In speaking of Psalm 110 in dramatic terms, I would say that, when the curtain is raised, Jehovah the Father is in heaven whereas Jehovah the Son is upon the earth. He is at Jerusalem and is being opposed by the leaders of Israel. When this unfortunate situation arises, Jehovah in heaven speaks to Jehovah the Son upon earth and invites Him to leave the Jews to their fate and to sit at His right hand in the heavens, "Until I [Jehovah in heaven] make thine enemies thy footstool." When the Lord thus puts the people of Israel under the feet of King Messiah and they offer themselves willingly—acknowledging their national sin and pleading for Him to return—He will come back and God will send forth the strong sceptre of King Messiah out of Zion, who will rule among the very people that at His first coming rejected Him. This period during which Messiah is seated at the right hand of God, awaiting Israel's acceptance of Him, is recognized and is set forth in the New Testament as the Christian Dispensation. See, for instance, Acts 2:14-36. Repeatedly Psalm 110—especially the period during which Messiah is seated at the right hand of God, having been rejected by Israel at His first coming—is quoted and alluded to by the New Testament writers. There are a number of passages in the Old Testament which outline Messiah's redemptive career, consisting of His first coming, His rejection, His ascension to the right hand of the throne of God, His session beside the Majesty on High, and His final return to set up His kingdom at the end of this age. Thus, beyond controversy, the Old Testament Scriptures do foretell the Christian Dispensation and the gathering out from among the Gentiles a people who seek God, who are received by Him, and who are acceptable to Him. As stated above, those who are thus gathered out from among the Gentiles during the present era are recognized as the people of God. Two of these passages foretelling this turn of events at the present time are applied to the church of Jesus Christ today. We may therefore be assured that the prophets saw this period of time and the gathering out from among the Gentiles a people for the name of the Lord Jesus. Further proof that the Church Age and the church were foretold in the Old Testament is seen in the following quotation: "Having therefore obtained the help that is from God, I stand unto this day testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses did say should come: how that the Christ must suffer, and how that he first by the resurrection of the dead should proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles" (Acts 26:22,23). The reader should ponder this quotation well. It is the conclusion of Paul's speech before Festus. Here he declared that he was saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses did say should come to pass. He therefore declared that these Old Testament men of God foretold that the Messiah should suffer, and "that he [Messiah] first by the resurrection of the dead should proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles." From this passage it is clear that the prophets foresaw the crucifixion of the Messiah and that they also foresaw that, after His resurrection from the dead, He should send forth the message of light and life to both the people [Jews] and to the Gentiles. This preaching ministry, which was for the purpose of calling out from among the nations a people for the name of God—the church—was, according to the Apostle Paul, made known by Moses and the prophets. This position is confirmed by the following statement of the Apostle Peter:

"10 Concerning which salvation the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: 11 searching what time or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did point unto, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should follow them. 12 To whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto you, did they minister these things, which now have been announced unto you through them that preached the gospel unto you by the Holy Spirit sent forth from heaven; which things angels desire to look into." (I Pet. 1:10-12).

According to this passage, the Spirit of Christ spoke through the prophets. They spoke both concerning the sufferings of Christ and the glorious things which follow His crucifixion. What are these glories that should follow them (the sufferings)? The next verse answers this question: "To whom [the prophets] it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto you [the Christians to whom Peter was writing], did they [the prophets] minister these things, which now have been announced unto you [the message of redemption through Christ our Lord] through them that preach the gospel unto you by the Holy Spirit sent forth from heaven ..." Thus Peter affirmed that the prophets of the Old Testament foretold the present preaching of the gospel to call out from among the nations a people for His name, the church of Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul recognized that the Old Testament prophets foretold the present dispensation and the church of Christ, but said that the revelation made through the prophets was not so full and clear as that which has now been made known to us through the Apostles and prophets of the New Testament era. In the following words he spoke of "the mystery of Christ; which in other generations was not made known unto the sons of men, as it hath now been revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; to wit, that the Gentiles are fellow-heirs, and fellow-members of the body ..." (Eph. 3:5,6). Thus it is clear that a revelation concerning the church was made known in former times, but not with the fullness and clarity as it is given in the New Testament.

Our Lord recognized that this revelation regarding the church and the present dispensation had been made known by Moses and the prophets. He, in effect, said to His disciples that, in His giving the parables of the kingdom, He was making a fuller, an additional revelation to that made known in the Old Testament. In other words, He was making known to them certain secrets regarding these matters, more details which make the picture of the prophets clearer. But He did not reveal all of the secrets regarding the church. Further disclosures were made by the Apostles, guided by the Spirit after the ascension of our Lord, as we see in the letters to the churches. Though our Lord spoke this additional revelation regarding the kingdom of God, the multitudes to whom He gave the message were unable to understand it. The reason of their inability on this point had been foretold by Isaiah the prophet in the following quotation: "14 And unto them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith,

From this passage we see that by the continuous proclamation of the truth of the gospel the hearts of those who are not interested and who do not want the truth are hardened and their eyes are closed. The Lord never closes the eyes of anyone nor hardens the heart of any soul that yearns and longs for truth. On the contrary, as stated above, He guarantees that the truth shall be given to all who hunger and thirst for it.
 

The Lord Jesus declared that the Apostles were blessed in that they had eyes which could see and ears which could understand and that the very things which many prophets and righteous men in the past had longed to see, but had been denied that privilege, were being granted to them. In other words, Jesus pronounced the Apostles blessed because they wanted truth and were living in the era when additional light was being given to men.

When the sower, the Son of God himself, went forth to sow seed, some fell by the wayside and were devoured by the birds of heaven. These seed thus falling on the roadside represented those people in the audiences of our Lord, who heard the message; but, since they were indifferent to it, the devil immediately came and snatched away the word from their hearts lest perchance they might believe. Satan is a personality. He was the highest created being whom God brought into existence. He finally rebelled against God and led one-third of the angels in revolt against the Almighty. He now is the prince of the powers of the air, the spirit that works in the sons of disobedience. He either personally comes and snatches the word out of the heart of the hearer, or some of his servile spirits do this. There is power in the Word of God. Satan recognizes this fact. When men are indifferent to the word which they hear and do not eagerly seize it as their own possession, Satan or some of his emissaries instantly snatch the word out of their hearts. Thus they do not believe, because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. (See Romans 10:16.)

The seed that falls upon rocky places represents those people who hear the word, receive it with gladness, but, not having any depth of character, become offended over trivial matters and persecution; then they fall away.

Those represented by the seed falling among thorns are those who hear and receive the word but allow "the care of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches" to choke the word and they become unfruitful. These bear not any fruit unto perfection.

Finally, the seed falling into the good ground represents those people who hear the word, who receive it, and who bear fruit to the glory of God. But all do not yield the same amount and quality of fruit. Some bring forth thirtyfold; others, sixtyfold; and still others, one hundredfold. Thus all do not bear the same amount of fruit, the difference being in the soil (the heart) in which the seed is sown.

Since Christ is the sower, the parable indicated the results upon His immediate hearers of the preaching of the Word. But the same general principle applies in all cases wherever the Word is proclaimed, regardless of the speaker or the time. This parable, therefore, is applicable to the preaching of the Word by anyone who sows the seed.

One's own attitude toward God, the world, and His truth determines his classification as set forth by the parable of the sower. Let us be diligent in the sowing of the seed, the true unadulterated Word of God. Knowing the fear of the Lord, let us persuade all men everywhere concerning the gospel of the grace of God—while we have time and opportunity. Let each of us who have accepted the truth yield ourselves to Him and, in the power of the Spirit, let us bear fruit one hundredfold.
 

The second parable of this list is that of the wheat and the tares and may be briefly stated as follows: A man sowed good seed in his field. While he was asleep, an enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat. When the grain sprang up, the tares appeared also. When his servants discovered the presence of the tares, they asked their master if he had not sown good wheat in his field. They of course were puzzled by the appearance of the tares. The masters reply was that an enemy, during the night when he was asleep, had sown the tares. Then the servants wished to know whether or not it was his desire that they go and pull out the tares. His answer was that they should not. Both the wheat and tares were to grow together. At the harvest, he said, he would instruct the reapers to gather the tares and to bind them into bundles, but to garner the wheat into his barn. This parable, like that of the sower, was spoken beside the sea to the multitudes. It is found in verses 24-30. After speaking this parable, the Lord gave the one concerning the grain of mustard seed, and then followed this by the parable of the leaven in three measures of meal. After speaking these parables, Jesus went into a house. Thereupon the Apostles came to Him and asked for an explanation of the parable of the tares. This exposition is found in verses 36-43 and in substance is as follows: The sower is the Son of man, the Lord Jesus Christ. The field is the world. The Lord sowed the seed only in Israel personally, but He commissioned His Apostles to sow it in the entire world (Matt. 28:19,20). The good seed consists of "the sons of the kingdom." Thus the message of the first parable has become incarnated, figuratively speaking, in the form of men and women who have accepted the truth and who are the very embodiment of it. Thus there is progress in the second parable over that which is indicated in the first one. The tares are "the sons of the evil one." These are the men and women who become associated, outwardly at least, with the sons of the kingdom, those genuinely saved. The enemy who has sowed the seed is none other than the devil. Thus these unsaved ones, sons of the evil one, are allowed to continue in association with the sons of the kingdom—during the present age. The harvest is at the consummation of the age—at the rapture and the second coming of our Lord. Thus from the rapture until the glorious consummation of our Lord's return, there is a process of separation of the sons of the kingdom from the sons of the evil one. At the end of the Tribulation, when the Son of man comes forth in His glory and power, He will send forth His angels who will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend and do iniquity and will cast them into the furnace of fire, where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. In the parable the tares are thrown into the fire and are burned. In the exposition of the significance of this parable, our Lord declared that the sons of the evil one would be cast "into the furnace of fire." Let us recall that this is His interpretation of the parable. Our Lord does not say that the fire in which the tares are burned signifies some kind of mental torture, but interprets this point of the parable literally as He has done with regard to the other items. In view of this fact, the earnest truth seeker is driven to the conclusion that, according to our Lord's teaching, there is such a thing as a literal hell. One cannot escape this conclusion unless he can find some definite, unequivocal statement in some other portion of the Word that indicates differently. But regardless of the real significance of "the Gehenna of fire," let me say that it is something awful, something to be avoided. It is a fearful thing to be lost. On the other hand, the righteous ones, the sons of the kingdom, shall shine forth in the kingdom of their Father after the separation of the sons of the kingdom from the sons of the evil ones. This kingdom of their Father is nothing less than the millennial kingdom of our Lord here upon earth. Jesus concluded His exposition of the parable by repeating His warning, "He that hath ears, let him hear."
 

The third parable in the series is that of the grain of mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field, and which, although it is the smallest of all seeds, grew and developed into an abnormal growth, a tree in which the birds of the heavens came and lodged. Let us note the fact that the kingdom of heaven or of God in this parable is compared to a mustard seed which a man planted in his field and which developed into this abnormal growth. Our Lord simply gave this parable but did not explain it. There are however certain things in regard to it which are self-evident.

The mustard seed, according to Jesus, was the smallest of seeds. We are not to understand that He was talking about mustard such as we have here in America. This mustard is a Palestinian plant. I have been shown in the Holy Land a tree which is called the mustard plant. But there is a diversity of opinion as to which of several plants is the one mentioned by our Lord. By His selecting this very small seed, it is evident that the Lord Jesus was referring to the small beginnings of Christianity, the movement which He was launching. Moreover, this thing which had such an insignificant start developed abnormally and became a great tree in which the birds came and lodged. Some interpreters have seen in these birds agents of evil, birds of prey. I am inclined very strongly to this position, because the forces of evil, as we have already seen in the discussion of the parable of the wheat and tares, appear there as the tares, sowed by the evil one. Then in the following parable, that of the leaven, we still see the forces of evil. Thus when we look at these first four parables spoken to the multitudes, we see the small beginning of Christianity in the parable of the sower. Then evil is introduced into it in the parable of the wheat and tares. By this time pure Christianity has developed into Christendom, with an admixture of the evil with the good. (The parable of the wheat and tares could not represent the true church and her withdrawing fellowship from those walking disorderly; but it is a picture of the growth and development of Christendom and the departure of this movement from the purity of its beginnings under the ministry of the Son of God himself.) In the parable of the mustard seed, the birds, coming and lodging in this abnormally developed tree of Christendom, represent the forces of evil. The farther the movement has advanced from its beginnings through the centuries, the greater and more numerous have been the forces of evil that entered into and became associated with the forces of righteousness. Thus the departure from true primitive Christianity appearing in the first parable and carried forward in the second is still emphasized in the third one.
 

In verse 33 our Lord gave us the parable of the leaven in the following words: "The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened." The kingdom of God here is compared to leaven which a woman put into three measures of meal and which affected all the meal. Our Lord did not explain this parable. At least there is no record of any exposition of it. Let us remember that this parable was spoken to the multitudes. As we have already seen, parables were used to reveal the truth to those who have eyes and ears for the same but to conceal it from those who do not have eyes and ears for the message of God.

What is the significance of leaven? Yeast is leaven. It is a microscopic growth that produces fermentation. When it is at work, it causes dough, for instance, to rise. Leaven is used in the literal sense of the term in different passages of scripture, but it is also used with a symbolic or figurative meaning. Thus the significance of leaven in any given case must be determined by the facts of the context. When, however, the data show that it is used symbolically, we may be certain that it indicates something evil. This is the deduction from an examination of all the cases in the Scriptures where leaven is used symbolically. The parable under consideration is the only place, so far as I can recall, where leaven is used symbolically without any explanation indicating such a connotation. Since it in all other cases, when used symbolically, signifies evil and since in our present verse it is used symbolically, we must understand that it has the same connotation of evil unless there is something in this context that indicates clearly otherwise. A glance at the passage shows that there are no such indications. Neither are there any data in parallel passages which indicate that it is used to signify something good. In view of these facts we are therefore driven irresistibility to the conclusion that leaven here is indicative of some evil force. This leaven, with its fermenting, permeates all three measures of meal. We may understand therefore that our Lord was foretelling the introduction of some evil force into the movement of Christianity, which He launched and which developed into Christendom as we know it through the centuries. A glance at church history shows that evil was clearly introduced into it and has continued to grow and increase. It permeates every section of Christendom.

Who is the woman in this parable? This is a difficult question to answer. We know that the church is represented as a pure, chaste virgin, the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:22-33). On the other hand, we are aware of the fact that a harlot was used by the Apostle John to symbolize the false ecclesiastical octopus that will be supported by the world kingdom in the end of the age. Certainly this woman, who introduces the leaven into the meal, cannot signify the true church. But since a false church is represented by a harlot and since this woman introduces a foreign corrupting element into true Christianity, it is quite likely that this woman signifies a false ecclesiasticism.

Jesus spoke these things in parables to the multitudes, as we see from verses 34 and 35. His doing this was in fulfillment of a prediction found in Psalm 78:2. In these parables He was giving details concerning the kingdom of God, which had never been revealed by the prophets. Thus our Lord added new touches to the picture of the kingdom that had been begun by Moses and the prophets.
 

"The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in the field; which a man found, and hid; and in his joy he goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field" (13:44).

In the parable of the tares, the field is the world. In this field there is a hidden treasure. The man who finds this treasure sells all that he has and buys the field, and with it also the treasure therein. No further explanation is made by our Lord. There is only one who is able to purchase the field—the world. That one is none other than the Son of God himself, who purchased the entire world and all contained therein with His precious blood upon the cross. What treasure is there in this world that is so very precious to the Son of God? The suggestion has been made, which I think is most highly probable, that Israel is this treasure; for so she is called in the Old Testament God's peculiar treasure. If this interpretation is correct—and I do not doubt it— the Son of God purchased the world by giving Himself a ransom in order that He might redeem Israel, His treasure.