by cameo-d 5 Replies latest watchtower bible
"The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed which a man took, and sowed in his field:
"Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. "
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Why is the Kingdom compared to a bitter seed?
Do mustard greens grow into a tree?
In this parable (Mark 4:30; Matt 13:31-32), we see that the parable says the Kingdom of God is like a man (God) planting a seed. It is not speaking of its harvest.
Jesus was telling his followers that even though what they were seeing was tiny and insignificant, yet it really was the “Kingdom of God”, which must therefore not be despised by them, even though it had come in a form they had not expected.
Jesus was showing them that the Kingdom of God was already present and active among men but it had come in a form they had not expected. The story is not about how the how the Kingdom would grow or about how the Kingdom would come in the future.
In ancient Semitic idiom, the mustard seed was a proverbial symbol for that which is tiny and insignificant. Given the principles of parabolic interpretation, nothing else should be seen or implied; the remainder of the parable is simply colouring.
Doug
What if that "mustard seed" is nothing more than one's personal ability to make one's own decisions without having a ruling class or clergy of any kind trying to force or coerce them? That would not work for the best interests of all these religious scams, such as being born into sin and needing someone to die in order for you to be saved from that sin.
The kingdom being like a "mustard seed" resembles with the "stone" of Daniel 2 :35,44
first the stone was little , after it kick the big statue it grows as a mountain
this is the way the kingdom will "come on earth"
we know from Bible that the kingdom is to be given to the "people of saints" (Daniel 7:27) , that is , a group of christians , the "least ones" brothers of Christ
for the beginning this group have to be very little known and with little power , but helped by God
they have to face a big giant / big statue , that is , another humangroup claiming that they are/represent the kingdom
now, we know the big statue/wery known group claiming that they are the kingdom : it is an worldwide organisation known as WTB&TS
what remains to be seen is the "stone" or the insignifiant group who, helped by God's spirit , and using in a right way God's word , have to "kick" the big statue together with its pretention to be the kingdom of God , using the "word" and as a result the big statue/organisation has to be broken in pieces ... under our sight
now , we all have to be in watch for , when we will see that , will have to give glory to God for He has accomplished His word
wantingtruth
cameo-d,
For you, and for anyone else interested in the Kingdom of God as described in the Parables, I scanned a chapter from the book by G. Eldon Ladd on the subject. You will find it at:
http://www.jwstudies.com/Kingdom__Ladd__chapter_4.pdf
Doug
The "Kingdom of God" is the rule by God. This means that no human organisation (ekklesia) is the Kingdom of God.
On page 177 of Ladd's book, he writes:
"Do we not therefore have the Scriptural precedent to identify the Church with the Kingdom of God? Only in this sense: the redeemed are a kingdom because they shall reign upon the earth. ... The Church is a kingdom because it shares Christ's rule. The Kingdom of God ... is not the realm of God's reign; it is God's reign itself, a reign which is shared with those who surrender themselves to it.
"Revelation 1:6 is to be interpreted in light of this verse. The Church is both a priesthood and a kingdom. The redeemed share the prerogative of their Great High Priest of entering into the very Holy of Holies and worshipping God. They are priests. The Church also shares the prerogative of their Lord and King. They are granted the right to rule with Christ. They are a kingdom, a nation of kings.
"The Church therefore is not the Kingdom of God; God's Kingdom creates the Church and works in the world through the Church. Men cannot therefore build the Kingdom of God, but they can preach it and proclaim it; they can receive it or reject it. The Kingdom of God which in the Old Testament dispensation was manifested in Israel is now working in the world through the Church."
I provide the chapter that contains this page from Ladd's book at: http://www.jwstudies.com/Kingdom__Ladd__chapter_8.pdf
Doug
