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Chapter 5 - Dragnet
Matt. 13:51-52
51 Jesus [Iesous] saith [lego] unto them [autos] , Have ye understood [suniemi] all [pas] these [tauta] things [pas] ? They say [lego] unto him [autos] , Yea [nai] , Lord [kurios] .
52 Then [de] said [epo] he unto them [autos] , Therefore [dia] [touto] every [pas] scribe [grammateus] which is instructed [matheteuo] unto [eis] the kingdom [basileia] of heaven [ouranos] is [esti] like [homoios] unto a man [anthropos] that is an householder [oikodespotes] , which [hostis] bringeth forth [ekballo] out of [ek] his [autos] treasure [thesauros] things new [kainos] and [kai] old [palaios] . KJV-Interlinear
51 'Have you understood all these things?' They said to Him, 'Yes.' 52 And He said to them, 'Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old.' NASB
'Understanding' means comprehension, to 'put together' the concepts and information conveyed, and to see clearly the repercussions of the decisions made by individuals.
Scribes are those who not only write scripture, but it really is a reference to a disciple first. A disciple is a student. Second, the student listens, learns, comprehends and thus is qualified to teach others. A scribe then is a learner, an interpreter, and a teacher. An interpreter is not someone who tries to convert information from one language to another, but one who takes information (spiritual) and 'applies' it accurately to life. Accurate application of Bible doctrine to life is the process of interpretation or translating Gods will to ones own functional life. This then includes everyone who learns Bible doctrine, both you and me.
The head of a house is responsible for all that live within that household. Typically we think of the home consisting of a mom, a dad, and children. The dad is the head of the house. He executes the decisions, but not without consideration from all parties. A wise chief gathers counsel from all parties, lest ego and a fat head cause the chief to abuse his authority and position.
The mom is the right hand or chief of staff, of the dad. The right hand executes the policy of the household. Whose home is it? Well dads, but mom runs the home. What mom says, goes. Mom is not a lessor person than dad, not inferior to dad, but just a person placed into a role for which God designed her.
The children are the students. They are not without rights, rights framed around common courtesy and respect and so forth, but they must live within the rules of the home. Children can offer their opinions, but when the discussion is over, they must obey the parents. Believers must obey God.
The treasure is the reserves out of which the head, and his chief of staff, provide for the family. They are frugal. They are wise in the administration of the reserves of the household. The reserves consist of income and its management, of the food and clothing, and toys and whatever else (everything) that is involved in running a household.
This is the complete picture of a well run household.
Now answer the question posed by Christ. 'Do you understand?' The apostles answered yes, but did they really understand? Hearing or reading the words is one thing, but understanding ones role in life with respect to self, with respect to family, with respect to society, with respect to God, is quite another thing.
Bible doctrine is the treasure which resides (potentially) in the storehouse of the soul. We all have a responsibility to self, and others, to live in accordance with Gods will for our lives, and to convey our chosen lifestyle to others, as that opportunity for conveyance arises. We do not try to impose our opinions on others (children being the exception), but when others engage in conversation which comes around to the subject of God, then we use that opportunity to share what we know.
Some persons were raised up by God to be preachers and that is all they do in life. Their family is whomever enters into their church, or home, or facility whatever it may be. Their responsibility is to teach others what they know, and before that, to learn thoroughly the doctrines taught in the scriptures so they can teach accurately.
Just as a household runs well when all parties work within the framework of the household (no tug of war, no negative competitiveness, no antagonism and so forth), so to the church runs well when it functions within the framework of that which it was designed for - the instruction of Bible doctrine. Church's which pursue social activities as a means of keeping their members happy or distracted from going elsewhere, those church's have lost sight of their fundamental responsibility. The Pharisees imposed strict rituals and regulation in order to control the masses.
People who play games with political correctness so as not to offend others, have lost sight of the truth of life. It is far better to offend others and have them see the truth of their possible eternal destiny in the lake of fire or loss of blessing, than to be polite and see them slip away into misery. A few ruffled feathers are far less painful than an eternal lake of fire. Don't forget the worm part!
Do we understand? Not many do. At least right away. People listen and read the words, but they generally have a missing link when it comes to applying doctrine to their life. They often have one set of rules for study (read it, agree with it, that is all fine and dandy sort of thing), and then slip back into a different set of rules for functioning in life (I'll do what I want in life and you'd better get out of my way. Besides that is what I am comfortable with.).
So in this study of parables, we have seen that there is a definite beginning to life (we were all born once upon a time), and there is an end to our lives (death). We know that there is a sorting by the angels - goats to the left (unbelievers) and sheep (believers) to the right. We know that since our life here on earth is very short - a few decades maybe, when compared to gazillions of years into eternity - then we should come to the conclusion that our latter life is far more important than the current life. Preparation for it should be obvious.
God gives us all two test questions. The first is to believe or not in Christ. And the second (if we believe in Christ) is a series of daily questions as to our priorities and attitude toward our spiritual life. The first is a discovery of a treasure of eternal life (salvation). The second is the ongoing search and researching of the contents (the pearls) of our treasure (spiritual growth).
In our search we discover promises of great blessing, and to those who are faithful to their spiritual life, then that great blessing and promotion will be given. For those who ignore their spiritual growth then their promised blessings will be forfeit.
Along the path of our life we will face many opinions from this world. We will face many distractions which will make our spiritual life seemingly unnecessary or defined (compromised) as something other than what the Word of God intends it to be.
To stay the course requires an ongoing daily study along with an attitude to persevere on that course. To do otherwise means loss. The question, 'Do you understand?' Often is only answered with the actual thoughts, decisions, and actions of ones life. Anyone can answer, 'Yes.'
But only time and your chosen pattern of life will reveal your real understanding. Trying to convince people advances you nowhere. Convincing God comes from the content of your soul. And God cannot be fooled.
End of Lesson
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