And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Mathew 13:3-9
The parable is then interpreted by our Lord…
Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Mathew 13:18-13
What is the seed in this parable? Verse 19 clearly states that the seed symbolizes “the word of the kingdom”? It is probably a reasonable assumption that Christ is in fact speaking of THE Kingdom or the Kingdom of God and the Word of this Kingdom is the Word of God, that being Jesus Himself. We could probably further assume that the seed represents perfected doctrine, since it is “of the Kingdom.” Thus in this parable the seed is good.
What is the soil in this parable? Again verse 19 clearly states that the desire of the wicked one is to catch away that which was “sown in the heart” since the soil is what the seed is sown into in the parable, it is clear that we can equate the soil to man’s heart.
Sower – not specified, but if the seed is of the kingdom, the sower would most likely be God.
Seed – the word of the kingdom
Soil, Field – the heart of man
According to this parable there are 4 types of soil or states of the heart:
1) v.4, The way side – v.19,lack of understanding, never had a chance
2) v.5, Stony places – v.20, Received it, understood it, but did not study to gain root or foundation
3) v.7, Thorns – v.22, Received the word, understood the word, studied the word, but other things were more important (including their own misconceptions)
4) v.8, Good Ground – v.23, Received the word and brought forth fruit…BUT, what kind of fruit?
This parable refers to the way that the heart of man receives the sound doctrine of the Word of God. The main idea of the parable is clear, but there is also a principle that Jesus is establishing. Let’s look at this from the perspective of the enemy; what if the seed that fell in the good ground is corrupted, much like the genetically altered seed that is encompassing the globe today. Satan’s method of operation is to recite mostly truth with a slight twist, perverting doctrine with corruption. Therefore the doctrine that is sown by Satan is corrupted doctrine and from our perspective it would be good to have stony soil, or a non-receptive heart, under this circumstance.
Earlier in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus spoke of the difference between a good tree and a corrupt tree.
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Matthew 7:17-20
We know that trees grow from seed. A bad seed would grow into a bad tree, and likewise good seed into a good tree. Remember the seed is not the man himself in the Matthew 13:3 parable, but doctrine. The soil is the heart of man, the tree and ultimately the fruit is what grows inside the heart of man from the doctrine that is sown within him.
Just because a seed brings forth fruit doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s good fruit. Down through the ages, many men have corrupted God’s Word with false doctrine. Did they believe it was false doctrine? Why would anyone devote their life to something they didn’t believe to be true? These men probably did believe what they were preaching and were themselves deceived. Followers of Islam appear to truly believe what their religion teaches, but is it good seed or corrupted seed? Is the fruit they bear good fruit or bad fruit?
Hitler, Stalin and Mao, among others, are some of the more recent men that most people would identify as wicked, regardless of the fruit they brought forth; it appears obvious that the “seed” they received, fell of fertile ground?
Most people can tell the difference between good fruit and bad fruit, but seed is a little more difficult to discern. For instance the company Monsanto has developed and patented a soybean seed that is resistant to their herbicide RoundUp. They have done this by genetically altering the soybean DNA. This seed looks and feels just like any natural soybean seed, but it is very different. There are numerous examples where seeds today are genetically modified for a variety of reasons such as increase yield, weather resistant and insect resistant plants. Through cross-pollination these plants corrupt genetically pure plants, spreading their corrupt DNA. What are the health ramifications on human consumers of these genetically modified plants? Most people don’t realize this because there is currently no law mandating that food labels make these disclosures. I suggest watching the documentary titled The Future of Food for a better understanding of what is being done to the world’s food supply.
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Galatians 6:7-8
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul explains this spiritual principle as reaping what you sow. If we sow the corrupt seed of the flesh we will reap corruption and eventually destruction. If we sow the good seed of the Spirit, we shall reap the fruit of the Spirit and eventually everlasting life.
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. I Corinthians 2:12
Who provides the good seed?
Just like these companies have altered the natural seed, so has Satan altered The Seed which is the Word of God. The documentaries titled Changing the Word parts 1, 2 & 3 illustrate these deceptions and the reason the modern versions of the Bible fall short in many areas. Additionally, a Pastor by the name of David Brown has put a summary page together at http://logosresourcepages.org/Versions/modern.htm of the men mostly responsible for bringing us these modern versions and what they believed. Were they good trees or corrupt trees? Can a good tree bring forth bad fruit or a corrupt tree good fruit?
On the other hand 80% of the KJV of the Bible is the direct work of William Tyndale, a martyr for Christ during the time of Henry VIII of England
Like the RoundUp soybean, these corruptions are largely unseen, but with the help of the Holy Spirit guiding our discernment we have help in overcoming the wiles of the devil.
