What the Bible says about Ears to Hear
(From Forerunner Commentary)
Christ did not speak in parables to make the meaning clear to just any reader! From the very beginning, God has supervised the writing of the Bible so that it cannot be understood without outside help. Even prophets and righteous men of old did not understand, nor did the multitudes who heard the parables of Christ. According to Romans 11, the meaning is veiled from most of mankind until the day God offers them salvation. They are relegated to unbelief until a later time (i.e. the Millennium or Great White Throne Judgment), lest they rebel and must be destroyed.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Biblical Symbolism (Part One)Related Topics: Biblical Imagery | Biblical Symbols | Ears to Hear | Parable | Parables | Parables, Prophetic Nature of | Spiritual Understanding | Understanding | Understanding Spiritual Things
In Matthew 13:10-17, Jesus explains the purpose of parables. It is not to expand the meaning, but to hide the meaning from the people whom He did not want to understand. Only with the Spirit of God can we really understand the parables, but He has to give us the understanding. Certain keys unlock parables, and if we do not have the keys, we will miss the meaning, and the interpretation will be wrong, off track.
Other parts of the Bible tell us that it takes the Holy Spirit to give us "ears to hear" (see I Corinthians 2:6-14). To understand spiritual things, we must have the Spirit of God in our minds - we must have the mind of Christ - that in turn opens up the Bible's "mysteries." Of course, the other major key is the Book itself, because the interpretation of the parables is within the Bible. It is not necessarily just the scriptural context of the parable; rather, the entire Bible contributes to opening up the parable's meaning. In other words, a parable does not stand alone. It must "fit" within the Bible's revelation.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Parables of Matthew 13 (Part 1): The Mustard SeedRelated Topics: Ears to Hear | God's Holy Spirit | God's Spirit | Holy Spirit | Mystery | Mystery, Ability to Comprehend | Parable | Parables | Revealed Knowledge | Revelation | Revelation, Private | Secret | Secret Knowledge | Spiritual Understanding