PEARL:
Whereas the Treasure is set against the Leaven, the Pearl is set against the Mustard Seed. The Treasure is found in the land, the pearl is found in the sea. The treasure is whole, the pearl is found in the shell. The man buys the whole field to gain the hidden treasure, the pearl alone is worth all.
LEAVEN:
To the multitudes by the sea, Israel is a confusing mass of religious tradition, but the Lord sees a hidden treasure which we shall see in the next and corresponding Parable of the Hidden Treasure. The Lord always has his remnant, even if man cannot see it.
A The Sower
- B Wheat and tares
-- C Mustard Seed
--- D LEAVEN
--- D TREASURE
-- C Pearl
- B Drag Net
A The Scribe
The Parable of the Treasure is the first given inside the house. This is not meant for the multitudes. It is a message of hope for Israel in the land.
The Greek word translated "field" here is the word "agrós." The idea is a specific hamlet. This is a remnant within a village. But while the whole field is purchased, the treasure is hidden by the owner.
In 1 Kings 19 we hear the Lord saying this to a despondent prophet Elijah:
It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, [King] Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, [the prophet] Elisha will kill. Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”-1 Kings 19:18-19
God is showing himself strong on behalf of Israel. He has chosen a new king (to replace wicked Ahab) and a new prophet (who will perform twice the miracles of Elijah).
Elijah speaks to the Lord:
“I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”
1 Kings 19:10
Elijah had been hiding in a cave, thinking that Israel was in full apostasy, and that the Lord was abandoning him and it. But knows those who are His.
It is not by accident that John the Baptist was said to be a type of Elijah; that the Lord was said by some to be Elijah; that Elijah appeared with the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration and that Elijah will come to Israel before the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord (Mal 4:5); the period known as the Great Tribulation and seen by John in the Revelation (Rev 1:10).
Paul clarifies in the Acts Age epistle of Romans that God is not done with Israel by appealing to Elijah's experience in 1 Kings 19:
I say then, has God cast away His people? CERTAINLY NOT! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, “Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”? But what does the divine response say to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” Even so then, at this present time there is a REMNANT according to the election of grace.
-Rom 11:1-5
GOD IS NOT DONE WITH ISRAEL!
At the end of the Acts Age she was temporarily set aside as God revealed a new Body which was hidden from BEFORE the foundation of the world. But when this present age ends, Israel will again be at the center of God's plan.
The field will be purchased and the hidden treasure revealed.
