Parables no 33 Building a Tower

“THE 41 PARABLES JESUS CHRIST”
28 general parables and 13 kingdom of heaven parables
Parable #33 – “BUILDING A TOWER”
Luke 14:25-28,29-32,33-35
The 20^th of 28 general parables

In 445BC, with one Bible week equating to seven years (a prophetic year being 360 days), God commanded that seventy weeks each of 7 years, would be determined upon Israel, that is … 70 weeks x 7 years = 490 years (Daniel 9:24-27).

This time frame is broken into four time periods of (a) 7 weeks + (b) 62 weeks + (c) the mystery church age of about 2,000 years + (d) 1 week = 70 weeks and is explained as follows:

#1. Seven weeks of years is 7 x 7 = 49 years … the time it takes to restore and build Jerusalem from 445BC to 396BC.

#2. Sixty two weeks of years is 62 x 7 = 434 years … the time from the building of Jerusalem in 396BC to Christ being cut off at the cross in 32AD.

#4. One week of years is 1 x 7 = 7 years … this is the seven years of tribulation of God’s wrath upon the earth, that takes place after the rapture … called Daniel’s 70^th week.

And there went great multitudes with him: = Christ was very popular … he fed them, healed, taught them and raised them from the dead … there were plenty of ‘goodies’ given out when Christ was around.

Like free food tasties given out in the Supermarket … everyone lines up to get the snack … but most know they will not buy.

and he turned, and said unto them, If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, = “How harsh is this!” many exclaim!

The meaning of the word ‘hate’ has people in a spin. But why should it? The meaning is very clear.

1. TAKE JACOB AND ESAU …
“As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” (Romans 9:13)

We see that Esau despised his birthright (Genesis 25:34), therefore God simply dropped him down the list of favourites and Esau did not get the gold medal … he got the silver (Genesis 28:6).

God did not cut off Esau altogether as God still gave him an inheritance as follows …

“And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept. And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above;” (Genesis 27:38-39)

Hence being told to hate out mother and father is simply to love them less than the Lord and what he would have us do.

Of course we love Mum and Dad but if they stand in our way of serving the Lord we are to hate them … that is … we love them but we love God more.

It’s matter of priorities. God still loved Esau with an inheritance … but not the inheritance that Jacob got.

2. THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE IS HATE
Love is commitment … in that God so loved the world he died for it and those who get saved will have eternal security in spite of future sin. This is commitment … this is love.

Hatred is not having commitment … God loved Esau being committed to him but then God hated Esau being not committed to him. God changed his choice to Jacob and loved him instead. Esau lost God’s commitment and Jacob gained it.

Therefore to hate someone is not to be committed to them. God chose not to be committed to Esau but chose to be faithful to Jacob.

It’s like a paradox … God loved Esau but God was not committed to him and therefore hated him. Hopefully this makes sense Dear Reader.

God hates sin and sinners because they are not committed … that is saved … by loving Jesus above all else.

God so loved the world that he gave Jesus … but then God does not love the world because they will not love Jesus. He therefore hates the world and their sin having loved them.

and his own life also, = we are not good people who do bad things … are hearts are evil … the very nature of us is evil and must be put to death ... in Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13; Ezekiel 11:19; 18:31; 36:26).

Although we may be saved, if we step away and ignore what the Lord would have us do, then we hate the Lord … but we still love the Lord.

This is the dilemma for many Christians … they love the Lord and they also hate the Lord and sometimes the flesh gets too strong.

he cannot be my disciple. = this was under the kingdom of heaven dispensation and not like today under the kingdom of God dispensation … we are not disciples of Christ but of Paul (1 Corinthians 11:1).

And whosoever doth not bear his cross, = today Christ bears our cross … but instructions for the Christian life are given in Paul whereby Paul shows us how to ‘bear our crosses’ eg Read Romans chapters twelve through fifteen.

and come after me, = today we come after Paul as he follows Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1)

cannot be my disciple. = this was then … but not today. But we will be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29)

For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. = yes …. it all got a bit to much for some and they walked away (John 6:66).

It's like a person who opens a restaurant because friends and relatives love his cooking, but with all the aspects of running a business, it all gets a bit too much … no staying power.

Lesson:
This is a parable of the kingdom of heaven dispensation with spiritual application for the kingdom of God.

Australian Bible Ministries, PO Box 5058 Mt. Gravatt East 4122 Qld, Australia
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