THE PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON
THE PARABLE OF THE
PRODIGAL SON
JAN LILLEBY
Most Bible teachers as well as Pastors in our time are saying that this famous parable from Luke 15 is a picture of God’s mercy and love for humankind.
Well, it sounds nice, and we would like to think that this is God’s mind and thoughts of humankind.
But when dealing with the passage in Luke 15:11-32, we quickly find that Jesus was speaking of Israel, and not us Gentiles.
I shall try and explain this parable in more details below, but let us first have it up, to read. It is from the NASB translation,
11 And He said, "A man had two sons.
12 "The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.' So he divided his wealth between them.
13 "And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living.
14 Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished.
15 "So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
16 "And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.
17 But when he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!
18 'I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight;
19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men."'
20 "So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced * * him and kissed him.
21 "And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'
22 "But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet;
23 and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;
24 for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.' And they began to celebrate.
25 "Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.
26 "And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what * these things could be.
27"And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.'
28 "But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him.
29 "But he answered and said to his father, 'Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends;
30 but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.'
31 "And he said to him, 'Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours.
32 'But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.' "
Let’s clear one issue before continuing the article: Jesus spoke to Israel only. He said so Himself, Mat. 15:24, NASB,
“But He answered and said, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
He was sent only to the LOST SHEEP OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL.
His speech and parable here, on the prodigal son, was NOT spoken to Gentiles at all. It is not about any Christians of our time, or the regular world as such. Jesus spoke only of the Israeli nation.
Thus, the ‘son’ in this parable, who went abroad and spent his entire heritage and fell into poverty and despair, WAS ISRAEL. Israel was God’s nation on earth, until they fell away from Him as they refused to believe on Jesus Christ – and Acts 28:25-28 is the story of how this fall was happening. The confrontation of Paul with the Sanhedrin at Rome, summer of 60 CE, ended with Israel saying a final no to Jesus as the Messiah of God. So Paul ended the meeting with Acts 28:28 – the Gospel of salvation was now sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!
Jesus told this parable shortly before He was going to Jerusalem in the Passover in 28 CE, to die on the cross. See Luke 13:22 …saying that Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem. Verses 32 and 33 leaves us the facts that Jesus told He was just three days from ‘reaching His goal’ – at Jerusalem, and thus the death on the cross. Luke 17:11 place Jesus still on His way to Jerusalem…and healing the ten leprous men. He was closing in on the city.
And so He foretold the famous predictions on His Second Advent, in verses 31-35, reading,
31 Just at that time some Pharisees approached, saying to Him, "Go away, leave here, for Herod wants to kill You."
32 And He said to them, "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I reach My goal.'
33 "Nevertheless I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day; for it cannot be that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem.
34 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!
35 "Behold, your house is left to you desolate; and I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, 'BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!' "
My remark: Verse 35 correspond perfectly with Isa. 6:11,12 – on Israel left desolate and with empty houses, destroyed, and Jews scattered in the world etcetera, NASB,
“11 Then I said, "Lord, how long? " And He answered, "Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate,
12 "The LORD has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.”
The parable of the lost son in Luke 15 was indeed a prophetic one, since the story is summed up by saying – verses 24 and 32: “For this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again” - “For this brother of yours was dead, and has begun to live, and was lost and have been found”.
Israel – the son – was dead, but had come back to life again!
This is the very same saying we find with Hosea 6:1-3, the prophecy of Israel coming back to life as a genuine nation for God on earth,
1 "Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.
2 "He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him.
3 "So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth."
The three days mentioned, are not regular calendar days, for they are millennia. After two days God shall revive Israel – AFTER 2000 years Israel shall become the nation of God, as Jesus comes from heaven to be their Messiah King.
Thus the third day, the millennial period kicks in from that moment on. A thousand years of reign in Israel – for which Isaiah 2 has told of what shall take place then.
The death of the nation was in 70 CE, as the Roman army destroyed them entirely, and scattered them in the world. The best historic source for this disaster was told by Josephus Flavius, in his book “The Jewish War”. Image: The Temple burning.
Counting by the Jewish calendar, to find when the 2000 years are up, we come to 2041 as the probable Second Advent of Christ. See my article on the ‘Hosea Clock’ here on this web site.
When reproving the unbelievers in the Passover 28 CE, as Jesus disputed the Pharisees in the temple site, He told them, using the lyrics from Psalm 118:26 - ”from now on you shall not see Me, before you say – Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”
This Psalm is the Passover psalm in Jewry, as already quoted above, from Luke 13. In NASB it reads,
“Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD; We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.”
Jesus will probably arrive in Israel in the Passover 2041, and then the Great Tribulation shall be stopped (ITS 7-YEAR PERIOD OF TRIBULATION STARTING IN 2034), and the millennial reign will begin.
And like the prodigal son, the Jews at that future time shall be regretful for having opposed God, the Father of Jesus Christ. They refused to receive Jesus when they could.
Jesus did not stop at Luke 15 and the prodigal son, or the parable of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16: - He also told of the soon coming destruction of Israel in Mat. 22:7 – the Parable of the Wedding Feast. The nation of Israel was invited to the feast by the 12 apostles, but as they refused to listen to them, they also persecuted them and killed many of them. So, ultimately the King got infuriated and sent His armies to kill these murderers and burn down their city, Jerusalem! This was fulfilled in 70 CE. I cannot understand why Luke didn’t get this parable into his writings. Maybe he thought that it will be sufficient with the parables in his chapters 13, 15 and 16?
Had the Jews only listened to Jesus and received their Messiah – and thus coming home to the father’s house, there would be held a feast. But no such thing happened. They killed the apostles who invited to the feast!
Jesus told of a feast after the millennial kingdom was established, Luke 13:25-29, NASB, - a narrative taking place in Israel at the Second Advent,
25 "Once * the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, 'Lord, open up to us!' then He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know where you are from.'
26 "Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets ';
27 and He will say, 'I tell you, I do not know where you are from; DEPART FROM ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS.'
28 "In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out.
29 "And they will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.”
(NOTICE: I am aware of the controversy of Abraham seen in the millennial reign of Christ here; for he is told to be the one who sought and awaited the New Jerusalem, to come after the millennial kingdom. We just have to suffer this out…we cannot explain why this is so, in the Word of God. Ref. Hebr. 11:10, NASB. However it says ‘city which has foundations’, and not the ‘New Jerusalem’. It all rests on how we choose to interpret this passage.)
King James Bible says something interesting: Verse 10,
“For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”
This is why we have a slight controversy. It says that ‘God is the builder and maker’ of the city. Thus most Christians conclude that this is the same as the ‘New Jerusalem’ in Rev. 21, coming down from heaven, after the millennial reign. I am one of these, and have concluded like this. But still: we have to leave the door open to the passage in Luke 13:28 showing Abraham present in the millennial kingdom. Just my humble thoughts…
The ‘Parable of the Prodigal Son’ is a story which mostly shows God’s character and mercy. This mercy would have been shown if Israel had accepted Jesus when He first came, and if not, they could have accepted Him during the 30 years of the ministries of the twelve apostles to Israel. But no such thing happened. They were destroyed, according to Jesus’ parable in Mat. 22:7 - the king’s army (soldiers in some translations) were the Romans, obviously. God used them to revenge the brutal murders of His apostles.
The parable of the prodigal son cannot stand alone, simply because Jesus came up with other and very sinister prophetic parables. Thus it is obvious to us that the parable has a motive and focus on God’s character, His mercy and forgiveness in general, with His own people, Israel and the Jews as it were in the times of old.
Also, we have the sad parable of Israel, the barren fig tree in Luke 13, told shortly before the parable in Luke 15. Israel (the barren tree) was to be cut down, because it used up the soil and had no more the rights to exist! As an intro to the parable, He told them to REPENT, in verses 1-5, NASB,
1 Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
2 And Jesus said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate?
3 I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
4 "Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem?
5 "I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."
In v. 6, He began to tell the parable of the barren fig tree, Israel. Explaining what would take place if they did not repent; - they would be ‘cut down’.
Likewise: Israel cannot be in the land, since they refused Christ. The Roman battle axe cut them down in 70 CE, as mentioned above. They have no right to be in the land if they refuse the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Consequently, God let different Gentile tribes – Arabs and others – use the land after Israel was laid waste. As a matter of fact, it shows in history that the tribal Gentiles in the Middle-East have been in the land for a longer time than the Jews!
Peter’s second speech in Acts 3:19-23, NASB, shows that he warned of this coming destruction, in same manner as Jesus had warned,
19 "Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;
20 and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you,
21 whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.
22 "Moses said, 'THE LORD GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN; TO HIM YOU SHALL GIVE HEED to everything He says to you.
23 'And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.”
Peter’s warnings, as well as the warning parables of Jesus, were fulfilled, as God sent doom and destruction upon them in 70 CE.
Jesus, telling the parable of the prodigal son, had not been taken to heart by the nation. Neither did they listen to the warnings of Peter or the parable of the barren fig tree, told by Jesus. They were like Isa. 6:9, 10 predicted: they had eyes to see with, but would not see, ears to hear with, but they did not listen, and their understanding was darkened so they could not understand what they were told. From NASB, it reads,
9 He said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.'
10 Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed."
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