Faithful and Discreet Slave Question...

cognac

Who is the faithful and discreet slave? Are they here on earth or are they in heaven? Are they providing food at the proper time?

It seemed to me when I read the scripture that it was just an illustration. What are your thoughts?

isaacaustin

Cognac...I had this discussion with someone else via email and will paste my words here...:

Matt 24 seems to be giving a few different parables with the same message- to keep awake, as well as the results (reward for those awake and destruction for those sleeping). Each successive illustration seems to add a bit more detail not in the previous illustration.

Matt 24: parable of fig tree- message: keep awake, you do not know the day or hour....those watching will live, those asleep will be taken (and eaten by the vultures as per the parallell Luke acocunt) 42 “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. 43 “But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44 “For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.45 “Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 “Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. 47 “Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 “But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; 50 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, 51 and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. parable of faithful and sensible (discreet slave vs evil slave)- message: you do not know the hour, don't procrastinate, reward for those doing their job, punishment for those delaying or abusing their position Matt 25: 1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 “Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. 3 “For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4< /FONT> but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. 5 “Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. 6 “But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 “Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 “The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 “But the prudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 “And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. 11 “Later the other virgins also came, sa ying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’ 12 “But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 “Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour. parable of 10 virgins- message: be prepared, you do not know the day or hour....those preapred are rewarded, those unprepared miss out.... 14 “For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. 15 “To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. 16 “Immediately the one who had received the five t alents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. 17 “In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. 18 “But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 “Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 20 “The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’ 21 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 “Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, =E 2Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’ 23 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 “And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed.25 ‘And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ 26 “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed.27 ‘Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. 28 ‘Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’ 29 “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. 30 “Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. parable of use of talents- message: use what you are given wisely, reward for those who are wise with what they are given, punishment for those lazy, or unwise. Obviously they did not know when the accounting would come. Also, notice an other detail here- 2 of the 3 are declared faithful and sensible. This seems to explain verses 45-7- "Who really is the faithful and discreet slave?" It seems to me verses 45-7 is asking a question, not declaring that only one will be chosen. It seems to me, especially in light of the parables that follow and contain basically the same elements, to be saying that each of us as a Christian needs to keep awake and alert, use our lives wisely, living for the sake of the kingdom...those who do so will at the end be declared a faithful and discreet slave and appointed over much in the kingdom...while those who shirk their resposibilities will not make it. I simply do not see verses 45-47 to be talking about the appointment of a group to lead and dispense Christians worldwide...especially in light of all the surrounding verses and their meanings. Also I think the following verses make it plain WHEN the distinction of 'faithful and discreet slave" is to be given. Continuing in ch 25: 31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 “The King will answer and say to them, 8 0Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ 41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been pre pared f or the devil and his angels; This is speaking of judgement day, when all of us...you, me, Chris, my dad, Adolph Hitler, Babe Ruth will have to answer for our life course. This immediately follows the admonitions to keep awake and details what will happen. The sheep seem to correspond to the slave that is called faithful and discreet while the goats seem to correspond to the slave classed as evil. 32 “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; 33 so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. 34 “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. 36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 37 “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38 “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 “Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41 “Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.

JosephMalik

Cognac,

The Faithful and discreet slave and the Evil slave for that matter are simply Christians, disciples of Christ no matter what denomination if any they subscribe to or what authority they claim to have. They are here on earth of course and over the ages have developed views some of which are correct and some of which are contrary to what our Lord taught us to teach. So when the time comes for our Lords return He will pick the faithful ones from among them for His administration and the evil ones He will return to the status of the Nations from which they came for judgment. Their resurrection then will be under another set of rules that will determine their resurrection qualifications into this Kingdom like the ones the Nations must face. These qualifications will be based upon their human decency for the most part and their status in the Kingdom will be much like what the thief will have in what was called Paradise not Kingdom. This indicates that they will not be part of the administration but will be under the direction of the ones that are.

Joseph

thomas15

The slave, even after being rewarded due to being faithful to the appointed task, still remains a slave based on the information presented in the passage in Matt 24.

In John ch 1:12, we are promised as believers that we will become "son's of God..." And we know that son's become heirs and are thus over any slave as they will receive an inheritence. The slave, not so much.

JosephMalik

thomas15,

This changes nothing as we cannot use verses in another context as proof. But to your point, the verses in Mattew say much same thing as John but like this: Matt. 24:47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. You see! The same thing the fulfillment of the promise John described just in a different context than John who ommited such details already covered in Matthew.

Joseph

Mickey mouse

Definitely just an illustration. There is no "F&DS class" in the same way there is no prodigal son class" and no "travelling merchant class".

PSacramento

Issac,

I never liked that parable of the faithful and discreet slave, it doesn't cast God in a favorbale light , does it?

" A hard man, a man that reaped where he had not sowed and gathered where he had not seeded".

On the other hand, in Matthew where Jesus actually names the deeds that he finds "worthy of salvation", I find those inspiring.

gubberningbody

Crap. I really wanted to be in the traveling merchant class. Maybe we should have an evening once a year where we have some shucked oysters get passed around, and if you feel in your heart you're of that class you suck down a slider.

I always liked raw oysters.

Then we could make the evil traveling merchant class the kind that eat the oysters fried.

VoidEater

This is just a parable, it is not meant to be prophetic or to serve as an archtype of specific individuals. It is as meaningful to speak of the Prodigal Son, Dinner Guests, or the Barren Fig Tree as being prophetic of specific people alive today.

White Dove

I asked that very question to various people over the years and got a few different answers. The F&DS is supposed to be the entire remnant of 144,000 left on earth. But I knew that not all of them live at Bethel so wouldn't be contacted for important messages from god or anything. From that, I assumed that the F&DS were the governing body and no more than those few men. It never added up even then.

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