ANNOUNCER: Question about birds that appear in parables. There’s the parable of the four soils and the parable of the mustard seed. Are the birds just part of the story or do they have some deeper spiritual role, such as representing Satan? Let’s see what else this discussion might bring up, and we’re glad you’re with us today, friend, here on Grace in Focus. This is a ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society, and our website is faithalone.org. Please stop by and find out about our free online seminary and our free subscription magazine, and our upcoming national annual conference May 18th through the 21st. You’re invited to come and bring your family. We have VBS for the kids, and you’ll enjoy the fellowship at Camp Copass, a delightful venue for this conference. Get all you need at faithalone.org. 

And now with today’s question and answer discussion, here is Bob Wilkin, along with Ken Yates. 

KEN: And Bob, we have, I think, a really good question. This is a question that came up in a recent Sunday school class that I was in, and this one is by Jason, and he asked about the parables of the Lord in Matthew 13. There’s two parables that he specifically mentions, and in both of these parables, there’s the mention of birds. It’s in the four soils, then also in the parable of the mustard seed, because birds are in both parables. In the parable of the four soils—

BOB: The birds snatch away the seed lest they should believe and be saved. 

KEN: And Jesus says, this is Satan, Satan snatches. 

BOB: When he interprets it, he says, Satan snatches it. 

KEN: That’s right. So the seed of the kingdom is put out, and there’s—

BOB: So Satan is Big Bird. 

KEN: That’s right. Big Bird, that’s right. In Sesame Street. But probably most of our listeners are more familiar with that than the birds that are found in the parable of the mustard seed. Now I’m just going to, since it’s so short, I’m going to read the parable of the mustard seed. 

BOB: Now, this is both in Matthew 13 and Mark 4. And you’re going to read from which, Matthew 13? 

KEN: This is, since Jason asked about Matthew, we’ll go ahead and use that. But in Matthew 13, verse 31, Jesus gives a much shorter parable than the parable of the sower. And here’s what He says, “And another parable He put forth to them saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sold in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds,” there it is, “the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” 

And Jason asked, he says, is it plausible to believe that in both parables, the birds represent the evil one? And in the second parable, talking about the parable of the mustard seed, the Lord is referring to Satan infiltrating the Church.

Okay, the issue here is, is it legitimate to say that if the birds represent the agents of the evil one or the evil one himself in the parable of the four soils, that the birds of the air also refer to Satan’s work in the parable of the mustard seed. And again, this is also found in Mark 4, these two parables. And we might say it’s common to hear people say something like, let’s just talk about Mark 4, for example, in Mark chapter 4, you’ve got the first parable mentioning the birds. And then in the last parable in Mark chapter 4, you’ve got the mention of the birds. And people will say, well, this is an inclusio. You got the birds in the first parable, you got the birds in the last parable, and they mean the same thing. And as Jason mentions here in his question, is it legitimate to say then that the birds of the air in the parable of the mustard seed is talking about the evil influence of Satan. Most people will say that these parables are addressed to the Church. 

BOB: Okay. So let me throw out a couple of principles. Number one, parables are difficult. Number two, the easiest parables to interpret are the ones where the Lord interprets them. So like, for example, the parable of the four soils, the Lord interprets it and tells us that Satan is the one who snatches away the seed.

KEN: Which is the birds.

BOB: Which is the birds. So we know from that parable what that means. We don’t have that advantage with the mustard seed parable, because the Lord doesn’t interpret it. And because He doesn’t interpret it, it’s open to speculation. And it’s an exceedingly short parable. 

KEN: But it is tempting. It is tempting to say, well, wait a second, in the first parable, the birds are evil. And now we got the birds again. So it’s tempting to say…

BOB: Well, it’s in the same chapter. And so it is a possibility, but it’s also a possibility that the Lord uses it differently. And so you have to ask what makes the most sense in the parable of the mustard seed. You’ve got this mustard seed that grows up into this huge tree. So that birds can nest in his branches. Well, could that refer to the fact that Satan could infiltrate the local church? Well, there’s lots of teaching in the epistles that talk about there are false teachers infiltrating believers. 1 Peter chapter two, for example, Jude, for example, the book of Galatians, you’ve got false teachers introducing their false teachings or 1 John.

KEN: 2 Corinthians. 

BOB: Yeah, lots of them. So this is a possibility, but what else could it refer to? 

KEN: Well, to me, the death knell of that view, and by the way, when I was first taught the parables, that’s what I was told that these views represent, you know, like the leaven, the leaven in the Church, of false teaching and its spreads. 

BOB: So the birds would be false teaching led by Satan. That’s what you were taught early on. 

KEN: Oh, yeah. For the longest time, that’s what I was told this means. And they would say, by the way, the birds in the first parable are the agents of Satan. But Jesus isn’t talking about the Church. 

BOB: So what is he talking about? 

KEN: Yeah, he’s talking about the kingdom that’s offered to Israel in these parables. 

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KEN: Here’s the way I was always told, you know, when I was a new believer, okay, the parable of the mustard seed is the Church is going to grow exponentially. It’s going to grow. This includes the Catholic church. This includes the Mormon church. This includes Jehovah Witnesses. This, you know, that Christendom is just going to explode throughout the world. And the mustard seed starts off real small, but it just expands.

BOB: Meaning the Church.

KEN: The Church expands. 

BOB: But, but he’s talking about the kingdom of heaven. 

KEN: That’s the problem, that people see this as the Church. They would say the Church age, that in the Church age, you know, billions and billions of people are going to be placed under this canopy of the Church. And that’s what we see. 

BOB: So this is a postmillennial view where Jesus is going to return after things get better and better and better? 

KEN: Well, what they’re saying is that the Church is going to grow, but you got to be careful because the birds represent evil. There’s going to be leaven. There’s going to be false teachers. And so you have to be careful. 

BOB: And that parable is followed by the parable of the leaven. So that’s one of the things I would use. 

KEN: Yeah, the leaven, false teaching, spreads. So in the Church age, false teaching is going to spread as well. 

BOB: Now, you wrote on this when you wrote your commentary on Mark chapter four, you had to deal with this, right? 

KEN: Exactly. 

BOB: So how did you understand the birds in the mustard seed parable? 

KEN: In Mark four, the way I understand it is, in Ezekiel, it talks about, for example, Assyria is this great kingdom. And birds are resting under the branches of the Assyrian. And so it is a kingdom. And what Jesus is saying is the kingdom is coming and the birds here are not evil. It’s those who are going to be blessed when the kingdom comes, which are the nations of the world. 

BOB: They’re part of the canopy of the kingdom. So we might go to Revelation 21 and 22 and see that the nations of the earth are going to be bringing their tribute to the Lord Jesus, 21:24. And they’re going to be blessed by being part of this kingdom. 

KEN: I want to give credit to Brad Doskocil. You know, in my conversations with him, he was pointing this out that in the Old Testament, you know, a kingdom can be seen as a tree and the birds are those who benefit from that kingdom. In this case, in Ezekiel, for example, the kingdom of Assyria. And so what the Lord is saying is, prior to this, both in Matthew 12 and in Mark 3, the religious leaders say, Jesus is possessed by Satan. And it looks like, boy, it looks bad. Jesus’s offer to the nation of Israel is looking bleak. And it looks like it’s starting all very small. It’s just Him and His disciples there, they’re preaching the kingdom. But this kingdom one day, even though the nation is going to reject him, and even though the religious leaders have rejected him, one day, the nations of the world, this kingdom is coming and the nations of the world are going to be blessed. 

BOB: Okay, so my question is, does this tie in then with Genesis 12:1-3 where God tells Abraham all the nations of the world shall be blessed through you? 

KEN: Yes, I think so. 

BOB: So the birds are basically nations? 

KEN: Yeah, those who are going to be blessed by this coming kingdom. And so it’s not that this kingdom, see, most people take this that the kingdom is going to be growing during the Church age.

BOB: Which of course the kingdom is not now. And when we had Stan Toussaint speak at our conference, he said, some people say the kingdom is already, not yet. Let me make it clear, the kingdom is not yet, not yet. 

KEN: That’s exactly right. So this is not saying that the kingdom is here now and it’s growing and these birds are the false teaching that we see around us and it’s the Church age. No, this is talking about the future that even though the nation is going to reject the King here, that the kingdom is still coming. And so the birds in the parable of the mustard seed are not at the same as the birds and the parable of the four soils. 

BOB: I mean, they could be, but you’re making a great case for the fact that they’re not and you’re tying it in with the Old Testament birds and trees. That makes a lot of sense. I would encourage all of you to do this study for yourself. Look up birds and trees and check it out through all Scripture. But you do need to recognize that parables, if they’re not interpreted, are subject to prayerful interpretation. And we ought to ask God, open my eyes that I may understand this, Luke 24:45. 

KEN: And the bottom line here is, are these parables dealing with the Church age? That’s really the bottom line. 

BOB: And the answer is clearly no. 

KEN: And are there false teaching in Christendom today? Absolutely. But is that what the Lord is talking about here? What I argue is no. 

BOB: And it does seem to make more sense when you talk about nesting in branches. It’s almost like when He says, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how I would have gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks,” nesting in the branches almost sounds like a good thing. I mean, you could see how you could say it’s infiltration of evil, but you can also see it seems to more naturally fit with the birds being blessed by being under the canopy. 

KEN: They could eat of the seed, the shade, the security of the thing. 

Well, we hope this answers your question, Jason, as you interpret these parables. And until next time, everybody, keep grace in focus.

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On our next episode: in Genesis 22, was Abraham justified only before men? We’ll see you again next time, and until then, let’s keep grace in focus.