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In the Bible the number seven is composed of six plus one, three plus four, or four plus three. The seven churches in Rev. 2 and Rev. 3 are made up of three plus four. But the seven parables in Matt. 13 are made up of four plus three. The first four parables were given in the boat in the open air. These are the parables of the sower, the tares, the mustard seed, and the leaven. The last three were given privately to the disciples in the house. The previous three parables concerning the outward appearance of the kingdom were spoken publicly by the heavenly King in the boat to the crowds (Matt. 13:2, 34), whereas the three parables following these were given privately in the house to the disciples (Matt. 13:36). This indicates that the things covered by these three parables are more hidden.
In each of the first four parables there was something related to eating. By this we see that the first four parables cover the matter of food. God’s intention is to have a people on earth to be the constituents of His kingdom, and these people must be like food that is good to satisfy both God and man. But the enemy came in to plant tares among the wheat to frustrate the growth of the wheat and to damage it. Nevertheless some wheat has grown up and multiplied. Thus, in the fourth parable we have the meal. The fine flour composing the meal comes from wheat. The reason the Lord Jesus sowed wheat seeds was that God desires to have fine flour. Although Satan, God’s enemy, sowed tares among the wheat to frustrate its growth, God cannot be defeated. Some wheat grew to produce grain, and the grain was ground into fine flour to make a loaf. While this was taking place, Satan caused the mustard herb, intended to be a source of food, to grow abnormally into a big tree and thereby to lose its function of producing food. Instead, it became an evil lodging place. This is a picture of Christendom today. In the various Christian organizations we see big buildings, offices, and complex hierarchies. We see the branches of the big tree, but nothing of the fine flour or the mustard herb. According to the fourth parable, Satan then took the further step of adding leaven to the fine flour. Here we see Satan’s subtlety. Firstly, he sowed tares among the wheat to frustrate the growth of the wheat; secondly, he caused the mustard herb to grow abnormally and to lose its function; thirdly, seeing that some wheat was produced to make fine flour for a loaf to satisfy God and man, Satan added leaven to the meal.
The first four parables are all related to the farm. In 1 Corinthians 3:9 Paul says, “Ye are God’s farm, ye are God’s building” (Gk.). In this chapter we see that God’s farm eventually produces gold, silver, and precious stones. How mysterious it is that the produce of God’s farm becomes gold, silver, and precious stones, the materials for God’s building. God’s farm produces the things of life, and these things of life become the materials for God’s building. Thus, God’s farm is for God’s building.
In the first four parables in Matthew we have the life growing, and in the next parable we have the treasure hidden in the field. The treasure must be made up of gold, silver, and precious stones, probably mainly precious stones. In the following parable we find the pearl. The New Jerusalem is built with gold, precious stones, and pearl. Gold is the material of the city proper, and precious stones and pearl are the two other building materials for the city of God. In the first four parables the Lord revealed the life that grows Christ into the kingdom. In the next two parables He revealed the matter of transformation for building. This brings us back to the basic thought of the Bible — life and building. The parables in Matthew 13 reveal the matters of life and building. Life is Christ Himself as the seed sown into our humanity. This life grows within us, growing Christ into the kingdom. The growing of this life eventually produces precious stones and pearls.
After spending much time on Matthew 13, I found that its basic thought is the same as that of 1 Corinthians 3. In both chapters we have God’s farm and God’s building. The first four parables are related to God’s farm for growing Christ into the kingdom, and the following two parables are related to transformation for producing precious materials for God’s building. If we are not impressed with this matter, we shall not be able to understand the fifth and sixth parables.
We have consulted a number of books on Matthew 13, but none of them touch the depth of this chapter. None of the interpretations given in those books satisfied us. Even D. M. Panton says that the treasure hidden in the field is the kingdom and that the pearl is righteousness, for in 6:33 we are told to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. The teaching prevalent among the Brethren did not get into the depth of this chapter. Although D. M. Panton saw that the treasure hid in the field referred to the kingdom, he was not clear about the pearl. In this message we need to consider these two parables in a definite way.
Verse 44 says, “The kingdom of the heavens is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid, and in his joy goes and sells all, whatever he has, and buys that field.” The treasure hidden in the field must consist of gold or precious stones, the materials for the building of the church and the New Jerusalem (1 Cor. 3:12; Rev. 21:18-20). Because the church is the practical kingdom today, and the New Jerusalem will be the kingdom in manifestation in the coming age, therefore the treasure hidden in the field signifies the kingdom hidden in God’s created world.
The field in verse 44 is the earth, which signifies the world created by God for His kingdom (Gen. 1:26-28). In the Bible the earth signifies the world created by God, and the sea signifies the world corrupted by Satan. The earth also signifies Israel, the Jewish nation, because Israel was chosen by God, separated by God, and placed by God in a specific situation. Hence, the Jewish people stand before God as the earth created by Him. Based upon the same principle, the sea also signifies the Gentile world, for the Gentiles are the people corrupted by Satan. Therefore, in the Bible the earth and the sea stand for two things each.
The first four parables in Matthew 13 provide a clear picture of so-called Christianity. After giving forth these parables, the Lord privately spoke to His disciples the parables of the treasure hidden in the field and the pearl from the sea. If we understand the significance of the earth in the Bible, we shall know that the treasure hidden in the field must be the kingdom, and that the pearl produced out of the sea must be the church. The kingdom is truly a treasure to the Lord. How precious it is in His sight! The church is also a valuable pearl to Him. The Lord is continually seeking two things — the kingdom as the treasure and the church as the pearl. Ephesians 5:27 says that Christ will present to Himself a glorious church without spot, wrinkle, or any such thing. This is the church as a beautiful pearl produced out of the Gentile world.
Chapter one of Genesis says that God created the earth and that He created man in His own image with the intention that man would exercise His dominion over the animals, the fowl, and the fish. This is the kingdom on earth. However, man failed. But Psalm 8 follows with a prophecy. Verse 1 of this Psalm says, “O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth.” When the earth is God’s dominion, His name will be sanctified and made excellent on the earth. Speaking of man, Psalm 8:6 says, “Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet.” The following verses reveal that man has dominion over the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea. Hebrews 2 reveals that the man described in Psalm 8 firstly is Christ. Christ is the man who brings in God’s dominion to earth and makes God’s name excellent on earth. Then this man is Christ’s Body. This is the treasure on earth, the kingdom.
Daniel 2 indicates that the earth will be under various forms of worldly power, but that Christ will be the stone coming from heaven to smash these worldly powers (Dan. 2:34-35, 44-45). This stone will eventually become a great mountain filling the entire earth. The stone is Christ, and the great mountain is Christ enlarged to be the universal kingdom on earth. All this is related to the treasure in the earth. Revelation 11:15 says, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.” This will take place at the time of the millennium, when the whole earth will be Christ’s kingdom. This surely is the treasure hidden in the field.
Verse 44 says that the kingdom of the heavens is like a treasure hidden in the field “which a man found and hid, and in his joy goes and sells all, whatever he has, and buys that field.” The man here is Christ, who found the kingdom of the heavens in 4:12 to 12:23, hid it in 12:24 to 13:43, and in His joy went to the cross in 16:21; 17:22-23; 20:18-19; and 26:1 to 27:52 to sell all He had and buy that field — to redeem the created and lost earth — for the kingdom. Christ first found the treasure when He came out to minister, declaring, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.” When the Jews’ rejection of the Lord reached its peak, He forsook them. From that time onward, He hid the treasure. Then He went to the cross to buy not only the treasure, but also the field, and He thereby redeemed the earth created by God.
Christ went to the cross to redeem the God-created earth because within the earth there was the kingdom, the treasure. For the kingdom, for this treasure, Christ redeemed the earth created by God. In order for Him to have the kingdom on earth, He must redeem the earth because it had been polluted and damaged by Satan’s fall and by man’s sin. The Lord sold all that He had and bought the earth; that is, He sacrificed all He had on the cross to redeem the earth for the treasure of the kingdom. No doubt this kingdom is realized in the church life. But its manifestation is related to the redeemed nation of Israel. During the millennium, the earth will become the kingdom of Christ. At that time, the nation of Israel will be the center of Christ’s kingdom. Hence, the kingdom is mainly related to the nation of Israel and involved with Israel.
Verses 45 and 46 say, “Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all, whatever he had, and bought it.” The merchant in verse 45 is also Christ, who was seeking the church for His kingdom. After finding it in 16:18 and 18:17, He went to the cross and sold all He had and bought it for the kingdom.
In verse 46 we see the heavenly King’s work in gaining the one pearl of great value. At the cross He sold all, whatever He had, and bought that pearl. The pearl, produced in the death waters (the world filled with death) by the living oyster (the living Christ), wounded by a little rock (the sinner) and secreting its life-juice around the wounding rock (the believer), is also the material for the building of the New Jerusalem. Since the pearl comes out of the sea, which signifies the world corrupted by Satan (Isa. 57:20; Rev. 17:15), it must refer to the church, which is mainly constituted with regenerated believers from the Gentile world, and which is of great value.
The Lord is not only seeking the kingdom; He also desires a beautiful church, the pearl. We have pointed out that, according to Revelation 21, the New Jerusalem is built with precious stones and pearls. In other words, the New Jerusalem is a combination of the treasure and the pearl. In Matthew 13 these are two, the treasure in the field and the pearl out of the sea. But in Revelation 21 they are combined in one entity. The New Jerusalem is both the kingdom and the church. In Matthew 16 the terms church and kingdom are used interchangeably. Firstly the Lord said, “I will build My church”; then He said, “I give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens.” The fact that these terms are used interchangeably means that the church is equal to the kingdom and the kingdom to the church. Ultimately, in the New Jerusalem the kingdom and the church become one entity.
At this point some may be asking the following question: Since the kingdom is the church and the church is the kingdom, what is the difference between them? This brings us to a matter difficult to understand. Let me approach it by asking whether we in the Lord’s recovery are in the church or the kingdom. It is correct to say that we are in both the church and the kingdom, but we must know in what sense we are the church and in what sense we are the kingdom. In other words, we must know in what sense we are the treasure and in what sense we are the pearl. As the kingdom, we are something of the earth created by God and redeemed by Christ; and as the church, we are something out of the world corrupted by Satan and condemned by God. The treasure, the symbol of the kingdom, is concealed within the earth. Hence, it is altogether related to the earth. But the pearl, the symbol of the church, has nothing whatever to do with the earth. It is something produced out of the sea. Out of the Satan-corrupted and God-condemned sea such a beautiful thing as a fine pearl has been produced. As the church, we have been produced out of the world, but we no longer have anything to do with the world. Although we are the pearl out of the sea, we are no longer in the sea. We have been regenerated to become a beautiful pearl. Being in another category, we have nothing to do with this rotten world. As the kingdom we have nothing to do with the Satan-corrupted world, but we are related to the God-created earth and Christ-redeemed earth. On the one hand, we are through with the world; on the other hand, we are building up something on earth. We are not building a tower of Babel; we are building the kingdom of the heavens. As Matthew 6:10 says, “Let Your kingdom come; let Your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.” God’s kingdom cannot be established in the sea, and God’s will cannot be done in the Satan-corrupted world. God’s will must be done on the God-created earth, and God’s kingdom must be established on the Christ-redeemed earth. At the same time we are both in the church and in the kingdom, in the pearl and in the treasure.
When the New Jerusalem comes, there will be no more sea, and the earth will be renewed (Rev. 21:1). On that new earth there will be a combination of the treasure and the pearl, of the kingdom and the church. In the New Jerusalem the treasure will no longer be hidden in the field, but built upon the surface of the field. In that combination of the treasure and the pearl, the treasure will be built up with the pearl. If you have this vision, you will see that even among us today the kingdom and the church are built up together. We do not have two entities, but just one entity. On the one hand, this entity is the treasure, the kingdom; on the other hand, it is the pearl, the church.
Among us in the Lord’s recovery there should be no sea. Instead of the sea, we should have the renewed earth. But suppose you visit the church in Anaheim, and in many of the homes you hear nothing but gossiping. This would be a sign that the sea is still present with those brothers and sisters. Although a church filled with gossip is still a church, it is a church in the water of the ocean. Such a church cannot be the kingdom. It is the pearl, but not the treasure. But suppose in all the homes of the church in Anaheim there is no gossip, criticism, or idle words. Rather, there is nothing but the experience of Christ and the church. In such a case, there will be no sea. Instead, there will be life, light, and transformation. Such a church is the renewed land for the kingdom. In every home you see the proper humanity, and immediately you sense that there is no more sea, only the renewed earth. On this renewed earth there is the New Jerusalem composed of the pearl and the treasure. This is not only the church, but also the kingdom. In such a church you have the treasure in the field and the pearl out of the sea.
By this illustration we see that the church can be both the pearl and the treasure. When we are the pearl, we are out of the sea, out of the world. When we are the kingdom, we are on the earth. However, we are not on the earth in a subdued way, but in a reigning way, for we are on the earth as the heavenly kingdom. This should not be mere doctrine to us. It must be our genuine daily practice. If our conversation is filled with talk about worldly things, about money or the movies, it is a sign that we are filled with the things of the Satan-corrupted world. This is the sea. But if among us there is no gossip or criticism, but Christ, the church, and transformation, this is a sign that we are the new earth. Among us here in Anaheim we have the new earth. On this new earth we have the treasure, the kingdom, and the proper human life. Even today, this treasure is no longer hidden; it is on the surface of the earth. To the worldly people and to the unbelieving Jews, this treasure is hidden within the earth. Praise the Lord that we have such a treasure in the renewed earth! None of the outsiders or unbelievers understands this. Sometimes they say, “We don’t understand those people. We don’t know what they are doing. However, we realize that they are good people.” This is the treasure, the evidence that we are living a proper human life on the God-created and Christ-redeemed earth. At the time of the millennium, in the eyes of God the entire earth will be a treasure.
In the first four parables in Matthew 13 we see only the growing of life: we see nothing of transformation. In these parables we have the wheat, the grain, the mustard, and the fine flour. Praise the Lord for the two following parables! We have not only four parables on the growing life, but also two parables on transformation. Transformation makes us pearls and precious stone, pearls for the church and precious stones for the kingdom. On the one hand, we are out of the world, having nothing to do with the corrupted world. On the other hand, we are living on earth as the proper humanity. For us, there is no more the sea, but the dry land created by God and redeemed by Christ. Now we are living and walking on this land. This is not only the church as the pearl, but also the kingdom as the treasure. I praise the Lord that I am part of the pearl and of the treasure. As part of the pearl, I have nothing to do with this rotten world. But as part of the treasure, I am very interested in this earth. I do not desire to go to heaven. I prefer to be here on this good earth where there is no more sea. We are the pearl and we are the treasure. We are out of the world, but we are still on the earth. This is the correct interpretation of these two parables.
