Kingdom of Heaven Likened Unto Hidden Treasure

Matt. 13:44

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field."

What is the treasure and what is the field?

Why does the man hid the treasure again?

Treasure is that which is stored up, or kept in reserve.

The field is this present world.

He hides it again because every person must find it for themselves.

One of the very first things we must do is to tell the difference between a treasure and a hidden treasure.

I.    Treasure is a very valuable commodity, which a person would work desperately to possess.

A.  Earthly treasure.

1.      Gen. 43:23 - Joseph tells his brothers that they should have peace and not fear because he had their treasure, which he received from their sacks.

2.   Ex. 1:11 - Israel build treasure (storage) cities for Egypt, Pithom and Raamses.

B.            Heavenly treasure.

1.      Matt. 6:19-21 - Lay up treasure in heaven, not upon this earth.

2.      Deut. 28:1-14 (verse 12) - Moses tells Israel God will open to them "...his good treasure..." if they will obey his precepts.

3.   Ps. 17:14  "From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes."

4.   Is. 33:6  "And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure."

5.   2 Cor 4:7  "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."

II.   What is hidden treasure?  There are only seven scriptures that use the words "hidden" and "treasure" in the same verse.  These passages will allow us to scripturally interpret this parable.  Psalms 17:14 - the word "treasure" is not in the original.  Matt. 13:44 is included in this list of seven scriptures, so actually, there are only five passage we need to examine.

A.  A thing more precious than treasure that is not hid, something that must be diligently and consistently sought for in order to find and hold on to.

1.       It is an all consuming desire to personally know and be acquainted with God to a deeper extent

2.       Psalms 103:7 - Some, like Israel, are content to see the acts of God, but Moses would be content only to see his ways.

3.   Ex. 33:12-23 - Israel would be content to follow the fiery pillar and the cloud, but Moses would be content only if he knew for certain that God was with him.  It was not enough to see the external proofs of God's presence, but Moses would know the internal substantiation of God's presence.

B.   Job explains that sometimes death is sought after like it is hidden treasure.  Job 3:21  "Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;"

1.   In this passage, Job is complaining to God about his birth, desiring to have never been born.

a)   If he had never been born, he wouldn't have to be suffering all the things he was suffering.

(1)      Job states that he sees light, but that his soul is in misery, that he longs to die, but he cannot find it.

(2)      Job states that his desire to die is as great as the person's desire who searches for hidden treasure.

2.   It is an all consuming passion, which can only be satisfied when the treasure is found.

C.            Solomon says that the person that really wants to know Godly wisdom will have to search for her as if it is hidden treasure.  Prov 2:4  "If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;"

1.      This passage makes it abundantly clear that if a person seeks for wisdom as a person seeks for hid treasure, they will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

2.   The diligent effort put into searching for the hidden treasure is compared to the diligent effort that ought to be put into searching for the true wisdom of God.

D.  It is a worship that we can give back to God.

1.      Deut. 33:19  "They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand."

a)   Deut. 33 gives the blessing of Moses upon the various tribes of Israel before he died.  Verse 18,19 gives the blessings of Moses until the tribe of Zebulun.

(1)      This passage states that Zebulun will give sacrifices to God because God has allowed them to discover treasures hid in the sand.

(2)      These are evidently treasures undiscovered by others, and reserved particularly for Zebulun.

2.      There are spiritual treasures hid in the earth that will remain undiscovered by many, but there will be some whom God has granted the discovery.

E.   Is. 45:3  "And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel."

1.      This Cyrus is the same Cyrus the Persian who, with Darius the Mede, captured Babylon from Belshazzar.

a)   See Isaiah 44:28 for proof.

b)   II Chronicles 36:22 - Cyrus gives the command, allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple and the city.

c)   Ezra 1:1-4 - Ezra repeats the command given by Cyrus the Persian.

2.   God is saying in Isaiah 45:3 that He has given Cyrus special understand so he will understand the importance of this work.

a)   Not only will Cyrus understand that God is in complete control of every nation, but He has a special work for Israel to do.

b)   Because God allowed Cyrus to understand, he gave the command for the Jews to return to Israel, rebuild the temple and the city.

c)   God didn't have to let Cyrus understand, but He did.

d)   Others didn't understand the special significance of Israel, only knowing they were one more nation among all the nations of the world.

F.   Col 2:3  "In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

1.   By reading Col. 2:1-3 we find that Paul says that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in:

a)   Their hearts might be comforted together

b)   knit together in love

c)   riches of full assurance of understanding

d)   to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ.

2.   It seems to me that Paul is saying that the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid in the full understanding of who God is, His purposes for our existence, and our acceptance of those things.

a)   The hidden treasure isn't hidden in the sense that they are placed so as to be concealed.

III. The hidden treasure is hidden only in the sense that they must be searched out and discovered for oneself

A.  Where are the treasures hid?

1.      They are hid in the world.

a)   It is only in this life that we can find the hidden treasures.

b)   When we die, the time for searching for the hidden treasures of God are over.

c)   It is time for the judgment, not time for working.

2.      Psalms 119:11  "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."

a)   I Peter 3:4 - Saved wives can win their lost husbands to the Lord, not by outward signs, but by using the hidden man of the heart.

b)   Rev. 2:17 - Jesus told the church at Pergamos that He would give overcomers "hidden manna".

IV. How does a person lay up treasure in heaven?

A.  By obeying what God has given to us in his Bible.

B.   This begins as salvation, continues to scriptural baptism, and service in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ

V.  A man finds the treasure hid in a field.

A.  The word "found" is from the Greek word "heurisko" {hyoo-ris'-ko} which means:

1.   to come upon, hit upon, to meet with.

2.   to find by inquiry, thought, examination, scrutiny, observation, to find out by practice and experience, i.e. to see, learn, discover, understand; to be found i.e. to be seen, be present; to be discovered, recognized, detected, to show one's self out, of one's character or state as found out by others (men, God, or both); to get knowledge of, come to know, God

B.   Why is the treasure hidden?

1.      Why would a man find the treasure, then hid it from others?

2.   He is not hiding it from others, he is hiding it in his heart that he might sin against God, Psalms 119:11  "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."

3.      There are many things in the scripture that is hid from the casual reader, and revealed to the diligent to seek.

a)   Daniel 10:1-4 - Daniel fasted and prayed in mourning for three full weeks before he received the answer to his prayer.

b)   Daniel 10:13 - God has sent an angel to explain the issue to Daniel, but the angel was delayed by the prince of the kingdom of Persia for three weeks.

c)   Daniel continued seeking God's answer during the three weeks, and God gave him the answer.

d)   This is how we ought to be.

4.   The man didn't hide the treasure again any more than he could buy the entire world.

5.   He didn't hide it anymore than it was originally hid.  This shows that every person must learn for themselves.

6.   The treasure in the field, the hidden man of the heart, and the hidden manna are hidden only in the sense that they must be searched out and discovered for oneself.

VI. Buys it with joy

A.  The commandments of God are not grievous.

1.   I John 5:3 - Proof that we love God is that we keep his commandments, and they are not grievous.

2.   If obeying the commandments of God are grievous, something is wrong.

B.   Matt. 16:26 - What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

1.   The saved person who seeks Godly wisdom will find the hidden treasure which makes all his life worthwhile.

2.   He will give all his life's work for the hidden treasure.