In our study of Mark we are in Mark 4:32; where Jesus gives the parable of the mustard seed that when grown becomes a very large tree. This reveals the growth of God's kingdom in the devil's world while Jesus is in Heaven.
We saw that on Pentecost the Church began with 120 people. Eventually the Church expanded covered the whole earth, and the body of Christ, that is comprised of believers all over the earth, are represented by the big tree with branches.
The birds however are the emissaries of Satan who infiltrate the Church with false doctrine. So the birds sitting in the trees are demon mentors of the false teachers and there is apostasy in the kingdom.
In fact many believers possibly even a majority of them are off base because they do not learn accurate Bible doctrine and as a result they are deceived by the apostasy. So today we have a great tree throughout the entire world but with it a lot of apostasy.
The birds refer to any system of false teaching that has infiltrated the Church, and notice that the birds are identified with the tree; these false teachers are identified with the Church.
They may go by the title "Bishop," or "Reverend" or "Pastor' but when they teach they say things that are contrary to the doctrine of the Church so they are teaching false doctrine.
This is the problem with our country today. To many believers are into false doctrine so they don't have a clue about the mission of the church and how it is to be accomplished. They do not understand the unique spiritual life of the Church and how they are to function in the devil's world.
They are caught up in trying to make the devil's world a better place so they elect evil leaders who tell lies and deceive them with propaganda by telling them how much they care and how they are going to fix all of the problems with human good and of course it never works but they always get a pass because they blame someone else for their failure just like Satan does but deceived believers let them get away with it.
Mark 4:33-34; These verses summarize the purpose and approach of Jesus' teaching in parables. His practice was to speak God's Word "to them", the crowds and the disciples together publically in parables.
Because of their misconceptions about God's kingdom, Jesus did not teach about it in public without using a parable but to His own disciples privately he explained the parables. Only to His disciples in private did he keep on explaining everything about His mission as it related to God's kingdom.
This brings us to the Doctrine of Privacy. Privacy is a state of being apart from the observation and company of others.
It is that principle of freedom whereby an individual of the human race has the right to retire from the company of others and be in seclusion from the knowledge or observation of others.
Privacy, property, and life are the basic concepts of freedom and happiness. The laws of divine establishment guarantee the privacy of every member of the human race so that they can exercise their freedom without coercion with the exception of children, employees while they are on the job, and criminals.
This means that privacy is a God given right that is possessed by every member of the human race. In addition to freedom and establishment, every believer has additional privacy in their royal priesthood to fulfill the principle of living their life as unto the Lord. Col 3:23;
The Principle of Privacy and the Royal Priesthood is referenced in 1Pet 2:9;. "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, in order that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."
Throughout the Gospels the Lord dealt with the disciples privately, because much of what being discussed was "family business." Matt 17:19; Matt 24:3; Mark 4:34; Mark 9:28, Mark 13:3; Luke 10:23;
When a person sins against you, their privacy is still to be respected, Matt 18:15;
Paul respected the privacy of the leaders of the Jerusalem church when he presented his Gospel to the Gentiles to them for their consideration in private, Gal 2:2;
The royal priesthood must have privacy to fulfill its function. Col 3:17, "And whatever you do in word or deed, keep doing all things by the name of the Lord Jesus, constantly giving thanks through Him to God the Father."
No believer has the right to intrude into the privacy of another believer. In John 21:21-22; we see Peter sticking his nose into John's business and the Lord told him to mind his own business because what was going to happen to John was none of his business. Peter was to pay attention to his own life before the Lord not be minding someone else's.
Violation of privacy means judging others, Rom 14:4, 10; When you judge another person, you violate their privacy. Once a child leaves the parent's home, the parents have no right to interfere in their life.
Privacy includes the principle of live and let live, 2Thes 3:11-12; "For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies (violators of privacy). Net note 16
v12 Now such persons we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and mind their own business." `Eat their own bread' is an idiom for minding your own business.
Reversionistic people who have rejected the freedom that comes from Divine Establishment always violate the privacy of others, 1Tim 5:13; "And at the same time also, they learn to be lazy, going around from house to house; and not merely idle, but also gossips, intruders of privacy, constantly talking about things that are none of their business." Net note 23
Violation of privacy is comparable to violations of other freedoms. When you violate one freedom, you are violating other freedoms. When you stick your nose into the private business of someone else, you have violated their freedom.
The principle of life is violated by murder, slavery, and tyranny. Stealing violates private property.
1Pet 4:15; "By no means let any of you suffer as a murderer, or thief, or a criminal, or a troublesome meddler (one who violates the privacy of others). Net note 38 Freedom means the right to life, property, and privacy.
Gossiping, maligning, and judging violate privacy. Intrusion into the privacy of someone else is comparable to stealing and murder.
This is a HUGE problem in our country today with the omniscient self righteous arrogant do gooder central government creating technological back doors so they can listen in on every private citizen's private communication in the name of security.
In this passage we see that God compares this intrusion into the privacy of private citizens with stealing and murder. All three are rampant in our nation today.
Mark 4:35-36; The explicit details that are provided indicate that Mark is writing down an eyewitness report, probably from Peter. On the evening of that day of teaching by the lake (Mark 4:1;), Jesus decided to take his disciples and cross over to the other (east) side of the Sea of Galilee that was inhabited by gentiles known as Geraenes.
Though not specifically stated, He probably wanted to get away from the crowds and get some rest. Some other boats, with those who wanted to remain with Jesus, went along. His disciples, several of whom were experienced fishermen, took charge of the crossing.
If Jesus' disciples had remembered what He said to them " Let's go to the other side" they should have known that no storm was going to affect His plans.
Mark 4:37; The crossing was interrupted by a sudden squall that was common on the lake because it is surrounded by high hills and narrow valleys that function as a wind tunnel.
The Sea of Galilee is also relatively shallow so when the wind blows the waves quickly build up and in this case they built up so high that they were crashing over the boat such that the boat was nearly swamped.
The storm will create and opportunity for the disciples to begin to understand who and what Christ is in a way that they couldn't learn as effectively in any other way. The storm is also representative of adversity, pressure, crisis, and disaster. So what we have here is the pressure of potential disaster as suffering for blessing.
Mark 4:38;a Jesus kept on sleeping through the storm. Of course we know that Jesus is the God-Man. Deity is omnipresent and obviously His deity isn't sleeping and His deity can't sleep. It is His humanity that is sleeping.
Jesus is sleeping during the storm. The boat represents the doctrine and promises of God's Word. He is the Word so he is completely safe. No matter how great the storm is, no matter how great the pressure, the only place of safety and stability is in the Word.
All the crises and storms and adversities of life must be seen in the context of the divine viewpoint that comes from metabolized doctrine. God's Word is the only safe place, and it is safe even when the waves are crashing over that boat.
Jesus himself demonstrated that it was the only safe place because His humanity was sleeping during the storm. So to enjoy their safety all the disciples had to do is take a lesson from the Lord, relax and enjoy the ride.
Of course the only way to rest is to apply doctrine. Jesus Christ is in the boat with them and He is God and Obviously nothing can hurt God because He controls the storm, the storm doesn't control Him
By sleeping in the storm Jesus taught the lesson of the faith rest drill. While the disciples had followed Jesus onto the boat they had not followed Him in faith rest, and the next verse records their failure.
Sometimes we learn the best lessons in failure. Believes who can learn from their failures instead of getting emotional, upset and discouraged become great believers. Isa 26:3; KJV Isa 28:16; Heb 10:38;