under the nomadic system, to now include all the extended family. Over four centuries their numbers grew into the millions and became a significant population and even more powerful economic force, in Egypt.

As feeding themselves became easier, the Jews had time to learn trades from the more developed Egyptians. These skills would enable them to build the Tabernacle of Moses and later Solomon's Temple, creating a powerful country, once they were released.

But first, during their time wandering in the desert, they had to totally rely upon God’s provision to survive, becoming the reason why so many wanted to return to Egypt. But once they crossed the River Jordan and entered the ‘Promised Land’, a land ‘flowing with milk and honey’ (because of fertile soils) the farming methods they had learned in Egypt could once again be used. But now there was a difference. Here they had to rely upon the Lord, rather than the Nile, to water their crops.

The scene was now set for God to reveal Himself to His chosen people in a way that still has huge importance to, and impact upon us today. The simple fact that Moses could record the 10 Commandments and the Law enabled it to be passed down the generations, which even today, has a big, if reducing influence on most countries legal systems. The details of the Tabernacle, God’s first church, provide a revelation of how we are to live our lives today and show the pattern of His church, past, present and future.

As the people now had the ability to read and write, God was able to disclose far more detail of Himself and His plans than before, knowing that it would be accurately recorded for the generations to come. The people too, because of their more settled lifestyle, had both the resources and a little more time to devote to discovering more about, and worshiping their God.

So as Israel came to gradually settle the Promised Land, they had already acquired the technical and spiritual knowledge and resources necessary to organize and administer the major regional power they became, particularly under the leadership of Kings David and Solomon. Of course, as they disobeyed the instructions given by God, the Kingdom split into two, rapidly going into decline.

Have you ever wondered why Jesus came when He did?

By now the Jewish people had suffered greatly under hundreds of years of oppression from the various ‘superpowers’ of the day, those whose fortunes had ebbed and flowed through their land over the centuries. From the Assyrians to the Babylonians, to the Persians and finally the Romans, whose arrival in Palestine finally and literally paved the way for the coming of Jesus. For the Romans developed roads and communication methods, enabling the message of Jesus to be readily taken into all of Europe and into Asia, effectively the ‘ends of the earth’ as known at the time. An earlier dispersion would have been distinctly regional.

So Jesus came. The original Apostles failed to heed His instructions by remaining in and around Jerusalem after His death. This resulted in the addition of Paul to truly replace the traitor Judas. (See 'A Revelation of…The Coming Cross') Then God moved. Firstly, the Temple was destroyed on 5 August, 70AD and the now unnecessary sacrifices, finally ceased. This was followed 4 weeks later, on 2 September, by Roman destruction of the upper part of Jerusalem.

The Apostles and people, believers and non-believers alike, were forced to flee, taking both their Jewish faith and Christianity with them. The new Roman roading system aided much in the dispersion, for today we find Jewish communities and the Christian faith in nearly every country. The non-evangelistic Jewish Religion has not grown in a dramatic way, but those who embraced the teachings of Jesus revolutionized the world. All because Jesus came to the right place at the right time. God’s perfect time, of course! For He is in control now, just as He has always been, right through history.

As an agrarian society, God timed the Jewish Festivals to be in tune with the agricultural cycles of the people.

Understanding the Bible in context of the times in which it was set, is most helpful and important in Bible study.

I trust that you will find this background information helpful in both understanding The Sower parable, and the whole Bible better.

ANCIENT SHEEP FOLD

Shepherds brought their sheep into the fold in the wilderness for safety. The shepherd would lay in front of the door to protect the sheep from an attacker.

Source: http://www.bible-history.com