Who Is In Your Tree?

Jesus taught the following:

18 Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it?
19 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into HIS GARDEN; and it grew, and waxed a GREAT TREE; and the FOWLS OF THE AIR lodged in the branches of it. (Luke 13)

Even though translators used “kingdom of God” here, from the Greek it could have been rendered differently, such as:

18 Unto what is YOUR kingdom like [remember, Luke likewise recorded that Jesus taught the Kingdom of God is within us—Luke 17:21]

The Greek word for kingdom βασιλεία (basileia) has been translated the following in the KJV: 

  • kingdom (of God) (71x)
  • kingdom (of heaven) (32x)
  • kingdom (general or evil) (20x)
  • (Thy or Thine) kingdom (6x)
  • His kingdom (6x)
  • the kingdom (5x)
  • (My) kingdom (4x)
  • misc (18x)

Strong’s Definition

βασιλεία basileía, bas-il-i’-ah; from G935; properly, royalty, i.e. (abstractly) rule, or (concretely) a realm (literally or figuratively):—kingdom, + reign.

The words heaven and air are derived from the same word in Greek. The KJV translates Strongs G3772 in the following manner:

  • heaven (268x)
  • air (10x)
  • sky (5x)
  • heavenly (with G1537) (1x)

Strong’s Definition:

οὐρανός ouranós, oo-ran-os’; perhaps from the same as G3735 (through the idea of elevation); the sky; by extension, HEAVEN (as the abode of God); by implication, happiness, power, eternity; specially, the Gospel (Christianity):—air, heaven(-ly), sky.

The same is true for the word God, in “kingdom of God.” Strong’s Definition:

θεός theós, theh’-os; of uncertain affinity; a deity, especially (with G3588) the supreme Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very:—X exceeding, God, god(-ly, -ward).

Origin of magistrate: 1350–1400; Middle English magistrat < Latin magistrātus magistracy, magistrate, equivalent to magist(e)r master + -ātus -ate3 (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)

Thus, a better translation (for this context) could be:

18 Unto what could your realm in the spirit world be likened? (Luke 13)

Jesus answered:

19 …HIS Garden (Luke 13)

In other words, the spirit “realm” that surrounds us Jesus said could be likened to a GARDEN that WE SOW SEEDS that could GROW VERY LARGE. But most of all (for the purpose of this blog post), is the fact that Jesus said: “fowls of the spirit world” could LODGE in our trees:

19 …A TREE that FOWLS OF THE AIR (I.E., ENTITIES in the SECOND HEAVEN—THE SPIRIT WORLD) can LODGE IN. (Luke 13)

The wisdom in The Parable of the Sower could likewise be applied here, as well as the Lord’s admonition in His prayer to the Father that we PRAY DAILY for PROTECTION:

11 Give us this day our daily bread…deliver us from evil (Matthew 6:11–13)