I. The Subjects In The Millennium. II. Matthew 13:18-35.

I. The Subjects In The Millennium.

A. The earthly theocratic kingdom, instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ at His second advent, will include all the saved of Israel and the saved of the Gentiles, who are living at the time of His return. Scripture makes it very clear that all sinners will be cut off before the institution of the Kingdom (Isa. 1:19-31; 65:11-16; 66:15-18; Jer. 25:27-33; 30:23-24; Ezek. 11:21; 20:33-44; Mic. 5:9-15; Zech. 13:9; Mal. 3:2-6; 3:18; 4:3). In the record of the judgment of the nations (Matt. 25:35) it is revealed that only the saved enter the kingdom. In the parable of the wheat and tares (Matt. 13:30-31) and in the parable of the good and bad fish (Matt. 13:49-50) it is shown that only the saved go into the kingdom. Daniel makes it clear that the kingdom is given to the saints: 

B. Daniel 7:18, 22, 27. 

1. vs 18. “But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.”

2. vs 22. “And judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.”

3. vs 27. “And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom, under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.”

II. Matthew 13:18-35. Overview.

Parables may provide a pictorial way to teach truth, but they are more than just illustrations. Their purpose is to make the hearers think about the teaching. Those who gladly receive Messiah’s teaching will find the parables full of meaning. As a result their ability to understand God’s truth will increase. But those who have no genuine interest in Messiah’s teaching will see no meaning in the parables at all. Worse still, their spiritual blindness will become darker, and their stubborn hearts more hardened. Because their wills are opposed to Messiah, their minds cannot appreciate his teaching, and consequently their sins remain unforgiven.

III. Matthew 13:18-35. The Mysteries Of The Kingdom Of Heaven. 

A. The Parables.

1. This period includes the time from Pentecost, from Acts 2:1, to the end of the tribulation, Rev 19:21*; that is, the age of grace (which we also call the age of the Holy Spirit, or the church age). Although this period includes the church age, it extends beyond it, for the parables of Matthew 13 precede Pentecost and extend beyond the rapture (*Dispensationalism, Charles C. Ryrie, Ph. D.).

2. These parables do not primarily concern the nature, function, and influence of the church. Rather, they show the previously unrevealed age in which God’s theocratic rule would be exerted, and made necessary by Israel’s rejection of Messiah, Yeshua. In Matthew 13 there are eight parables, each one providing an essential characteristic in this present age, which is a mystery age of God’s heavenly kingdom.

3.  Matthew 13:11 is written, as follows: ‘Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.’ ” As opposed to the words, “the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,” there are many who choose the words, “the mystery form of heaven.” It must be affirmed that God is in heaven, and rules from His kingdom in heaven. There is no “form of heaven,” other than that which is stated in Scripture, as being “the kingdom of heaven.” At the return of Christ’s from heaven, He will set up His kingdom on earth (The Kingdom Of God), which will include all of the planet, earth , which is literal, earthly, unconditional, and unfulfilled, per 2 Sam 7:8-16, and will last for a time period of one thousand years (Rev 20:1-6).

B. Parables spoken to the disciples and the crowd of Jews. 

1. Seed, sowers, and soils. The first feature of this age is that it is characterized by a sowing of the seed by sowers and by varied responses to the sowing. In this parable, the seed (Matt. 13:3-8) represents the word, or “the message about the kingdom,” and the field represents the “heart” of the individual hearer (v. 19). In Scripture, the “heart” often indicates intellectual capacity. A message, then, was being proclaimed and heard, but there were varying responses. Some seed showed no sign of life at all (that sown by the wayside). Some produced no fruit (that sown on rocky places).

a. Broadcast sowing. The sowing of seed gave promise of bearing fruit but was eventually fruitless (that sown among the thorns). There was seed that produced a crop, yielding a 100, 60, or 30 times what was sown (v. 23). Yeshua was saying that instead of the fruitage of the Gospel showing an increase, there would be a marked decrease (* Andrew M. Woods, Th. M., J. D., Ph. D., The Coming Kingdom). 

b. Targeted sowing. As opposed to Matthew’s account of “broadcast sowing, ” Mark recorded the parable by Christ on the theme of sowing seed. This parable (*Mark 4:5-8, 20; 26-29) was designed to teach that the fruit depends not on the sower but on the life that is in the seed itself. Regardless of what the sower did, the seed germinated, sprouted, grew, produced grain, and eventually yielded a bountiful harvest, which the man reaped. Yeshua wanted to make it clear that any harvest they saw would be the result of sowing and then allowing the life in the seed to manifest itself by growth and yield. As opposed to the Gospel of Matthew written to Jews, Mark was written to Christians, to show that the seed would bear fruit, thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold (* Yeshua wanted the people to examine their hearts’ responses to His Message of the Great Commission; see note on Matt 13:18-23. Charles C. Ryrie, Ph. D., Ryrie Study Bible).  (** Mark 4:20, 26-29. Based on individual witnessing. The seed on the good soil took root, grew, and produced an abundant harvest. Back then, a yield of 10 to 1 was considered a fine crop. John D, Grassmick, Th. M., Ph. D., The Bible Knowledge Commentary).

c. But as is shown in Matt 13:23, there would be four responses to the Word, no response, emotional response, worldly response, and fruitful response. In Matthew’s Gospel, we see the result of the “broadcast  sowing” of the seed. Will all of the world receive it and every part of the field produce fruit? Will the seed spring up and bear a universal harvest, so that not a single grain of it is lost? Our Savior explicitly said that the greater part of the seed produces no fruit, so that no world-wide conquests by the the Gospel, in the Christianizing of the race, are to be looked for. Nor, was there any hint that, as the age progressed, there would be any change, and that later sowers would meet with greater success, so that the wayside, stony, and thorny ground hearers would cease to exist or would rarely be found. Instead of that, Christ Himself has plainly warned  that instead of the fruitage from the Gospel showing an increase, there would be a marked decrease; for when speaking of the fruit borne He said: “which also bears fruit, and brings forth, some a hundred fold, some sixty, some thirty.” (* The Coming Kingdom, Andrew M. Woods, Th. M., J. D., Ph. D.)

2. Weeds among wheat. The second parable (13:24-29) was designed to supplement the first to teach that there would be a false sowing alongside the sowing of the Word of God. The field had been sown with good seed, and the sower could anticipate a harvest for his labors. Later, the sower was told that an enemy had sown the field with the seed of weeds.

a. This false sowing evidently took place immediately after the good seed had been sown. Then both kinds of seed germinated and sprouted. In the process of waiting for the harvest, it became evident that weeds had been sown in the wheat field. The presence of weeds would crowd out the growth of the fruit-bearing wheat. The servants, concerned as they were with the results of their labors, suggested that they try to remove the weeds from the field. However, the owner of the field recognized that it would be impossible to remove the weeds without destroying the wheat. So the servants were commanded to let both ripen, and at the time of wheat harvest they would then separate the good grain from the worthless weeds, without destroying the wheat. The weeds could be burned and destroyed, while the wheat would be gathered into storage. 

b. Through this parable Yeshua prepared these men to be on guard for Satan’s work of sowing false seed, or false doctrine, while they were sowing the good seed. Satan’s false kingdom (Eph 2:2) would continue to exist alongside the mystery age  of God’s heavenly kingdom. (The term “mystery age” relates to a time that had not been made known to the Old Testament Jewish prophets, but was now being made known by God in the New Testament. e.g., Mt 12:32; 13:39-40; 24:3; 28:20.)

3. The mustard seed. The third parable (13:31-32) reveals that this mystery age of God’s heavenly kingdom will have an almost imperceptible beginning. The emphasis in the parable is on the contrast between the size of the seed and the plants that are produced. “As small as a mustard seed” was, a “Jewish proverb to indicate a very minute particle.” But out of that insignificant seed in one year would grow a plant which became large enough for birds to nest in (birds represent Satan and his agents). In Ezekiel 31:6 and Daniel 4:12, the figure of a spreading tree, in which birds lodge, indicates a great kingdom that can protect and provide benefits for many peoples. Christ would commission only 11 men to become His emissaries (John 17:18). This would seem to be an insignificant beginning, yet Christ predicted that the world would hear His message from such a small beginning. Thus the parable teaches that this mystery age (our current age) of his kingdom, while it did have an insignificant beginning, would eventually spread to the ends of the earth.

4. The hidden leaven. The fourth parable (13:33) was designed to show how God’s mystery earthly age would develop and operate in the present age. Some have referred to this as “The Parable of the Leaven,” but that title puts emphasis on what leaven is or signifies. Actually, this is “The Parable of Leaven Hidden in Meal.” In other words, the parable emphasizes what leaven does or how leaven works. When the leaven, or yeast, was introduced into the flour, a process began that which was steady, continuous, and irreversible. That process continued until the whole mixture was leavened. Thus Yeshua was teaching that this mystery age of God’s kingdom would not be established by outward means; this was because no external force could make the dough rise. Rather, this new age of God’s kingdom would operate according to an internal force that would be continuous and progressive until the whole mixture had been leavened. Here the emphasis was on the Holy Spirit and concerned His ministry to the world. Christ would again speak of this in John 15:26 and 16:7-11.

C. Revival in the end times. 

1. As we can observe, there is no great growth or revival of God’s people during our present mystery age, but that the message of the Gospel of Christ is met with hostility throughout the world today. There will be a time in the future years when God’s Holy Spirit will be poured out on all of humanity, like it has never been before, which will result in great revival and growth of God’s people.

2. The end times can relate to the end times of Israel, and the end times of the church.

a. The end times of Israel relates to the Tribulation, as well as the Millennium, and follows the church age and the Rapture. There will be a great Outpouring Of the Holy Spirit. The Jewish prophet, Joel, gave a prophecy of great revival and growth of God’s people. The prophecy was given prior to the first coming of Christ, and was that of the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit during the Tribulation.

(1) The prophet Joel foretold an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the last days, saying “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

(2) “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah cometh. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of Yahweh shall be delivered; for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those that escape, as Jehovah hath said, and among the remnant those whom Yahweh shall call.” (Joel 2:28-32). 

b. The prophecy of Joel was preached by the Apostle Peter to Jews who were in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost, and gave a glimpse of the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy (Joel 2:28-32).

(1) And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on my menservants and on my maidservants I will pour out my Spirit in those days and they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and notable day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ (Acts 2:17-21).

(2) When the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost, Peter declared “This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people’” (Acts 2:17-18).

(3) While Pentecost was an initial and partial fulfillment, the fullness of Joel’s prophecy will occur before the return of Christ. This will be a time of revival marked by dreams, visions, and prophecy through the widespread outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

c. The end times of the church. 2 Timothy 3:1-5. Precedes the Rapture, Tribulation and Millennium, and is the time in which we live now, and precedes the time of revival and growth that Joel had spoken. 

(1) In this chapter the apostle delivers out a prophecy of the last days, showing how perilous the times will be, describing the persons that will live in them, and what will be their end

(2) “But you must realize that in the last days the times will be full of danger. Men will become utterly self-centered, greedy for money, full of big words. They will be proud and contemptuous, without any regard for what their parents taught them. They will be utterly lacking in gratitude, purity and normal human affections. They will be men of unscrupulous speech and have no control of themselves. They will be passionate and unprincipled, treacherous, self-willed and conceited, loving all the time what gives them pleasure instead of loving God. They will maintain a veneer of “religion”, but their conduct will deny its validity. You must keep clear of people like this.”

d. Revelation 7:9-10, 14. A great multitude from every nation will experience the growth and revival that Joel had prophesied. 

(1) “When this was done I looked again, and before my eyes appeared a vast crowd beyond man’s power to number. They came from every nation and tribe and people and language, and they stood before the throne of the Lamb, dressed in white robes with palm-branches in their hands. With a great voice they shouted these words: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb!” (Rev 7:9-10).

(2) The apostle John saw an incredible vision of a great multitude from every nation standing before the throne of God and the Lamb. An elder explained that these people “have come out of the great tribulation” (Revelation 7:14). This implies a great revival will occur during the time of tribulation prior to Christ’s return, with people from all languages and cultures accepting Him as Savior.