A MUCH FURTHER LOOK AT THE FIRST SHALL BE LAST, and THE LAST SHALL BE FIRST

— Once again I find myself dipping my thoughts ever deeper into Dawn Michelle Michals’ blogs The First Shall be Last, and The First shall be last 2 so as to hopefully make myself more clear to her, and possibly others… not I fear… dig an even deeper well!! —

by
moriba sababu

Quote:

For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.

And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,

And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.

Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.

And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?

They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.

So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.

And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.

But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.

And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,

Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.

But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?

Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.

Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?

So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.  (Matthew 20:1-16 KJV)

*******

Let us first consider the ‘simple’ possible context in which it is written…

FIRST:

The Kingdom of Heaven…
this is the Will of the Creator

The actors, setting, time frame

actors…
the householder… (A Manifestation of God)

the labourers…
(those ‘chosen’ to work on God’s behalf)

steward… (final judgement of God)

setting…
the marketplace… (Earth)
the Vineyard… (wherever the Will of God is put into practice)

time frame…
1. a day: (dawn/sunset approx., 12 hours
    6am. 9am. 12pm. 3pm. 5pm. 6pm.)
2. time allotted to the Manifestation of God
    (the duration of the Messenger in question’s influence.)

SECOND:

An agreed determination is made before anything is done.  (the Will of God is known… for that time)

THIRD:

At the end of the ‘Day,’ remuneration is doled out.  (period of Manifestation’s  influence)

FORTH:

They are paid in the staggered order of time worked… (beginning with the least, ending with the most)

FIFTH:

Those who worked the most were unhappy, since all received the same pay.

SIXTH:

They are reminded of the agreement before the work began.

SEVENTH:

As the One put in charge of the Vineyard, He had the right, by way of the Will of the Owner, to do as He wished.

EIGHTH:

the last shall be first (the chosen)
and the first last (the many)

*******

On the face of it, the words delivered by The Christ are simple, and self explanatory… but the Words of God are never simple, although they are mostly expressed in a simple manner.   They are in fact, meant to withstand both the test of time… and the wayward antics of those who wish to twist, and cajole the minds of the innocent for their own diabolical ends.

The Christ spoke of God’s Hidden Words imbedded in the simple words that He spoke, when His disciples queried Him on His use of parables to the many who listened to Him speak… whereupon He said:

“To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that ‘Seeing they may not see, And hearing they may not understand.’ ” (Like 8:10 KJV)

and further…

“That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.” (Mark 4:12 KJV)

Just as among the flora, He speaks of what is good for the fire…

“And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. (Matthew 3:10 KJV),

and among fauna, He speaks of the goats, and the sheep…

So shall it be among humanity…

…as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left… …Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance… … Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire… … “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. (Matthew 25:32-46 KJV)

God’s Word is unbreakable… unlike man’s… what He promises He always delivers… but He wants no hipocrites, (those who attempt to slide into His good grace by lies, or trickery)…

One’s word means next to nothing to Him… for this is but an outward appearance… it is our actions… our deeds… that count, and even then, it must be the unthought out action, the unthought out deed, for it is the unpolluted intention of the heart that is to be the determinate factor… not the planned conscript that as marinated in the brain for the benefit off the god of self…

IT MUST BE REMEMBERED, THAT NOT EVERYONE IS WELCOME IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD!!

“Not everyone who saith to Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom… (Matthew 7:21 KJV)

The Christ is said to have told us in prayer:
The Father, and I are one… and also to The Father in the same prayer: The ones you gave me, and I are one… (Thus The Father, The Christ, and His disciples (minus Judas), are One. (John 17 KJV)

Yet we find today, thousands of denominations, and countless sects, echoing the refrain ‘Lord Lord,’ while covering themselves with the ‘outward appearance’ of the Spiritual blanket of Christianity… yet… they are not One…

All of them cannot be right… but all of them can be wrong…!!

By there fruits ye shall know them… (Matthew 7:16-20 KJV)

Finding out the truth is not in the hands of those who ‘say’ they have been called… and thereafter give a weekly dose of ‘something’ to those who hunger for the Word of God… no… for this too is but an outward appearance… each man, each woman, must make an independent investigation… for not everything one eats is good for the body… nor everything one is told, is good for the Soul…

In fact, man must be a lover of the light… regardless of the direction from which it is coming…

In biology, we are told that digestion begins in the mouth… this means that one as the ability to spit out what is not good before it reaches the stomach, and thereby adversely affect the body… baring that, an invasive procedure may be called upon… likewise, one can disregard, even abandon what is not right before it taints the Soul… neither can one put forward a favored individual, (eg. family member, friend, or religious adherent etc.,) to advocate on one’s behalf…

The first shall be last, and the last shall be first…

Simple words… yet I believe profound in their application:

I believe what was written above, from God, by way of The Christ, meant by the words, ‘the first must be last…’

is that he who is the first to understand the words, and the message of the Father, should take a back seat, and not put on airs, and thus be the last to acknowledge those words,

Just because one as been privileged to have heard, and/or understood the Word of God, one should not consider oneself higher than those who have not yet understood, or grasp the meaning… one should humble oneself before God, and others, because knowing ‘some’ does not mean knowing ‘all.’

one should give due acknowledgement to those who could be regarded as late comer’s first, before those who are looked upon as being of a higher station…

Thus the message would be understood by all…

When this is done, the last shall be brought up to speed, so to speak, and be able to hold their own in the conversation, and not regard themselves as less then… nor be relagated to back benches, and thus mere mouths echoing Amen… adnorzium… to the swelling breast of those who consider themselves ‘chosen.’

In that way, the complete spectrum of the Father’s will can be adhered to by all… from beginning, to the end… or as Scripture many times words it: the beginning that has no beginning, and the end that has no end… or as close to the will of God (who is I AM) as humanly possible… for after all, we are all just human…

Not withstanding this, we have a tendency to give ourselves, and those we consider ‘special’ an elevated status, whereas in the eyes of God, all are equal till the Day Harvest… looking down on another, no matter how slight the look down, only lowers one in the sight of God…

(eg., maids, gardeners, street cleaners, garbage collectors, the homeless, axillary workers etc.,)

In that case, the ones considered the last amongst us, shall be the ‘first’ in the Eyes of God, and those who consider themselves first, shall be last.

© Ralph Boothe
August 21st. 2021