Verse 44 says, “The kingdom of the heavens is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid, and in his joy goes and sells all, whatever he has, and buys that field.” The treasure hidden in the field must consist of gold or precious stones, the materials for the building of the church and the New Jerusalem (1 Cor. 3:12; Rev. 21:18-20). Because the church is the practical kingdom today, and the New Jerusalem will be the kingdom in manifestation in the coming age, therefore the treasure hidden in the field signifies the kingdom hidden in God’s created world.
The field in verse 44 is the earth, which signifies the world created by God for His kingdom (Gen. 1:26-28). In the Bible the earth signifies the world created by God, and the sea signifies the world corrupted by Satan. The earth also signifies Israel, the Jewish nation, because Israel was chosen by God, separated by God, and placed by God in a specific situation. Hence, the Jewish people stand before God as the earth created by Him. Based upon the same principle, the sea also signifies the Gentile world, for the Gentiles are the people corrupted by Satan. Therefore, in the Bible the earth and the sea stand for two things each.
The first four parables in Matthew 13 provide a clear picture of so-called Christianity. After giving forth these parables, the Lord privately spoke to His disciples the parables of the treasure hidden in the field and the pearl from the sea. If we understand the significance of the earth in the Bible, we shall know that the treasure hidden in the field must be the kingdom, and that the pearl produced out of the sea must be the church. The kingdom is truly a treasure to the Lord. How precious it is in His sight! The church is also a valuable pearl to Him. The Lord is continually seeking two things—the kingdom as the treasure and the church as the pearl. Ephesians 5:27 says that Christ will present to Himself a glorious church without spot, wrinkle, or any such thing. This is the church as a beautiful pearl produced out of the Gentile world.
Chapter one of Genesis says that God created the earth and that He created man in His own image with the intention that man would exercise His dominion over the animals, the fowl, and the fish. This is the kingdom on earth. However, man failed. But Psalm 8 follows with a prophecy. Verse 1 of this Psalm says, “O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth.” When the earth is God’s dominion, His name will be sanctified and made excellent on the earth. Speaking of man, Psalm 8:6 says, “Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet.” The following verses reveal that man has dominion over the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea. Hebrews 2 reveals that the man described in Psalm 8 firstly is Christ. Christ is the man who brings in God’s dominion to earth and makes God’s name excellent on earth. Then this man is Christ’s Body. This is the treasure on earth, the kingdom.
Daniel 2 indicates that the earth will be under various forms of worldly power, but that Christ will be the stone coming from heaven to smash these worldly powers (Dan. 2:34-35, 44-45). This stone will eventually become a great mountain filling the entire earth. The stone is Christ, and the great mountain is Christ enlarged to be the universal kingdom on earth. All this is related to the treasure in the earth. Revelation 11:15 says, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.” This will take place at the time of the millennium, when the whole earth will be Christ’s kingdom. This surely is the treasure hidden in the field.
Verse 44 says that the kingdom of the heavens is like a treasure hidden in the field “which a man found and hid, and in his joy goes and sells all, whatever he has, and buys that field.” The man here is Christ, who found the kingdom of the heavens in 4:12 to 12:23, hid it in 12:24 to 13:43, and in His joy went to the cross in 16:21; 17:22-23; 20:18-19; and 26:1 to 27:52 to sell all He had and buy that field—to redeem the created and lost earth—for the kingdom. Christ first found the treasure when He came out to minister, declaring, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.” When the Jews’ rejection of the Lord reached its peak, He forsook them. From that time onward, He hid the treasure. Then He went to the cross to buy not only the treasure, but also the field, and He thereby redeemed the earth created by God.
Christ went to the cross to redeem the God-created earth because within the earth there was the kingdom, the treasure. For the kingdom, for this treasure, Christ redeemed the earth created by God. In order for Him to have the kingdom on earth, He must redeem the earth because it had been polluted and damaged by Satan’s fall and by man’s sin. The Lord sold all that He had and bought the earth; that is, He sacrificed all He had on the cross to redeem the earth for the treasure of the kingdom. No doubt this kingdom is realized in the church life. But its manifestation is related to the redeemed nation of Israel. During the millennium, the earth will become the kingdom of Christ. At that time, the nation of Israel will be the center of Christ’s kingdom. Hence, the kingdom is mainly related to the nation of Israel and involved with Israel.