Messiah in Yom HaBikkurim Chapter 63
Mashal #43. Wise and foolish servants:
- Today is Day #43
- The Forty-third Mashal of Messiah
- The Good Fruit being produced out of the Good Fig Tree & Vine of the Messiah
- The things prophesied so long ago are now coming to pass
- The Sign of the resurgence of Messianic Judaism in Israel
- The Wise and Sensible Servant
- The reward of the Faithful Servant
- The tragic fate of the Unfaithful Servant
Today is Day #43:
1. Today is “Day #43” in the forty-nine day Countdown to Shavuot.
2. Today is Forty-three days in the Omer.
Today is forty-three days which are six weeks and one day in the Omer.
היום שלושה וארבעים יום, שהם שישה שבועות ויום אחד בעומר. פ
Haiyom shloshah v-arba’im yom, shehaym shishah shavuot veyom echad ba’omer.
“You shall count for yourselves — from the day after the Shabbat, from the day when you bring the Omer of the waving — seven Shabbats, they shall be complete. Until the day after the seventh sabbath you shall count, fifty days.” (Leviticus). “You shall count for yourselves seven weeks, from when the sickle is first put to the standing crop shall you begin counting seven weeks. Then you will observe the Festival of Shavu’ot for Adonai Eloheinu.” (Deuteronomy).
“Blessed are You, Adonai Eloheinu, King of the universe, Who sanctified us with Your commandments and commanded us to count the Omer.”
ברוך אתה, אדוני אלוהינו, מלך העולם, אשר קדשנו במצוותיו וציוונו על ספירת העומר.פ
Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, melech ha’olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al sefirat ha’omer.
The Forty-third Mashal of Messiah:
מִי הוּא אֵפוֹא הָעֶבֶד הַנֶּאֱמַן וְהַנָּבוֹן אֲשֶׁר הִפְקִידוֹ אֲדֹנָיו עַל־עֲבָדָיו לָתֵת לָהֶם אֶת־אָכְלָם בְּעִתּוֹ׃ אַשְׁרֵי הָעֶבֶד אֲשֶׁר יָבוֹא אֲדֹנָיו וְיִמְצָאֵהוּ עֹשֶׂה כֵּן׃ אָמֵן אֹמֵר אֲנִי לָכֶם כִּי יַפְקִידֵהוּ עַל־כָּל־אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ׃ וְאִם־יֹאמַר הָעֶבֶד הָרַע בְּלִבּוֹ מְאַחֵר אֲדֹנִי לָבוֹא׃ וְהִכָּה אֶת־חֲבֵרָיו וְאָכַל וְשָׁתָה עִם־הַסּוֹבְאִים׃ בּוֹא יָבוֹא אֲדֹנֵי הָעֶבֶד הַהוּא בְּיוֹם לֹא יְצַפֶּה וּבְשָׁעָה לֹא יֵדָע׃ וִישַׁסֵּף אֹתוֹ וַיָשִׂים אֶת־חֶלְקוֹ עִם־הַחֲנֵפִים שָׁם תִּהְיֶה הַיְלָלָה וַחֲרֹק הַשִׁנָּיִם׃
מי הוא אפוא העבד הנאמן שהפקידו האדון על בני ביתו לתת להם את אכלם בעתו? אשרי העבד שיבוא אדוניו וימצא אותו עושה כן. אמן. אומר אני לכם, הוא יפקיד אותו על כל אשר לו. אבל אם העבד הרע יאמר בלבו אדוני מתמהמה ויתחיל להכות את חבריו העבדים ויאכל וישתה עם השכורים, בוא יבוא אדוניו של העבד ההוא ביום שאינו מצפה לו ובשעה שאינו יודע, ישסף אותו וישים חלקו עם הצבועים; שם יהיו היללה וחרוק השיניים. פ
[Mattai 24:45] Who, therefore, is the faithful and understanding servant whom his master has appointed over the servants to give them their food in its time? Blessed, happy (אַשְׁרֵי-ashrei) is the servant whose master comes and finds him doing so! Amen, I say to you, he will entrust to him everything he has. But if the wicked servant says to himself, “My master delays in coming,” and beats his fellow servants and eats and drinks with the drunkards, [then] the master of that servant will most certainly come on a day that he does not expect him; and in an hour that he does not know. He will cut him apart and place his portion with the hypocrites; where there will be wailing and the grinding of the teeth.
The Good Fruit being produced out of the Good Fig Tree & Vine of the Messiah:
When the Messiah used the words “now learn this lesson,” in the previous mashal of the “Sign of the future of a Fig Tree,” he was prophetically telling the Jewish audience of today (the 21st Century) that it is time now for *us to revisit his teaching and in so doing become the humble Good Tree that bears from its heart the good fruit of Adonai Avinu; and not the prideful Bad Tree that bears from the heart the bad fruit of sinful man:
*Today’s physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Truth #1. You will know them [false priests, rabbis, and prophets] by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from bramble bushes (הַקּוֹצִים-briar-thorn bushes) nor figs from thistles (הַבַּרְקָנִים), are they? For each tree is known by its own fruit. For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Therefore, the good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from the abundance of (evil) that is in his heart.
“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” “So then, you will know them by their fruit.”
Truth #2. Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. “You brood of vipers” [the first century rabbinate; i.e. the Prushim], how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.
Truth #3. Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, he [the Messiah] came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and he said to it:
“No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you. May no one ever eat fruit from you again. And at once the fig tree withered.”
Truth #4. “Therefore I say to you [the first century religious leaders, the Old Fig Tree], the kingdom of Adonai will be taken away from you and given to a people [the 21st century Yehudim, the New Fig Tree], producing the fruit of it.”
Truth #5. Regarding the Grapevine (the Messiah of Israel) and his branches (the people of Israel):
“Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, *He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine (of Israel), you are the branches (of Israel); he who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from me (the Messiah) you can do nothing.”
*The Vinedresser is Adonai Avinu (God our Father) – Cf. Mashal #49, the “Vinedresser, Vine & the Branches.”
The things that were prophesied so long ago are now coming to pass:
When the twigs of fig trees begin to get tender and put forth leaves that is a sure sign summer is not far away. Just as a fig tree was a harbinger of summer so the signs that the Messiah was prophesying about so long ago are now clearly coming to pass.
Fig trees, in contrast to most of Israel’s trees, lose their leaves in winter and bloom later in the spring. So whenever the stiff, dry winter twigs become tender, softened—due to the rising sap and leaves appearing— then you know that winter is past, spring is here, and summer is near.
The Sign of the resurgence of Messianic Judaism in Israel:
The lesson of the (new) Fig Tree time transports us out of the first century (70 CE) – the time of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and the demise of (old) Israel – into the twentieth century time of the birth (1948 CE) of Israel and the present twenty-first century time of *modern Israel’s miraculous growth and development.
*The new Fig Tree.
Miraculously, 71 years ago Israel was revived as a nation!
Howbeit, Israel has been re-born during a time of great global conflict and persecution. Nevertheless, Israel is now being afforded a second chance to believe (abide as branches) in the (real) Messiah of Israel (the true Vine of Adonai Avinu).
If the natural branches (the people of Israel) abide in the Vine we will produce an abundance of good fruit and we will be greatly blessed.
The practice today in Israel of the new Judaism (new Fig Tree) of *HaBrit HaChadashah (הברית החדשה) is a sign of God’s blessing and favor once again being upon His people of Israel. For it is prophesied by the prophet Isaiah that when all Israel comes to full faith in our Messiah, Adonai Avinu will complete His restoration of Israel. For God our Father has promised us that on that very day:
*The New Covenant.
All the people of Israel will be righteous; and we shall possess the land (His land) forever!
ועמך כלם צדיקים לעולם יירשו ארץ נצר [מטעו כ] (מטעי ק) מעשה ידי להתפאר׃
וְעַמֵּךְ֙ כֻּלָּ֣ם צַדִּיקִ֔ים לְעֹולָ֖ם יִ֣ירְשׁוּ אָ֑רֶץ נֵ֧צֶר [מַטָּעֹו כ] (מַטָּעַ֛י ק) מַעֲשֵׂ֥ה יָדַ֖י לְהִתְפָּאֵֽר׃
[Isaiah 60:21] “Then all your people will be righteous; they (Israel) will possess the land forever, the branch (נֵ֧צֶר-a shoot; figuratively a descendant) of His (God’s) planting, the *work of My hands, that I may be glorified.”
*Our righteousness is the work of the Spirit of Adonai. By grace we are saved; it is not the work of ourselves; it is solely the work of Adonai Avinu. Therefore, we boast (give all the credit) for our salvation and the righteousness that comes to us by faith—-to Adonai Avinu.
The Wise and Sensible Servant:
Across the span of time the Messiah gives some practical instructions to his modern (twenty-first century) Jewish family as to what we should be doing during the present period of his long physical absence, and what we can do to prepare for his imminent return at his second coming.
In this prophetic context we should keep in mind that the primary application of today’s mashal, the ‘Wise and Foolish Servants,’ is directed toward today’s generation of Yehudim some of whom will be blessed to actually see our master returning in great glory from heaven to modern Israel; as our (Israel’s) Melekh HaKavod (King of Glory).
The reward of the Faithful Servant:
The return of Messiah to the nation and people of modern Israel has been preceded by a test.
Long ago God our Father *entrusted all his possessions to His Messiah and in turn, when the Messiah ascended into heaven he entrusted the care of his possessions (his teaching) to his Jewish servants – his Jewish students and his emissaries. Now, due to the faithfulness of Messiah’s first Jewish followers the Besorah of God’s Redemption has been preached to all of the peoples, and families of the world and disciples have been from all of the nations of the world.
*This stewardship of Messiah – especially included responsibility for the care of His (God’s) nation and people of Israel.
Now today, in this 21st Century, one thing is necessary; and it is on the fulfillment of this one thing that the fate of modern Israel and the entire world rests:
Like his first century (CE) Jewish students and emissaries (faithful servants), the Master now wants his modern day Jewish students and emissaries to faithfully carry out his will. It is the faithfulness of these modern 21st century on which the fate of modern Israel and the entire world rests.
So now that we know who are the faithful Jewish servants and they shall be greatly rewarded, we must now ask: Who are the unfaithful Jewish servants and what shall be their fate?
The tragic fate of the Unfaithful Servant:
Who are the unfaithful Jewish servants and what shall be their tragic fate?
The unfaithful servant(s), believing that his (their) Master was not returning for a long time, took advantage of the other Jewish servants who he was entrusted to look after (he *beat his fellow servants) and lived wickedly eating and **drinking with drunkards (i.e. the hirelings; temporary employees, non-members of the household).
* “Beating of the fellow servants” – This principally (contextually) refers to an abuse of the sacred works of the Jewish Scriptures. This occured when the D’var HaShem (Word of God) was repeatedly misinterpreted and misapplied (the prophets are beaten; abused) by the unfaithful servant’s poor, self-centered, irresponsible stewardship.
** “Drinking with the drunkards” – The unfaithful Jewish servant was not sober-minded in carrying out his duty; which was to fully obey the whole counsel of the D’var HaShem (the Tanakh and the Brit HaChadashah).
Instead, the unfaithful servant has acted as a hireling—a temporary employee—who as a non-member of the household of Israel serves at his own “pleasure.” The unfaithful servant takes time off whenever he wants to get drunk; a symbol of a condition of pride and self-indulgence.
Acting like a hireling means this unfaithful Jewish servant was acting and continues to act as if he has no master. He is the master. He is hiring himself out only to get paid; so he can do whatever ‘he wants.’
Like the wicked people of Noah’s day, this self-preoccupied unfaithful Jewish servant is unaware of the sudden coming judgment. But the judgment will come and the (real) Messiah of God will deal with this body of foolish Jewish servants as one would deal with a hypocrite; which is precisely what this unfaithful servant is.
As to the answer to our final question, Who are the unfaithful Jewish servants and what shall be their tragic fate? The answer is found in the next mashal of the “Wise and Foolish [Jewish] Virgins.”