Matthew 13:41-45
Mat 13:41 (KJB)
The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his
kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
Offend - Cause to fall away or to be led into sin
There shall not only be a gathering of all the believers into Heaven but there
shall also be a gathering of all the sinners in the world. The sinners in the
world would be those who entice the believers to sin. (Rom 1:32 KJV) Who
knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of
death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. This
will be the great separation when the unbelievers will be separated from the
believers for all eternity. Those who entice others to sin and those who
continue to practice sin as unbelievers will be cast into eternal damnation
after the judgment. Those angels who will gather the unbelievers will show no
leniency as they are transported to be judged.
Mat 13:42 (KJB)
And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing
of teeth.
The image of a furnace would well be understood because not only were there real
furnaces, especially those that made different types of pottery but many there
would remember the furnace in Daniel when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were
cast in because they refused to bow down to the golden image Nebuchadnezzar
made. The situation now is that those who are taken in this sweep will not have
the privilege of being saved by the Son of God. Those who are cast into the
eternal fire will be there forever. According to this verse, there will be
physical pain and there will be hate filled emotions toward God for this
punishment. What they fail to realize is that God’s holiness and purity must be
vindicated. God equates the sacrifice of His Son on Calvary with an eternity in
Hell. This is because man does not possess the ability to pay for their sins
since he is a sinner, making him unqualified to be their own savior. This is why
they must suffer eternally in Hell.
Mat 13:43 (KJB)
Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Once the episode with the unbelievers has become finished, then the Christians
will receive their new glorified bodies and will shine as bright as the sun
because they will be qualified to share in the glory of God. At present, the
Christians could not shine because the glory of God would consume the bodies of
flesh and that is why our bodies have to be made according to the glory they
will receive. Then Jesus uses a term on the last part of this verse which
concerns those who have spiritual ears. He is not speaking of those who are
hearing with the physical ears but those who have been qualified by means of
being born again and receiving the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, thus making
the ears qualified to hear spiritual things.
Mat 13:44 (KJB)
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which
when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that
he hath, and buyeth that field.
Jesus then begins a series of three short parables which were directed at the
disciples. The first one in this verse speaks of a treasure which is hid in a
field. In ancient times, one who had much wealth had to do his best to hide
those valuables from thieves because there were no banks or any other type of
place he could keep his valuables from being stolen. This was also done during
wartime when valuables like payrolls were hidden to keep them from falling into
the hands of the enemy, especially if it was gold because it could be melted and
coined in the denominations of the enemy. Normally the one who would find the
treasure in a field would be the laborer and then he would hide the treasure in
a different place. In this parable, the field is the world and the hidden
treasure is the Elect of God. For the Elect of God to be saved, there would have
to be a substitute to pay for their sins. The one who bought the field was the
Lord Jesus Christ who paid for it with His own blood on Calvary. He came down
from Heaven and gave all He had, that was His life and purchased the field.
Under Jewish law, if a person bought a field, they were also entitled to
everything which was in that field. If they found treasure, it was theirs by
law. The Lord Jesus bought the field of the world and within the world are the
Elect of God which are scattered from one corner of earth to the other.
Mat 13:45 (KJB)
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
Then Jesus likens the Kingdom of Heaven unto a merchant man or as we would call
him a businessman. His desire is to seek cultured, valuable pearls. This
scenario would also have been familiar to the people because pearls were
recovered in the Indian Ocean, Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf. Pearls were
sometimes worth a lot of money so this man was undoubtedly a wealthy business
man whose business was pearls and precious gems.