Text: Matthew 7: 24 "Therefore whosoever heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man,
which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods
came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for
it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings
of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which
built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods
came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great
was the fall of it."
This text teaches about "hearing and doing the word." And this is a very easy "parable" to comprehend. Simply put, whoever does the word of God remains after the flood, and whoever does not falls from the flood's effect. It is a very simple parable. But, we can find one more deeper aspect of this parable which the Lord has embedded within it. As it says, "According to their ability to hear," this ability to hear varies depending upon the individual believer. If we seek for the ability to hear at the level of a true disciple, we can find the deeper side to this parable.
If there is something hidden here by the Lord and the Lord is relaying that message to his disciples, we should want to uncover it and see it.
First, we need to pay attention to the word "house" in this scripture. We need to see how the Bible talks about "house" in other passages. In the scripture of 2 Peter 1:20, there is the recommendation not to make any "private interpretation (its own interpretation)." So, we should refer to other scriptures to understand this word "house."
Other scriptures as in 1 Timothy 3:15 say, "the house of God, which is the church of the living God". So, in this scripture "house" denotes "church." We can see that other scriptures describe church as "house."
Matthew 12:49 "And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!"
Church is "a house of God". Therefore, we have "mothers" and brothers and sisters in church.
Matthew 10: 25 " If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?"
Church is again a household or "house of God." So, Christ is "the master of the house." So, we now understand that one of the biblical expressions for church is "house."
In this parable, we can see two kinds of houses. The houses themselves have no differences except that each base is different. One takes a rock as its base. No matter how much wind or flood water comes upon it, it will not fall. But the other used sand as its base. When rain and wind came upon it, it fell "and great was the fall of it."
I suggest that "great fall" means the corruption of the church during the tribulation. Anyway, we can see that the only difference of these churches is their "base," and their base is the center of the problem.
One base is rock, and one is sand. Sand is eroded by rain, and rock holds up to weatherization and is not subject to the whims of weather. We would naturally assume this to be true. So, there seems no need to pursue this thought any further. But, Jesus never said anything "without parable," which implies there is more to know for the person who who dig deeper into the truth through meditation and scriptural intercontextualization, that is comparing text with other texts. Because of Jesus' use of parables and his invitation to delight in further meanings within, we should check for deeper nuggets of truth tucked with this parable. I think it is important for disciples of Christ to probe into the Lord's word. We should always have that attitude.
One thing difficult concerning parables is that we can not always ascertain what part of the parable is literal and what part is figurative. In spite of this interpretive difficulty, it is necessary to struggle with the text. Because the Lord rebuked his disciples when they did not understand the deeper side of parables. And because the Lord's desire is that a mark of a disciple is his or her comprehension of Jesus' words which are characterized by parables.
Now it's time to take a look at the significance of the symbology of rock and sand. First, let's examine scriptures related to the term and concept of "rock" and undertand "geology theology."
Genesis 22:17 17 "That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;"
The son of Abraham is sand. And if we look in the book of Romans, we christians are also called as sons of Abraham. So, the Bible called the sons of Abraham (Jews and christians) as "sand." This is the basic typology for sand. So, an ordinary christian is "sand". But, there are also the christians called "stone" or "rock."
Christ said to Peter in Matthew 16:18 "Thou art Peter (means stone), and upon this rock (petra in Greek) I will build my church." So, Peter as a disciple is representated by a stone or rock. Please note the same Greek word "petra" is used for rock in the parable under our review in "The House Upon The Rock." Compare:
"Ephesians 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;"
Peter is rockand he is the foundation of "the house of God," the church. Both apostles and prophets are also the foundation of the church.
What is the common spiritual property of crumbling sand and and solid stone? They hold the property of being symbolic of God's disciples. That is, they represent two types of believer. If we look at the Gospels, we can understand there are two kinds of people who believe in Jesus. They are the disciples and people of the multitude. What is the difference between sand and stone? One fact is clear. That is to say, the ingredients of rock, stone and sand are the same. Rock and stone go down river and break into pieces into sand. Their contents are the same. The people and the disciples are "offspring of Abraham." Again, rock breaks down, divides and becomes sand. But their basic contents are the same. Likewise, both disciple and people are the same as believers of Jesus Christ. They have salvation and are christians. However, there is a clear distinction concerning their level of obedience towards the Lord.
If it were me just writing this, some might not think it was true. But it is not what I say that is most important but what the Bible says. God said this about sand and stone, believer and disciple. We should not argue with God about these categories. We should listen to what he says about our spiritual level and accept the call to the higher life of faith.
But, if we can not hear what God clearly says in this parable, we should find ourselves under the rebuke of Jesus when he warned "seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand."
As further proof of this interpretation, I submit this scripture:
" Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham."
So, we can see here a stone is also referenced as the children of Abraham.
Another interesting thing is that the Bible also uses a similar distinction with the word "star" which also serves as a type for the offspring of Abraham.
1 Corinthians 15: 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differs from another star in glory.
If we compare this concept star with the sun or the moon, it seems their size or brilliance have varying degrees of difference. However, their basic constitutive elements are the same just as we have seen in the rock analogy. Because in this case all of them are celestial bodies. Again, this fact is similar to the fact that the components of rock, stone, and sand are basically the same. So, as we return to the main parable in our discussion, "The House Upon The Rock," the only difference between these two houses are their base. Depending on each base, each result is different. One falls and one does not; one stands and one does not. The results which follow from the base show us the differences in their nature and inform us of the differences to be made in regards to believers and disciples. What is the difference between the bases of a mere believer and a true disciple? This parable talks about "hearing and doing the word," so this may be the base difference between the obedient disciple and the casual christian. It may even be revelatory of a dichotomy between the true church and the counterfeit church.
These differences may not be apparent until the storm of persecution is applied at the end time. Before the tribulation period, there seems to be no discernible difference between whether one's base is rock or sand. At peace time many churches stand peacefully on their sandy base of lackadaisical submission. However, when the coming rain of tribulation terror is unleashed, their spiritual condition will be revealed as a toppling house of cards.
The imagery of rain or wind is similar what we find in Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 13:14
"13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will
even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing
shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in my fury to consume it.
14 So will I break down the wall that ye
have daubed with untempered morter, and bring it down to the ground, so
that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and
ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am
the LORD."
It is apparent that this scripture is referring to the great tribulation time and sounds so much like the parable of "the house with a rock base." Therefore, I think this parable is definitely a reference to the tribulation in the end times.
Lastly, the terms of "wise man" and "foolish man" are used in this parable. There is a similar example of that terminology used in the parable of "the wise virgins and the foolish virgins." That parable also serves as survival instructions for the end time. The Lord is offering many warnings to believers to bolt themselves down in deep faith and an obedient faith that is rooted in discipleship.
How does the true church endure the tribulation in end time? This parable teaches us that the church which takes discipleship as her base and does God's word as true disciples is the church that will stand when hell unleashes all the storms of its fury against it. But, that church will not slip out and slide from its base. It will stand firm; for it is built upon rock.
Let us do the will of Lord in this end time.
end.
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