MATTHEW 13:47-50.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven [the heavens] is like unto a net [drag-net] that was cast into the sea, and gathered of [brought together out of] every kind: which, when it was full, they drew to [drew upon the] shore, and sat down, and gathered [collected] the good into vessels, but cast the bad away [corrupt out]. So shall it be at the end of the world [in the completion of the age]: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
THIS is the last parable of the series, corresponding with the address to the Church in Laodicea, the last of the addresses to the seven Churches, which contemplates the close of the present dispensation, through the Church's failure in testimony and its lukewarmness.
At that time the final division will be made, and the true saints will be separated from the false professors. The aspect of the last days of professing Christendom is represented as characterized by lukewarmness concerning the vital truths of Christianity, up to the time of the end of the dispensation, when, having failed as an outward witness to the faith once delivered to the saints, it is rejected. It is the Church aspect to the end. See Rev. 3:14-22. This parable has its allegorical foreshadowing in the reigns of Manasseh and Zedekiah, when through the sin of Manasseh, in the time of Zedekiah, Judah was carried captive by the Babylonians and the temple destroyed. In the times of these kings we have the closing days of the kingdom of Judah, after which the dominion was transferred to the Gentiles, and the vessels of Jehovah's house were carried to Babylon (2 Chron. 33., 36:11, &c).
In the parable of the net, it is the kingdom aspect characterized by great activity in the spread of the Gospel, and efforts for the conversion of man, as is manifest at the present time on every hand.
The word here employed for net (sageenee), signifies a "draw" or "drag" net, which may either represent a large net or seine enclosing a wide surface, and then drawn to shore, or a net which drags up from the bottom.
By the sea is signified the masses of the Gentiles; it is the Gospel preached to all the world for a witness to all nations before the end shall have come.
Into this Gospel net people of every nation and clime, of every character, high and low, rich and poor, young and old, are gathered.
In the Church at Sardis many had a name to live who were spiritually dead; here it is rather a gathering on the profession of faith, which profession is afterward to be put to the test.
“Which, when it was full, they drew up on the shore.”
This special dispensation of the Gospel, and of Gospel grace, in this accepted time and day of salvation had its commencement in the preaching by the Lord Jesus, and from Pentecost onward by the apostles and others.
This character of Gospel preaching will continue until the work on account of which the Comforter was especially sent down will be completed; that is, until every member of the spiritual body of Christ shall be brought in, and the Church arrive at its full stature (Eph. 4:13).
Just so the sheet that was shown in vision to Peter was let down from heaven, and contained beasts, creeping things, and fowls of every kind, and then was received up again into heaven (Acts 10:11-16).
The partial veil of judicial blindness which has happened to Israel will also continue un-removed from the mass of the nation until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in; although the Spirit of God may perform a gracious work in many of the Jews, as in these days.
The character in which the Spirit of God is now accomplishing His work is that of the Comforter, convicting the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment; and baptizing all believers, whether Jew or Gentile, into one body, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, bond nor free.
But when this work shall be completed, at the return of the Lord Jesus to receive His Spirit-perfected Bride, the symbol under which the Holy Ghost will be then represented is that of the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth, acting with sevenfold energy, and throughout the whole world (Rev. 5:6).
Then the believing Israelite will be sealed as such, as belonging to one of the twelve tribes of Israel (Rev. 7:4-8); and the believing Gentile will be recognized as a Gentile believer, out of every nation, and kindred, and people, and tongue (Rev. 7:9).
The Gospel then preached will not be that peculiar form of it which Paul styles "my gospel," but "the everlasting Gospel," true from the Beginning, setting forth redemption through the blood of the Lamb, accompanied with a solemn warning, "Fear God," and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come (Rev. 14:6, 7), and with a superadded warning that whosoever receives the mark of the beast shall be tormented day and night forever and ever (Rev. 14:9-11).
For such there is no pardon, so that the righteous will be taught to cry, "Be not merciful to any wicked transgressor" (Ps. 59:5). There will no longer subsist the threefold division, the Jew, the Gentile, and the Church of God; it will either be the believing Jew, the believing Gentile, or the unbelieving world.
“And sat down.”
When the elect of the present dispensation are gathered in, those who are now occupied in proclaiming the truth will have finished their work and entered into rest. After them others will be raised up to preach the everlasting Gospel to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people (Rev. 14:6).
“Collected the good into vessels, but cast the corrupt out.”
This collecting of the good fish into vessels and casting the corrupt out corresponds with the gathering of the wheat into the barn and leaving the tares to dry on the field, in the second parable; also with the wise virgins admitted into the marriage, whilst the foolish virgins are left outside (Matt. 25:10, 11).
It is, in fact, "the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto Him" (2 Thess. 2:1)
It is the taking away of the precious from the vile. At the close of the present dispensation, as the result of the increased activity in the proclamation of the Gospel, there will doubtless be a vast increase in the number of outward professors of Christianity, many of whom, though having the form of godliness but destitute of its power, claiming the name of Christians but not having the Spirit of Christ, and in reality are none of His.
When the Lord Jesus conies to receive His own to Himself (John 14:3), those, and those only, who are quickened and indwelt by the Spirit of God will be changed and caught up to meet Him; those who have only the outward form and shell of Christianity will be left to that fuller corruption which will be developed in Babylon the great; or, according to the preceding parable, the pearl having been taken out, washed, and presented in its purity and beauty, the flesh in which it had been previously embedded will be left to perish in its own corruption.
“So shall it be at the end of the world [in the end of the age]: the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
Here we see the necessity and advantage of attending to that most important principle, that the interpretation of a prophecy or parable often goes beyond and adds additional truth to the prophecy or parable itself. (For example, Dan. 12:7-13; Matt. 13:40-42).
It is important to distinguish between the close of this present dispensation, when the fullness of the Gentiles will have come in, and that which is quite distinct—the end of the age, when the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled. After the Spirit of God has accomplished His present work in the formation of the Spiritual Body or Bride of Christ, the seventieth week of Daniel's prophecy must run its course before the execution of that judgment which shall usher in the manifestation of the Son of Man and the establishment of His millennial reign, which will be the end of the age.
During the present dispensation the fishermen are occupied with the Gospel net. At its close the Lord Jesus will receive His own to Himself, thus taking to Himself the good and leaving the bad or the corrupt behind.
Afterward there is angelic ministry brought in, and the action is totally the reverse: instead of the good taken and the bad left, it will be the wicked taken out and the just left for the enjoyment of the kingdom.
The judgment executed at the end of the age will be complete, final, and everlasting. "The Son of Man will thoroughly purge His floor and burn up the chaff with fire unquenchable" (Matt. 3:12).
“He will take out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father" (Matt. 13:41, 42).
“They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament: and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever" (Dan. 12:3).