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Should I e-mail Ray a "thank you?"

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EKnight:
I understand that when he spoke to the multitudes that he spoke in parables so that they couldn't understand.  I understand that when he spoke in parables that even his apostles didn't understand.  But when he explained the parable to the apostles in private he now tells it to them "literally", therefore, how is the "fiery furnace" not literal when the angels were literal the Son of Man is literal, the Devil is literal, the world is literal but when we get to the "fiery furnace" this is still figurative/symbolic?

I guess I am not explaining my question very well.

Eileen

ciy:
[37]: The sower is the Son of man; [38]: the field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the tares are the children of the wicked one; [39]: The enemy that sowed the tares is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; the reapers are the angels;

[40-42:] The process of gathering up the tares and burning them represents the angels gathering up all things that offend and do iniquity, at the end of the world, and throwing them into a furnace of fire.
 
No the Son of Man is not literal. He is the sower. 
The field is not literal.  The field is the world.
The good seed are the children of the kingdom.
The tares are the children of the wicked one.
ETC.

Our flesh (the beast within) which is given strength by the dragon (satan or the evil one) and is enmity to God is of the wicked one.  All of our carnality (lust of flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life) will be consumed either in this age and become Children of the Kingdom or it will be consumed in a spiritual lake of fire in the age to come which in the parable above is exampled by using "a furnace of fire" that is used to burn up trash or anything unusable like tares or weeds.

God has an awesome plan.
CIY

EKnight:
So you are saying that when Jesus (in private) explained the parable of the wheat and tares he was still speaking figuratively?  So when he said the harvesters are Angels, and the field is the world, and the sower is the Son of Man (harvesters, field and sower were used in the parable to the multitudes) then (Angels, the World and Son of Man used in Jesus' explanation of the parable) are still yet figurative?

In other words, both the parable and Jesus' explanation of the parable to the apostles are figurative?

Eileen

OBrenda:
Cy,

Is it your understanding that the good seed and the tares are intergrated inside us? And at the harvest this will all be sorted and seperated in side us, and the carnal yucky stuff goes to the furnace.  And the Godly part returns to God?

Or are the wheat & tares the saved and unsaved individuals, the called and the chosen??

Paul:
EKnight, you have the same inquiry I have; and it's a good one. However, I'm inclined to believe Ray's answer that the furnace of fire--alone--is figurative, and I'll try to explain why. The furnace of fire is oviously the Lake of Fire--and we all know Ray's explanation for the Lake of Fire. For example, we know the Devil, who's thrown into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:10) is a literal being; but we know, from Ray's teachings, that the Lake of Fire itself isn't literal. So, the Bible combines the literal with the symbolic, even in same contexts. Here's another example of this:

Genesis 3:14:  "And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:"

We know that the Garden of Eden, where this took place, is a literal place (Gen. 2:10-14). We also know Satan is a literal being. But the dust represents man (Gen. 3:19). This is a parable showing God commanding Satan to hunt mankind until the end of the world.

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