Kingdom Parables

M. M. NINAN
There are two types of mustards. The yellow variety and the black
variety. Both are herb and are widely used in cooking. But the black
variety is more abundant because the yield is much greater. The yellow
mustard is a low lying plant - not growing more than a foot or two. The
black variety grows into a shrub with its stems going upto a man’s
height. This herb is a seasonal plant. It grows fast and covered with
yellow flowers and produce fruit and it dies out. New plants grow in its
place.
Mustard is supposed to grow into herb. Herb add spice to the food for
men and mustard is supposed to make it more savory. It acts like salt,
added in small amounts bring out its aroma and make life pleasurable.
But this mustard is a special one. It became a shrub, but it did not stay
there. It grew and grew and grew into a tree which filled the earth. In the
Bible we have two descriptions of trees that grew to fill the earth with
their branches reaching the heavens beyond the clouds.
The first description is found in Ezekiel 31. This is the description of
the Kingdom of Pharaoh.
Ez 31: 2 "Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes: "'Who can
be compared with you in majesty? 3 Consider Assyria, once a cedar in Lebanon, with
beautiful branches overshadowing the forest; it towered on high, its top above the thick
foliage. 4 The waters nourished it, deep springs made it grow tall; their streams flowed
all around its base and sent their channels to all the trees of the field. 5 So it towered
higher than all the trees of the field; its boughs increased and its branches grew long,
spreading because of abundant waters.6 All the birds of the air nested in its boughs,
all the beasts of the field gave birth under its branches; all the great nations lived in its
shade.
Then the tone changes and the judgment is pronounced.
A similar description is seen in Daniel 4: 20-23
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