Parables no 37 Unjust Steward

“THE 41 PARABLES OF JESUS CHRIST”
28 general parables and 13 kingdom of heaven parables
Parable #37 – “UNJUST STEWARD”
Luke 16:1-4,5-8,9-12,13
The 23^rd 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.

Luke 16:1-4,5-8,9-12,13
And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. And the lord (the earthly lord not the Lord Jesus) commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

And I say (Jesus) unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

LESSONS:
1. There are two classes if people … children of the world who are men of this world which have their portion of this life on earth (Psalm 17:14); and the children of light which have their affections set on things above (Colossians 3:1-2; Ephesians 5:8).

mammon = treasures on earth … not just money (Matthew 6:19) versus the treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:20)

2. Is there a contradiction? … Is Christ commending and endorsing the unrighteous practices of the unjust steward?

“And the lord (not Christ the Lord but an earthly lord) commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. And I (Christ) say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.” (Luke 16:8-9)

everlasting habitations = the people of this world will be your co-inhabitants of hell to come … that is everlasting burnings … plural … of hell fire and the lake of fire.

Yes Dear Reader, the wisdom of this world is TEMPORARY GAIN FOR EVERLASTING PAIN

The phrase “wiser in his generation” is not about dynasties and generations of people, but the process by which the wise of this world become wise … that is … the time and years it takes to generate earthly wisdom.

Dear Reader, have you heard of the phrase ‘some people get up earlier than others’ … that

is, they are thinking and scheming 24 hours a day … and at night, when they should be asleep.

So here is an earthly lord commending his unjust steward for his earthly wisdom and cunning … LIKE LIKES LIKE (Romans 1:32)

Christ the Lord … see the capital “L” … is not commending the unjust steward according to heavenly wisdom, but is the steward’s earthly lord … see the small “l” …that is commending him on his earthly wisdom that he has generated over time. However he still fired him.

Now on the other hand, the earthly lord just might say to himself … and this is sometimes the case … “Hey, I like this unjust steward … as he shows native cunning. I think I’ll forgive him of his debts to me and put him to work in my employ to diddle, cheat and defraud others with whom I do business with. He has a good devious mind that I can use to my advantage.”

But Christ says if you are a child of the world, you’ll have some friends down here when you fail and are found out about your wasting your employers goods and defrauding him. However your final resting places will be in the fires.

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