Good Morning Church,
I realize this is a long study [17 verses]. But I promise you, if you will persevere and stay with me on this, I like to think you might be rewarded at the finish line. In the verses below written in the niv, the bags of gold are the talents. The word servants mean slaves.
Parable of the Talents
14.
“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.
15.
To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.
16.
The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more.
17.
So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more.
18.
But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19.
“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.
20.
The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.
21.
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
22.
“The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’
23.
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
24.
“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
25
So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26.
“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?
27
Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28.
“ ‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags.
29.
For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.
30. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ niv Mt. 25:14-30
Precious Holy Spirit, Open up my eyes to see through your eyes, guide and direct the words I put down and sift my mind and heart from anything that would not be of you. Bring us all insight and revelations into what Jesus gave in His words. Thank You Lord and it is in your name Jesus we pray. amen.
I have asked myself, who am I, of all people searching to discern this parable, when there are frustrated scholars much more astute than I who have failed to agree together upon the interpretation. Because of this, I am reminded of the seriousness of such a task and it is with great awe and faith that I write according to the confirmations given to me by The Holy Spirit.
The Berean’s example in Acts 17:11 is a good policy to follow. These noble people checked out everything that Paul was saying to see if it was true.
Jesus continued in great lengths to give us an understanding about The Kingdom of Heaven as a journey. This is a continual process as we, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven.” In Mt. 7:13, 14.
In Biblical times, they used units of talents to measure mostly gold and silver. Still today, man puts a great deal of store upon the value of its weight. In fact, one talent of gold weighed by today’s standards would be around a million dollars. In the Old Testament the talent was the heaviest and largest Biblical unit of measurement equal to about 75 lbs or 35 kilograms. Can you picture King David having a 75 pound gold crown of opulence placed upon his head? And, when we read Revelation 16:21 that talks about hail falling from heaven the weight of a talent, think about the possibility of 75 pounds per hailstone.
Hang with me on this.
In Exodus, we are given the inventory of the construction of the sanctuary. The gold from the offering was 29 talents.
Under the new atonement and covenant of grace in the New Testament we are told how our bodies are a temple [a Tabernacle, Sanctuary] of the Holy Spirit.
The Body of Christ has been individually, meticulously planned and constructed according to God’s creative blueprint. There are no carbon copies and we are still under construction. This is why Jesus mentioned giving five talents to one servant, another two and the last servant one. He gave each person gifts according to their abilities. He entrusted them with his prized possessions. He knows all about the gold we have deep inside of us. He knows our expertise!
“Here, all this belongs to me and I am giving this to you to use [for your benefit and my glory]. I have to go on a trip and I’ve given each of you a storehouse of gold to draw from and to use while I am away.“
In other words they lacked nothing.
Everything that was given to them was from the Kingdom of Heaven. John 3:27 Jesus gave all three the truth. All three servants knew he would return.
The first two fearless, yet humble servants believed in what the Master said and their lives reflected their faithfulness by doubling the gold given within them that eventually manifested into the physical realm. They used what was given to them. They became overcomers through the process of refinement on their journey. Their faith increased as their work increased all the while, keeping their eyes on the cross.
The last servant moved in fear, selfishness, doubt, unbelief and even laziness instead of love and faith. He did nothing with the tools of the truth that was given to him and when the Master returned, his light exposed all the corrupt motives in his heart and when he realized God’s truth could no longer be hid, could no longer be ignored and buried in the back yard, the servant then shamefully blamed his own hypocritical heart upon the Master’s character and his “unfair unpredictable decisions.” Through his accusations he twisted the truth that was given to him to justify his own sinful actions. It did not work.
“Why didn’t you use what I gave to you? Why didn’t you do something with your life? Anything!”
The Master then, took the one talent from the disobedient servant and gave it to the first obedient servant who had the ten talents and in verse 29 he talks about those who have will be given more abundantly. Those who do not have, will be taken what they have from them.
“A sinners wealth is stored up for the righteousness.” Proverbs 13:22
I believe Jesus was talking about obedience. Our lives reflect who we are in Christ by the decisions we make in our hearts. Our words will speak of His love or betray His goodness that has been given to us.
The wicked servant believed in a lie. He liked where he was at in his life and refused to change. He was fearful because his sin was discovered. He did not cry out for mercy, instead he rebelliously continued to betray God by having the audacity of accusing His character.
The Master’s reaction was quick and swift, to cast him out into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
All three servants [or slaves] knew the Master was going to return; they just did not know when. Two stayed busy and watchful. The last deliberately chose to not use what had been given to him by God.
The first two were slaves to righteousness.
The last was still a slave to sin.
I would like to ask everyone who reads these words. Dig deep inside of your heart and ask what God has given to you that you are not using on your journey? Are you listening to the Holy Spirit as you read?
Let’s pray
Precious Heavenly Father,
We thank you for your Holy Spirit who teaches us all truth. We thank you for His guidance and great love. And, we thank you for your son’s words, that quicken our hearts. It is our greatest desire to be a reflection of your love and goodness while on this journey. We ask that you would stir up what has been given to us, by your Spirit and help us to reproduce this love many times over through the skills and gifts each of us have. Give us unique ideas how to express your will to each other and the world. We ask that you would honor our obedience, faith and love for you. Give us new revelations of multiplicity for your Kingdom.
Forgive us for our slackness, for any apathy or complacency and replace it with the fire of your zeal in truth. Refill us back up with the joy of our salvation. For we choose to trust completely in you. We deliberately choose to walk in your will and not our own. We choose to say yes. We will resist any oppositions or hinderances that would try to discourage our decisions. Yes Lord. Thank you Father. In Jesus we pray. Amen.
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