M
Merry Menagerie
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Just want to know, what, in your opinion, made the prodigal son return?
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Solo
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Merry Menagerie said:
He realized that living as a servant under his Father was better than the life that he had carved out solely for himself.
Hi Merry Menagerie: You asked "what made the prodigal son return?".
IMO all we can know is what we read in the Bible. From the NIV it says in Luke 15:17 "When he came to his senses..." He then set out for home ready to confess he had sinned against heaven and his father, and was no longer worthy to be called a son... etc.
What did you have in mind?
Bick
IMO all we can know is what we read in the Bible. From the NIV it says in Luke 15:17 "When he came to his senses..." He then set out for home ready to confess he had sinned against heaven and his father, and was no longer worthy to be called a son... etc.
What did you have in mind?
Bick
M
Merry Menagerie
Guest
Well everyone gets so focused on the fact that he left and was apparantly 'dead' to the father...but no one ever speaks about the fact that he returned and why.
I believe that this story is significant for the believer in a lot of ways. God allows things to happen to us in order for us to 'come to our senses' repent, and return to the father. What I want to do, is to try and get people to start thinking about the reason why the prodigal son returned.
Here is what I see...
The son had it good. He had a roof over his head, clothes on his back and food in his mouth. Not just that but he also had authority in his father's house. Sound familiar? Well it should!
Because this is us! We are our father's child and we are in his house and we are provided for and we have been given authority etc.
Now...the son decided that he wanted to go it on his own. So he up and left. What ended up happening was that he lost all the benefits of his father's house and ended up with nothing. He ate with swine for goodness sake...hardly the life that he was used to.
Then he came to his senses!
But why did he come to his senses? Could it be because he realised just how good he had it? Did he realise that if he stayed where he was that he was going to die out there...all alone? Well the bible doesn't actually say...that's what he thought but I would hazard a guess that he thought something along those lines.
Now the same thing happened to Jonah too, if I remember correctly. He came to his senses as well. God caused a great fish to eat him and I guess he thought "Well gee...maybe if I had just gone to ninevah, this would not have happened".
What I'm trying to examine here is the chastisement that we are subjected to, during our walk with God..that causes us to 'come to our senses' and repent and return to our father - time and time again.
Does anyone care to examine this with me?
I believe that this story is significant for the believer in a lot of ways. God allows things to happen to us in order for us to 'come to our senses' repent, and return to the father. What I want to do, is to try and get people to start thinking about the reason why the prodigal son returned.
Here is what I see...
The son had it good. He had a roof over his head, clothes on his back and food in his mouth. Not just that but he also had authority in his father's house. Sound familiar? Well it should!
Because this is us! We are our father's child and we are in his house and we are provided for and we have been given authority etc.Now...the son decided that he wanted to go it on his own. So he up and left. What ended up happening was that he lost all the benefits of his father's house and ended up with nothing. He ate with swine for goodness sake...hardly the life that he was used to.
Then he came to his senses!
But why did he come to his senses? Could it be because he realised just how good he had it? Did he realise that if he stayed where he was that he was going to die out there...all alone? Well the bible doesn't actually say...that's what he thought but I would hazard a guess that he thought something along those lines.
Now the same thing happened to Jonah too, if I remember correctly. He came to his senses as well. God caused a great fish to eat him and I guess he thought "Well gee...maybe if I had just gone to ninevah, this would not have happened".
What I'm trying to examine here is the chastisement that we are subjected to, during our walk with God..that causes us to 'come to our senses' and repent and return to our father - time and time again.
Does anyone care to examine this with me?
There is always more to a parable Messiah speaks other than what's on the outside. Messiah taught in allegorical, hint, and mystery understanding very well.
This parable is a perfect outline of the Father's plan to bring back Ephraim, his beloved son, that went astray and was scattered out into the nations. It also depicts Judah's heart in his return.
Without posting the actual scripture, in short, a man (representatvive of the Father) had two sons (both houses of Israel, Judah being the older and Ephraim being the younger).
The younger son had taken his inheritance and went away and wasted it on "riotous" living(typifying Ephraim's descent from being an heir to the promises of Yahweh into paganism and idolatry by the breaking of Torah).
The famine that came (imo) represents Ephraim's exile in the pagan nations. He became like a gentile and lived a pagan lifestyle (the swine he fed for a living). Out in the famine country (the nations) the son was coming to his senses (not all Ephraim, but just the elect and remnant) and felt extremely sorry for his foolishness and longed for his father, even just to be a lowly servant in his house (showing Ephraim's repentant heart).
He decided to repent and go back to his father and beg forgiveness. While he yet stood afar off on his way back ("afar off" is a key term in reference to Ephraim out in the nations according to scriptures like Is. 57:19; Dan. 9:7; Eph. 2:13) his father had already seen him coming (showing that the Father Yahweh in his goodness and mercy was waiting on him, and also showing us that it was through his plan in Messiah only that Ephraim would return). The son begs forgiveness, knowing he is unworthy to be called a son. The father kisses and cries on his son's neck (showing Yahweh's love for Ephraim and his willingness to forgive him of all former sins) and throws a party for him (I believe the killing of the calf represented Messiah dying to redeem Ephraim for his Torah-less-ness).
The older brother (Judah) said that he had never disobeyed his father and had not made a fool of himself like the younger son did (meaning Judah still had Torah to keep it and boasted in it over his brother, showing his true heart). He complains to his father and becomes jealous of his brother (Judah's disgust at Ephraim, who had become like gentile pagans, being accepted through Messiah back into Israel's commonwealth and justified by Messiah, not because he kept Torah).
The father tells his older son that he will always be his son (proving believers do not take the Jews place as the "new Israel") and exhorts him be merry as they all should because of the return of his brother back into the household (the lost sheep that Messiah came to find and restore back into the fold).
I mean it's just a beautiful parable and display of the Father's covenant faithfulness and righteous judgment and love. There are several other parables that allude to two-house truth.
This parable is a perfect outline of the Father's plan to bring back Ephraim, his beloved son, that went astray and was scattered out into the nations. It also depicts Judah's heart in his return.
Without posting the actual scripture, in short, a man (representatvive of the Father) had two sons (both houses of Israel, Judah being the older and Ephraim being the younger).
The younger son had taken his inheritance and went away and wasted it on "riotous" living(typifying Ephraim's descent from being an heir to the promises of Yahweh into paganism and idolatry by the breaking of Torah).
The famine that came (imo) represents Ephraim's exile in the pagan nations. He became like a gentile and lived a pagan lifestyle (the swine he fed for a living). Out in the famine country (the nations) the son was coming to his senses (not all Ephraim, but just the elect and remnant) and felt extremely sorry for his foolishness and longed for his father, even just to be a lowly servant in his house (showing Ephraim's repentant heart).
He decided to repent and go back to his father and beg forgiveness. While he yet stood afar off on his way back ("afar off" is a key term in reference to Ephraim out in the nations according to scriptures like Is. 57:19; Dan. 9:7; Eph. 2:13) his father had already seen him coming (showing that the Father Yahweh in his goodness and mercy was waiting on him, and also showing us that it was through his plan in Messiah only that Ephraim would return). The son begs forgiveness, knowing he is unworthy to be called a son. The father kisses and cries on his son's neck (showing Yahweh's love for Ephraim and his willingness to forgive him of all former sins) and throws a party for him (I believe the killing of the calf represented Messiah dying to redeem Ephraim for his Torah-less-ness).
The older brother (Judah) said that he had never disobeyed his father and had not made a fool of himself like the younger son did (meaning Judah still had Torah to keep it and boasted in it over his brother, showing his true heart). He complains to his father and becomes jealous of his brother (Judah's disgust at Ephraim, who had become like gentile pagans, being accepted through Messiah back into Israel's commonwealth and justified by Messiah, not because he kept Torah).
The father tells his older son that he will always be his son (proving believers do not take the Jews place as the "new Israel") and exhorts him be merry as they all should because of the return of his brother back into the household (the lost sheep that Messiah came to find and restore back into the fold).
I mean it's just a beautiful parable and display of the Father's covenant faithfulness and righteous judgment and love. There are several other parables that allude to two-house truth.