In another article in this issue, we have seen how Satan sought to spoil the work of the Spirit of God by sowing tares among the wheat. Now we come to another of his devices, in the parable of the mustard tree.
“Another parable put He forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field. Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof” (Matt. 13:31-3231Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: 32Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. (Matthew 13:31‑32)).
When Christianity began, it was indeed like “a grain of mustard seed.” The Lord Jesus had been rejected as the rightful King, and His own nation had demanded that He be crucified. Accordingly, the kingdom of heaven took on the character of a kingdom in mystery, with only a small number who recognized the rightful King and were ready to own His claims while He was absent. Indeed, ever since sin entered this world, those who valued God’s claims and walked with Him have always been in the minority. Whether before the flood of Noah, in the time of Abraham, or even in Israel, God’s chosen people, there were only a small number who really followed the Lord. The world system that began with Cain has dominated the earth, for “the carnal mind is enmity against God” (Rom. 8:77Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (Romans 8:7)).
When our Lord Jesus was rejected, man’s trial was over, and God pronounced judgment on man. But then, through the work of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, God provided a way of escape from coming judgment. More than this, He began to form His church from every race, ethnic group and nation, calling them to be separate from this world. They were to give up earthly position and prestige to be a heavenly company and to wait for their Lord to come and take them to be with Him in heaven. They were sent back into the world as witnesses to God’s grace, and thus they were to be IN the world but not OF the world. As such, those in the kingdom of heaven were to be like “the grain of mustard seed” — of no account in this world. Their power would be of a moral and spiritual nature, as when the Jews in Thessalonica complained about Paul and Silas to the authorities, “These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also” (Acts 17:66And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; (Acts 17:6)). But they did not seek the world’s fellowship or approval, for to preach a rejected Christ was not popular.
Yet our parable says that while the mustard seed is “the least of all seeds,” when it is grown, “it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree.” Bible scholars have constantly looked for a naturally occurring plant that agrees with this description, and they have generally failed to find anything suitable. There are various kinds of mustard plants, and some, under the right circumstances, may even grow to resemble a small tree, but one that is both an herb and yet grows into a tree is difficult to find. I would suggest that this seeming difficulty is deliberate on the part of the Spirit of God, for He never intended the small herb of Christianity to grow into a tree. Just as it is unnatural for the mustard plant to grow from an herb into a tree, so it is not normal for Christianity to become great in this world. Yet it has happened. Satan has done a good job of bringing Christianity down to the level of a worldly religion, for he knows that it will then lose its power.
What began in the upper room on the day of Pentecost, with only 120 believers, has since mushroomed into the “great house” of Christendom we know today, with its impressive hierarchies, beautiful buildings, material wealth, and, sad to say, its mixture of believers and unbelievers. False doctrines and bad practices have also permeated the profession of Christianity, and thus we find that the “birds of the air come and lodge in the branches” of this mustard tree.
In a general way, a tree in Scripture is that which affords protection and shelter, sometimes in a good way and sometimes in a bad way. In Ezekiel 17:22-2422Thus saith the Lord God; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent: 23In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. 24And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the Lord have spoken and have done it. (Ezekiel 17:22‑24), we have the Lord in a coming day exalting the “low tree” of the house of David, while bringing down the “high tree” (probably the Gentile nations). In this tree “shall dwell all fowl of every wing” — a picture of millennial blessing. However, in this same book, in Ezekiel 31:3-143Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs. 4The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field. 5Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth. 6All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations. 7Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters. 8The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chesnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty. 9I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him. 10Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height; 11I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness. 12And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him. 13Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches: 14To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, all that drink water: for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit. (Ezekiel 31:3‑14), we find the Assyrian likened to a great tree, where “all the fowls of heaven made their nests” (vs. 6). Later in the chapter Pharaoh and his hosts are described in the same way. Here the fowls are typical of proud and arrogant leaders, for whom the tree afforded at least temporary protection. This same metaphor is used in describing the final apostate condition of the professing church in Revelation 18:22And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. (Revelation 18:2): “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.”
In our parable, the fowls again have a bad connotation — a picture of haughty and self-important leaders, who are frequently Christians only by profession, yet who find protection in the large systems that have developed under the banner of Christendom. Several years ago I read of a man who was a self-confessed atheist, yet he was ordained to preach in a large Christian denomination because he was a graduate of one of their seminaries. Such are the fowls who lodge in the great mustard tree.
All this began when the church began to abdicate its heavenly calling and to ally itself with the world. It all sounded good, but when the church seeks to work with the world, it must work on the world’s principles, for the world can never rise to embrace Christian principles. The church must come down to the world’s level, and then she loses her testimony. Another has aptly remarked that when the church loses the sense of her heavenly calling, humanly speaking, she loses everything. This is true, for it is not the calling of the church to set the world right. Rather, she is to be calling men to separate from a doomed world for heavenly blessings. Moreover, the world will not be set right by the gospel; rather, “when Thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness” (Isa. 26:99With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. (Isaiah 26:9)). The church’s character now is properly that of an ambassador, not an activist. Yet how many believers have embraced this latter character and are using their energy and resources in a wrong direction!
As we have already mentioned in connection with the tree in Ezekiel 17, there will come a day when the Lord Jesus will come in power and glory to execute judgment. In that day, His church will come with Him, not as that which is despised by the world, but displayed in glory with her Bridegroom. In that day, “He [the Lord Jesus] shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe” (2 Thess. 1:1010When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. (2 Thessalonians 1:10)). But for now, we should be content to be like the “grain of mustard seed” — “the least of all seeds,” as far as this world is concerned. True Christianity will not be popular in the world, nor will it seek worldly greatness and influence. It will be characterized by spiritual power — a power that God continues to use for blessing in this world of lost sinners. Such power is far more effective than material power, for it is the way that God is working today. When we are living and working in the current of God’s thoughts, all His power is behind us.
W. J. Prost