Parable of the Sower, Part 2 – Rocky Places

Author: Joseph

Date: August 16, 2020

The parable of the sower and the seed was used by Yeshua to describe how people react to the word of God and the good news of His kingdom. In this parable we find three major things that affect peoples’ reactions and consequentially corrupt or remove our trust in God’s word and in His kingdom. This week’s article will explore the second of those three things: rocky places.

What exactly are rocky places in this parable? Rocky places are described as such: without depth of soil and without moisture (Matthew 13:5; Mark 4:5; Luke 8:6). Imagine in your mind – create a mental image of dry ground, filled with rocks. Rocks create barriers in the soil, whereby anything that tries to grow in the soil will have increased difficulty navigating its roots around. The root of a plant requires extra growth to cover the same amount of ground in the rocky soil than it would take with good soil. Rocks also dramatically decrease the soil’s ability to retain water since they do not absorb it and water runs right past it into deeper ground. This means that anything planted in the soil will not be able to retain the necessary water for growth and for growing its roots deeper. Water has to be given more frequently, but if it is not, the plant will dry out and die. Lastly, what I would like to mention here is that rocks disable roots from taking a firm grasp in the soil because roots loosely bind to rocks. It is much easier for anything that is planted in rocky soil to be uprooted at any point in time with much less effort than if something was planted in soil alone.

Now that you have learned what rocky places are like, how does this relate to the parable? Yeshua describes some people as rocky places because some people initially accept the word of God and the good news of His kingdom, but have faith that is only temporary and fragile. A seed that falls upon rocky soil may sprout, but it will not last long. If the sun rises on it, it is unable to endure. The seed is scorched, dead before it ever produces fruit.

People who are like rocky soil have no firm grasp of God’s word and the word of God that has been given to them is unable to retain water, which is Yeshua (cf. John 7:37). Yeshua, by His Spirit, nourishes God’s word to grow in us. But if we are unable to retain water in the word of God that has been given to us, growth cannot happen and the roots will not take hold of us. People who are like rocky places hear Yeshua and they initially believe Him, but they do not want to cling to Him, that is, endure and persevere for His sake.

Instead of retaining Yeshua in God’s word they have received, they are unwilling to allow Yeshua to nourish their belief and create genuine faith. They reject His nourishment and falsely believe that they will be able to retain the word of God without Him. They have belief (acknowledgement) without commitment (faith). These are people who only accept God’s word in a shallow manner and do not desire faith in God if it requires anything from them to retain it. These people are unwilling to remove the obstacles within themselves that make it impossible to have faith. Rocks remain and the roots never grasp firm.

When people who are like rocky soil are tempted, by their own desire or by an adversary, they fall away without resistance. The seed of the word of God is either scorched or easily uprooted by what’s around them.

When you preach the good news of God’s kingdom and the salvation that comes only through Yeshua, ensure that you are teaching genuine repentance from sin and having the obstacles in a person’s life removed that will inhibit them from having genuine faith. When a person repents of their sins, they not only need to acknowledge them, but also commit to a changed way of life in Yeshua, allowing Him to nourish God’s word that has been preached to them. While they may experience moments of temptation, if the word of God is firmly planted in them and they are ready to receive it wholly, they will be able to endure persecution and temptation.

Pray for someone who is like rocky soil, that their rocks would be removed and that they would be ready to receive the word of God and commit to Him wholly. When you share the good news with them, ensure that they understand the need for whole-hearted repentance so that God can grow His word in them and so they can have a faith that endures until the end.

Matthew 13:1-23