The Net of Fish
By Gerry Watts
“Once again,
the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught
all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore.
Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad
away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and
separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
(Matthew
13:47-50 NIV)
This
parable is very similar to the earlier one of the Wheat and the Darnel, so I
will not be repeating much here. I would advise the reader to refer back to
the Wheat and the Darnel. Nevertheless, there are a few subtle differences
between these two parables, though the Wheat and the Darnel gives much more
detail than this one does. Why, then, you may be asking, are there two
parables basically declaring the same truth? Because when God has something
extremely important to say, He reveals it at least twice in two different ways
to highlight different aspects of the same truth, and to show that it has been
established by God and it will come to pass. This can be seen in the instance
of Joseph’s two dreams and Pharaoh’s two dreams (Genesis 37:5-11; 41:1-7).
“The reason
the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly
decided by God, and God will do it soon.”
(Genesis 41:32
NIV)
This
also occurred with the prophet Daniel, whereby king Nebuchadnezzar had a dream
of a Large Statue, which Daniel interpreted, then Daniel had a vision of Four
Beasts, and he also had another dream that filled in further details of the
previous dreams and visions, that of a Ram and a Goat (Daniel chapters 2, 7
& 8). All of these visions, particularly the first two, are revealing the
same basic truths. This follows the divine principle that every matter is to
be established out of the mouth of two or three witnesses (Matthew 18:16; 2
Corinthians 13:1).
So
here we have another parable that reveals and confirms the truth that was
revealed in the parable of the Wheat and the Darnel. This time we are given
the picture of a large ‘dragnet’ (CV) that hauls in a large amount of all
kinds (or species) of fish. Then there is a process of separating the good
fish from the bad (or rotten) fish; the good fish being placed in baskets while
the bad are then thrown away. Of course, a number of Jesus' disciples would've
been very familiar with these things, seeing as they were fishermen.
Then Jesus
simply says that this is what shall occur at the end of the age. When He
returns in the Day of the Lord, He will send out His messengers or angels to
separate the righteous from the wicked, and the wicked will be thrown into the
Gehenna of fire for age-abiding chastening, where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth, while the righteous will inherit the kingdom.
The
Wheat and the Darnel describes this process or judgment of separation in a
little more detail. That parable is focusing on the Ecclesia of God, the
Church or Christendom, which is composed of the true children of God (the
Wheat) and wicked impostors (the Darnel). The Net of Fish, on the other hand,
is focusing on the whole of mankind, all peoples and nations, the many
‘species of fish,’ who will also be judged at that time. In both cases,
the unrighteous, wicked ones, who have not truly called upon the Name of the
Lord, shall be temporarily destroyed, following which; they shall suffer the
chastening of God in the Lake of Fire, which is the Second Death.
Jesus
refers to this judgment of separation at His return in the following texts.
“As it was in
the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man…they knew
nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away.
That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be
in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be
grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.”
(Matthew
24:37-41 NIV)
“ “It was
the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and
selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and
sulphur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like
this on the day the Son of Man is revealed…I tell you, on that night two
people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two
women will be grinding corn together; one will be taken and the other left.”
“Where, Lord?” they asked. He replied, “Where there is a dead body,
there the vultures will gather.” ”
(Luke 17:28-30,
34-37 NIV)
In the
context of the above texts, Jesus was warning His disciples about the Day of
His return. He makes it abundantly clear that it will be just like the
judgments that took place at the time of Noah and of Lot. Only true believers
in Christ, who obey His word, will be saved from this judgment of wrath, while the
rest will be destroyed in the judgment, leaving their
dead bodies for the birds of prey. Jesus made this clear when the disciples
asked Him, “Where, Lord, where will they be taken?” and He replied,
“Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”
As
unpleasant as this may sound, Jesus was confirming the many prophecies of the
Old Testament that the Day of Yahweh will involve numerous people being
temporarily destroyed in judgment before the kingdom is fully manifested in the
New Creation. It had to be done in the past, and it will need to be done again in the
near future. The earth will need to be cleansed from the arrogance, wickedness
and lawlessness of man. Here is one example:
“See, the LORD
is coming with fire…he will bring down his anger with fury, and his rebuke
with flames of fire. For with fire and with his sword the LORD will execute
judgment upon all men, and many will be those slain by the LORD.”
(Isaiah 66:15-16
NIV)
The
Apostle Paul also confirms this.
“…the
unveiling of the Lord Jesus from heaven with His powerful messengers, in
flaming fire, dealing out vengeance to those who are not acquainted
with God and those who are not obeying the evangel of our Lord Jesus Christ
– who shall incur the justice of eonian extermination from the face
of the Lord, and from the glory of His strength…”
(2 Thessalonians
1:7-9)
Here
is something to consider in light of the above: If even believers can be taken
out in judgment, such as the case of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11; also
cf. 1 Corinthians 11:29-32); and Peter states that judgment begins from the
house of God, that is, His people, so if it begins with us, what will become
of those who are stubborn as to the gospel; then, as Peter also says, if the
righteous are hardly being saved, what about the rest who are irreverent
sinners (1 Peter 4:17-18)? Many Christians today are trying to avoid these
plain facts concerning the coming judgment of Christ, and instead, they are
re-interpreting them to mean something else altogether different. I believe
this is dangerous ground and it is a form of unbelief. On the contrary, there
is coming a day, and now is, when the
same message of the kingdom that Christ and the apostles heralded will also be
proclaimed as a testimony to all nations (Matthew
24:14) – “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens is near!”
We
shall be considering this subject a little more in some of the other parables.
(For further study of prophecy and the Day of the Lord, see The
Day of the Lord and the section The
Great Prophetic Plan Revealed). So in light of this we need to be
watching in expectation, producing fruit worthy of repentance, and praying
always, so that we may be able to escape the wrath of God and stand before the
Son of Man as true sons of God (Luke 21:36; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).
In closing this parable, let us return to the subject of the fish in the sea.
The prophet Ezekiel saw a preview of the blessings of the New Covenant Gospel
in the vision of the Temple. In Ezekiel 47:1-12, we have the vision of the
River of Life winding its way down the Mountain of the Lord, having its source
in the Temple at the summit. The River flows down the Jordan Valley and into
the Dead Sea. It then causes the Dead Sea to become fresh, so that it becomes
full of living creatures and many species of fish. There is also the
mention of fishermen, and the spreading of nets, as well as fruit trees for
food, with their leaves for healing. So essentially we have the River of Life,
the Fruit of the Spirit and the Tree of Life, and the Mountain (or Kingdom) of
God.
Now if you've been carefully paying attention so far in this book, or if you
are familiar with the teaching of the New Testament, you will notice that
Jesus spoke of these things in His parables and teaching, and so did the
apostles in their writings. These details in Ezekiel are also very similar to
that which is recorded in Revelation 22:1-2. These things are symbols and
spiritual pictures of the blessings of the Gospel of the kingdom in Christ
Jesus.
The River is the Holy Spirit of God, which brings Life
to the Dead. The fish are the peoples of the earth. The fishermen are Christ's
'fishers of men,' His gospel messengers, who are catching the Elect Remnant of
God in their nets, etc, etc.
In relation to this, John 21:1-14 gives us the account of the miraculous catch
of fish that occurred after Jesus' resurrection. There is great significance
in the fact that it gives the exact number of fish that were in the net once
they arrived at the shore - 153. This represents the full number of the
chosen ones of God, who have believed the Gospel heralded by the Apostles, the
fishers of men (there were 7 disciples present at this time, which speaks of
Apostolic Spiritual Fullness). It is very interesting to note, that the
Gematria (where the letters are also numbers) for the Hebrew for 'sons of
God' is 153!
For further study of this, I would recommend the classic
book Number in Scripture by E. W. Bullinger.
Oh, the wonder of the Word and Works of God! I pray that
you, the reader, may be dragged into Christ's Net as a good fish!
Copyright © Gerry Watts 2005;
revised and expanded 2007
Contents Next Chapter