This lesson covers several metaphors and parables from the Bible related to fishing, nets, ships, and the sea. The main points are: Fishermen represent evangelists/pastors who “catch” people with the net of God’s word to bring them to salvation. The fish are people who need to be “caught” and brought into the ship, which represents the church/place of deliverance. There will be a separation of the “good fish” (righteous) from the “bad fish” (wicked) at the end times. Ships sinking in the sea represents judgment, while God’s pure “sea of glass” represents His crystal clear word. The process of how the word/revelation is opened is outlined, going from God to Jesus to an angel to John to the servants (people/churches). Discerning true words requires them being fulfilled prophecies with a testimony, not going beyond what is written in Scripture. The key is being caught by the right “fishermen” with the true word and brought aboard the right “ship” for deliverance in the end times. Understanding these metaphors is crucial.

 

Study Guide SCJ Bible Study

Secrets of Heaven: Figurative Fisherman, Net and Ship

There are several parables we are covering today: "Secrets of Heaven," "The Figurative Fisherman," and "Fish and Ship." There are actually a few more we will discuss, but these are the main ones. 

 

1. The fisherman represents pastors/evangelists who do the work of catching people.
2. The net represents the word. It is the tool they use to catch people.
3. The fish are the people (saints) being caught in the net.
4. The ship is the church (organization) where the caught fish are brought.

 

This explains the logic of Matthew 13:47-50, but we'll examine why each element means what it does.
Of course, the fish are being pulled from the sea, their home.

Let's think about this: 

Do fish realize they live in the sea? No, because it is all they know. The water is their home and normal environment. So being caught in a net is terrifying and strange, as they are pulled from home.
But the fish doesn't know it's being brought to a better spiritual place. In reality the fish will be eaten, but spiritually we want to be "served up" to God. We want to be in His cooking pot, offered to Him.

This connects to being attached to the right tree as fruit or a leaf, or the right trunk as a branch.
It's the same with the ship. Returning to the fish example - when first caught, the fish struggles to escape the net. Nearby fish see this uncomfortable experience.

It's like when people encounter God's Spirit and it completely changes their life. They struggle to deal with the life change. Not easy. 

When God redirects your path, it's uncomfortable but leads you somewhere better.

So don't fight the change. Stay in the net, even though it's taking you from a once comfortable place.
Our hope is to be caught in the net by the right fisherman at the second coming, because there are good and bad fishermen then.

Figurative Ship

Main Reference

Some very important points are mentioned here by Jesus that we need to keep in mind. 

One of the first things mentioned is that when the net is cast into the water, it catches all kinds of fish. 

It is only after the fish are caught that they are then sifted or separated. This closely mirrors the wedding banquet analogy in Matthew 22, where many were called in from the streets to the banquet, and only after briefly entering did the sifting begin. 

"Excuse me, sir, why aren't you wearing the proper wedding clothes?" and they were asked to leave.  

The net catches all varieties of fish. And then, as Jesus said, the good fish are separated from the bad. 

Hmm, I'm uncertain about this one. Good fish. Good fish. And I'm unsure about that one too. And what happens to them?
They are thrown back into the sea, which is where we don't want to be.

Why? Because a fiery furnace awaits.

This is not merely a parable imparting a moral lesson. This is prophecy.  

So let's examine this prophecy more closely.

1. Physical characteristics of Fishing

1. Fishermen made their living from the sea through fishing. They relied on the ocean as their source of income.
2. The fish live in the sea; that is their home, where they find comfort.
3. The net is the tool used to catch the fish.
4. The ship is designed to float above the sea, not to become part of it.

A boat that sinks into the sea has failed its primary purpose. It must remain above the sea.

2. Spiritual (True) Meaning of Fishing

The figurative fish represents people. 

They are individuals who need salvation, yet do not realize they require deliverance. These are the ones you must reach. You need to bring them in. And I will instruct you how.
The first humans to be evangelized were more than just the disciples. 

The disciples were the first converts brought into Jesus's ministry. 

Does this logic make sense?
The disciples were the first "fish" caught in Jesus's figurative net. Subsequently, they assisted Jesus in gathering more followers. 

Refer to the book of Habakkuk for more information about the analogy between fish and people.

A very important passage is prophesied in the book of Habakkuk. What do we see in verse 14? 

You have made people like fish in the sea, like sea creatures that have no ruler. The wicked enemy pulls them all up with hooks. He catches them in his net, he gathers them in his dragnet, and so he rejoices and is glad. Therefore, he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet.

Remember our hope for today. 

Remember what I said: to be caught by the right fishermen, because there are other fishermen not doing the good kind of fishing.
So, what is the net these fishermen are using to grab people?

Not the true work. What about false work?
This is why Jesus and his disciples had to come and do the right kind of fishing, with the net that is the word.

Because there is a bad net of lies and falsehoods that people are also using to grab people, and they burn incense to their net like that.
A very deep prophecy that was fulfilled at the time of the first coming.

Remember, Matthew 23:15. The Pharisees. You travel across land and sea, but when you catch someone, you make them twice as much a son of hell as you are.
So, it's important for us to know and understand where the right sea is and where the right fishermen are so that we can be caught by the right net, by the truth, the true word.

 

3. Spiritual (True) Meaning Ship

We're going to actually look at a historical example. The most famous ship in the whole Bible. 

We've covered figurative fishing so far. God wants to save you and your entire family. Why? Because He has found you righteous. Why? Because when God promises judgment, He does not want to judge the righteous along with the wicked. He always extracts the righteous first before bringing judgment. Guess what? Revelation is actually very similar to this, as God's pattern does not change.

How God extracts the righteous is a point of debate, and we'll get to those topics later. But understand that this is how God operates. He always extracts the righteous first before He brings judgment.

The same thing happens with Lot as well. Abraham pleaded with God to save Sodom because he understood his relative Lot was there. Abraham kept pleading. Perhaps Sodom would have still been around, but he stopped at 10, which means there weren't even 10 righteous people in the entire city. It was only Lot. But God did not want to destroy Lot along with the wicked. So, He extracted Lot, and then judgment came.

What about at the time of the second coming? The same pattern will occur. So, let's understand that more. Historically, the ark, which is, of course, a big old ship, was used to save Noah and his family. His entire family was saved because Noah was righteous. What about you, Harvest Class? How will your family be safe because of your efforts, because of your work?

Keep going because God can then use you to reach so many people. But if you stop, then there's no hope for them too. That's the logic that God has established. You're the connection. That's why you are here.

That's why you were the first in your family to hear the open word. It's not an accident.

So, Noah built the ark; it took him approximately a hundred years to build the ark. And as he was teaching about what was to come, many people looked at him and scoffed, "Nonsense." And they kept on with their daily lives, eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, paying no attention to what was about to come.

Until the floodwaters took them all away, and by that point, it was too late.

We like to think of God as having infinite grace and infinite mercy. But eventually, the doors of the ark shut. Eventually, fire rains down from above.
So, you have to act when the time is right to act. If you do not act, you die.

That's how it's always been. This is why Jesus mentioned Noah and Lot at the second coming.

The coming will be like this.

 

At the coming of the Son of Man, the days will be similar to the days of Noah and Lot. Jesus mentions, and delivers a different message, "Remember Lot's wife." The reason he mentioned this is because Lot's wife, as they were escaping together, her heart was too connected to the place from which they had to escape. And she decided to follow her heart to see the place, and it cost her her life.

When a fish escapes from the sea, it bites too. Sometimes it wants to go back to the sea because it has not yet realized the value of the ship for which it is being caught onto. It's still being pulled up. If it jumps out of the net prematurely, then it will never realize the glory of the ship that awaits it. Remember Lot's wife.

So, if Jesus says, "The days of Noah will be like the days of Lot," that means a place will appear at the time of the second coming that will be like a spiritual ark, not a literal ark, right? If someone is building a literal ark, that is not the place to which you are to go because nothing significant will happen at that place.

In fact, there is a life-sized ark built in Williamstown, Kentucky, in the United States. It's a giant structure, right? Probably fun to visit, but not a place where we should be like, "Alright Jesus, we're waiting for you here. Everybody bring the snacks?" That's not what we should be doing. But a spiritual ark will appear as promised.

So, let's understand a little bit more about ships and their context at the second coming because there are consequences for being on the right ship or a wrong ship.

 

This passage contains numerous significant prophecies, which we will explore in greater depth in the coming days. 

We observe that a mountain is ablaze, and it is thrown into the sea. This catastrophic event has severe consequences, resulting in the destruction of a third of many things.

Notably, it also destroys a third of the ships, causing them to sink into the sea. For those aboard these ill-fated vessels, the situation is dire, akin to the Titanic tragedy. They too would sink into the waters as the ships go down.

This raises the question: What becomes of those whose livelihoods depend on these ships? What fate awaits them in the wake of such a calamitous event?

Revelation 18 discusses the judgment of Babylon. We'll cover this topic in more detail in the future. But know that Babylon is the place that had captured God's people at the time of the second coming. Remember when we read Revelation 18:2-4, right? Where God says in verse 4, "Come out of her, Babylon, my people," so that you will not share in her sins or be judged with her plagues, for I will judge Babylon for what it has done to my people.

Who are God's people at the time of the second coming? These are the questions we should be asking ourselves. Am I still in Babylon, or have I already come out? These are the questions we should ponder upon as well. I don't want to be one who is still in Babylon when God says, "Come out of that one."

But then he talks about those who made their living from the sea, every sea captain. So if the ship is a church that God uses to rescue His righteous from destruction, then who is the sea captain?

Okay, so on Earth, who will Jesus and God work through, or who should they be working through? Pastors. What about the sailors? So the sea captain commands the ship as the ship is going. They have those who work with the captain to carry out necessary tasks for that ship to function properly. Who are these people?

Like followers of the church and those who work at the church? You can say evangelists. Those would have duties in the church staff. Those who made a living on the sea. Then there are those who travel by ship. Who are those who travel by ship?

The saints, the congregation members.

So the sea captain is the pastor, the sailors are the evangelists or church staff, disciples, worship leaders, etc. And the passengers, those who travel by sea, they are the saints or congregation members. The members of that place. So we want to be those who are part of the right ship, just as it's important to be part of the right tree.

It's important to be part of the right basket. It's important to be cooked in the right cooking pot. It's important to be a part of the right body. We'll talk about that this week.

Let me talk about the body. It is also important to be part of the right ship. So this week will be all about the importance of affiliation. It's so important, critically important, for the time, especially of the second coming.

There is one thing I wanted to make sure I've mentioned about the sea.

4. Two Types of Sea

We have already discussed Satan's sea, mentioned in Isaiah 27:1, the sea of Leviathan that God desires to judge. This represents Satan's world. However, there is also God's sea.

John's vision of heaven depicts a sea of glass, representing the Word of God, which is as clear as crystal. Unlike a murky sea with darkness, this water is transparent and pure, reflecting the clarity and infinity of God's flawless Word.

The vastness of this sea symbolizes the depth and boundlessness of God's Word. As we delve into it, we can go deeper and deeper, continually discovering more. Its clarity signifies the presence of light everywhere.

What John witnessed was a representation of the Word of God, as clear as crystal. This Word cleanses our inner being, similar to how Jesus said to His disciples in John 15:3, "You are already clean because of the words I have spoken to you." This sea of glass is the good sea, separate from the bad sea, which represents the world.

God's sea of glass symbolizes the boundless and crystal-clear nature of His Word.

Looking back at this sea, it is prophesied that Satan's sea will eventually disappear by God's grace, allowing life to abound afterwards.

5. Sea is Healed

If you continue reading, though, it talks about the sea that is not fresh in verse 11, but the swamps and marshes will not become fresh. They will be left for salt. So, verse 11 talks about the sea that is not healed by that water, the sea that is very stubborn, for example, that refuses to hear the truth. However, in the places where the river flows and that word of truth is accepted, the water becomes fresh, and life springs up in that location.

As you can see, the ships let down nets into the water. It's very cool. The Lord God is continuous and speaks to itself. It's indeed very cool. So there's a prophecy here in the book of Ezekiel that the sea water will eventually become fresh in select places. And when this happens, as the Word of God is flowing from the temple, something wonderful occurs.

Oh, what do we see here? The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. 

To what extent? As much as the waters cover the sea. Let it be so.

May God's words fill the earth like the sea does.

However, this sea is in contrast with the bad sea prophesied to go away. 

In Revelation 21:1, it says, "For the first heaven and the first Earth passed away, and there was no longer any sea."
But what sea goes away? It cannot be the literal sea, for if the literal sea went away, the Earth would die. You see, it is a critical part of the ecosystems of this planet that God created.

It's not literal. And if we continue interpreting Revelation literally, we will never understand it.
So what sea goes away when there is a new heaven and a new earth? Satan's world of falsehood goes away. 

And everyone will have the truth, as stated in Habakkuk 2:14. Let that be now.
It's coming. Do you believe in God's promises? So, how will this take place? Lastly, I promise we will use this whole space down here to talk about it.

It is so critical to our understanding of the open word. We talked about the word being opened, but we haven't yet discussed how.
Everyone, how is the word opened? Yes, are you ready? But in a second.

Deep breath.

How is the word opened? How does this process take place? Because it is a process. 

Let's see step by step, so that as we continue in the course, this will lead us to be able to discern what is true from what is not, as we discussed in the beginning.

6. How the Word is Opened

And this content will cover a bunch of times throughout the course. You'll see this many, many times.

These are some of the most important verses in the entire Book of Revelation. Here is God's logic. God initiated this process first, ultimately. Let's go back to when we were in grade school. In grade school, we had to write papers. So many papers! Some students loved writing papers, while others hated it. But one thing our teachers always instructed us to do for structuring our papers was: Tell us what you're going to tell us. Tell us. And then tell us what you told us. That's the structure of every single paper you've ever written in school. Guess what? God did it first.

God did it first. So the first few verses of the Book of Revelation actually summarize the entire book, all the way up to verse 8. Verses 1 to 3 are critical because they show how the rest of the book will be formatted and how it will take place.

So let's break it down step by step. Okay, let's go back to verse 1:

It says the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending His Angel to His servant John, who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

There are no accidents in the Bible. The Word of God and the testimony of Jesus, they go together like this. They always go together. Then the truth abounds—the word and the testimony, and you see the word and the testimony many times in the Book of Revelation.

John, who received the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

This part of the prophecy summarizes the whole Book of Revelation, all the way really up to verse 8, but these 3 verses are critically important.

So let's understand the significance of the sequence from God to Jesus to the angel to John to the servants. 

What is it that goes from God and eventually ends up at the servants? We'll see this in more detail in the Book of Revelation.

There is a book sealed with seven seals in God's hand. Later on, in chapter 5, it states that no one in heaven, on earth, or under the earth could open that sealed book or look inside. 

When the Apostle John witnessed this in his vision, he came to the realization that if this book cannot be opened, there is no salvation. God's work cannot be concluded or finished. That's why John was weeping. Then, one of the elders said to him, "Do not weep, for there is one who can open the scroll, and it is the Lamb who was slain."

He, being the Lamb, takes the scroll from God, right? So remember verse one: 'The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him.'

Then, what does Jesus do with this scroll?

Jesus begins to open the seals. As you continue reading through Revelation 6, you'll see that Jesus opens seal one, seal two, seal three, seal four, seal five, and seal six. The last seal is opened in Revelation 8:1, and now that little scroll, which is the book of Revelation itself, is opened. This means that Jesus opened it. We'll understand this more as we study further. However, the scroll that was once sealed in God's hand was given to Jesus, and Jesus one by one opens it.

You'll notice that each time Jesus opens a seal, events take place. An angel appears. Judgment happens. Events are occurring, meaning that the term "opening" signifies fulfillment. This is why it is called Jesus's revelation because he was the only one able to understand and know what God had sealed and then make the events happen one by one. So when the book is opened, Jesus doesn't just keep it in his hand. Remember Revelation 1:1-3, he then does something with that book.

Then what does Jesus do with this scroll?

Behold, what is this glorious angel holding in his hand? It is a little scroll. Where did this little scroll originate from? It came from Jesus. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John. And this angel is holding the open scroll that Jesus had just unveiled! Are you all following along? Does it make sense to everyone? So what does this signify? What action will the angel take with the scroll that is now in his possession?

Let's examine Revelation 10:8-11. We see that the angel gives John the little scroll that Jesus had opened, which was once sealed in God's hand. John takes the scroll and eats it. Then, he is instructed, "Go now and prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings. And give what I have given you to them." Intriguing.

Now, is the Apostle John still alive? No, he has been dead for a long time, approximately 2,000 years. 

Remember the question the Ethiopian eunuch asked Philip in Acts 8:34. As the eunuch was reading the book of Isaiah, he noticed Isaiah saying things like "I saw, I heard, it was shown to me." The eunuch was a bit confused and asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about? Himself or someone else?"

Then Philip began explaining from that very passage of Scripture, telling him about Jesus. Meaning, Isaiah was not talking about himself. Isaiah only saw those things in a vision, but someone else came later and lived out the events. Isaiah saw what was to come, which was Jesus.

This is actually the logic of all prophecies concerning a person. Remember: "OPAGH" - Objects, People, Animals, Geographic locations, and Historical events. A person themselves can become a parable if they are a prophet. This topic is profound, and we'll cover it many times as we continue to study. But keep those things in mind because in every chapter of Revelation, you will see "I saw, I heard, it was shown to me." It was what John was shown. But who is the prophet talking about - himself or someone else? I'll leave you with that thought.

Very important. This is how the word is opened. As prophesied, we went through verse by verse, right? From God to Jesus to the angel to John to many peoples, nations, languages, and kings. Peoples - congregation members. Nations - churches! Languages - doctrines! Kings - pastors! And we'll understand more as we study further.

Memorization

Let's Us Discern