In the previous article, we considered the parable of the two builders as applying to individuals. The parable teaches two important principles:
- We must put into practice what we believe.
- Our actions are affected by our understanding, and therefore we must have a correct understanding of God’s Word, requiring effort on our part.
We saw that faith without works is dead, but that our good works alone cannot save us. The difference between the two men represent two systems of thought amongst those that followed Christ, which later came to denote two systems of thought, manifest in two systems of religion.
The Builders
The parable speaks of the building of two houses. One house is built after its builder carefully prepares the ground beforehand by removing the earth away and uncovering a solid foundation of rock on which to build it. The builder is a man of faith, who sees the coming storm and prepares accordingly. However, the other house is simply built on the earth beneath the builder’s feet, with little foresight or attention given to the proper preparation of the building. This builder was self-deceived, and blinded to the reality that a storm was approaching, and that his house would not be able to stand. Although it is not part of the parable, one could imagine many people seeking refuge within this house at the time when the storm came, only to be destroyed therein at the time of its collapse.
Two Houses
We must take note of the fact that Christ was very specific that these two builders were in fact building homes — a residence or abode. Out of all the things these men could have been building, one must give consideration to why Christ would use houses in this parable. What do they represent?
In Gal 6:10, the Apostle Paul describes the ecclesia as “the household of faith”. This idea is expanded for us further in Eph 2:19-22: “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the spirit.” We note that the idea of the “household of faith”, or the “household of God,” is equated in this passage to “an holy temple in the Lord”. In 1Tim 3:15 Paul speaks of “the house of God, which is the church [ecclesia] of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”
The house built upon the rock is therefore a symbol of the ecclesia, firmly established in “the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship” (Acts 2:42). This is the house made up of individuals who read their Scriptures with understanding and live their lives accordingly. But Scripture reveals that there is another house, which although appearing similar to outsiders, stands in opposition to the household of faith, and is the greatest enemy of the Truth. As the ecclesia is described as a “house” and “temple,” so too is this other house.
The Apostle Paul speaks of “the temple of God” in which sits “the man of sin… the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped. So that he as God sitteth in the temple of God showing himself that he is God” (2Thes 2:3-4). This “man of sin” is equated with the little horn with eyes and a mouth that arises on the 4th “Roman” beast in Daniel 7, and which is described in greater detail in Revelation 13. The description given by Paul and Daniel can only apply to the Roman Catholic Church, and in particular to the Pope himself.
In Zechariah 5, we have recorded the vision of the Woman in an Ephah. At the end of the vision we are told that she is carried to Shinar where a house is being built for her, where she would be established (Zech. 5:11). A woman in Bible prophecy is often the symbol of a religious system or body, and the ephah was an container used for commercial purposes. Here then is a picture of a religious system being caught up in commercialism and established in a house in “Shinar” (i.e. Babylon the Great, the seven-hilled city of Rome).
Rome is the place where this second house and temple is to be found today. There we find a religious system which stands in complete opposition to the truth. She claims to speak God’s Word, but her teachings and practices, rather than coming from that Word, come straight from the religious mysteries of Babylon. Hence, she is called “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth” (Rev. 17:5) and “In her is found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth” (Rev. 18:24).
This false religious system has had a long history of persecution and deception. In AD 312, Emperor Constantine ascended to the throne and declared “Christianity” to be the state religion of the Roman Empire. Subsequently, the “Bishop of Rome” gradually grew in prominence and influence through various edicts and proclamations made by the Roman Emperors (reigning in Constantinople), so that he would eventually take on the title of Pope (meaning “Father”) and rule his own lands.
This historic period of Papal influence and rule over Europe is detailed in Revelation 13. In that chapter we are told how the common people living on the European “earth” responded to the religion of Rome in those days: “All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him (i.e. the beast of the sea/the Papacy) whose names are not written in the book of life of the lamb…” (Rev. 13:8). In Revelation 13:12, the beast of the earth (the Holy Roman Empire), “causeth the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast” (i.e. the beast of the sea/the Papacy). In Revelation 13:14, those that dwell on the earth are said to be deceived.
Notice that on four occasions in these verses from Revelation 13, we read of those which dwell “on the earth.” This phrase “on the earth” is the exact same phrase in the Greek that is found in the parable of the two builders in Luke’s account: “But he that heareth and doeth not is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth…” (Luke 6:49). Note also that Revelation speaks of those that “dwell”, while Luke speaks of a home — a dwelling place. This echo confirms the link between the house built on the earth and the apostasy.
Here then are two houses — two systems of religion. One is founded on truth, the other on error. The one will stand while the other will fall. The one teaches saving Truth, while the other does not. The one will rejoice at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ (Rev. 19:7), while the other will direct the nations to make war with Christ and his saints (Rev. 17:14). Yet the members of both houses profess to worship the God of the Bible!
As the servants of the living God, how important it is that we never forsake the reading and studying of our Scriptures. We must always be talking and thinking of the Word, and living our lives in accordance with its principles. The world around us seeks to diminish the importance of “truth,” but we must resist that temptation and hold fast the faithful word as we have been taught, that by sound doctrine we may be able to both exhort and convince the gainsayers (Titus 1:9). Our lives and ecclesias must be firmly grounded and established on the principles of God’s Word, so that we will not be moved in times of difficulty or trouble.
“Behold I come quickly; hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown” (Rev. 3:11).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One