Why Jesus Hid Wisdom

When I first came to know the Lord and was reading the gospels, one thing bugged me—for years. Maybe it bugs you too. The parables. If Jesus wanted folks to know Him, why did He speak in parables? If you were trying to communicate something important, wouldn’t you want to use the plainest, simplest explanation? Why enshroud your message in mysterious parables?

His disciples wondered the same thing, and after Jesus spoke in parables to the multitudes from a ship, they asked Him privately, “Why speakest thou unto them in parables?”

Even after reading Christ’s response, I didn’t get it as a new Christian, and for many years. He said, “Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them, it is not given.” (Matt. 13:11) Could you explain that to someone? Why did He make His message a mystery to some and not to others?

For the answer to that, you don’t need to go to the original Greek and Hebrew. You don’t even need a pastor to explain it. The Bible explains it. I found the answer by looking up cross references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK). But first, tuck this truth away: God chose to hide and reveal secrets in what has been called progressive revelation. That is, God has a master plan that He didn’t choose to reveal to all of humanity in one period of time. Much of what the prophets wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they didn’t understand. It was for future generations to grasp. We’re talking about the birth, life, death and second coming of Christ. That plan unfolded over time through the pages of Scriptures. So we understand it now. The revelation of that plan of God was progressive.

The reason for parables ties into this, and you can see it by following the cross references found easily in the TSK. So let’s go on that journey quickly here, starting with something repeated many times in the Bible that starts in Isaiah:

“And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.” (Isa 6:9-10).

For context, Isaiah is a book of prophecy in the Old Testament written to the Jews, You must always ask yourself when studying a passage, “who was it written to?” God wanted the Jews blind to the clear truth of the kingdom of God. Note, hiding this mystery from them was so important that Jesus spoke in parables so the average listener wouldn’t get it. He wanted that blindness to continue. Might seem odd, but God’s ways aren’t ours, and He has a grand plan we will see as we progress through Scriptures.

God, through Isaiah, reiterated the fact that He wanted to hide the kingdom truth from the Jews by actively shutting their eyes to it in Isa. 44:18 “They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.”

Don’t stop studying and get mad just yet. Let’s jump ahead from Isaiah to what Jesus said further when He explained to his disciples why He spoke in parables. “And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” (Matt 13:14-15)

He was deliberately perpetuating this blindness the Jews had to the kingdom truth.

You’re a curious person, and you want to know why. Keep following the cross references.

Later, after Jesus had performed many miracles and was wrapping up his time on earth, before his death approached, we read this: “But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him.” (John 12:37-41)

National restoration for Israel wasn’t due yet. It was a future thing, so He shut them off through unbelief for the time being until His greater purpose was accomplished. What was that master purpose? He gave the Apostle Paul that information, which he passed along as he was seeking to be released from prison at Rome.

“And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.” (Acts 28:23-28)

Now we’re getting somewhere. That national blindness was to flip a switch eventually to allow the kingdom to open to the Gentiles. They would hear it, believe it and receive it while the Jews continued to be blind to it and reject it.

Later, to the church in Rome, Paul explained further the mystery of the kingdom of God and the Gentiles’ ability to be part of that, “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” (Rom. 11:25) We’re in that time period right now, waiting for the fullness of the Gentiles to be complete. That is the church age we’re in. God is dealing with us Gentiles now. The Jews are on hold during this dispensation with a vail to the truth over their eyes that remains to this day.

Paul later revealed more of this. “But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.” (2 Cor. 3:14-16)

Later, God will deal with the Jews in a different way, and that’s a topic of discussion for another time. But here we see why blindness was perpetuated. It was so the message could go beyond the Jews to the Gentiles—to give us a chance.

I’ll conclude here: “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” (1 Cor. 2:7-8) I’ll leave you to your thoughts on this.

Jody

God is in the Pearl-managing Business

Knowledge is powerful. In the right hands, it changes a life forever. In the wrong hands, it is degraded. Knowledge is a pearl to protect. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine. (Matt. 7:6)

Even God—and especially God—protects knowledge. Remember back in the Garden of Eden how God did not want Adam and Eve to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? All that He told them was that if they did, they would die. But the desire to be wise—to get that knowledge—was powerful, and Eve ate. Her eyes were opened. She got that knowledge that was supposed to remain shrouded. And that was the beginning of the end for her (and all of us).

Fast forward to Jesus. People ask why He spoke in parables. The difficulty of understanding what Jesus was saying turned a lot of people away from Him, and still does today. Even His disciples questioned Jesus about why He spoke in parables. Listen to His reason.

And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. (Luke 8:10) Knowledge that is hidden is a mystery. God’s design is that the mysteries of the kingdom of God be hidden from some. Yes, they will hear the words and see evidence, but they won’t understand.

God’s knowledge, or mysteries, are spiritual in nature. A person without God’s spirit in them will not grasp these mysteries, because they can only be spiritually understood (1 Cor. 2:14). By nature, we are missing the spiritual capacity to understand these spiritual things. Things of God will not be understood intellectually. He doesn’t want us to ever claim we figured things out apart from Him. He guards His pearls.

And besides that, Satan doesn’t want people to grasp the knowledge of God.

In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Cor. 4:4-6)

Consider all this next to the thought that we are stewards of the mysteries of God. (Read more about that in the blog post just after this one.) How hard it is to get people to understand the mysteries that God and Satan are hovering over.

God has to open hearts to receive spiritual knowledge. In the book of Acts, He did it for Lydia. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. (Acts 16:14)

A person’s only hope of understanding God’s mysteries, or knowledge, is that the Holy Spirit opens their spiritual eyes to see. That applies not only to the unsaved person grasping and receiving the gospel, but also to us understanding what we read in His word.

“But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.” (1 John 2:27)

Therefore, our most valuable prayer for others and for ourselves is that God would open eyes—before we share the gospel and before we read our Bibles. If you know your Bible, you know the verses that, in fact, encourage that. But here is the verse for today.

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (James 1:5)

Jody

Watch the Similitudes in the Bible

The Bible often uses parables to convey truth. Something is like something else. Something is compared to something else. For example, in John 10, Jesus said that he is the door of the sheep. He also said he is the good shepherd. He drove his listeners crazy because they didn’t get it. His words and concepts were only discerned spiritually. The natural person would never understand.

Symbols, types, and similitudes in the Bible aren’t just limited to the Gospels. Much of the rest of the Bible is like that as well, and here we are going to focus further on that rod in the Old Testament, which symbolizes Christ. Most of us don’t get it right off because we are not used to looking at happenings in the Old Testament as being types of what was to happen in the New Testament. But types they were, and after his resurrection, Jesus found himself explaining Old Testament types to two guys on the road to Emmaus. “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:27)

If you read my previous three posts, you will see why I say that the rod in Exodus is a symbol of Christ. After I discovered that, I looked more closely at the rod and how it was used and what happened with it, and it made Christ sparkle.

As you recall, when Moses and Aaron were working with Pharaoh trying to secure the release of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, there was this rod that was the agent of miracles. Of all the miracles that were performed, the rod was used to accomplish six of them (It became a serpent in Ex. 7:10; it turned the river into blood in 7:17; frogs appeared in 8:5; lice in 8:16-17; hail in 9:23; and locusts in 10:13). Yet there were more miracles. Why was the rod involved in only six? The best I can figure is that the number six is symbolic itself. It is the number of man. Christ was the God/man and he came to save man.

The rod was quickly used again after the Israelites were released from Egypt, “But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.” (Exodus 14:16)

This was the miracle of separating the Israelites from the Egyptians by separating the water with the rod. Hmm. The rod (Christ) separates nations here. Guess what, Christ will do that again. There’s a prophetic sense to what happened in Exodus that is yet to be fulfilled. “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:  And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:  And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world… Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. (Matthew 25:31-34 & 41)

There may be more insight to be gained considering Christ as the rod that separated the water, saving the Israelites and causing the demise of the pursuing Egyptians. It certainly makes the following pre-explanation by Moses more meaningful: “And Moses said unto the people, fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you today; for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” (Exodus 14:13-14)

Jody