Text of the book “Proverbs. Biblical, Christian, Jewish"

Parables related to the death of Jesus

Destruction of the wicked

Pagans are saved for kindness

The meaning of the parable

The main purpose of the parable was considered to be to reveal religious or everyday meaning in a short story. The heroes of the parables had a certain social status (rich man, king, traveler, winegrower, father and son) and did not have deep descriptions of appearance or character.

Biblical parables explained how to behave in order to live well before people and God. They had a stronger impact on consciousness than just accusatory or edifying words, because they showed the rules of behavior using the example of specific people. When a person saw the pattern of actions in the parables, he thought that he was leading a wrong life, or he remembered the lesson embedded in the little story and tried to avoid bitterness in his life.

The parables of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel, to learn wisdom and instruction, to understand the sayings of reason; learn the rules of prudence, justice, justice and righteousness; give intelligence to the simple, knowledge and prudence to the youth; (a wise man will listen and increase his knowledge, and a wise man will find wise advice); to understand the parable and the intricate speech, the words of the wise and their riddles.

The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord; fools only despise wisdom and instruction.

Hear, my son, the instruction of your father and do not reject your mother’s covenant, for this is a beautiful crown for your head and an ornament for your neck.

My son! if sinners persuade you, do not agree; if they say: “Come with us, we will set up an ambush for murder, we will lie in wait for the blameless without guilt, we will swallow them up alive, like hell, and whole, as if they were descending into the grave; Let us gather all kinds of precious possessions, let us fill our houses with spoils; you will cast your lots with us, we will all have the same stock,”

My son! do not go on the journey with them, keep your foot from their path, for their feet run to evil and hasten to shed blood. In the eyes of all the birds a net is laid in vain, but an ambush is made for their blood and their souls are laid in wait. These are the ways of anyone who covets someone else's goods: it takes the life of the one who takes possession of it.

Wisdom proclaims in the streets, in the squares she raises her voice, in the main meeting places she preaches, at the entrances to the city gates she speaks her speech:

“How long, O ignoramuses, will you love ignorance? How long will the violent enjoy rioting? How long will fools hate knowledge? Turn to my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit on you, I will proclaim my words to you. I called, and you did not listen; I stretched out my hand, and there was no one to hear; and you rejected all my advice, and did not accept my reproofs. For this reason I will laugh at your destruction; I will rejoice when horror comes upon you; when terror comes upon you like a storm, and trouble comes upon you like a whirlwind; when sorrow and distress befall you, then they will call me, and I will not hear; They will look for me in the morning and will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord for themselves, they did not accept my advice, they despised all my reproofs; therefore they will eat the fruit of their ways and be satisfied with their thoughts. Because the stubbornness of the ignorant will kill them, and the carelessness of fools will destroy them, but he who listens to me will live safely and calmly, without fear of evil.”

Proverbs of King Solomon

Solomon was the son of King David, after whose death he took the throne of Israel. He ruled the country for 40 years, did not fight with his neighbors, investing all his strength and resources in the development of the country. People came to the king for advice if they could not resolve the dispute themselves, and one day the Queen of Sheba came to the king from distant lands. She had heard a lot about the wisdom of the ruler and was personally convinced of the correctness of people’s opinions.

Solomon wrote a book of parables that became part of the Bible. The book of Ecclesiastes is also credited with the authorship of Solomon, which shows reflections on the stupidity of daily vanity, the true meaning of life and talks about human death.

Most parables teach that:

• sons must be obedient to parents and God;
• the advantages of wise people over foolish ones are considered;
• if you give your word, you must keep your promise;
• an example of a true and faithful wife is shown;
• going to harlots (prostitutes) will corrupt and destroy a person;
• An algorithm for the behavior of a wise person is given.

The Book of Proverbs consists of 31 chapters. Its chapters briefly examine many life situations, and then Solomon tells how to behave in order to do well and be successful.

Big book of the best parables of all times and peoples

Belshazzar's feast

King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine before the eyes of thousands. Having tasted the wine, Belshazzar ordered the gold and silver vessels to be brought, which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple of Jerusalem, so that the king, his nobles, his wives and his concubines could drink from them. Then they brought the golden vessels, which were taken from the sanctuary of the house of God in Jerusalem; and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, copper, iron, wood and stone. At that very hour, the fingers of a human hand came out and wrote against the lamp on the limestone wall of the royal palace, and the king saw the hand that was writing. Then the king changed his countenance; his thoughts confused him, the bonds of his loins weakened, and his knees began to beat against each other. The king shouted loudly to bring the charmers, the Chaldeans and the fortune-tellers. The king began to speak and said to the wise men of Babylon:

“Whoever reads this written and explains to me its meaning, he will be clothed in purple, and a golden chain will be around his neck, and he will be the third ruler in the kingdom.”

And all the king’s wise men entered, but they could not read what was written and explain its meaning to the king. King Belshazzar became extremely alarmed, and the appearance of his face changed on him, and his nobles were embarrassed. The queen, in response to the words of the king and his nobles, entered the feast chamber; The queen began to speak and said:

- King, live forever! May your thoughts not confuse you, and may the appearance of your face not change! There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy God. In the days of your father, light, reason and wisdom were found in him, similar to the wisdom of the gods. And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, made him the head of the mystic scholars, charmers, Chaldeans and fortune-tellers - your father himself, the king, because in him, in Daniel, whom the king renamed Belshazzar, there was a high spirit, knowledge and intelligence capable of explaining dreams, interpret the mysterious and resolve knots. So let Daniel be called and he will explain the meaning.

Then Daniel was brought before the king, and the king began to speak and said to Daniel:

“Are you Daniel, one of the captive sons of Judah whom my father the king brought from Judea?” I heard about you that the spirit of God is in you and light, and intelligence, and high wisdom is found in you. Behold, wise men and charmers were brought to me to read this writing and explain to me its meaning. But they couldn't explain it to me. And I heard about you that you can explain meaning and resolve knots. So, if you can read this writing and explain to me its meaning, then you will be clothed in purple, and a golden chain will be around your neck, and you will be the third ruler in the kingdom.

Then Daniel answered and said to the king:

“Let your gifts remain with you, and give the honors to someone else.” And I will read what is written to the king and explain the meaning to him. Tsar! The Almighty God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar kingdom, greatness, honor and glory. Before the greatness that He gave him, all peoples, tribes and languages ​​trembled and feared him: whomever he wanted, he killed, and whomever he wanted, he left alive; whom he wanted, he elevated, and whom he wanted, he humiliated. But when his heart became arrogant and his spirit hardened to the point of insolence, he was overthrown from his royal throne and deprived of his glory, and was excommunicated from the sons of men, and his heart became like that of an animal, and he lived with wild asses. They fed him grass like an ox, and his body was watered with heavenly dew, until he knew that the Most High God rules over the kingdom of man and puts over it whomever he wants. And you, his son Belshazzar, did not humble your heart, although you knew all this, but you exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven and the vessels of His house were brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and concubines drank wine from them, and you glorified the silver gods , gold, copper, iron, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor understand, but you have not glorified God, in whose hand is your breath and in whom are all your ways. For this reason the hand was sent from Him, and this scripture was written. And this is what is written: “mene, mene, tekel, upharsin.” This is the meaning of the words: “Me” - God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it; “Tekel” - you are weighed on the scales and found very light; “Peres” - your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.

Then, at the command of Belshazzar, they clothed Daniel in purple and placed a golden chain around his neck, and proclaimed him the third ruler in the kingdom. That same night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was killed, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, being sixty-two years old (Dan. 5:1-31).

Parables of Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ not only walked from city to city, healed the sick and performed miracles, he taught people a righteous and correct life, including with the help of parables.

He told parables in such a way that they would be understood only by his disciples or those who want to follow him, and not by the Pharisees and scribes who were looking for an opportunity to kill the Savior.

The biblical parables of Jesus Christ are filled with vivid images. One should not look for hidden and encrypted messages in the Savior’s parables. The lessons of the biblical parables are to briefly illustrate the wisdom we should follow through examples from social life.

Parables from the book of Psalm

Parables were used not only by the wise Solomon and our Teacher Christ, they were also used by David and other prophets. Pay attention to the key detail:

''Jesus spoke to the people in parables, and did not speak to them without a parable, so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, “I will open my mouth in parables.” I will speak secret things from the foundation of the world'' (Matt. 13:34,35).

These words were quoted from a psalm that, at first glance, simply tells about the biblical history and the unfaithfulness of Israel (Psalm 77: 2, 3.). But first impressions are deceiving. In fact, this story is full of prophetic imagery pointing to Jesus Christ and how Israel subsequently received him.

To explain all these images, you will need to write a separate book (John 21:25.). Therefore, for comparison, here are just a few points:

1) Psalm 77:14. – Ex.13:21,22; 14:19,20. Ex.23:20,21; 33:2,3. Hebrews 4:1-3,7,8. Matthew 9:2-6.

2) Psalm 77:15-17. – 1 Corinthians 10:4-6. John 7:37-40.

3) Psalm 77:23-25. – Matt.4:1-4. John 6:27,49-51.

4) Psalm 77:36-39. – Rom.3:11-13,19,21,24-26.

5) Psalm 77:70-72. – Ezek.34:2,22-24. Matthew 9:35,36. John 10:6,11,14,15.

Also, the 126th and 127th psalms can be called a vivid description of parables.

At first glance, it may seem that children are a blessing for any Christian. However, in life this does not always happen.

• For example, not all the righteous kings of Judah grew up to have God-fearing children.

• During the sign of the last days there was a prophecy that

''the children will rise up against their parents and kill them. And you will be hated by everyone because of My name...'' (Mark 13:12,13).

So what do these words tell us:

''This is the inheritance from the Lord: children; the reward from Him is the fruit of the womb. Like arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are young sons. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! Will they not be left in shame when they speak to the enemies at the gate (Ps. 127:3-5)?..

What kind of man is this who “filled his quiver with them”?

The answer is given through the prophecy of Isaiah:

''Therefore, this is what the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says about the house of Jacob: Then Jacob will not be ashamed, and his face will no longer turn pale. For when he sees his children among himself, the work of my hands, then they will honor my name holy and holy the Holy One of Jacob, and will revere the God of Israel'' (Is. 29:22,23. Also: Isaiah 49:2, 3).

When the Pharisees tried to prove to Christ that they were the children of Abraham, the Lord disputed this, pointing out that their SPIRITUAL father was the devil (John 8:37-44.).

The 126th and 127th psalms have the same meaning, which points to SPIRITUAL children [Abraham - as the image of the Heavenly Father, and Sarah - as the image of the Heavenly Kingdom] (Psalm 127:3. Isaiah 49:14,20-22 Galatians 4:22,24,26). What is important, first of all, is the extent to which such children have a pure inner essence from the Heavenly Father.

The Apostle Paul wrote:

''...for not all are Israelites which are of Israel; and not all the children of Abraham who are of his seed, but it is said, “Thy seed shall be called in Isaac.” That is, the children of the flesh are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are recognized as the seed. As in Hosea he says: I will not call my people my people, nor my beloved my beloved. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” there they will be called sons of the living God” (Rom. 9:6-8,25,26).

''There is no longer Jew nor Gentile... But if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise'' (Gal. 3:28,29).

The above explanations from the book of Psalm are only a negligible part of what is actually narrated in these prophetic songs (Deut. 31:19; 32:1-44.). The point of our description is to show that the Bible is a book that deserves not just reading, but close attention - Proverbs 2:1-9.

For example, the Law that was given through Moses, does it always have a direct meaning? It is written: ''Do not muzzle an ox when he threshes'' (Deut. 25:4). If the Apostle Paul had not subsequently written an explanation that this applies to God’s co-laborers working in the church (1 Cor. 3:9; 9:9,10.), how would we today understand this law about oxen?..

From this example, we can also understand that for the study of Scripture, both the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 2:13,14.) and EFFORT for understanding the spiritual world from the Most High (Matt. 11:12,13.) are important.

Parable of the Prodigal Son

The father had two sons. The youngest child asked his father to share the inheritance with his older brother and, having received the money, went to live in another city. There he spent his entire fortune, and when hunger came, he decided that it was better for him to return home. His father received him with open arms and threw a feast in honor of his son's return. The eldest son did not want to come to the feast, he expressed dissatisfaction to his father that he was working without straightening his back, and his father never even gave him a little goat so that he could have fun. In the end, the head of the family smooths out the conflict and reconciles his sons.

Here is a brief plot of probably the most famous biblical parable about the prodigal son. What does this parable mean? The father is God, and his sons are us. We leave, run away from God and think that we will live happier in a foreign land than at home. But we still return to our home: beaten, exhausted, tired. Father will always greet us with joy, give us food and a roof over our heads.

The image of the elder brother is the ostentatious faith of legalists - people who believe that God is obliged to save them for their services to him. They don't want to share the inheritance with others because they only think about themselves.

Short Christian parables - part 2

One guy asked the priest

: — If God is everywhere, then why should I go to church?
To which he replied: “There is water in the entire atmosphere; but when you are thirsty, you must go to a spring or a well. * * * The man whispered:
“Lord, talk to me.” And the meadow grasses sang. But the man did not hear. And then the man cried out: “Lord, talk to me!” And thunder and lightning rolled across the sky. But the man did not hear. The man looked around and said: “Lord, let me see you.” And the stars shone brightly. But the man did not see this. He cried out again: “God, show me a vision!” And a new life was born in the spring. But the man didn’t notice this either. He cried in despair: “Touch me, Lord, and let me know that you are here.” And after that the Lord came down and touched the man. But the man brushed the butterfly off his shoulder and walked away.

* * *

A man bought himself a house
- new, big, beautiful. And the garden with fruit trees - everything is fine, neat. Nearby, in a crooked, old house, there lived an envious neighbor who constantly tried to ruin his mood: either he would throw garbage under the gate, or he would do some other nasty things. And one day a man woke up in a good mood, went out onto the porch, and there was a bucket of slop. The man took a bucket, poured out the slop, cleaned the bucket until it was shiny, collected the largest, ripest and most delicious apples into it and went to his neighbor. The neighbor, hearing a knock on the door, thought maliciously: “Finally, I got him!!!” He opens the door in the hope of a scandal, and a man hands him a bucket of apples and says: “Whoever is rich in what, shares it!”

* * *
A rich man once came to the sage
and said: “I will give you a thousand gold pieces if you show me where God is.” The sage replied: “I will give you three times more if you show me where He is not.”

* * *
One believer
had an unbelieving son.
The father was very worried, but could not instill religiosity in the young man. Feeling the approach of death, he called his son: “Fulfill one of my requests.” - Which one, dad? “When I die, you come to this room for about fifteen minutes for forty days.” - What should I do about this? - You don’t need to do anything. Just sit. But every day for at least fifteen minutes. The son buried his father and fulfilled the request exactly: he came into the room every day and just sat. So forty days passed, after which the young man himself came to church and became a deep believer. Only many years later did he realize how wise his father's will was. The father realized that young people have too fast a pace of life
, a lot of vanity and no time to think about the eternal: about the meaning of life, about their soul, about immortality, about God. But you just have to stop, be in silence, and the Lord will knock on your heart.

* * *
The boy complains to his grandmother
about his bad life: about problems at school, with his parents, with his health.
And grandma is preparing food at this time. She asks her grandson if he is hungry, if he would like something to eat. “Of course,” the grandson answers. Then the grandmother says: “Here, take the margarine.” “Ugh,” the grandson protests. - Maybe two raw eggs? - Grandma suggests. - Well, what are you talking about, grandma! -What about flour and soda? - Grandma asks. “Granny,” her grandson reasons. - All this is inedible. To which the grandmother replies: “That’s right, individually these products are not very tasty, but if you combine them properly, they will make an amazingly tasty pie!” This is also how the Lord acts. You often wonder why He allows me to suffer and suffer, but you just have to trust Him and know that according to His recipe, something extraordinary will come out in the end. Selection: bible-facts.org

Parable of the Good Samaritan

One of the largest and most significant parables of Jesus Christ is the parable of the Good Samaritan. Let's look at the brief plot of the biblical parable. One man was returning home, but robbers attacked him on the road, beat him and took away everything he had with him. Both the priest and the Levite passed by, but did not help the wounded traveler. Only a Samaritan passing by tied up the wounds of the victim, took him to the hotel and gave instructions that the owner of the hotel would take care of this man.

When Christ was asked who our neighbor would be, he gave this parable as an example. As a result, the man’s neighbors were not his fellow countrymen, but a Samaritan who was hostile to the Jews. The one who shows us mercy, kindness and generosity is our neighbor.

The Samaritans did not like the Jews, but in this parable the man who should have been the enemy of the Jew took care of him.

Another interpretation of the parable may say that the Samaritan is the Lord himself, who binds up our spiritual wounds and leaves us in an inn for the time being. But the time will come when he will come for us.

Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus

A certain man was rich, dressed in purple and fine linen, and feasted brilliantly every day. There was also a certain beggar named Lazarus, who lay at his gate covered in scabs... The beggar died and was carried by the Angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And in hell, being in torment, he raised his eyes, saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his bosom and, crying out, said: Father Abraham! have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said: child! remember that you have already received your good in your life, and Lazarus received your evil; now he is comforted here, and you suffer; and on top of all this, a great gulf has been established between us and you, so that those who want to cross from here to you cannot, nor can they cross from there to us. Then he said: So I ask you, father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers; let him testify to them, so that they too do not come to this place of torment. Abraham said to him: They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them. He said: no, Father Abraham, but if someone from the dead comes to them, they will repent. Then [Abraham] said to him: if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, then even if someone were raised from the dead, they would not believe it. Luke 16:19-31

The rich man and Lazar Vasily Ivanovich Surikov. 1873 St. Petersburg. State Russian Museum

The Parable of Lazarus. Fedor Andreevich Bronnikov. 1886 Oil on canvas, 127×84.5 cm Tver Regional Art Gallery

Parable of the Sower and its interpretation

On the shore of the lake, Jesus Christ told an instructive parable that had more spiritual overtones. It was the parable of the sower. The sower throws seeds in different places: near the road, on a rocky place, next to thorns and on good soil. Along the road, birds pecked the seeds, on a rocky field, a plant was burned by the rays of the sun, a seed that grew with thorns was destroyed by a weed. And only in good soil did the seeds bear fruit.

Let's look at this biblical parable with interpretation in more detail. The sower personifies the Lord or teacher who speaks the word of God (the image of the seed). Birds carry away the seed: when a person hears the word of God, but the devil leads him away from faith, tempting him with various thoughts and offering sinful alternatives. Seeds that fell into rocky soil mean fickle people: now they believe in God, but when they are persecuted for their faith or trouble arises, they no longer believe in him. Seeds in the weed (thorns) - people hear God's word, but forget it because they love this world and spend their time in vanity. The grains that grew in good soil are an image of people who heard the word, who remember it, do good deeds and have peace in their souls.

The parable talks about four types of people who hear the Gospel, but receive the Word of God in different ways. Success will be achieved by the person who, like good soil, accepts the seeds that God wants to grow in us and grow a tree that bears fruit.

Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican

The text of the parable is given only in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 18:9-14).
9 He also spoke to some who were confident in themselves that they were righteous, and disparaged others, the following parable: 10 Two men entered the temple to pray: one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself like this: God! I thank You that I am not like other people, robbers, offenders, adulterers, or like this publican: 12 I fast twice a week, I give a tenth of everything I get. 13 But the publican, standing afar off, did not even dare to raise his eyes to heaven; but, striking himself on the chest, he said: God! be merciful to me, a sinner! 14 I tell you that this one went to his house justified more than the other: for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted. Pharisee and publican. Valerian Kryukov https://john-petrov.livejournal.com/143793.html?thread=627889

Short Bible Parables

The Gospel tells many parables. Some of them are long, and some are very short, but no less instructive. Short biblical parables include the following stories:

• barren fig tree;
• parable of the vinedressers;
• wise and foolish virgins;
• king and debtor;
• unfaithful steward;
• buried talent;
• the rich man and Lazarus.

These short parables teach us that we need to be honest, to correctly carry out the work entrusted to us, not to bury our abilities in the ground, but to serve God and people with them.

Let's look at some of the shortest parables of Jesus Christ.

Bogach and Lazar

The rich man dies and goes to hell, and the beggar Lazarus is taken to heaven. The rich man begs to be taken to heaven, but he is refused, and it’s not because of his wealth. The rich man mismanaged his money, using it for entertainment; he did not even think of helping Lazarus, who had been starving all his life.

Parable of the Vinedressers

This is the story of how the owner of the vineyard gave it to the winegrowers, and they first killed the owner’s servants, and then his son, in the hope that they would become the rulers of the winegrower. But the owner treated them fairly. The owner's son clearly shows the features of Jesus Christ, whom the Father sent into this world, and the Pharisees and scribes (vinedressers) killed him.

Signs in the Bible

Parables in the Bible are described not only by some examples and images (Ezek. 17:2-15; 20:47-50.).

For example, the prophet Ezekiel describes an event, a prophetic action [or sign], which is also a kind of parable. It says:

''...this is what the Lord God says: Set up a pot, set it up and pour water into it; put pieces of meat into it, all the best pieces, thighs and shoulders, and fill it with choice bones; take choice sheep, and [fire] the bones under it, and boil it until the bones are boiled in it. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Woe to the city of blood! and I will build a big fire... Add more wood, build a fire, boil the meat; let everything thicken and the bones burn out. And when the cauldron is empty, place it on the coals so that it flares up, and so that its copper becomes hot, and its uncleanness melts in it, and all its scum disappears. The work will be hard; but the great scum of it will not come off from it; and in the fire its scum [will remain] on it...

Your uncleanness is such an abomination that no matter how much I clean you, you are still unclean; from your uncleanness you will never be cleansed until I satisfy my wrath against you” (Ezek. 24:3-5,9-13).

But are such prophetic actions-parables rare in the Scriptures?.. In addition to the signs explained in the Bible, about the brass serpent that Moses lifted up in the wilderness (John 3:14.), and the prophet Jonah, who was in the belly of a fish for three days and three nights (Matt. 12:38-40.), in fact, there are many of them in Scripture.

Naboth and his vineyard

For example, let's look at the story of Naboth:

Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel near the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria. And Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, Give me your vineyard... But Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord preserve me, that I may give you the inheritance of my fathers! … And the men of his city, the elders and the nobles who dwelt in his city, did as Jezebel commanded them, just as it was written in the letters that she sent to them. They declared a fast and placed Naboth at the head of the people; and two wicked men came forward and sat opposite him, and these wicked men testified against him before the people, and said, Naboth blasphemed God and the king. And they took him out of the city and stoned him, and he died. … When Ahab heard that Naboth was killed, Ahab rose up to go to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite and take possession of it'' (1 Kings 21:1-3,11-13,16).

Who do you think Naboth represents in the prophetic story of the vineyard?.. The Prophet Isaiah wrote:

''The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His beloved plantings. And He waited for justice, but behold - bloodshed; [I waited] for righteousness, and behold, there was a cry'' (Is. 5:7).

• But the One who owned the “inheritance of the fathers” was in fact the Son of David, Christ, the King of Israel (Matt. 21:33-39.).
• In this story of Naboth, Queen Jezebel was a type of the priesthood of Israel, a spiritual prostitute (Ezek.23:4,45, John 19:15).

Elisha, two bears and 42 children

The story of how Elisha cursed the children, as a result of which 42 children were torn to pieces by two bears, may seem ridiculous to some. However, there is a deep meaning in this sign-parable. Scripture says:

''And he went from there to Bethel. As he walked along the road, little children came out of the city and mocked him and said to him: Go, you bald man! go, baldhead! He looked around and saw them and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two she bears came out of the forest and tore to pieces forty-two children from them'' (2 Kings 2:23,24).

It is worth asking the question: why did the author mark the exact number ''42''? If we pay attention to the genealogy of Christ, then we will also notice amazing accuracy, indicating forty-two genera:

(14 + 14 +14 = 42) ''So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon until Christ there are fourteen generations" (Matt. 1:17).

What connection is there between these two facts?

Let us note the following parallel:

• Elisha was the successor of Elijah and received the double Spirit (see 2 Kings 2:9-11.).
• Also, Christ was the successor of John the Baptist [the greater Elijah - Luke 1:13,17.], and had an incomparably greater Spirit.

Subsequently, the greater Elisha, Christ cursed the 42nd generation from Abraham, saying:

''Let all the righteous blood shed on earth come upon you, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Barachi, whom you killed between the temple and the altar. Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation'' (Matt. 23:35,36).

Who did the two bears represent in the story of Elisha?

The prophet Malachi wrote:

''Remember the law of Moses My servant, which I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel, as well as the rules and regulations. Behold, I will send Elijah the prophet to you before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse" (Mal. 4:4-6).

These two prophets [Elijah and Moses] were witnesses against the wicked generation who did not accept Christ (Luke 9:30,31. John 5:45-47.).

And in the year 70 AD. Roman troops destroyed more than a million Jews along with the Jerusalem Temple (Luke 23:28-31.).

Bible parables for children

There are no parables in the Bible specifically intended for children. It all depends on the age of the child and how a particular parable is presented to him.

Among the parables for children and teenagers is the story of the lost sheep. This little parable says that a sheep ran away from the flock, and when the shepherd found it, he hugged it and lovingly took it back. The shepherd in the parable is presented as kind and loving, for whom every sheep is important. So the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth to save us from sin, and every person is important to him, even the one who runs away and then, like the prodigal son, returns home.

Any parable can be told to a child in simple and clear language so that he understands and realizes the truth that biblical parables can convey.

Parable of those invited to the wedding feast

Jesus, continuing to speak to them in parables, said:

The kingdom of heaven is like a man king, who held a wedding feast for his son and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast; and didn't want to come.

Again he sent other slaves, saying: Tell those who are invited: behold, I have prepared my dinner, my bullocks and what is fattened, slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.

But they, despising this, went, some to their field, and some to their trade; the others, seizing his slaves, insulted and killed them. Hearing about this, the king became angry, and, sending his troops, destroyed their killers and burned their city.

Then he says to his servants: The wedding feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy; So go to the crossroads and invite everyone you find to the wedding feast.

And those slaves, going out onto the roads, gathered everyone they found, both evil and good; and the wedding feast was filled with those reclining.

The king, entering to look at those reclining, saw a man there, not dressed in wedding clothes, and said to him: friend! How did you come here not wearing wedding clothes? He was silent.

Then the king said to the servants: Having tied his hands and feet, take him and throw him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth; For many are called, but few are chosen.

(Matt. 22:1-14).

The parable of those invited to the wedding feast. A. P. Nikitin. 1848 Oil painting on dry plaster. 355×470 cm Painting of the attic in the north-eastern part of St. Isaac's Cathedral. https://www.isaac.spb.ru/photogallery?step=2&id=1124

Parables of the New Testament. Pivot table

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