Daily Writing

Monday, 27 October 2025

Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?”
They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” Matthew 13:51

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at the “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen).

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“Jesus, He says to them, ‘These all, you comprehend?’ They say to Him, ‘Yes, Lord’” (CG).

In the previous verse, Jesus finished the parable of the seine. With these parables now complete, Matthew next notes, “Jesus, He says to them, ‘These all, you comprehend?’”

The word suniémi has already been seen, first in Matthew 13:13 –

“Through this I speak to them in parables, because seeing, not they see, and hearing, not they hear nor comprehend [suniémi].”

Jesus, asking them this question with this word, is intended to elicit a contrast between His disciples and those who hear the parables but don’t comprehend them. He has provided enough information through explanation that they are trained in how to grasp His intended meaning. However, should there be another parable they don’t comprehend, they know just what to do –

“And having summoned the crowd, He said to them, ‘You hear and comprehend! ¹¹ Not the ‘entering into the mouth’ it profanes the man, but the ‘proceeding from the mouth,’ this, it profanes the man.’ ¹² Then His disciples having coming near, they said to Him, ‘You have known that the Pharisees, having heard the saying, they stumbled.’ ¹³ And having answered, He said, ‘Every planting that not He planted, My heavenly Father, it will be uprooted. ¹⁴ You leave them! They are blind blind-conductors. And blind, if they should conduct, both – they will fall – into a pit.’ ¹⁵ And Peter, having answered, he said to Him, ‘You expound to us this parable.’” Matthew 15:10-15 (CG).

Jesus gave a parable concerning what profanes a man. The disciples did not know what He was asking them to comprehend, and so they came to Him asking for its meaning. In the case of the parables just expounded to them in Chapter 13, after Jesus asked them if they comprehended all the parables He gave, it next says, “They say to Him, ‘Yes, Lord.’”

Their answer confirms that they fully understood the parables, just as He conveyed them. This should alert us to the fact that in the two parables about the concealed treasure in the field (verse 44) and the pearl of great value (verses 45 & 46), the man mentioned in each was referring to Jesus, not those in the church.

He had consistently used the man in the other parables as a description of Him and what He was doing in redemptive history. To change the subject would have confused the disciples, and they would have then responded in the negative here. But they fully understood that the man who found concealed treasure and the man who found the pearl of great value were the same subject.

Life application: When reading Jesus’ parables, as with any of the unusual stories scattered throughout the Old Testament, remember that if they don’t seem to make sense, it is because we are not thinking about what God is alerting us to, meaning the ongoing process of redemption as it relates to Jesus.

Unfortunately, this is so hard for us to remember that at times, translations will divert to other texts that have amended the meaning, or the translators will purposefully amend the translation because the main text doesn’t seem to make sense to them. When they do this, the reader is left with a void in ever being able to understand what is being conveyed.

To overcome this, one should read the footnotes if the Bible has them. There, they will normally give the literal rendering, sometimes accompanied by a short explanation of why they made their change. These are not the commentaries often included in study Bibles, which are normally useless. Rather, the footnotes contain mechanical information about what is going on in the text or alternate texts for the reader to consider.

Try to remember to read these footnotes and mentally catalog what they are saying. If you don’t understand, there may be an explanation in the prefix or in the addenda to the Bible telling you how to read and understand those footnotes. You will only get out of your time reading the Bible what you put into it. So be sure to read it and carefully study what is going on in it.

Learning to understand what is being conveyed in Scripture is a lifelong journey. So take steps every day in walking that path. You will be rewarded in your mind and soul, and God will be pleased with your pursuit of His wonderful word.

Lord God, thank You for this precious word You have given us. It is a delight to our minds and a joy to consider. In it, we can find that You are fixed on those who cherish You. We are like a pearl of great value that You have gone to infinite lengths to obtain. We may not understand why it is so, but Your word tells us it is. Thank You for this blessed reassurance. Amen.

Sunday, 26 October 2025

and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 13:50

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at the “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen).

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“And they will cast them into the furnace of the fire. There, it will be the lamentation and the gnash of the teeth” (CG).

In the previous verse, Jesus, still explaining the parable of the seine, noted that at the end of the age messengers would come forth and separate the evil from the righteous. He now completes the parable, beginning with, “And they will cast them into the furnace of the fire.”

It was noted in the parable of the darnel that it could not be referring to the church age. This parable is the same. There is nothing recorded in Scripture that says there will be a separation of the good and the bad at the end of the church age as described in this parable.

Rather, there will be a separation of the saints from the unbelieving world. They will be taken in the twinkling of an eye. After that, the tribulation will come upon the world. It is only after the tribulation that those who survive that ordeal will be separated.

This will be done to ensure the millennium begins on a better note, being populated with those who are acceptable. Once the bad have been separated out and chucked into the fiery furnace, Jesus finishes with, “There, it will be the lamentation and the gnash of the teeth.”

As before, the words speak of great sadness and agony. Pursuit of the temporary pleasures of this life while neglecting the things of God will be rewarded with what the people deserve. There is nothing arbitrary, unfair, or capricious about this. Man will receive his just due for the things done while in the body.

God has offered a better hope to the people of the world in the giving of His Son. What we do with Jesus will be an eternity-defining decision.

Life application: By placing the conclusion of the parable of the darnel next to the conclusion of this parable, one can see how the two parallel –

“Therefore, just as it is gathered, the darnel, and fire – it consumed, thus it will be in the age’s consummation. ⁴¹ The Son of Man, He will send His messengers and they will gather from His kingdom all the snares and those doing lawlessness. ⁴² And they will cast them into the furnace of the fire. There it will be the lamentation and the gnash of the teeth.”

“…they gathered the good into vessels, and the bad they cast out. ⁴⁹ Thus it will be in the age’s consummation. The messengers, they will go out and they will separate the evil from the righteous’ midst. ⁵⁰ And they will cast them into the furnace of the fire. There it will be the lamentation and the gnash of the teeth.”

The parables repeat the same essential information. One may ask, “Why would the Lord bother doing this? Wasn’t one parable sufficient?” The reason is because He is making a point that we should accept as certain and sure to come to pass.

There isn’t one gospel book, but four. And three of them more closely parallel in their presentation while providing new or different aspects of the information presented in the others. This is true with the Old Testament books of Kings and Chronicles to some extent.

In the case of these two parables, Jesus ensures us that what He says about the end times is not to be taken only as a spiritual teaching, but one that is just how things will be at the end of the age. The separation of the wheat from the darnel and the good fish from the bad does not only apply to Jews who enter the tribulation, but the whole world.

For Israel as a nation, though, the point of the tribulation is to bring them as a nation to realize that they missed the coming of their Messiah the first time. It is to bring restoration to the nation in order to fulfill the promises made to them in the Old Testament.

But the whole world of people, Jew and Gentile, must be separated. Those who are deemed worthy will enter the millennium. Those who are not will be cast into the furnace of fire. This is just how it is going to be. The repetition of the same general information in these parables ensures us that it is so.

Lord God, may we carefully evaluate Your word, holding fast to its truths and thoughtfully consider when You are giving us literal information that is to be accepted as such. May we not spiritualize those things that are intended to be taken literally. Help us to more rightly understand and process this wonderful word so that our thinking is mature and proper. Amen.

Saturday, 25 October 2025

So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, Matthew 13:49

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at the “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen).

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).* not available

“Thus it will be in the age’s consummation. The messengers, they will go out and they will separate the evil from the righteous’ midst” (CG).

In the previous verse, Jesus noted that the good fish in the seine would be gathered into vessels, but the bad would be cast out. In explanation of that, He next says, “Thus it will be in the age’s consummation.” The thought is similar to that of verse 39, where the same word, sunteleia, consummation, is used –

“Therefore, just as it is gathered, the darnel, and fire – it consumed, thus it will be in the age’s consummation.”

The parable teaches a similar truth to that one. There is a time of things continuing on, and then there will be a time when things are brought to their consummation. Like the darnel being separated by the messengers from the wheat and cast into the fire, Jesus next says, “The messengers, they will go out and they will separate the evil from the righteous’ midst.”

A new verb, aphorizó, to separate or set off by a boundary, is seen. It is derived from apo, away or from, and horizo, to mark out or bound (as in a horizon). Thus, it signifies a separation of the two by a set boundary.

There will be a separation of the two before things have come to their completion. Considering the end set for the darnel, the end for the bad fish will probably not be so great. What that end is will be seen in the next verse.

As with the parable of the wheat and darnel, the metaphor would have to be so stretched to fit the church age that it would lose much of its intent. There is no separation before the rapture that matches what Jesus is describing here. The people of the world will be going about their lives when, suddenly, and without prior notice, there will be a removal of saved believers.

Only after this will the world enter the tribulation. At the end of the tribulation, a separation will take place before those who are worthy will enter the millennium.

Life application: Jesus’ words in John 3:18 should be remembered –

“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Paul repeats this thought in Romans 5 –

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— ¹³ (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. ¹⁴ Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.” Romans 5:12-14

Jesus says that people are condemned already. Man doesn’t need to do anything to be eternally separated from God. He is conceived and stands condemned. This is not because of committed sin by the person, but because of sin committed by Adam. As all are in Adam, all stand condemned already.

Jesus came to undo this. Despite being born of a woman (He is fully Man), He did not inherit Adam’s seed, which is transmitted from father to child. Rather, His Father is God (He is fully God) and received His Father’s righteous innocence concerning sin. He cut the line of sin in fallen man, thus fulfilling the sign of circumcision.

In living perfectly after He was born, meaning He had not committed sin, He became a suitable substitute for the sins of the world. By faith in what He has done, man can move from fallen Adam to the innocent risen Christ.

Understanding this, there is nothing cold, uncaring, or malicious in God’s judgment of the darnel and bad fish. Rather, there is the perfection of love in the offering of His Son for fallen, corrupt, and already condemned humanity.

No person will be able to come before God and say, “My condemnation is unjust!” Rather, all people will acknowledge the rightness of the situation in relation to the perfect holiness of God. Be sure to get this right. Understanding that God is fully vindicated in His judgment is something people must be taught. Be sure to let those you talk to know that what He does is perfect and beautiful.

Glorious God Almighty, how great You are in Your judgments. We have no right to accuse You of wrongdoing or having an uncaring attitude toward our plight. Rather, what You have done is the height of loving attention to Your wayward creatures. How good and loving You are, O God. Amen.

Friday, 24 October 2025

which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. Matthew 13:48

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at the “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen).

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen). *not available at this time

“Which, when it was filled, having dragged upon the beach, and having sat, they gathered the good into vessels, and the bad they cast out” (CG).

In the previous verse, Jesus noted that the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that gathers every kind in it. He continues that, saying, “which, when it was filled.”

This is where the skill of the fisherman is realized. There is a set time for letting down the net, and there is a time when the net is to be drawn in. Likewise, God alone will determine the times of the kingdom. There is no point in speculating on what the word does not provide. In fact, it is presumptuous to do so. Once the time has come, Jesus gives the next thought, saying, “having dragged upon the beach.”

A new word found only here is seen, anabibazó, to cause to go up. It is derived from ana, up or upward, and basis, a pace (as in a step). Thus, the sense is drawing up, one arm pull at a time. Once the net is entirely drawn up, it next says, “and having sat, they gathered the good into vessels.”

Another new word is seen, aggeion, a receptacle or vessel. It is derived from aggos, a pail. That in turn is derived from agkos, an arm. The arm is curved and is like our own personal carrying vessel when needed. So the words are believed to connect through that thought. There is the curved arm, the curved pail, and the pail leads to the vessel for the fish.

The net is hauled up, the men sit by it and begin sorting them, and the good ones are placed in the vessel, ready to become dinner for some hungry soul. As for the others, Jesus says, “and the bad they cast out.”

Whatever “bad” means to a fisherman, including being too small, being unclean according to Israel’s law, or being dead already, fishermen normally chuck the bad ones back in the water as they perform their own function in God’s creation. A different disposition will be seen for these bad fish. The point is that they are rejected by the fishermen, unsuitable for selling to the people.

Life application: It is noted above that the fisherman determines when the net will be drawn in. He is the one to decide the matter. It is his decision alone, and to second-guess him would be to accuse him of doing wrong with his own nets. It is his, and he can make the choice according to his plan.

As is usual, within the past week, the rapture date setters were wrong for the jillionth time since Jesus left. Websites were full of predictions that Jesus was coming to take His church on the 23^rd of September. When this didn’t happen (again!), those who published their false teaching immediately set out to justify why the Lord didn’t follow their carefully set date.

How many times will you listen to such ridiculous people? A review of the top ten videos indicated millions of views. People, like dogs going back to munch on their own vomit, spent their precious time watching worthless information put out by false teachers.

The Bible does not tell us when the rapture will occur. In fact, Jesus explicitly told His disciples when He left that they (meaning them and all who follow) would not know –

“And He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.’” Acts 1:7

Paul repeats Jesus’ words concerning the timing of redemptive events –

“But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. ² For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.” 2 Thessalonians 5:1, 2

Do you really suppose that God is going to violate His own word to speak through these false teachers? It will never happen. Stop wasting your time on the sensational. The Bible is not a book of God’s errors or misstatements. It is a book of what He is doing in redemptive history.

The time that was wasted on these ridiculous videos, meaning millions of hours of productivity, could have been far better spent actually telling people about Jesus, actually learning what the word says, or even spent with family.

We are accountable for what we do with our time. Let us use it wisely –

“Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.” Colossians 4:5

Lord God, thank You for Your word. May we not treat it contemptuously, as if it is we who decide what it says. Rather, may we look for what You intend for us to see. Help us to identify false teachers and keep far from them. May our time interacting with You through Your word be a sweet time of learning and growing in You. Amen.

Thursday, 23 October 2025

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, Matthew 13:47

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at the “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen).

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“Again, the kingdom of the heavens, it is like a seine having been cast into the sea, and from every kind having been gathered.” (CG).

In the previous verse, Jesus told the parable of the Pearl of Great Price. Next, He begins another parable, saying, “Again, the kingdom of the heavens, it is like a seine.”

A word found only here in Scripture is seen, sagéné. A seine or dragnet. It is a derivative of satto, to equip, “especially a pack-saddle (which in the East is merely a bag of netted rope)” HELPS Word Studies.

Such a net is curtain-like. It would be weighted, thus forming a circle for the fish as it dropped. As it is pulled out, the fish would be captured in it and hauled onto the shore or boat. As several of the disciples were fishermen, and as they probably all went out together while in the Galilee, they would all be aware of what Jesus was referring to.

Of this, Jesus next says, it is “having been cast into the sea.” The sea is where fish are, but Jesus is making a metaphor. So understanding the sea in the Bible will help us understand the intent. The sea has several overall connotations, including chaos or a place of chaotic existence, thus unpredictability. In such a place, there is danger, such as sea monsters.

It also gives the idea of the people groups of the earth, who by nature are generally chaotic, even if there are governments and some sense of order. That is seen, for example, in Revelation 17, where the Great Harlot sits on many waters, meaning in lands throughout the earth. There it says –

“The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.” Revelation 17:15

A similar analogy is seen in Daniel 7:2. One can think of the multitude of languages, cultural ideas, and norms, etc. Thus, there is a sense of the chaotic. The net is thrown into the sea, “and from every kind having been gathered…”

The verse stops in the middle of the thought, but one can see that there is a sense of a gathering from the sea. Without going any further, it cannot help but be seen that this extends beyond Israel. If Israel represented one type of fish, there would be harmony, not chaos. Though there may be various accents, there was one language to unite them, etc.

Life application: It is a chaotic world. Despite this, in modern times, there is the ability to supposedly overcome the chaos in ways never thought of before. In the past, if there were nations with distinct languages, say English and Chinese, there was an absolute need to have people proficient in both languages available in both nations for effective diplomacy to take place.

If there were an interpreter from China only, that interpreter could bias the translation on behalf of her country, thereby gaining an advantage. Only by having two independent translators verify one another could diplomacy truly be considered reliable.

This process required integrity, time, sound education, etc. Today, the world’s languages are quickly being digitized, and in real time, languages are able to be interpreted in both languages through the power of computers. Curiously, there is the obvious play on this by the tech giant Google. The place where languages were separated was Babel –

“But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. ⁶ And the Lord said, ‘Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. ⁷ Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’ ⁸ So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. ⁹ Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.” Genesis 11:5-9

In an assent to this event, the modern Google translator is called Babbel. It is as if they are attempting to undo what God had done. Obviously, God knew this would occur, but the point is that man’s efforts, like at Babel, are being directed to uniting the people of the earth as if to show their primacy and ability to cast off God.

Nothing has changed. Man believes he has the ability to do anything. But there are underlying divisions in the world that would have to be dealt with. An example of this is found in Daniel 2:41-43. Such things must be dealt with, and it will lead to great slaughters of people in an attempt to harmonize the goal of world unity.

The problem with that is that no two people think exactly the same. The only way to have absolute unity is to eradicate everyone else. God understands this. Hence, Jesus said –

“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. ²² And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” Matthew 24:21, 22

How desperately man needs God’s hand to direct him. Without that, we are all goners. Thank God for Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind.

Gracious and glorious heavenly Father, thank You that we have a hope that extends beyond this tragic, fallen world. Because of our Lord Jesus, there is hope for humanity. Someday, we who believe the gospel will be gathered before You for all eternity. There will be no more war or conflict. Won’t that day be wonderful? And so, we pray You speed the coming of it. May it be so. Amen.