Nov. 7, Parable of the Drag Net, Matthew 13:47-50
How appropriate that the seventh parable of the Kingdom in Matthew 13 describes the final separation of the wicked from the righteous. Although the kingdom of God has begun on earth in the lives of all who live under the Lordship of Christ, there is still a day coming when Jesus Christ will return and establish His Kingdom for ever and ever.
Notice the phrase, “When it was full...” (verse 48). In Jesus’ end-times prophecies of Matthew 24, He says the end will not come until the Gospel has been proclaimed to all the world (14). “When it was full” may refers to when everyone who will be saved has confessed Christ as Lord. According to Revelations 6:10, the Christians martyrs under the altar in heaven were told the final judgment would not come “until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.” “When it was full” may also refer to full number of martyrs.
On the other hand, Revelation 14 describes this final judgment as a harvest. The angels are told to reap the earth for the harvest was ripe. The judgment had two harvestings: one, the believers collected by Jesus; the second, the wicked harvested by the angels and thrown into the winepress of God’s wrath. “When it was full” also refers to the time when evil and rebellion will be full. The Parable of the Drag Net says the wicked will be thrown into the fiery furnace.
A judgment day is coming. A final sorting of the wicked from the righteous will arrive; some of us believe it will be soon. The only control we have over where we will be found in this sorting is our response to the Gospel. The fiery furnace was not made for you and me. God has done and is doing everything possible to keep us out of Hell. It remains for us to respond to His love and offer of salvation.
47“Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. 48 When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. 49 This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”—Matthew 13:47-50
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