The Parable of the Sower

This parable is about the hearts of people, which are represented by four types of soils. The seeds thrown onto the soils are the Word of God, and the Sower is Jesus Christ. The first soil is a hard heart (a hard path). When seeds are thrown onto it, there is no understanding. The birds come and eat them. The second type of soil is rocky ground, very shallow. When seeds are thrown onto it, roots and flowers develop quickly, and there is much excitement, but it does not last. When the sun (which is represented by tribulation or persecution) comes, it does not survive. Note that the sun comes from the Lord. In the third soil, the seeds develop, but thorns also develop and choke off the flowers; and there is no productivity. These thorns represent the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches. The fourth soil is good ground. The heart receives the word of God and understands it; it has a good productivity.

This parable can be view in two ways:

If one thinks of it in terms of salvation, then only those with the fourth soil represent the saved. These are those who produce good works. "We have been saved unto good works," Ephesians 2:10. "Faith without works is dead," James 2:17,26.


If one thinks of the four soils in terms of our Christian walk, then there are some who do not grow at all; some who show interest in godly things but do not last; some who are so absorbed in the world that they produce no fruit; and some who have Christ and His Word as their highest priority and act accordingly. Only in this soil is there true joy.

The Parable of the Weeds

Jesus planted good seeds; the devil planted weed seeds. They all grew together in the world. At the final judgment, the angles separated the fruit of the good seeds from the fruit of the weed seeds. But we, as humans, do not know which seeds will become good and which will remain evil. Therefore, we are to spread God's word to all, and pray for the salvation of all.

Joseph Attacked, Enslaved, Imprisoned

We will see later that Joseph was the reason the family of Jacob moved from Canaan to Egypt. Abraham was told this would happen. The Israelites will grow into a mighty nation in Egypt over the next 430 years, and then Moses and Aaron will lead them out of Egypt, back into Canaan. This is where God developed the family of Jacob into the nation of Israel.