​“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13
​
Imperfect people befriending imperfect people is complicated and hard, but Jesus assures us it’s possible to love each other as He loved us. Jesus came to earth, love incarnate, on a mission to define love, walk out love, and die out of love. . . for us.

-Through- Jesus,
we embrace this greater love and allow it to flow through our lives,
by His power.


What Is the 'No Greater Love Is This' Spoken of in John 15?

​This phrase occurs during Jesus’ sermon about the Vine and the Branches. Christ Jesus used the illustration of a good gardener pruning plants so they produce good fruit. “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener,”

John recorded Jesus saying, 
"The vine and the vineyard were old sacred imaged in Judaism,”
 “The vine represented the covenant people of God,
planted and tended by him so that Israel would produce fruit.”

The love Christ introduced is "agape" love.

This love, according to Christianity.com, “refers to a pure, willful, sacrificial love that intentionally desires another’s highest good.”

​Contrary to the way the world loves selfishly,

Jesus loved selflessly 
and taught His followers to aim for the same.

This type of love is almost indescribable, a product of the very character of


God, who is perfect love.


God prunes our hearts, sanctifying us daily as we draw closer to Him.
When we choose to live life within the love of Christ, we are able to accept and receive the gift of God’s love. Submitting our plans, we instead allow our lives on earth to serve as a conduit to spread the love of Christ to the people He has purposefully placed in our paths. “Jesus laid down his life for his friends,” John Piper explains, “Jesus is the pattern and the power of that love. And he can be those for us, even though we are sinners, because

​he removed the wrath of God by laying down his life for us.”

There is no greater love than the love the Father has for us.
To send His one and only Son to sacrifice His life on our behalf is the greatest love story of all time. 

John 3:16 reminds us, He came for the world. Jesus died, willingly and sacrificially, once for all.

We talk a lot about unity in our world today
and strive for peace.

"Jesus didn’t cast Christianity as a glorified clique,” 
explains Marshall Segal,

"but as a contagious love that compels people to come and see.”
​
Jesus loves us selflessly,
having chosen to die for us
knowing fully we would not always love Him in return.


God’s love is not fickle or fragile.


Everything He does and allows is meant to draw us closer to Him.

His love is a product of

-who He is-

Yahweh, Abba.

Who spoke the world into existence
and knit each of us in our mother’s womb.

We spend a lot of time worrying about self-worth
even though God proclaims

we are worthy
(Psalm 139).


Jesus, the living Word of God,
was there at the beginning 
and now sits at the right hand of the Father.


The Holy Spirit, living in every believer,
translates the aches and praises of our hearts to God
in prayer and faithfully counsels and comforts us.

This type of love calls us to
lay down our lives, as Jesus did His.

Not necessarily on a cross,
but through one we carry to Him daily as
we lay down our sins, guilt, and shame.
We submit our pre-conceived notions and societal expectations
for His will in our lives; our selfish desires for
His Kingdom purposes.


The gift of grace, salvation, and forgiveness
reigns in lives surrendered to Christ.

​It isn’t easy.

There’s no ticket to an easy life on this earth.
​But Jesus said, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:11)

What Does it Mean to Lay Down Your Life for Others?
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

The Bible has a lot to say about friendship. Jesus modeled it perfectly.

Without a guarantee of reciprocation,
He poured His life out for His friends.
His focus was on forgiveness, friendship, and the fruit
of walking in love with Him.

The Bible is clear that Jesus is the model for selfless love;

this is shown by Jesus giving up His own innocent life
to save undeserving sinners. 

The fruits of the Spirit, products of a godly life, are fostered through the grace given to us through salvation in Christ, alone. To be selfless. In a world consumed with self-care, self-love, and self-confidence,
Christ calls us to run a race in the opposite direction.

He calls us to be God-reliant, to love God and others, and embrace His provision and allow Him to sustain us.
Laying down our lives for others is to live a Christ-centered life, and foster Christ-centered relationships. To listen to one another,
learn about, remember and encourage one another.
God purposefully places us in the generation we live in, amongst the people in our lives.

When we notice who they are, through the filter of Jesus, we are able to love them as we are called to.

Laying down our lives is refusing to worry about what tomorrow will bring because we understand only God knows.
It’s trusting Him to prepare, lead,
and provide for us as we work for His Kingdom.

How to Receive and Reciprocate “Greater Love”“
As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.
Now remain in my love.
If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

My command is this:
Love each other as I have loved you.
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his mater’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

You did not choose me, but I choose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit- fruit that will last- and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
This is my command: Love each other.” John 15: 9-17
​
Jesus gave us a blueprint to “greater love.”
It has very little to do with us and everything to do with who He is.

We are called to submit to His authority in our lives,
and obediently follow the truth of God’s Word. “The war between flesh and spirits is a war of allegiance,” Derek Cazel explains, “If we would give in to the flesh, our definition of love would follow the world’s definition, namely, that nothing is greater than our desires and ourselves.” Jesus accomplished what we never could through His life on earth,

His sacrificial death, and
miraculous resurrection and ascension to heaven.


There is power in the name of Jesus,

yet He calls us His friends.


Shortly after His sermon about the Vine and the Branches,
Jesus prayed before He began

His final leg of the journey to the cross.

The prayer, recorded in John 17, captures greater love in action.
Jesus prayed His life and death would glorify God;

He prayed for His followers,
and then He prayed for everyone else.

All of us.

Those who would follow.
He prayed we would

all find unity in Him.


Unity requires a greater love.


It requires the power and love of Jesus,
and the supernatural force He wields within lives surrendered to His call,
and God’s sovereign will. 

"The believer has no fruitfulness apart from union and fellowship with Christ,” 


​
​ “A branch out of contact with the vine is lifeless.”

​​Truth Taught-

God will cause Jew and Gentile alike to one day

bear fruit by grace through faith in Jesus Christ
​

As I scroll through and thumb through various commentaries on the Book of Romans I discovered something very peculiar. Some of them were going strong until they came to Chapter 8. It seems that at chapter 8 some commentators and some preachers skipped from chapter 7 to chapter 12 leaving out 8-11. Now I’m convinced the reasons are basically two. These are the chapters that deal very strongly with election and God’s foreknowledge and these commentators rather than dealing with those doctrines would rather pretend they weren’t there than to have to teach them because if they taught them their people could easily see what the Bible says and their theology would be shaken. So, they skip them.

The next reason is that 8-11 involves some very difficult material. Rather than spend time dissecting and studying the passages it’s easier to just skip them and get back to the easier material than to delve into the hard things of God’s Word. And it is this second reason we’ll be skipping over the rest of Chapter 11…Just kidding, sort of.

What we see in this passage is the amazing wisdom and grace of God. He has been extremely long suffering with the Jews and He could have simply cut them off and left it there.

​Instead, He fills the olive tree with Gentile branches, which is wonderful news for us.
God has taken those who were strangers and made us family.
​

Ephesians 2:11–20 (ESV) 

11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 

15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 

16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 

18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 

20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 

While we should be excited to be God’s children we must not get puffed up and forget what took place to allow us to be grafted into the olive tree, namely, God broke off the natural branches, His covenant people were torn away.

So we praise God in humility and we pray to God for the Jewish people that He would move and cause them to believe the gospel of their Messiah.

So, lets launch out to the deep and see what God has for us today…
To help us understand this passage before us we need to understand a little about pruning and grafting trees.

All over Palestine there are olive groves or orchards. The olive tree is the accepted symbol of Israel. It’s on most of their coins and has appeared as an emblem for Israel in other places. It was a symbol for Israel even in Paul’s day.
In our text today the Apostle uses this image of the olive tree to explain the relationship between Jew and Gentile within the church and the relationship between Christian Gentile and the unbelieving Jew.

It’s important for us to understand this dynamic and symbolism before we look at the passage…

Cultivated Olive Tree- People of God
Roots- The Patriarchs and Prophets OT
Broken Off Branches- Unbelieving Jews
Wild Olive Shoots/Grafted in Branches- Believing Gentiles 

We will see the issue of the unbelieving Jews broken off and in contrast the believing Gentiles grafted in.

Another important part of this passage is some ancient practices of grafting in branches into an olive tree. Some theologians have made fun of Paul, calling him a city boy because, according to them, he didn’t understand how grafting works. They say that normal horticulture procedure calls for cultivated branches to be grafted into a wild tree not the way Paul’s allegory is set up with its wild branches grafted into a cultivated tree. However, there was another ancient practice that, I believe, Paul is referring to and which sheds light on what Paul is telling us here. There was the ancient practice of causing a cultivated tree that wasn’t bearing fruit to bear fruit by grafting in a wild olive branch. What this did was cause the olive tree to begin to bear fruit when before it was fruitless.

So, the purpose is to graft wild branches into the tree
which causes the entire tree to bear fruit which was previously not fruit bearing.
​
This purpose would fit very nicely with things Paul tells us.

Romans 11:11–12 (ESV) 

11 So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 12 Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! 


Romans 11:14 (ESV) 
14 in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. 
Romans 11:26 (ESV) 
26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, 
       “The Deliverer will come from Zion, 
he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; 

So, the grafting in of Gentiles will invigorate the Jews and the tree will one day bear the fruit it was intended to bear all along. In the mean time the wild branches grafted in will enjoy the blessings from the roots of the tree. The wild branches will receive spiritual nourishment through the root system of Judaism, which is the Patriarchs and the Prophets.

Paul addresses two issues to Gentiles: First is that we could become proud while God works out His sovereign plan and Second, realize that this hardening is just for a time, one day the Jews will discover who their Messiah truly is.

Romans 11:11–24 (ESV) 

11 So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 12 Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! 

13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry 14 in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. 15 For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? 16 If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 

17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. 19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22 Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. 23 And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree. 

1. Christians Must Not Be Arrogant Toward the Jews (17-22)

17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. 19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22 Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. 

Here Paul is showing us that the firstfruit as stated in
16 If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 

If the original lump of dough is holy as the yeast permeates the other lump be
The charge Paul gives us, as Gentile believers, to not become arrogant and think we are better than those Jews who were taken away or broken off from the root.

We may become arrogant as we consider things like…I cant believe the Jews crucified Jesus. I can’t believe that after all their Scriptures, when Jesus came they still missed Him. I can’t believe that they have no faith and are still trying to work their way to God. I can’t believe they think they’re children of Abraham when we Gentiles who believe are the real Israel. So how does Paul warn us to not become arrogant? He does this by three warnings…

1. Remember, your life comes from Jewish roots

17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree,

Just like grafted in branches receive the sap and nourishment from the root system in the olive tree, now Gentiles will receive nourishment from the root of Israel, which is the Patriarchs and the Prophets. Beloved we are currently discovering the riches of Christ through the Psalms. King David in this case is the root that we receive nourishment from. The entire Old Testament is a wealth of nourishment for the Gentile believer. We can read about the Patriarchs and see what they did and learn from them. We can be warned through the Prophets of the very things we too may be guilty of. We can learn what God expects from His people. We can be those who delight in God’s Law and are nourished for eternal life through the pages of the OT.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 (ESV) 
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 

1 Corinthians 10:1–12 (ESV) 
10 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 
6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 

God’s Word contains words of life for the Gentile believer. Much like being connected to the roots give nourishment to the branches so too being connected to God’s Word gives life to the believer. Even though people of Jewish descent wrote the entire OT, it is nourishment for the Gentile believer.

1. Remember, we are grafted in by faith

19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.

We cannot be arrogant because our being grafted in and our stability remain by faith alone. The Jewish branches were broken off because of unbelief and Gentile branches grafted in by belief alone. Knowing this should cause us to remain humble and meek when considering that this is God’s work alone and not my works at all. We are saved by grace through faith not of works. When we consider that it is grace that grafted us and grace that keeps us all boasting must be put aside.

1. Remember, we must serve God with fear and stand fast by faith

21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22 Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.
We cannot forget what happened to the Jews who were hardened and cut off by God. If we are not careful the same could happen to us. The Jew thought he was in because of his ancestry. We must be careful to be superficial with our status in Christ. We are His provided we stand fast till the end.

Matthew 24:13 (ESV) 
13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 
Hebrews 3:6 (ESV) 
6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope. 
In humility we stand fast.

1. Jews Must Realize that God is Offering Salvation to Them

23 And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.
So far we’ve seen that the exclusion of the Jews meant inclusion of the Gentiles. God is not finished with His covenant OT people. Here I think we can sense Paul’s spirits being uplifted as he considers the future hope Israel has.
At first he was encouraged that while his kinsmen were not being saved, at least God was using him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles and they were being saved. Still there’s this underlying disappointment that his kinsmen were dying lost and without Christ. He even said
Romans 9:3 (ESV) 

3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. 
As he considers the grace of God, Paul begins to realize something amazing. God’s grace will one day be poured out on the Jews and they will respond to the Gospel as well. When that day comes everything changes.

Notice his reasoning…

If the Jews believe they will be grafted in. God has the ability to regraft cultivated branches back into the cultivated olive tree. His language is that it will be much easier to graft natural branches back into their own tree than it was to graft wild branches into a cultivated tree.
Paul’s language is that of anticipation. Beloved Israel will be included again into God’s covenant. They will return to God through their Messiah, Jesus Christ. Also notice God is not offering the Jews plan B as some of our dispensational friends would try to teach us. No, they will come in the exact same way Gentiles do by grace through faith.

if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in.

What is the condition of their being grafted in? It’s not works is it? The condition is faith just like us.
All of this is designed by God to demonstrate, first, that he can and will save all Israel without being bound to save anyone in Israel who demands to be saved because he is part of Israel; and to demonstrate, secondly, that God can and will save Gentiles who are not in Israel if they trust Christ and do not boast over the broken off branches.

In other words, all of redemptive history is designed from beginning to end to put a stop to human boasting in Jewishness or over Jewishness, or in Gentile ethnicity or over Gentile ethnicity. Free and sovereign grace stops boasting, and leads to humble, brokenhearted gratitude and worship: “From him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory for ever. Amen” (Romans 11:36). [1]
​
Application
Here’s our command by God…be humble!
Ephesians 4:2 (ESV) 
2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 
Philippians 2:3 (ESV) 
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 
Be humble pray for the Jews that God would also grant them faith in Jesus Christ.

Not a day goes by that we're not in need of God's huge grace and peace. Every morning we need his Spirit to fill us again, to strengthen us for what's ahead. Every day we need a fresh word that he speaks to our hearts, to keep our focus on what's most important. Trying to run this race of life without him will do nothing but drain us dry.

In the book of Exodus, we read the story of how God’s people had endured years of bondage under the Egyptians. They were oppressed, abused, mistreated people. They needed rescue, they needed a way of escape.

God saw their need, he didn’t miss a thing, and in his perfect timing, he acted on their behalf. 

Miracle after miracle God performed, leading them straight out of slavery, away from the cruel hand of the Egyptians.

He set them free.
​
Free from oppression. Free from captivity. Free from bondage. And the adventure was just getting started.

The people of Israel spent 40 years in the desert. 40 years of wandering. 40 years of journeying towards the promised land that God had given them. That’s a very long time. The days must have been intense, hot, dry, I'm sure they got weary. But God met them where they were, he made sure they had what they needed. They learned through every hard and grueling step, how much they had to rely on Him.

When Pharaoh let the people go, God didn’t lead them on the road that made the most sense. The Bible tells us in Exodus 13, that though the path was shorter right through the Philistine country, God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” Exodus 13:17

So He led them around the desert road over towards the Red Sea. Hot, dry, barren wasteland, the sea looming off in the distance. We can almost hear the grumblings starting then. Feel the fear rising.

And that was just the beginning of their journey.

God had promised his people land that would be full of blessing, it was worth fighting for, it was worth going the distance.

But the way there would stretch their faith and lead them through journeys where they’d have to depend on God like nothing before.

We too often face these journeys as God leads us into our own “promised land.” Maybe you feel like the blessing is too long in coming, maybe you feel like giving up.

Be assured again today that God is faithful and he will use all things to strengthen our faith and bring goodness to his people.

Stay strong, keep pressing through.
​

As the Israelites got closer that sea
must have looked bigger and deeper.

An obstacle that seemed too difficult to overcome.

Their eyes focused on the problem. They forgot about the bigness of their God. But God didn’t forget about them.

He split the sea in two so that his people walked through on the dry ground. The enemy in hot pursuit had no idea what they were up against. They lost the battle that day and were swallowed up in the waves.
God had rescued his people and led them straight through the biggest obstacle they’d ever encountered, and that was just the beginning of his miracles.

Even if the way He’s leading doesn’t seem to make much sense and His timing seems off, or the wait feels long, and wandering in desert places is the last thing we want to do, we can trust Him.

Always. He knows our way.

He sees the big picture.

He has good in store.  And though it may not have been what we would have chosen, or how we would accomplish things, we can thank Him for His Sovereignty, His care over us, and His powerful leadership.  

“By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to given them light…” Exodus 13:21

God never left his people alone in their journey.

His presence was always there, a reminder to them that they hadn’t been left on their own in the wilderness.

As a pillar of cloud in the day and fire by night, He guided them, giving them shade from the fierceness of the desert sun, and a light in the darkest of nights.

God will not leave us to fend for ourselves, struggling to find our way.
He will lead us.

He promises to be faithful.  We may not see him in a pillar of cloud or fire these days, but we have his Word, and the Holy Spirit to give guidance to our days.

He is with us, he gives wisdom, he provides direction, so we never have to fear being left on our own to figure things out.

He goes ahead of us, he walks with us, and he guards our way against behind.

His Word gives truth and life, it shows us the way to walk in this world.

“Then the angel of God…withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them…” Exodus 14:19
Even when the Israelites faced cruel attacks from the enemies surrounding them, God was faithful to deliver them.

He works in miraculous ways and the toughest of battles are never too hard for God to work through.

He gives us victory and power even when it doesn’t make sense.

After a battle against the fierce Amalekites, when God gave his people a great victory, the Bible says, “Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. He said, ‘For hands were lifted up to the throne of the Lord…” Exodus 17:15-16

Still today, God will send his angels to fight for us and guard us. He Himself will fight for us and guard us. That’s how much He loves us and desires to set His protection over us. He will hem us in from all sides and keep us under His care. It doesn’t mean we won’t ever face the battle, but we can know that He is sure with us right in the midst of it all. He reminds us from the very start of this desert journey, “The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:14

We’re never left to wrestle through on our own in hard places. He doesn’t send us out to fight the enemy in our own strength. He just tells us to be still, to stand strong, and to know he’s fighting on our behalf.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will rain down bread from heaven for you…” Exodus 16:4
“Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” 
Exodus 17:6
They were hungry. God sent manna. They were thirsty. God sent water gushing from a rock. Every day a miracle was right before their eyes. They just had to pick up the manna, drink the water, accept the blessing. Another time he made the bitter waters sweet again, so they could drink. Over and over, God provided for their needs.

And just like the people of Israel had to look to God to meet their needs, to be refreshed by what he offered, and gather the manna every morning in the wilderness, so it is with us. They couldn't store it up, they had to look for it daily. And God always provided, each morning it was there, waiting for them. Every day he made sure it met their needs, they were satisfied, they were nourished, they were cared for. And they never lacked, for God's resources never run dry.

Sometimes we miss the miracles of his provision, out of busyness or stress. We try to get things going too fast all on our own, spinning around, trying to get it all done. Or other times we might start to forget what matters most.

But even for those days, there's His grace.

He waits for us. His provision and blessing, they never run dry.
Every day, his miracles lie right before our eyes.

We just have to choose to look for them and stay close in his presence.

“I have seen these people, ‘the Lord said to Moses, ‘and they are a stiff-necked people…” 
Exodus 32:9

Grumbling, complaining, sin, hearts far away from God – these things were far too common for the Israelites in these desert wandering years. And often like us, they lost sight of how far sin could carry them down the road we never wished to go.

God had great mercy over them for all those years, they tested him even after he graciously provided for all their needs and offered them protection and strength.

In Exodus 32 we read the story of how the people turned away from God when Moses seemed too long in coming back down from the mountain.

The very people that just had watched God perform miracle after miracle on their behalf, and guide them through desert days, were now bowing down to a golden calf they’d set up in the place of God himself.

How easily we often forget.

What starts as complaining, grumbling, hearts going astray, leads us deeper into pathways we wished we’d never entered. Sin gets ahold of our minds and hearts.

It’s like a disease we can’t shake off on our own strength.


ONLY
the

POWER
of
​
​CHRIST

Can cure Diseases. He can do what the human can not possibly do. 

Without him we are powerless. 


No amount of earthly effort, will, hope, work, or sincere desire can possibly heal all inequities.

The power of Christ is the only thing that is great enough to conquer, resurrect, cure, redeem, and renew. 

He overcomes with earth-shattering Victory, and when that encounter is experienced, one will be forever changed, forever aware of his presence and capabilities. He's proven to be true with all glories majesty. Such an earth-shattering majesty causes unworldly joy and devotion, the kind that will make you want to
​

SING ANEW SONG!

​
That's the point- that's how he displays his power and sovereignty,

that's the Gospel Story!


But God, in His MERCY forgives and sets FREE.
He breaks the chains of our forefathers.

He redeems us from the pit that far too many of us have wandered into and been stuck in.

He lifts us out and places our feet on solid ground.
He gives us fresh purpose and hope. 

Even after all these things the Israelites had done, and how they’d wandered away from God, he said these words just a few verses later, “The Lord replied, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Exodus 33:14

God’s presence is powerful and strong.

It is never dependent on how good we are, he is faithful even in our hardest struggles. Only in him can true rest and peace be found.

The years of desert wanderings must have been difficult to endure. 40 years is a very long time. But God doesn’t always work on our timetable.

And he saw them through to the end.

He never abandoned his people.

They kept pressing through and God continued to be with them, and he is with us as well. 

“The hardest struggles we face have the greatest potential to teach us patience and endurance.”We often face battles and problems that press hard. We feel forgotten, all alone.

And yet the hardest struggles we face have the greatest potential to teach us patience and endurance like nothing else can.

​The years of our own “desert wanderings” may prove to be our most power-packed, strengthening, faith-building time of life, but we may not fully recognize it until after we’ve passed through.

And sometimes when we find ourselves there, we just need that reminder from the whispers of God down deep in our soul, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest…”

In whatever you’re facing, be assured, God is with you, he’s providing for your needs, he has a plan, and nothing is too difficult for him.
The God of miracles fights for you today, and he will never let you go. 



https://biblehub.com/hosea/11-1.htm

Out of Egypt I Called My Son
(Matthew 2:13–15)
​
1When Israel was a child, I loved him, 
and out of Egypt I called My son.a
2But the more I called Israel, 
the farther they departed from Me.b
They sacrificed to the Baals 
and burned incense to carved images.
3It was I who taught Ephraimc to walk, 
taking them in My arms, 
but they never realized 
that it was I who healed them.
4I led them with cords of kindness, 
with ropes of love; 
I lifted the yoke from their necks 
and bent down to feed them.
5Will they not return to the land of Egypt 
and be ruled by Assyria 
because they refused to repent?
6A sword will flash through their cities; 
it will destroy the bars of their gates 
and consume them in their own plans.
7My people are bent on turning from Me. 
Though they call to the Most High, 
He will by no means exalt them.
God’s Love for Israel
8How could I give you up, O Ephraim? 
How could I surrender you, O Israel? 
How could I make you like Admah? 
How could I treat you like Zeboiim? 
My heart is turned within Me; 
My compassion is stirred!
9I will not execute the full fury of My anger; 
I will not turn back to destroy Ephraim. 
For I am God and not man--
the Holy One among you--
and I will not come in wrath.
10They will walk after the LORD; 
He will roar like a lion. 
When He roars, 
His children will come trembling from the west.
11They will come trembling like birds from Egypt 
and like doves from the land of Assyria. 
Then I will settle them in their homes, 
declares the LORD.
12Ephraim surrounds Me with lies, 
the house of Israel with deceit; 
but Judah still walks with God 
and is faithful to the Holy One.d


​
The Promises of God
(Exodus 23:20–33)

12If you listen to these ordinances and keep them carefully, then the LORD your God will keep His covenant and the loving devotion that He swore to your fathers. 13He will love you and bless you and multiply you. He will bless the fruit of your womb and the produce of your land—your grain, new wine, and oil, the young of your herds and the lambs of your flocks—in the land that He swore to your fathers to give you. 14You will be blessed above all peoples; among you there will be no barren man or woman or livestock.
15And the LORD will remove from you all sickness. He will not lay upon you any of the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but He will inflict them on all who hate you. 16You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
17You may say in your heart, “These nations are greater than we are; how can we drive them out?” 18But do not be afraid of them. Be sure to remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt: 19the great trials that you saw, the signs and wonders, and the mighty hand and outstretched arm by which the LORD your God brought you out. The LORD your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear.
20Moreover, the LORD your God will send the hornet against them until even the survivors hiding from you have perished. 21Do not be terrified by them, for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God.
22The LORD your God will drive out these nations before you little by little. You will not be enabled to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals would multiply around you. 23But the LORD your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion, until they are destroyed. 24He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe out their names from under heaven. No one will be able to stand against you; you will annihilate them.
25You must burn up the images of their gods; do not covet the silver and gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it; for it is detestable to the LORD your God. 26And you must not bring any detestable thing into your house, or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. You are to utterly detest and abhor it, because it is set apart for destruction.

Prophetic statements sometimes apply to more than one fulfillment, a principle we could call "duality."
​
​A prime example of duality is Christ's
first coming to atone for our sins and His
​second coming to rule as King of Kings.

Such dual themes are common in Bible prophecy.

Jesus specifically alluded to the dual application of some prophecies in Matthew 17:11-12. Asked about the prophecy of "Elijah," who would precede the coming of the Messiah (Malachi 4:5), Jesus responded: "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already …" (Matthew 17:11-12).

The disciples understood that the "Elijah" who had come already was John the Baptist (verse 13). Jesus Himself explained that John, already dead when

Christ uttered these words,

was a first fulfillment of Malachi's prophecy.

But Christ's clear implication is that another Elijah will precede His second coming, announcing His return just as John the Baptist preceded Christ's first coming. John no longer could do anything in the future. But as a forerunner, John had fulfilled, at least in part, Malachi's prophecy.

Another prophecy with dual application is Jesus' Olivet prophecy (Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21), so named because He gave it on the Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet, overlooking Jerusalem. Many conditions described in this prophecy existed in the days leading up to the Romans' siege and destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

But Christ makes it clear that
similar conditions would prevail
​shortly before His return.

Another example of dual fulfillment is in references to the "Day of the Lord" such as in Isaiah 13:6: "Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty."

Verse 1 of that chapter identifies the time setting as when the

Babylonian Empire threatened the kingdom of Judah

(Babylon invaded Judah and captured Jerusalem in 586 B.C.), and it is in this setting that Isaiah wrote that
"the day of the LORD is at hand!"

However, he again mentioned the Day of the LORD in Isaiah 13:9: "Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He will destroy its sinners from it." His subsequent inspired words, though, show that he is writing about the time of the end:
​
"For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine.

"I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold,
a man more than the golden wedge of Ophir.

Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth will move out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts and in the day of His fierce anger" (Isaiah 13:10-13).

We must carefully examine the context of prophecies to understand their meaning and discern whether the prophecy seems incomplete after its first fulfillment. It is equally important to avoid reading duality into passages that do not support such interpretation.
​
We should take great care to properly discern whether duality is a factor in any particular prophecy. Often we may recognize a prophecy's fulfillment only after it is well under way or already has taken place.

​
​
What are parables?

​Parables were short, relevant stories that Jesus told to
communicate spiritual truths.

Jesus used "well-known" aspects of first-century life to
help illustrate and communicate the message of the kingdom.

The parables showcase the wisdom of Jesus as the master teacher. But the parables served a unique function in Jesus’ ministry in polarizing the crowds between those who hear him and those who truly understand him. It is to that function of the parables I want to look at together today as we begin this series.

Jesus teaches this parable of the sower in verses 1–8 and then explains this parable to his disciples in verses 18–23. Between its teaching and explanation, Jesus speaks to the purpose of his teaching parables.

In many ways, the parable of the sower is a
​parable about the parables.

Thus, it makes it a fitting place to start as we begin this series on the parables. 
​
Traditionally called “The Parable of the Sower,” the sower really isn’t the main point of the parable. I think a better name for it might be “The Parable of the Four Soils.”

​
The point of the parable explains the various "reactions" to the gospel.

We will see that the good seed of the gospel can fall upon various soils of the human heart.
In other words, the parable is trying to answer the question,


“Why do so many people respond so differently to the Gospel?”

In sum, the secrets of the kingdom can only be understood by God’s gracious aid. 

We will first consider the purpose of the parables, focusing on verses 10–17, before then explaining and applying the parable of the four soils.

The Purpose of the Parables (Matthew 13:10–17)
​Jesus tells the parable to the crowd. A sower goes out to sow. Some seed fell on the path; birds ate it. Some seed fell on rocky ground; the sun scorched it. Some seed fell among the thorns; the thorns choked it. Some seed fell on good soil and produced fruit. Then Jesus wraps up the parable with,

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 

Amazingly, Jesus doesn’t seek to explain the parable to the crowd or interpret it for them.

That’s not the way the parable works. Parables forced the hearer to think about the message, wrestle with its meaning, and thus examine their own hearts.


Jesus intends the parable to force people to

contemplate and respond to his teaching.


Parables were culturally relevant illustrations that functioned like a "puzzle box" enclosing the nature and purpose of
the kingdom of heaven. 

Yet, only those who have ears to hear the truth can hear it.

As Jesus taught by the sea, all audibly heard the teaching of the parable; not all will comprehend its message. 

This leads to verses 10-17 of the passage, in which Jesus explains the purpose of the parables. While Jesus taught the parable to the crowd, he explains his purpose in the parables to his disciples. He pulls them in and discloses to them the secret of the kingdom. The word “secret” comes from the Greek word mysterion. The word is used similarly by Paul when he talks in Ephesians of how God made known


“the mystery of his will, according to his purpose,

which he set forth in Christ” (Eph. 1:9).


The secrets of the kingdom refer to the hidden purposes of God’s

kingdom that must be spiritually understood.

The secret isn’t obscure, possessed only by a few entrusted folks. Rather, the kingdom of God is proclaimed publicly through Jesus’ teaching in parables. Yet, few understand the nature of Christ’s kingdom.
​They see but do not perceive. They hear but do not understand. 

In Matthew 13:12-13, Jesus speaks of the
polarizing reaction to his teaching in parables.

Those who wrestle, engage, and ponder
over Jesus’ teaching will discover
increasing truth.

More understanding will be given.
They will know the secrets of the kingdom.

Yet, for the one who ignores, discards, and casts aside Jesus’ teaching will have what little truth received taken away. He says, “For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” (Matthew 13:12, ESV)

Jesus taught in parables because the parables create and expose these spiritual realities—the parables
​spiritually harden or spiritually enlighten.

Look at verse 13, “This is why I speak to them in parables, because
seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear,
nor do they understand.”
Jesus roots his teaching in Isaiah 6 and quotes this
prophecy in verses 14 and 15. 

In many ways, Jesus intends the parables to polarize the crowd.

He’s separating the wheat from the chaff. He is separating true spiritual seekers of Christ’s kingdom from phony impostors. Notice what Jesus says in verse 11, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” You see, understanding of Christ’s kingdom must be given. Some receive this understanding, and others do not.

We must pause here for a moment and consider
how do we gain spiritual truth?
How does anyone understand the kingdom of God?

How can anyone believe in the gospel? Jesus points to God’s sovereignty as the reason any one of us understands the secrets of the kingdom of heaven.

As he explains to the disciples, they see and hear, not because of their brilliance but because they are blessed.


Blessed by who? Blessed by God.
​

He tells them in verses 16–17,

“But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.
For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people
longed to see what you see, and did not see it,
and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

Just as Jesus will say a few chapters on in Matthew, in Matthew 16:17,

when Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ,
the Lord responds, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah!
For flesh and blood has -not revealed- this to you,
​but my Father who is in heaven.” 

It is God who reveals to anyone the secrets of the kingdom.

We can’t comprehend the identity of Jesus without God’s help and aid.
Our sin causes such blindness and such deafness to the truth that it requires the supernatural aid of God to regenerate our hearts and enable us to behold the glory and salvation of Christ.

Just as Paul taught the Corinthians, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14).

So, the parables then identify those who are supernaturally enabled to understand the teaching of Christ and behold the glory of Christ.

Yet, there is a lesson as well here in terms of
how the Spirit works in bringing us into
the knowledge of the secrets of Christ’s kingdom.
The parables provoke spiritual interest and spur the
pursuit of more understanding to meaning.
It says in verse 12, “For the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance.”

There is a lesson for those of us who know the
​Spirit of God as our teacher.

Our ability to understand spiritual truth is spiritually given.
But once we have the Holy Spirit, knowing the truth is like a muscle.
If you train and exercise your muscles, they will grow stronger, and you will be able to lift a heavier and heavier weight.
However, if you don’t use it, it atrophies. It gets weak and shrivels away.

Similarly, if we understand the truth that’s been revealed, we will have a greater ability to comprehend more truth.

The disciples, who have already latched on to Jesus’ teaching, have demonstrated that they are true hearers, and Jesus gives them greater insight into his message and kingdom.


Truth gives way to greater truth.
​

The more truth we respond too, the more truth we can understand.
Those who reject the truth, cannot understand Jesus’ parables.

There is also a warning here if you are not a Christian. It is vital that you respond to the truth of God. When we fail to respond to the truth of the gospel, whether it is from a friend or from a sermon, our hearts begin to harden against the truth. Though we hear it, we do truly hear it in our hearts. Before long, truth ricochets off of us, and the result is hard-hearted resistance.

The Parable of the Four Soils (Matthew 13:1–9; 18–23)
In many ways, Jesus gives us a detailed interpretation of this parable because it’s so essential in understanding all the other parables. It is the key to understanding all the parables. This is the parable about parables. 

Now before we get into the specifics of the parable, we must note that in first-century Palestine, plowing came after sowing. So as the sower scatters his seed, he is not being careless as he’s throwing the seed, thus accidentally throwing some on the path.
The purpose of the parable isn’t to urge us to be discriminatory in sharing the gospel, “Well that guy looks to be like the soil on the path, so I’m not going to share Jesus with him.” Or, “Oh well she looks like the superficial seed on the rocky ground, best not share the Gospel with her!”

No, that’s not the point of the parable.

If anything, the parable encourages us to be as widespread as possible with the sowing, but the parable helps give us a framework for understanding the various responses that come after the sowing.

The sower sows the good seed of the Word upon the various soils.
This good word is the gospel itself, of how Jesus has come to die on the cross to save us from our sins.

It’s the message of his kingdom.

Jesus came to fulfill the demands of God’s Law,
and as the messiah,
he will lay down his life for sinners so that anyone who would repent and believe in Christ would not perish but have everlasting life.
The seed sown is the message of the gospel, the
announcement of the kingship of Christ,
the heralding of the way of salvation through God’s Son. 


The gospel is a good seed, a good word!

It is news—the best of news!
However, not everyone receives the gospel with joy.


As the seed is sown, the four soils
represent different types of human hearts.
The parable asks us both to examine our own hearts
while at the same time giving God’s church a
framework for understanding
the variety of reactions to our evangelism.

So as we walk through Jesus’ interpretation of this parable, the question that should be in our minds is this: what type of soil is my heart?
Keep that question in the back of your mind as we discuss these four types of soils. 

1. The Unreceptive Path: The Hard Heart
As the sower sows the seed, some of it falls upon the path. The seed has no time to grow on the hard, compacted soil and a bird quickly snatches it up. Our hearts can become so hard that the gospel bounces off of our hearts, and Satan quickly snatches it away. The image of the path brings to mind the idea of travel, commerce, and busyness. There is so much traffic and activity upon the heart that the word of God cannot take root in their heart. They hear the gospel, but they have no understanding. This person keeps themselves so busy with activity that they do not have time to contemplate spiritual things. They run to and fro at a frantic pace. When they do slow down, they keep their minds busy by the bombardment of media, news, and entertainment options available. No room, no time, no opportunity exists for the gospel to take root. If they hear the gospel, their heart is so trampled down by frantic activity they have no time to consider it. The evil one snatches it away with speed.

This is a frightening reality because you can hear the gospel so frequently taught and preached and yet not understand it. A hard-heartedness can easily seep into active churchgoers. You get into the habit of going to church because that is how your mom raised you, or you want to look moral and important somehow. You sit week after week under the teaching of the gospel, and your heart is so hard that the word just bounces off of you. You leave unchanged, unmoved, and unresponsive to the word of God. 

If you are unresponsive to the gospel, then your heart may have been hardened against the gospel. And I pray that somehow God would get your attention before it is too late. Often, what this type of heart needs is a good plowing up to soften up the soil. Your heart needs good breaking with the cutting of the plow. It is a mercy for God to bring tragedy and suffering into your life in order to soften your heart and unclog your ears. With a heart tiled by suffering and softened by pain, you are ready to truly hear the gospel message. 

2. The Superficial Gravel: The Shallow Heart
The seed was also sown upon rocky ground. The terrain of Palestine is a rocky one. Much of the land is covered with 2-3 inches of soil over limestone bedrock. As a result, seeds scattered in such areas would begin to take root, but the roots couldn’t grow deep into the soil. When the heat of the sun beamed down upon the young plant, it dried out and died. The shallow roots couldn’t take the heat. 
Such hearts hear the gospel and initially find great joy in it. Filled with zeal, they become quite impassioned about Jesus, but as soon as tragedy or persecution hits, they abandon Jesus. More often than not, these people become the greatest antagonist against Christianity. When they hear about Jesus, they superficially attach themselves to the church, but their excitement does not last. It withers once life becomes difficult and dies out. 

Here we must caution against the dangers of emotionalism. Experiencing great feelings doesn’t necessarily mean that you know Christ. It’s common for people to chase experiences—whether it’s a conference, a youth camp, or a worship service. You can chase an experience all you want, but you might not have necessarily gained Christ. Such experience chasers are often like this soil. It’s all frothy emotions and crocodile tears, but there are no roots. They never develop a deep faith and trust in Jesus. Thus, as soon as the heat of the sun bears down upon them, they reveal themselves as the imposters they truly are. As soon as life gets hard, persecution occurs, or suffering strikes, they go from praising Jesus to blaming Jesus. For the true Christian, deeply rooted in the gospel, the heat of the sun strengthens us grow by forcing our roots to go deeper. Sufferings and trials grow and mature the Christian, yet for those who have only superficially attached themselves to Jesus, the heat shrivels them up.

Emotions are by no means a bad thing for the Christian. Indeed, we should have great feelings and love for Jesus, but true faith in Jesus is a deep trust and confidence in God’s Word that goes beyond how we feel in any given moment. Only the true Christian can praise Jesus through sorrow and cling to Christ in tragedy. 

3. The Worldly Weeds: The Divided Heart
The third type of soil is that of the worldly weeds. This is the divided heart. It’s the type of heart that refuses repentance. It’s a divided heart because it attempts to add a love of Jesus along with love for the world. But, no matter how hard you may try, you cannot sustain split loves like that. As Jesus says in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters.” Or, as James puts it, “Friendship with the world is hatred towards God” (Jam. 4:4). Or, as John puts it, “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 Jn. 1:15). 

You see, true faith, saving faith is a complete and total devotion to Jesus. Those who have divided allegiance to Jesus end up rejecting Jesus in the end. It’s not as if they were Christians and then they lost their salvation. They were never Christian at all. They never truly repented of their former way of life. The roots of the world lie beneath the surface of their hearts. As the good seed of the gospel comes to them, it begins to grow, but the thorns and thistles of the world quickly choke out the seed. 
For each of these three soils so far, we must state firmly that none of them were truly Christian, though they may initially seem to be Christian. The first soil obviously rejects the seed, and Satan swallows it up. The second soil, the shallow heart, never truly becomes a Christian as the seed of the gospel doesn’t last. The third soil, the divided heart, also never truly becomes a Christian, as the gospel is choked out. Though to us looking at the outside, there may be initial signs of spiritual life; it doesn’t last. Time reveals their so-called faith as phony. The roots are too shallow to endure hardship or worldly desires choke out the gospel plant. 

These three soils help us understand the various responses to the Gospel message. 

However, there is a fourth soil Jesus gives us. 



4. The Good Soil: The Fruitful Heart

This fourth soil is the good soil of the fruitful heart.
The message of the gospel comes into their life
and begins to
take root and grow.

Their heart is ready, supernaturally prepared,
for accepting the Gospel seed. 

The soil is soft, ready to receive the word, not hardened like the path.
The soil is deep, ready to put down roots deeply,
not like rocky like the gravel.
The soil is pure, not contaminated by worldly weeds
that choke out the gospel from their hearts.

The Holy Spirit had gone before
and prepared the heart in regeneration
for true faith in Christ to take root. 

Jesus tells us that this soil represents the
one who hears, accepts, and bears fruits.
This person hears the gospel and accepts it as true.

They hear of what Jesus has done for them, how he is the son of God who came down from heaven, became flesh, and dwelt among us. They hear of his death for the sins of humanity.
They hear of his victorious resurrection, conquering sin and death.

They hear it and accept it—they truly believe in him,
that Christ is the king! 

It is only by the power of God that any of us can truly hear this gospel!
So the message of the gospel is received, but what is the evidence of authentic hearing of the gospel? Well, Jesus is pretty clear: it is a life lived in fruitfulness. The seed of the gospel produces fruit thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold! 

What sort of fruit does this look like in the Christian life? Well, it means the fruit of the Spirit is evident in your life, and not just evident by continually increasing.
Paul tells us: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:22–24, ESV)

Fruit in the Christian life is also displayed through evangelism.

A tree produces fruit for reproduction.

In the same way, we,
​
through our witness,
must proclaim the gospel to others.
​

We speak of what Christ has done for us and invite others to put their faith in Jesus!

The mark of the true Christian is Spirit-empowered, persevering fruitfulness.



Final Thoughts

The four soils indicate four types of hearing, with only one soil representing the true hearing and acceptance of the Gospel message. Examine yourself and ask which type of soil reflects my heart? 
​

• The first soil is the unreceptive path. It is the hardened heart that doesn’t have any interest in Jesus or the Gospel.
• The second soil is the superficial gravel or the shallow heart. With no roots, as soon as persecution or suffering comes, the heat of the sun scorches them. 
• The third soil is the worldly weeds or the divided heart. They attempt to have Jesus plus all the pleasures and desires of the world. Yet, no one can serve to masters, and the worldly weeds snuff out the gospel. 
• The fourth soil is the good soil, the soil that is soft, willing to hear the gospel, receives it and produces great fruit! 

I pray that today the Spirit would show you the depths of your heart and help you to truly hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ this morning. He has come to deliver you from your sin and save your soul. Through this sermon (and every sermon), I’m throwing out the seed of the gospel. If you’ve been coming to Redemption a while and hearing the gospel, I pray that the Lord has brought great fruit into your life as you accepted and received Christ. As you believe the truth, may the Lord give you greater understanding and enjoyment of Christ. May truth beget an increasing knowledge of the truth in your life, manifested by the fruitfulness that comes from Christian maturity!

However, if you’ve been coming here a while and there is no fruit in your life, the problem isn’t with the good seed of the gospel but your heart. Receive Christ. Grow deep roots into Christ. Uproot the worldly weeds that choke out Christ from your life. For some of you, you may have never truly, authentically heard the gospel. The message has hit your ears but never your heart. I pray today you would respond for the first time in saving faith. May the Lord give you to know of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. May he bless your eyes, for they see. May he bless your ears, for they hear. He who has ears, let him hear.
​

Why did Jesus often tell those he healed to remain silent?

It is interesting that on a number of occasions after Jesus performed a mighty deed, he commanded those who benefited to not tell anyone.
This is especially the case in Mark’s gospel.
Why did Jesus do this? 


The messianic secret is a feature of the Gospel. 


Another major part of the answer to my initial question has to do with the nature of miracles and their main purpose.
It seems they were mostly about confirming the man and his message. They were not ends in themselves.

They pointed to the nature of salvation and the long-awaited messiah.

The connection between miracles and salvation can be seen in many places. For example, the story of the healing of the paralytic in Matthew. 9:1-8
shows the inseparable link between forgiveness of sins and the man’s healing. 

“Although Jesus’ miracles teach about his power to heal physically, these signs are especially meant to turn attention to the kingdom of God (6:33; 9:12). Similarly, in the Book of Acts signs and wonders constitute the primary method of drawing attention to the claims of the gospel, but it is the gospel itself that is paramount (e.g., Acts 14:3).”

The same can be said about Mark’s gospel.
Miracles are primarily pointers, and they point to a person.
As James Edwards comments: “For Mark the significance of Jesus cannot be fully conveyed by what he does, but only by who he is.
One can be amazed by a miracle, but one can only trust and believe a person.”

Moreover, Jesus did not want to be sidetracked from the main purpose of the incarnation: the cross. Jewish expectations at the time of what the messiah would be like were quite different from his.

They were looking for a military conqueror,
a political liberator.

Although this was a proper expectation based on much Old Testament teaching, it was not the whole package.

That the coming messiah should
first suffer, then rule,
was not part of most Jewish expectations.

But the idea of a suffering messiah was there nonetheless (as in the Suffering Servant passage in Isaiah 52:13-53:12). What the Jews were eagerly looking forward to from the day of the Lord was God’s vindication: God’s salvation of his people and judgement on their enemies.

The coming messiah was looked on as a great deliverer or judge, in the tradition of Moses, Samson or Gideon.

Jesus knew these skewed expectations would become an obstacle to his appointed task of his substitutionary death.

He could not allow those who wanted to make him a political revolutionary to deter him from his true mission.

Thus he had to urge quiet, so that he might follow his father’s will, not the misguided will of the crowd.

Here's an interesting thought experiment -- if you knew you had a finite amount of time to teach people everything they needed to know about abundant life now and eternal life to come ... how would you do it?  If we're honest, I'll bet most of us would choose as straightforward a method as possible.  Maybe contract law, or exhaustive doctrine?  Among several kinds of teaching, one of Jesus' favorites was story.  

Moreover, his stories were sometimes strange or enigmatic,
and he did not always try to explain them.  
What was he up to?

Jesus knew that human beings are "story-formed people."  We perceive and process our lives in the form of characters, plot, conflict, and resolution.  

So he used stories as a primary way of engaging our imaginations and inviting us to explore the deep truths he wanted us to know.

One such story is the parable of the vineyard, in Matthew 20:1-16.  
(Click the scripture reference to read it online!)  

When reading parables, remember the principles we've outlined so far in this series,

"Lost in Translation."  

Be aware of your own cultural lens;
give priority to the historical context in which it was written;
beware of creative normative commands from narratives meant to illustrate truth.

In this parable, the vineyard would conjure in the first-century Jewish mind the important metaphor of the vineyard for God's people (see Isaiah 5:7).  This isn't a story about how to do business, or about a free capitalist market, or about employing day laborers.  

It's a story about God's people...especially who's in and who's out.  

Jesus often designed his parables to begin with a setup, then offer an unexpected ending.  


It was a skillful way of exposing us, especially when we have hard hearts.


 This parable is a classic reversal of expectations: not only does the landowner pay the last workers first, he pays them a full day's wage!  

So what is Jesus trying to get across, if it's not about fair wages or being a generous employer?   Parables aren't allegories (stories in which every element symbolizes something else -- think Orwell's "Animal Farm").  So we can't pick them apart piece by piece -- if we pull the petals off a rose, we'll lose the beauty of the whole!  

Instead, the parables are illustrating truth about "the kingdom of heaven."  

Jesus even starts this parable that way!  
In this case, Jesus is challenging people who feel that they somehow deserve privilege in God's kingdom.  

These might be people who have lived faithfully, tithed generously, even made personal sacrifices for God's glory.  In these cases, it can be all too easy to mistakenly believe we "deserve" something from God, or that there are degrees of belonging in God's kingdom.  

But the simple fact is that everything we have is the result of God's grace -- a gift from our generous Landowner.  

Philip Yancey brilliantly put it this way: "God give gifts, not wages."  

When we accept the fact that we are recipients of God's grace
rather than earners of God's favor,
we will discover the kind of gratitude
that permeates the hearts of
so many people we read about in
the Gospels and Acts.  

And oh, how we need this gratitude today!
​ 
How we live in a cultural grace-drought!  

The Church has been called and equipped with the Holy Spirit to lead the way within our divisive, petty and backbiting culture to let God's rivers of living water flow through us into this dry and thirsty land.  

But it starts with remembering that 
we are all latecomers to the vineyard.  

We are all recipients of God's scandalous grace.  

We are all given more than we deserve
from the One who wants us to have abundant lives.  

For reflection: 
1) Which characters do you primarily relate to in this parable?
2) Do you feel like a "latecomer" to God's kingdom?  How does it make you feel to consider that you are a latecomer, rather than one of the faithful all-day laborers?
3) Do you know anyone that you would find difficult sharing an equal share of the Church?  (If you don't think of anyone, consider people who have wronged you, or wronged someone else.  Think of people who do things you don't approve of.  This is how many 1st century Jews thought of Gentiles and others they considered "unclean.")
4) What can you do to change your attitude toward the person(s) you thought of in #3?  How can you bring all of this to God honestly in prayer?

In Grace!
​
​

The Church has not replaced Israel and God has not finished with His chosen people, and should anyone doubt this truth, they should familiarise themselves with three chapters in Romans where Paul details their past history (chapter 9) their present position (chapter 10) and God's future plans for His people (chapter 11).

Due to pride and disobedience, Israel were set aside for a season. Because they rejected their Messiah and because of their unbelief and apostate ways, God's promised kingdom of peace and prosperity on earth was postponed.

However, Israel's terrible loss became a glorious gain for the Gentiles, for by His grace He redeemed believing men and women from every nation and language – every kindred and tribe.

​The nation of Israel may have broken their covenant with God, rejected their Messiah, and failed to complete in the good work that God had prepared them to do, but their sinful lack and foolish rebellion meant that the rest of the world received great blessings: "Their stumbling brings untold wealth for the world, and their failure, riches for the Gentiles."

The Law of Moses, the Psalms of David, and the prophetic writings of holy men of God, had painted a clear and exciting picture of Jesus, their long-awaited Messiah. He was to come as their anointed King in fulfilment of God's redemptive plan for mankind. But Israel had wandered far from the Lord. They chased after foreign gods and sadly they missed the day of their visitation, which angered the Lord and caused Him to punish His disobedient people and set them aside, for a season.

Israel still has a spirit of slumber and are blind - in part, which has continued throughout the entire Church age. Because of their unbelief, God gave His errant nation a spirit of stupor, with ears that were deaf to His voice and eyes that were unable to see the truth of the glorious gospel of God. This was not to be a permanent impediment, but would prove to be a stumbling block to those who would not believe on His name.

The spirit of stupor would be a prolonged period during the 'dispensation of grace' when God would call out of the Gentiles a people for His name. Blindness in part is to continue to the end of the Church age, when all Christians will be removed at the Rapture and at long last, Israel will be reinstated as God's witness on earth – and the gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the world.

Not all Israel received this shocking spirit of slumber. Only those who rejected Him as their God and Saviour had blinded eyes and deafened ears. But as Paul pointed out, "IF Israel’s stumbling brought such wealth for the world, and their failure produced riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full number bring?" How much greater will be the blessings and abundant riches for the Gentiles, when the nation of Israel finally recognises Jesus as Lord and welcomes Him as their Messiah and King?

Why is only Peter mentioned out of the twelve?

Why is he singled out?
It is because Jesus thrust upon Peter the responsibility of strengthening the other disciples after he repented.

We have to understand that Satan desired to sift them all, but Jesus only addresses Peter, giving him the responsibility to buck everybody else up.
​
Why Peter? Why did He not say, "John, you son of thunder, I want you to be a rod of lightning to these men and encourage them after these things happen." No, he says this to Peter. He does not say to John, "I want to you to work with your brother and strengthen him." He says it to Peter because Jesus had given him the responsibility to be the bulwark of strength (humanly speaking) amongst the Twelve.
​
Jesus was crucified on Passover (Mark 14—15). The Passover, itself, is not a Sabbath. It was to be celebrated in the evening, and in the morning people were allowed to go home (Deuteronomy 16:7). The day after Passover is the first day of the weeklong Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:4–8). The first and last days of the feast are high days, that is, holiday-Sabbaths, during which no normal work may be done. Legally, the disciples could have started for home the morning of Passover, but the trip was several days long, and Jesus was on trial and then being crucified. That evening the Sabbath started, and they could not travel again until it was over. 

Saturday evening, at dusk, the Sabbath is over. Sunday morning, the women find the empty tomb. They return to the disciples and give them the angels' message. Shortly after, Peter and John check for themselves (John 20:1–9). 

In the forty days Jesus ministers between the resurrection and the ascension (Acts 1:3), Jesus will meet the disciples in Galilee (John 21) as He promised before the crucifixion (Mark 14:28). Later this day, however, He travels with two disciples on the road between Jerusalem and Emmaus, inspiring them to return to Jerusalem (Luke 24:13–34). This evening, He meets with ten of the remaining Twelve, as Thomas will be absent (John 20:19–24). He will also see a few others in Jerusalem (Luke 24:36–49). 

Peter is mentioned as one who specifically needs to be told the angel's message.
Once the Twelve's self-appointed spokesman (Matthew 15:15; Mark 8:32; 9:5; 11:21; Luke 8:45; 9:20; 18:28), he has been hiding in shame since he denied Jesus at the trial before the Sanhedrin (Mark 14:66–72). Peter had a very strong idea of who Jesus was and what Jesus would do for him. Now, Peter thinks himself a cowardly traitor, that Jesus is dead, and all is lost. 

Jesus will take the time to reconcile with Peter in particular, evidently both privately directly following the resurrection
(Luke 24:34; 1 Corinthians 15:5)
and more publicly sometime later (John 21:15–19). Jesus will come to seven of the disciples while they are fishing at the Sea of Tiberias. After providing a miraculous catch of fish, reminiscent of His calling of some of these same disciples described in Luke 5, He feeds them breakfast. Jesus then asks Peter twice if he loves Him with full, self-sacrificial love (agape). Peter will humbly respond that he loves Jesus with the lesser love of affection (phileo). Jesus will accept that answer, asking Peter the third time if he loves Jesus with phileo love and then proceeding to commission Peter after he responds in the affirmative. Peter finally acknowledges that he cannot give Jesus all He deserves, and he does not deserve what Jesus gives to him.

Still, Jesus gives Peter the commission of "feeding His sheep,"
knowing Peter finally has the humility to
accept the Holy Spirit who will fill what Peter lacks
(Acts 2:1–4, 14–41).

Mark 16:1–8 proclaims that Jesus is alive!
After telling the disciples, several times over three years, that He will die and rise again, Jesus' work is finally done.

​
Throughout their history in the Promised Land,
the children of Israel struggled with conflict among the tribes. The disunity went back all the way to the patriarch Jacob, who presided over a house divided. The sons of Leah and the sons of Rachel had their share of contention even in Jacob’s lifetime (Genesis 37:1-11). 

The enmity among the half-brothers continued in the time of the judges. Benjamin (one of Rachel’s tribes) took up arms against the other tribes (Judges 20). Israel’s first king, Saul, was of the tribe of Benjamin. When David was crowned king—David was from the tribe of Judah (one of Leah’s tribes)—the Benjamites rebelled (2 Samuel 2–3). After a long war (2 Samuel 3:1), David succeeded in uniting all twelve tribes (5:1-5). 

The frailty of the union was exposed, however, when David’s son Absalom promoted himself as the new king and drew many Israelites away from their allegiance to David (2 Samuel 15). Significantly, Absalom set up his throne in Hebron, the site of the former capital (v. 10). A later revolt was led by a man named Sheba against David and the tribe of Judah (20:1-2). 

The reign of David’s son Solomon saw more unrest when one of the king’s servants, Jeroboam, rebelled. Jeroboam was on the king’s errand when he met the prophet Ahijah, who told him that God was going to give him authority over ten of the twelve tribes of Israel. God’s reason for the division of the kingdom was definitive: “Because they have forsaken me . . . and have not walked in my ways.” However, God promised that David’s dynasty would continue, albeit over a much smaller kingdom, for the sake of God’s covenant with David and for the sake of Jerusalem, God’s chosen city. When Solomon learned of the prophecy, he sought to kill Jeroboam, who fled to Egypt for sanctuary (1 Kings 11:26-40).

After Solomon’s death, his son Rehoboam was set to become the next king. Jeroboam returned from Egypt and led a group of people to confront Rehoboam with a demand for a lighter tax burden. When Rehoboam refused the demand, ten of the tribes rejected Rehoboam and David’s dynasty (1 Kings 12:16), and Ahijah’s prophecy was fulfilled. Only Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to King Rehoboam. The northern tribes crowned Jeroboam as their king. Rehoboam made plans to mount an assault on the rebel tribes, but the Lord prevented him from taking that action (vv. 21-24). Meanwhile, Jeroboam further consolidated his power by instituting a form of calf worship unique to his kingdom and declaring that pilgrimages to Jerusalem were unnecessary. Thus, the people of the northern tribes would have no contact with the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.

“So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day” (1 Kings 12:19). The northern kingdom is called “Israel” (or sometimes “Ephraim”) in Scripture, and the southern kingdom is called “Judah.” From the divine viewpoint, the division was a judgment on not keeping God’s commands, specifically the commands prohibiting idolatry. From a human viewpoint, the division was the result of tribal discord and political unrest. The principle is that sin brings division (1 Corinthians 1:13, 11:18; James 4:1).

The good news is that God, in His mercy, has promised a reuniting of the northern and southern kingdoms. “He will raise a banner for the nations / and gather the exiles of Israel; / he will assemble the scattered people of Judah / from the four quarters of the earth. / Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish, / and Judah’s enemies will be destroyed; / Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, / nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim” (Isaiah 11:12-13). When the Prince of Peace—Jesus Christ—reigns in His millennial kingdom, all hostility, jealousy, and conflict among the tribes will be put to rest.
​

Then all the trees of the field will know
​
that I am Yahweh.
I bring down the tall tree,
and make the low tree tall.
I cause the green tree to wither
and make the withered tree thrive.
I, Yahweh, have spoken
and I will do it.

Ezekiel 22:14
Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong in the days that I will deal with you? I, the Lord, have spoken and will act.

Amos 9:11
“In that day I will raise up the fallen booth of David,
And wall up its breaches;
I will also raise up its ruins
And rebuild it as in the days of old;

Ezekiel 24:14
I, the Lord, have spoken; it is coming and I will act. I will not relent, and I will not pity and I will not be sorry; according to your ways and according to your deeds I will judge you,” declares the Lord God.’”

1 Samuel 2:7-8
“The Lord makes poor and rich;
He brings low, He also exalts.

Job 5:11
So that He sets on high those who are lowly,
And those who mourn are lifted to safety.

Job 40:12
“Look on everyone who is proud, and humble him,
And tread down the wicked where they stand.

Psalm 75:6-7
For not from the east, nor from the west,
Nor from the desert comes exaltation;

Psalm 89:38
But You have cast off and rejected,
You have been full of wrath against Your anointed.

Psalm 89:45
You have shortened the days of his youth;
You have covered him with shame. Selah.

Psalm 96:11-12
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
Let the sea roar, and all it contains;

Isaiah 2:13-14
And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted up,
Against all the oaks of Bashan,

Isaiah 9:6-7
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 11:1-9
Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.

Isaiah 26:5
“For He has brought low those who dwell on high, the unassailable city;
He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He casts it to the dust.

Isaiah 55:12-13
“For you will go out with joy
And be led forth with peace;
The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you,
And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

Ezekiel 12:25
For I the Lord will speak, and whatever word I speak will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, for in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it,” declares the Lord God.’”

Ezekiel 21:26
thus says the Lord God, ‘Remove the turban and take off the crown; this will no longer be the same. Exalt that which is low and abase that which is high.

Matthew 24:35
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

Luke 1:33
and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”

Luke 1:52-53
“He has brought down rulers from their thrones,
And has exalted those who were humble.

Luke 21:33
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

1 Corinthians 1:27-28
but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,



Parable Of Two Eagles And A Vine

7 “But there was another great eagle with great wings and much plumage; and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him and sent out its branches toward him from the beds where it was planted, that he might water it. 8 It was planted in good soil beside abundant waters, that it might yield branches and bear fruit and become a splendid vine.”’ 9 Say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit, so that it withers—so that all its sprouting leaves wither? And neither by great strength nor by many people can it be raised from its roots again.


Numbers 14:41
But Moses said, “Why then are you transgressing the commandment of the Lord, when it will not succeed?

2 Kings 25:4-7
Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls beside the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah.

2 Chronicles 13:12
Now behold, God is with us at our head and His priests with the signal trumpets to sound the alarm against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you will not succeed.”

2 Chronicles 20:20
They rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa; and when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, put your trust in the Lord your God and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed.”

Isaiah 8:9-10
“Be broken, O peoples, and be shattered;
And give ear, all remote places of the earth.
Gird yourselves, yet be shattered;
Gird yourselves, yet be shattered.

Isaiah 30:1-7
“Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the Lord,
“Who execute a plan, but not Mine,
And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit,
In order to add sin to sin;

Isaiah 31:1-3
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help
And rely on horses,
And trust in chariots because they are many
And in horsemen because they are very strong,
But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the Lord!

Jeremiah 21:4-7
‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to turn back the weapons of war which are in your hands, with which you are warring against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the wall; and I will gather them into the center of this city.

Jeremiah 24:8-10
‘But like the bad figs which cannot be eaten due to rottenness—indeed, thus says the Lord—so I will abandon Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land and the ones who dwell in the land of Egypt.

Jeremiah 29:4-7
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon,

Jeremiah 32:5
and he will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him,” declares the Lord. “If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed”’?”

Jeremiah 37:10
For even if you had defeated the entire army of Chaldeans who were fighting against you, and there were only wounded men left among them, each man in his tent, they would rise up and burn this city with fire.’”

Jeremiah 52:7-11
Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled and went forth from the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls which was by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah.

Ezekiel 17:10
Behold, though it is planted, will it thrive? Will it not completely wither as soon as the east wind strikes it—wither on the beds where it grew?”’”

Ezekiel 17:15-17
But he rebelled against him by sending his envoys to Egypt that they might give him horses and many troops. Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Can he indeed break the covenant and escape?




River Of The Temple,
Division Of The Land And Its Boundaries

11 But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. 12 By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.” 13 Thus says the Lord God, “This shall be the boundary by which you shall divide the land for an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel; Joseph shall have two portions.

English(KJV) Strong's Root Form Definition Usage
And the remnant H7604 שׁאר 
Sha'ar  leave , remain , remnant , let , rest , 134
that is escaped H6413 פּלטה פּליטה 
P@leytah  escape , deliverance , remnant 28
of the house H1004 בּית 
Bayith  house , household , home , within , temple , prison , place , family , families , dungeon , 2053
of Judah H3063 יהוּדה 
Y@huwdah  Judah , Bethlehemjudah 648
shall yet again H3254 יסף 
Yacaph  more , again , add , increase , also , exceed , put , further , henceforth , can , continued , give , 208
take root H8328 שׁרשׁ 
Sheresh  root , bottom , deep , heels 33
downward H4295 מטּה 
Mattah  beneath , downward , underneath , very , low , under , down , less 19
and bear H6213
do , make , wrought , deal , commit , offer , execute , keep , shew , prepare , work , do so , perform , get , dress , maker , maintain , 0
fruit H6529 פּרי 
P@riy  fruit , fruitful , boughs , firstfruits , reward , fruit thereof 119

English(KJV) Strong's Root Form Definition Usage
And God H430 אלהים 
'elohiym  God, god, judge, GOD, goddess, great, mighty, angels, exceeding, God-ward , godly 2600
said H559
said, speak, answer, command, tell, call, promised, . 0
Let the earth H776 ארץ 
'erets  land, earth, country, ground, world, way, common, field, nations, wilderness 2504
bring forth H1876 דּשׁא 
Dasha  spring, bring forth 2
grass H1877 דּשׁא 
Deshe'  grass, herb, green 15
the herb H6212 עשׂב 
`eseb  herb, grass 33
yielding H2232
H6213 זרע 
Zara` 

sow, yielding, sower, bearing, conceive, seed, set 
do, make, wrought, deal, commit, offer, execute, keep, shew, prepare, work, do so, perform, get, dress, maker, maintain, 56
0
seed H2233
H2233 זרע 
Zera` 
זרע 
Zera`  seed, child, carnally , carnally, fruitful, seedtime, sowing time 
seed, child, carnally , carnally, fruitful, seedtime, sowing time 229
229
and the fruit H6529 פּרי 
P@riy  fruit, fruitful, boughs, firstfruits , reward, fruit thereof 119
tree H6086 עץ 
`ets  tree, wood, timber, stick, gallows, staff, stock, carpenter , branches, helve, planks, stalks 329
fruit H6529 פּרי 
P@riy  fruit, fruitful, boughs, firstfruits , reward, fruit thereof 119
after his kind H4327 מין 
Miyn  kind 31
whose H834
which, wherewith, because, when, soon, whilst, as if, as when, that, until, much, whosoever, whereas, wherein, whom, whose 0
is in itself, upon the earth H776 ארץ 
'erets  land, earth, country, ground, world, way, common, field, nations, wilderness 2504

Source: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Genesis/1/11



The Creation

10 God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.

According to Its Kind
Bear Fruit
Let There Be
Put Forth
Cross References

Hebrews 6:7
For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God;

Genesis 1:29
Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;

Genesis 2:5
Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

Genesis 2:9
Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:16
The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;

Job 28:5
“The earth, from it comes food,
And underneath it is turned up as fire.

Psalm 1:3
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.

Psalm 65:9-13
You visit the earth and cause it to overflow;
You greatly enrich it;
The stream of God is full of water;
You prepare their grain, for thus You prepare the earth.

Psalm 104:14-17
He causes the grass to grow for the cattle,
And vegetation for the labor of man,
So that he may bring forth food from the earth,

Psalm 147:8
Who covers the heavens with clouds,
Who provides rain for the earth,
Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.

Jeremiah 17:8
“For he will be like a tree planted by the water,
That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of drought
Nor cease to yield fruit.

Matthew 3:10
The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Matthew 6:30
But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!

Matthew 7:16-20
You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?

Mark 4:28
The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head.

Luke 6:43-44
For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit.

James 3:12
Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.



Isaiah Brings A Prophetic Response
​
29 ‘Then this shall be the sign for you: you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what springs from the same, and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 30 The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31 For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant, and out of Mount Zion survivors. The zeal of the Lord will perform this.


Bear Fruit
House of Israel
House of Judah
Israel
Judah

2 Chronicles 32:22-23
So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side.

2 Kings 19:4
Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the remnant that is left.’”

Psalm 80:9
You cleared the ground before it,
And it took deep root and filled the land.

Isaiah 1:9
Unless the Lord of hosts
Had left us a few survivors,
We would be like Sodom,
We would be like Gomorrah.

Isaiah 10:20-22
Now in that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah 27:6
In the days to come Jacob will take root,
Israel will blossom and sprout,
And they will fill the whole world with fruit.

Isaiah 37:31-32
The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward.

The Branch's Righteous Reign
1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him,
The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and strength,
The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

Bear Fruit
Stem of Jesse
Stump Of Jesse
David
Jesse
Messiah

Isaiah 11:10
Then in that day
The nations will resort to the root of Jesse,
Who will stand as a signal for the peoples;
And His resting place will be glorious.

Isaiah 4:2
In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel.

Isaiah 53:2
For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.

Jeremiah 23:5
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch;
And He will reign as king and act wisely
And do justice and righteousness in the land.

Zechariah 3:8
Now listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you—indeed they are men who are a symbol, for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the Branch.

Zechariah 6:12
Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the Lord.

Revelation 5:5
and one of the elders *said to me, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.”

Isaiah 9:7
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

Revelation 22:16
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

Ruth 4:17
The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi!” So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

1 Samuel 17:58
Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

Jeremiah 33:15
In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth.

Matthew 1:6-16
Jesse was the father of David the king.David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah.

Luke 2:23-32
(as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”),

Acts 13:22-23
After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.’

Romans 15:12
Again Isaiah says,
“There shall come the root of Jesse,
And He who arises to rule over the Gentiles,
In Him shall the Gentiles hope.”

fruit bear branch shoot spring roots stem

And there shall come forth H3318 יצא 
Yatsa'  ....out, ....forth, bring, come, proceed, go, depart, 1068
a rod H2415 חטר 
Choter  rod 2
out of the stem H1503 גּזע 
Geza`  stock, stem 3
of Jesse H3448 אישׁי ישׁי 
Yishay  Jesse 42
and a Branch H5342 נצר 
Netser  branch 4
shall grow H6509 פּרה 

Parah  fruitful, increased, grow, beareth, forth, bring fruit, make fruitful 29


Jeremiah's Complaint

1 Righteous are You, O Lord, that I would plead my case with You;
Indeed I would discuss matters of justice with You:
Why has the way of the wicked prospered?
Why are all those who deal in treachery at ease?
2 You have planted them, they have also taken root;
They grow, they have even produced fruit.
You are near to their lips
But far from their mind.
3 But You know me, O Lord;
You see me;
And You examine my heart’s attitude toward You.
Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter
And set them apart for a day of carnage!

Isaiah 29:13
Then the Lord said,
“Because this people draw near with their words
And honor Me with their lip service,
But they remove their hearts far from Me,
And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,

Jeremiah 11:17
The Lord of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me by offering up sacrifices to Baal.

Titus 1:16
They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.

Jeremiah 45:4
Thus you are to say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, what I have built I am about to tear down, and what I have planted I am about to uproot, that is, the whole land.”

Ezekiel 17:5-10
He also took some of the seed of the land and planted it in fertile soil. He placed it beside abundant waters; he set it like a willow.

Ezekiel 33:31
They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain.

Matthew 15:8
‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.

Jeremiah 3:10
Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in deception,” declares the Lord.

Ezekiel 19:10-13
‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard,
Planted by the waters;
It was fruitful and full of branches
Because of abundant waters.

Mark 7:6
And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
​
‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.


Thou hast planted H5193 נטע 
Nata`  plant, fastened, planters 58
them, yea, they have taken root H8327 שׁרשׁ 
Sharash  ...root, root out 8
they grow H3212 ילך 
Yalak  go, walk, come, depart, ...away, follow, get, lead, brought, carry, bring, 0
yea, they bring forth H6213
do, make, wrought, deal, commit, offer, execute, keep, shew, prepare, work, do so, perform, get, dress, maker, maintain, 0
fruit H6529 פּרי 
P@riy  fruit, fruitful, boughs, firstfruits , reward, fruit thereof 119
thou art near H7138 קרב קרוב 
Qarowb  near, nigh, at hand, neighbour, next, kin, approach, short, kinsfolk, kinsmen, 77
in their mouth H6310 פּה 
Peh  mouth, commandment, edge, according, word, hole, end, appointment, portion, tenor, sentence, 497
and far from H7350 רחק רחוק 
Rachowq  off, far, long ago, far from, come, afar, old, far abroad, long, space 85

In Genesis 11 
we read the account of the tower of Babel, where the people, attempting to build a tower that reaches to heaven, have their language confused and are scattered across the whole face of the earth by God.
The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

Jeremiah 2:27
Who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’
And to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’
For they have turned their back to Me,
And not their face;
But in the time of their trouble they will say,
‘Arise and save us.’

Jeremiah 13:24
“Therefore I will scatter them like drifting straw
To the desert wind.

Job 27:21
“The east wind carries him away, and he is gone,
For it whirls him away from his place.

Psalm 48:7
With the east wind
You break the ships of Tarshish.

Jeremiah 32:33
They have turned their back to Me and not their face; though I taught them, teaching again and again, they would not listen and receive instruction.

Jeremiah 46:21
“Also her mercenaries in her midst
Are like fattened calves,
For even they too have turned back and have fled away together;
They did not stand their ground.
For the day of their calamity has come upon them,
The time of their punishment.

Hosea 13:15
Though he flourishes among the reeds,
An east wind will come,
The wind of the Lord coming up from the wilderness;
And his fountain will become dry
And his spring will be dried up;
It will plunder his treasury of every precious article.

Deuteronomy 28:25
“The Lord shall cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you will go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways before them, and you will be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

Deuteronomy 28:64
Moreover, the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone, which you or your fathers have not known.

Deuteronomy 31:17
Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will come upon them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come upon us?’

Deuteronomy 32:35
‘Vengeance is Mine, and retribution,
In due time their foot will slip;
For the day of their calamity is near,
And the impending things are hastening upon them.’

Judges 10:13-14
Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer deliver you.

Proverbs 7:25-26
Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways,
Do not stray into her paths.

Source: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Jeremiah/18/17

I will scatter H6327 פּוּץ 
Puwts  scatter, scatter abroad, disperse, spread abroad, cast abroad, drive, break to pieces, shake to pieces, dash to pieces, retired 67

Ezekiel 19:12
‘But it was plucked up in fury;
It was cast down to the ground;
And the east wind dried up its fruit.
Its strong branch was torn off
So that it withered;
The fire consumed it.

Ezekiel 17:10
Behold, though it is planted, will it thrive? Will it not completely wither as soon as the east wind strikes it—wither on the beds where it grew?”’”

Genesis 41:52
He named the second Ephraim, “For,” he said, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

Genesis 49:22
“Joseph is a fruitful bough,
A fruitful bough by a spring;
Its branches run over a wall.

Jeremiah 4:11
In that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A scorching wind from the bare heights in the wilderness in the direction of the daughter of My people—not to winnow and not to cleanse,

Genesis 48:19
But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people and he also will be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”

Deuteronomy 33:17
“As the firstborn of his ox, majesty is his,
And his horns are the horns of the wild ox;
With them he will push the peoples,
All at once, to the ends of the earth.
And those are the ten thousands of Ephraim,
And those are the thousands of Manasseh.”

Job 18:16
“His roots are dried below,
And his branch is cut off above.

Psalm 1:4
The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.

Psalm 109:13
Let his posterity be cut off;
In a following generation let their name be blotted out.

Isaiah 14:21
“Prepare for his sons a place of slaughter
Because of the iniquity of their fathers.
They must not arise and take possession of the earth
And fill the face of the world with cities.”

Isaiah 17:13
The nations rumble on like the rumbling of many waters,
But He will rebuke them and they will flee far away,
And be chased like chaff in the mountains before the wind,
Or like whirling dust before a gale.

Isaiah 41:16
“You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away,
And the storm will scatter them;
But you will rejoice in the Lord,
You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

Jeremiah 20:5
I will also give over all the wealth of this city, all its produce and all its costly things; even all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will give over to the hand of their enemies, and they will plunder them, take them away and bring them to Babylon.

Jeremiah 51:36
Therefore thus says the Lord,
“Behold, I am going to plead your case
And exact full vengeance for you;
And I will dry up her sea
And make her fountain dry.

Daniel 11:8
Also their gods with their metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold he will take into captivity to Egypt, and he on his part will refrain from attacking the king of the North for some years.

Hosea 4:19
The wind wraps them in its wings,
And they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

Hosea 9:11
As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird--
No birth, no pregnancy and no conception!

Hosea 10:1
Israel is a luxuriant vine;
He produces fruit for himself.
The more his fruit,
The more altars he made;
The richer his land,
The better he made the sacred pillars.

Nahum 2:9
Plunder the silver!
Plunder the gold!
For there is no limit to the treasure--
Wealth from every kind of desirable object.



​The Tower of Babel

was built to prevent the people from scattering across the earth. Because the people would not scatter themselves, God scattered them. 

The Tower of Babel (Hebrew: מִגְדַּל בָּבֶל‎, Migdal Bavel) narrative in Genesis11:1–9 is an origin myth meant to explain why the world's peoples speak different languages.[1][2][3][4]
According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language and migrating eastward, comes to the land of Shinar (שִׁנְעָר‎). There they agree to build a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Yahweh, observing their city and tower, confounds their speech so that they can no longer understand each other, and scatters them around the world.


Various Dialects

In the account of the Tower of Babel the text seems to indicate that the various dialects had not appeared yet and that everyone on earth had one language and vocabulary. The Lord understood the motive and ambition of the people. Because the people had built a tower in defiance of Him, God then caused the one language on the earth to be confused. Once the languages were confounded the people scattered. Many questions arise concerning this account. 

One Language?

Did they all speak the same language? There are some people who feel the biblical text does not demand that there was only one language at the time. They point to the preceding chapter, Genesis ten, which divides the table of nations based upon the various languages. However, we must not assume a chronological sequence here. Allen P. Ross writes: 

At the beginning of chapter 11 the whole world is of 'one language' and one vocabulary. But chapter 10 has already divided the nations according to peoples and tongues. . . Probably 11:1-9 explains how the arrangement in chapter 10 came about. Genesis often goes outside the chronological order to arrange the material thematically (Allen P. Ross, in The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Editors John Walvoord and Roy Zuck, Wheaton, Illinois: Victor Books, 1985, p. 44).

How did God scatter them? Was it a change in their organ of hearing? Was it a change in their speech? Or was it a deeper change in the mind itself? We simply do not know. 

Babel And Pentecost

There is an obvious contrast between Babel and Pentecost. At the tower of Babel the languages were confused and the people were scattered. At Pentecost God supernaturally allowed the people to speak languages and dialects they had not previously learned to testify to the glory of God. Pentecost was the reversal of Babel. 

Final Uniting Of Languages

The prophet Zephaniah speaks of a final uniting of the languages. 

For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one accord. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my worshipers, the daughter of My dispersed ones, shall bring my offering. In that day you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds in which you transgress against Me for then I will take away from your midst those who rejoice in your pride, and you shall no longer be haughty in My holy mountain (Zephaniah 3:9-11).

​1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as they migrated from the east,[a] they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and fire them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." 5 The LORD[b] came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. 6 And the LORD said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech." 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore it was called Babel,[c] because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth, and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
— Genesis 11:1–9 NRSVUE[7]

The phrase "Tower of Babel" does not appear in the Bible; it is always "the city and the tower" (אֶת-הָעִיר וְאֶת-הַמִּגְדָּל‎) or just "the city" (הָעִיר‎). The original derivation of the name Babel (also the Hebrew name for Babylon) is uncertain. The native, Akkadianname of the city was Bāb-ilim, meaning "gate of God". However, that form and interpretation itself are now usually thought to be the result of an Akkadian folk etymology applied to an earlier form of the name, Babilla, of unknown meaning and probably non-Semitic origin.[8][9] According to the Bible, the city received the name "Babel" from the Hebrew verb בָּלַ֥ל (bālal), meaning to jumble or to confuse.[10]

The narrative of the tower of Babel[11] is an etiology or explanation of a phenomenon. Etiologies are narratives that explain the origin of a custom, ritual, geographical feature, name, or other phenomenon.[12]: 426  The story of the Tower of Babel explains the origins of the multiplicity of languages. God was concerned that humans had blasphemed by building the tower to avoid a second flood so God brought into existence multiple languages.[12]: 51  Thus, humans were divided into linguistic groups, unable to understand one another.
​
Deuteronomy 29:22-28

The last phrase of verse 28, “as is clear today” (New English Translation [NET]) is an important time marker. The GNT renders it, “where they are today.” The New Living Translation [NLT] has it, “where they still live today.” Translator Robert Alter puts it, “as on this day.”

In the light of that phrase, consider that the people to whom Moses spoke were not then scattered, not uprooted. Their land was not one of “brimstone, salt, and burning debris.” Nor does that description fit the lands to which the Assyrians exiled the ancient House of Israel, for the areas south of the Caspian Sea are reasonably well-watered. Further, the terminology of the passage cannot describe the lands to which Israel migrated, lands that are among the most favored on earth: the productive lands of Northern Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

By using this short phrase, Moses indicates that he speaks of a “generation to come” (verse 22), one in the distant future, even beyond Israel's circumstances today. He is seeing into the time of Jacob's Trouble, when Israel's land, ravaged by war, would become environmentally degraded in the extreme. Only then, in this period of extreme distress, will the lands Israel occupies come to resemble ancient Sodom, destroyed by God long ago (Genesis 19).

Those of the “generation” of which Moses speaks, whether Israelite or Gentile, understand that the vast desolation they witness is the result of Israel's idolatry, in violation of the covenant (verses 25-26). Moses describes a time beyond our present circumstances when God will have “uprooted” apostate Israel from the lands to which He scattered her centuries before, the lands to which ancient Israel migrated. In short, Moses sees a land that has “vomited out its inhabitants” (Leviticus 18:25).

The verb “uprooted” (verse 28) evokes the striking image of pulling up plants from their roots. It virtually always appears in contexts of God's wrathful action against a sinning people, as in Ezekiel's lamentation for the princes of Israel, recorded in Ezekiel 19:10-14:

Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard planted by the water, fruitful and full of branches by reason of abundant water. Its strong stems became rulers' scepters; it towered aloft among the thick boughs; it was seen in its height with the mass of its branches. But the vine was plucked up in fury, cast down to the ground; the east wind dried up its fruit; they were stripped off and withered. As for its strong stem, fire consumed it. Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. And fire has gone out from the stem of its shoots, has consumed its fruit, so that there remains in it no strong stem, no scepter for ruling. (English Standard Version [ESV])

In verse 12, God angrily plucks up the vine whose stems have grown into “rulers' scepters,” towering above others. The image of the highly productive, well-watered vine—perhaps “influential” might fit as well—transplanted into a “dry and thirsty land” (verse 13), is reminiscent of the Sodom-like land Moses mentions in Deuteronomy 29:23.
​
It is clear, then, that Deuteronomy 29 describes God's future scattering, His uprooting of Israelites from their burned-out land during the time of Jacob's Trouble.

​https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/36-19.htm

The Bible’s first mention of blindness involves the restraining of physical eyesight, but in the environment in question, spiritual sight is also absent:
But the [angels] reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door. (Genesis 19:10-11)

In this instance, the violent Sodomites, determined to assault Lot and his angelic guests sexually, were physically blinded. God used the two angels He had sent to deliver Lot as instruments to take the men’s sight.

Angels are not the only servants of God used to blind those who oppose Him. On occasion, His human servants have prayed for Him to restrain the sight of enemies, and He has answered. For example, Elisha asked for God to blind the Syrian army, and He did so temporarily (II Kings 6:18-20). In Acts 13:11, Paul called on God to blind Elymas the sorcerer for a time, which He did. Famously, Christ Himself struck Paul blind on the road to Damascus, and the apostle’s temporary blindness potently portrayed the spiritual blindness in which he walked to that point (Acts 9:3-9).

Exodus 4:11 underscores God’s sovereignty over human physical and spiritual abilities: “So the LORD said to [Moses], ‘Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD?’”
In responding to Moses’ resistance to His summons to service, God declares that He is responsible for the organs that work and those that do not. Whatever speech difficulties Moses had were entirely in God’s hands. Moses had claimed he was “slow of speech,” and if so, God counterclaims to be the source of that impediment and also the potential solution to it. Such a minor problem could not impede God’s ability to work through him.

Likewise, whether one sees or is blind is in God’s hands. Although God refers directly to physical capabilities here, His sovereignty certainly extends into spiritual ones as well. He governs humanity’s ability to see (and hear) spiritually. As Solomon observes in Proverbs 25:2, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter.”
​
​John 9 records Christ’s healing of the man born blind, and the story teaches that blindness can be a result of sin, but at other times, blindness happens because God has willed it for another purpose He is working out. This principle applies to both physical and spiritual blindness.

As part of God’s warning to the Israelites against sin, He promises to hobble their ability to understand, reason, and think things through:

The LORD will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart. And you shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways; you shall be only oppressed and plundered continually, and no one shall save you. (Deuteronomy 28:28-29)
​
God promises madness, blindness, and confusion of heart for disobeying His voice and failing to observe His commandments and statutes carefully (Deuteronomy 28:15). This curse shows the other side of the principle, that understanding comes with following His commandments (Psalm 111:10). Conversely, breaking the commandments destroys understanding.

The physical curses in Deuteronomy 28 are painful enough, but the mental blindness in verse 28 creates a dreadful situation. Amid the other curses, a person can at least analyze what is happening and perhaps find a way to deal with it. But this blindness—an inability to discern rationally—makes the person’s plight far worse! He cannot even understand what is occurring, let alone identify a real solution like repentance and returning to God.

The nations of Israel are suffering under quite a few curses right now, yet because they are blind to the cause-and-effect relationship, there is little—if any—thought that national immorality is the cause of their problems. Those God curses with “madness and blindness and confusion of heart” can only grope aimlessly for solutions, and those they choose cannot work because they exclude God. God’s willingness to take away understanding and wisdom makes many uncomfortable. They do not believe He would actually do such a thing. They do not believe He means what He says.

Some people have a similar and related disbelief regarding scattering, another curse of God (Leviticus 26:33; Deuteronomy 4:27; 28:64). God scattered the post-Flood people at the Tower of Babel because of their rebellion against Him (Genesis 11:8-9). He likewise scattered the children of Israel for the same reason, just as He had promised (Deuteronomy 30:3; I Kings 14:15; Psalm 44:11; 92:9; Jeremiah 9:16; etc.).

Yet, it is God who promises and claims scattering. Because of His sovereignty, He is the only One who can bring about what happened to Babel, to Israel, and to His church. On the other hand, Satan can only do what He allows him to do (see, for instance, Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7).

Do we believe that God will respond today to immorality, presumption, and spiritual neglect as He did in the past? True, God’s chastening of His saints is of a different quality than His punishment of Israel, but the principle of cause-and-effect has not disappeared. God’s scattering of the church differs from Israel’s in that it has been organizational rather than geographical and catastrophic. Yet, we are still scattered because God is faithful to His Word. Rather than being immune to God’s chastening, the church is even more accountable because of its privileged position (see Luke 12:48; also the principle in Amos 3:2).

Scattering relates to blinding in that it illustrates why it is so critical to have a correct concept of God so that we can recognize the respective actions of God and Satan. God’s actions do not always match our assumptions. He says that He will cause madness, blindness, and confusion of heart when His people walk contrary to His way. We might think Satan would be the source of these works, yet God claims responsibility for them.

The New Testament also demonstrates God’s willingness to blind the mind. As mentioned earlier, John 9 contains the story of the man born blind. After healing the man, Jesus says, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind” (John 9:39). The Pharisees and others of the Jewish leadership were confident that they could see, yet Jesus declares that part of His ministry was to make some blind while opening the eyes of others.

John claims for Jesus the same prerogative in John 12:37, 39-40:
But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him. . .. Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.”

After three-and-a-half years and countless miracles, the Jews maintained a high level of disbelief, particularly among the religious leadership. Notice that the source of their doubt was God Himself! Isaiah’s prophecy says He had blinded their eyes, and He had hardened their hearts. The reason for this is that if they turned to Him, He would heal them, which may also strike us as odd if we assume that it is alwaysHis will to heal.

Perhaps His actions seem unkind or mean-spirited to us, but this passage shows that it was not His will to heal the nation at that time (see also Matthew 13:11-15). The people were still disobeying His commandments and statutes and thus still under a curse. To heal them without repentance would reward their wickedness. God’s curse of blindness was so effective that, though Jesus declared them to be blind, they were confident that they saw clearly (John 9:40)! They had no reason even to consider repenting, and therefore, the blindness and other curses continued.

In his letter to Roman Christians, the apostle Paul explains more about Israel’s blinded condition:

What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. Just as it is written: “God has given them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear, to this very day.” And David says: “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a recompense to them. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see, and bow down their back always.” . . . For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. (Romans 11:7-10, 25; emphasis ours throughout)

Paul explains the fundamental reason for God’s current blinding of Israel: God is working with the elect in a way He is not working with Israel yet. Thus, He has blinded Israel until He calls those Gentiles that He has determined to convert. Israel was disobedient, so He scattered and blinded her, intending to regather her and restore her understanding in the future. Then she will recognize her Savior and learn what a relationship with Him truly entails.


The God of This Age

The following passage, II Corinthians 4:3-4, is commonly quoted with little consideration as to who it is truly describing:

But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
Considering the verses and principles we have already seen, who did this blinding? Because the translators use a lowercase g, we assume that Satan receives the title of “god of this age” or “god of this world.” But could this be another case of mistaken identity?

On a technical note, many translations use the phrase “god of this world,” but the NKJV is more accurate with its rendering of “god of this age.” The word is aion, which refers more to time (for example, “eon” or “age”) than to place.
We have seen clear and definitive scriptures in which God declares that He will blind and that He has blinded. The Bible contains additional scriptures on blindness, as well as ones about eyes being closed, that consistently show that the true God closes and opens eyes (see Deuteronomy 29:4; Job 17:4; Matthew 11:25-26; Luke 10:21; 19:41-42). He blinds, and He also heals the blindness that either He has caused or that men have chosen. But in no other place in Scripture is Satan said to blind or is shown blinding or closing eyes. If II Corinthians 4:4 is about Satan, it is a significant anomaly.

Rather than blinding, Satan deceives. He works to distort vision (rather than take it away) to influence people to sin, but the Bible never shows him opening or closing eyes, physically or metaphorically. Some may argue that this is a distinction without a difference. However, deceiving and blinding are indeed distinctive. Satan’s deceptions are active oppositions to truth, while God’s blinding is usually a temporary state in which He chooses to withhold complete understanding. God embodies truth, but He does not give all truth all at once. He is under no obligation to do so. He blinds, either temporarily or for judgment, but Satan actively opposes and distorts the truth.

In addition to God blinding men, numerous verses show that people can blind themselves, as Part Three will examine. As we have all experienced, the truth can be discomforting, and if we are not resolutely devoted to it, we will close our eyes to those parts to which we do not want to submit.

II Thessalonians 2:10-11 speaks of those who lack love for the truth and God sending them strong delusion. In other words, these people prefer a state of blindness, and God gives them what they want. So, while we cannot open our eyes to greater truth without God’s involvement, we can close our eyes to what truth is available to us and thus blind ourselves.
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“No God Besides Me”

A second reason Satan does not fit in II Corinthians 4:4 is that nowhere else is Satan referred to as the god of anything. Undoubtedly, Satan fits within the general classification of false gods, referring either to idols or the demons behind them, or both (see I Corinthians 10:19-20). However, even though people may worship those idols and demons as gods, Scripture also maintains that these so-called gods are not truly gods:
» “. . . so that whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may be a priest of things that are not gods?” (II Chronicles 13:9)
» “Has a nation changed its gods, which are not gods? But My people have changed their Glory for what does not profit.” (Jeremiah 2:11)
» “Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by those that are not gods.” (Jeremiah 5:7)
» “Will a man make gods for himself, which are not gods?” (Jeremiah 16:20)
» “But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods.” (Galatians 4:8)

In I Corinthians 8:5, God inspired Paul to call the demons—which would include Satan—“so-called gods”: “For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords) . . ..” He then clarifies his description with a contrast in the next verse: “. . . yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” In other words, even though people worship demonic principalities—whether deliberately or inadvertently—the perspective of God and His servants is that they are not gods.

Paul tells the Gentile Galatians in Galatians 4:8 that, prior to their conversion, they served “those which by nature are not gods.” He immediately describes them as “weak and beggarly elements” to which they were again turning (verse 9). Did this same apostle then bestow upon Satan the title “god of this age” when writing to the Corinthians? God answers this in Isaiah 45:5: “I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me.”

Of course, Isaiah 14:14 records Satan as saying that he wants to “be like” (or even “to be”) the Most High. The translators of II Corinthians 4:4, perhaps uncomfortable with God’s attributes and guided by Reformation tradition, may have given Satan his desire to be called a god. Similarly, Ezekiel 28 is about the prince of Tyre, a type of Satan, and God’s controversy with the prince is that he had set his heart as the heart of a god (verse 2). He is far greater in his own estimation than he is in reality.

But the true God never names the Devil as a god of anything. If II Corinthians 4:4 is about Satan, it is a highly significant exception to the pattern, and exceptions invite us to dig deeper. So, how does Scripture characterize him?
Instead of calling Satan a “god,” the gospel accounts consistently call him a “ruler.” He is “the ruler of the demons” (Matthew 9:34; 12:24; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15; see Ephesians 6:12), and three times in the book of John, Jesus calls him “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). Paul calls him “the prince [or ruler; it is the same Greek word] of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). The Devil has authority, intelligence, and capabilities far above man, and we should never underestimate him (see Matthew 24:24). Yet, he in no way approaches God’s level, except in his own mind! While God rules supremely, the highest title Satan can legitimately claim is “ruler” over something but never “god.”

As mentioned, the word aion in II Corinthians 4:4 refers to this age rather than this world. God has not made Satan a god over this age—only a ruler with limited authority. Ephesians 1:21 declares that Christ is far above all principality and power, which includes Satan. Contrariwise, as we saw, Satan could only afflict Job with God’s permission, and likewise, he had to ask Jesus if he could sift Peter like wheat (Luke 22:31).

Luke 22:31