The Good Soil
There are six major classifications of soil in
the world- sandy, clay, silt, loam, chalk, and peat. Each of the soils has its own good and
bad characteristics.
That’s in the physical world. But, in the spiritual world, in Matthew 13 (ftn.1), Jesus said
there were four kinds of soil- the hard soil beside the road where no seed of the Word
could penetrate to grow and the devil would take the Word away; the rocky soil where
seed could not root and grow; the thorny soil that would choke out the Word; and the
good soil where the seed of the Word would grow and produce fruit. The Word is God's
word about the Kingdom and His righteousness and salvation for us.
The soils mentioned by Jesus in the parable represent the spiritual condition of the
souls of men. Numbers in the Bible have spiritual significance. The good soil was the
fourth soil mentioned by Jesus and the number four in the Bible represents God’s creation
and creative ability. So, the seed of the Word needs to fall in the fourth mentioned soil,
the good soil, in order to be surrounded by God’s creative ability to cause the seed to
grow into a fruitful plant.
A good farmer or gardener must sometimes work the soil to create good soil. In the
world, the farmer/gardener would mix the soil to achieve a combinations of the soils
mentioned above in order to get the benefit of the good characteristics of each of the most
favorable soils to cause growth of the seed. He would also remove or break up rocks and
pull up thorns.
Jesus told us that “without Me you can do nothing.” We are not the farmer or
gardener of our soul soil. In the spiritual world, Jesus is the Master gardener (as well as
the sower of the seed of the Word) and the Holy Spirit is the instrument He uses to break
up hard soil, pull up thorns and weeds, or mix in better soil that is needed to amend the
poor soil. Just as the natural world uses the elements of wind, rain, ice, fire, and sun to
break up poor soil, the Holy Spirit uses the forces that come against our souls, such as
persecution, sickness, oppression, and other negative things to break up the hard places in
the soil of our soul. Also, the Holy Spirit will empower us to work with him to remove
some of the impediments to having good soil to produce fruit.
However, the final work is done by the Father through Jesus and Jesus through the
Holy Spirit to work on the field or garden of our soul soil to bring it into good soil to
produce fruit as the Bible says, “some a hundred-fold, some sixty, and some thirty.”
This fruit can be work in the Kingdom to bring in souls in salvation, working with the
Spirit to accomplish the will of God, or it can be the “fruit of the Spirit” as is mentioned
in Galatians 5:22-3, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self control...”
(footnote 1): “So listen to the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and does notunderstand it, the evil one comes and snatches what was sown in his heart; this is the seed sown along the path. The seed sown on rocky ground is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. But he has noroot in himself and does not endure; when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he fallsaway. The seed sown among thorns is the person who hears the word, but worldly cares and the seductiveness ofwealth choke the word, so it produces nothing. But as for the seed sown on good soil, this is the person who hears theword and understands. He bears fruit, yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.” Matthew 13: 18-23(NET)
