“For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned” (Hebrews 6:7-8 ESV).
As we continue our look at Hebrews 6:6-7 in the context of Jesus’ Parable Of The Sower, we next stop to consider the unfavorable types of soil mentioned within that parable. For instance, a farmer who seeded a field by hand would find that the wind inevitably carried a portion of the seed over to the surrounding footpaths. Any seed falling there was likely to be trampled or eaten by birds.
Another limiting factor included any underlying rock that existed below the surface. That would prevent the seed from establishing an effective root network and diminish its chance of survival. Finally, there was pressure from the surrounding vegetation. While a freshly plowed field produced a better environment for seed germination, it also provided a better environment for weed germination as well.
While any of these environmental conditions might affect the farmer’s harvest, we can also say that Jesus’ parable did not provide any information that an established first-century farmer didn’t already know. However, we should note that Jesus opened this parable with an admonition to “Listen!” and closed it in a similar manner: “And He said to them, ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear!'” (Mark 4:9).
To their credit, some of Jesus’ followers acted on that guidance: “…when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable” (Mark 4:10). Mark 4:13-15 goes on to provide us with Jesus’ reply…
“Then he said to them: ‘Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand all of the parables? The sower sows the word. Some are like the word sown on the path. When they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word sown in them'” (CSB).
So in response to their request for additional information, Jesus began by identifying the seed as the Word of God and the sower as the person who communicates God’s Word. The first soil type represented those who never really got the message. Like the seed that falls upon the compacted soil of a footpath, there are many who fail to internalize the message of the Scriptures and are subsequently prompted by their spiritual enemy to disregard it.
We’ll continue with a look at the remaining soil types from this parable next.