The birds in the second parable signify the principalities in the air. In the first parable, the Lord Jesus said that the seeds were snatched away by birds, and then He explained that it was the evil one who came to snatch away the seeds that were sown. Birds in this chapter refer to Satan and his evil principalities. This means that Satan is responsible for bringing many defiled things into the church.
Now the church has become a mammoth organization. However, this greatness is a false greatness; it is a deformed greatness. Originally, the church was despised by men. Now she has become a political asset in the hands of ambitious people. The church is full of people, and in politics the more people there are, the more it is an asset. Now every kind of defiled thing has crept into the church. The birds of heaven came and nested in its branches. The condition is like that of Pergamos—the church has become united with and married to the world. Today the church has become a big and worldly organization, and all kinds of people have come into it.
This tree includes the genuine church, but it also includes many things that should not be there. The seed is still a mustard seed. The trouble with it is that it has grown too big. This excessive greatness is manmade. The seed that was sown by the Lord is still there. On the one hand, the church has deviated. On the other hand, we have to admit that the Lord’s church was still hidden within such a church. The only trouble is that something more has been added to it. It is no longer simply the Lord’s church, but something greater. The world has crept in everywhere, and the church has become large. The mustard seed has grown into a big tree.
The One who sowed the seed was the Lord Himself. The woman represents the church. In the Bible women always represent the church. The position of the church in the Bible is that of the wife of Christ. Christ loved the church even as a husband loves his wife. Just as God made Eve out of the rib of Adam, Christ produced the church by His life. In the Bible the church is always represented by women. In the future, the church will be the wife of the Lamb. A man, not a woman, sows the seed. In other words, only Christ can sow the seed; the church cannot do this. The church cannot make any decision for herself. It does not have any authority of its own.
Yet one day the church on earth became like a tree whose roots were deep and whose branches were numerous. The church became worldly and powerful. All sorts of evil powers came into the church and took shelter there. Because Caesar was in the church, the woman became great and assumed much authority.
Matthew 13:33 says, “The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal.” This woman is Roman Catholicism, the degraded church. She began to exercise her self-assumed authority. Many sisters cannot understand why the Bible forbids a woman to teach. This is because the Bible forbids the church to teach. In typology the church has no authority to teach. The principle of forbidding the woman to teach shows us that the church has no authority to teach. Here the woman began to put leaven into the meal. This means that the woman began to exercise her authority. In other words, the church began to teach.
The Roman Catholic Church tells men that the Bible is God’s Word, yet it also says that the church can speak for God. Of course, the church that it refers to is the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church has become very powerful and has brought many things into the church. If you argue that the Bible does not say anything about the practices of the church, the Roman Catholic Church will tell you that it decides the way things should be. If you say that there are no idols according to the Bible, it will say that the pope has sanctioned the idols. You may say that there is no such thing as the worship of Mary in the Bible, but it will say that the church believes that Mary should be worshipped. The woman has assumed the role of teacher.
Thyatira, which in God’s eyes is Roman Catholicism, tolerates Jezebel, a prophetess. This woman brought adultery into the church, and she brought idolatry into the church. The symbol of the woman means that the church rather than the Lord is now making all the decisions. It is Jezebel, the prophetess, who is teaching, not the Lord. It would have been better for the church if it had received its teaching from the Head instead of assuming the role of teacher for itself. When the church assumes this role, it results in all kinds of heresies being introduced into the church. This is what the Lord means when He says that the kingdom of the heavens is like a woman who took leaven and hid it in three measures of meal.