Skip to main content

Darnel


Since I've moved to S's church, I've been reading D.James Kennedy's Evangelism Explosion for their evangelistic training class.

In his book, he provided an explanation of the parable of the wheat and tares that is extremely epiphanic. He wrote:

"The church in this world is always a mixed multitude of believers and unbelievers. In the parable of the wheat and tares, Jesus indicated that this condition would continue to the end of time. In the world to come, at the judgment, the distinction will be made. It is interesting that Jesus draws a contrast between wheat and darnel. The darnel looked exactly like a wheat through all stages of growth until the time of harvest. Then it had no "fruit". Perhaps there is the implication here that those who do not bear fruit are not true believers."

I really am no agricultural expert and perhaps listening to this parable in a non-agrarian society means we are unable to appreciate the comparison. This has happened to me before with the parable of the mustard seed (hint: the mustard seed cannot grow into a tree).

I checked up this story on Wikipedia and lo and behold (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolium_temulentum)

"Darnel usually grows in the same production zones as wheat and was a serious weed of cultivation until modern sorting machinery enabled darnel seeds to be separated efficiently from seed wheat.[1] The similarity between these two plants is so great that in some regions, darnel is referred to as "false wheat".

Related image

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

人日

Yesterday was 人日, the 7th day of Chinese New Year. According to Chinese customs, this was the day humans were created. In modern times it is common to see people greet everyone "Happy birthday" on 人日. But what exactly is 人? This is probably the first Chinese character that everyone learns. Scripture tells us: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (Gen 1:27) This has tremendous implications. Man was taken from dust and given the breath of life. He or she bears the divine image of the God of the Universe. This simple verse means at least a few things for us: (1) Because humans are made in His image, everyone bears the image of God. This includes people we don't like, or don't get along with. It includes people from a different race. It includes the disabled whom the world considers valueless. It means we should treat everyone by remembering they are a fellow image bearer. (2) In our lives ho...

2 Samuel 3 - Civil War in Israel and when Generals Run Amok

2 Samuel 3 – Civil War in Israel and when Generals Run Amok      The setting of 2 Samuel 3 describes Civil War in Israel. Perhaps Bible summaries have done us a disservice by describing David as the Second King of Israel after Saul and that is right, to some extent. But before David was king, there was Civil War in Israel where David was king in Judah, and Saul’s son Ish-bosheth was king over the Benjamin, and the rest of Israel. 2 Sam 3:1 documents for us: “There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.” We as readers know what will happen, for 1 Samuel already describes for us a time when Saul’s kingdom will go to David. But 2 Sam 3 is important for us. In both kingdoms, there are two generals, who overrule their kings. Abner overrules Ish-bosheth and Joab overrules David in these two kingdoms. First Abner, who by this time has gr...

Post-YA Retreat 2017 Thoughts

So much happened but I figured I better jot a few things down to process and recollect at some point in time. Sermons quick summary: 1) Wen Pin preached from Isaiah 6. A new insight I gained from this text is the definition of what it means to have "unclean lips". Wen Pin expounded from the text that "unclean lips" could also refer to our silence. Unlike the Seraphim, we do not give God His honour or praise His holiness. 2) Second sermon, from Leviticus - about Nadab and Abihu. The sermon rightfully points out the folly of not approaching God on His terms. Holiness is also not the end point. We pursue holiness ultimately to draw near to God. 3) Third sermon, the contrast between false and true holiness. An insight I gained from this is what it means to have a "healthy eye". Having a healthy eye means gazing at the lamp, Jesus Christ. 4) Fourth sermon, Living as Holy People. I was struggling a bit with my energy levels with this last one. Still I e...