The Unjust Steward

THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel ✦✦✦ A New Teaching Series THE PARABLES AND THE LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL Proving the Singular Mission of YAHSHUA Through Every Parable He Taught ✦✦✦ PART SIXTEEN THE UNJUST STEWARD Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 1 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel The Dismissed Steward of the Kingdom — and the New Steward Who Must Use Worldly Resources for Kingdom Purposes Luke 16:1–9 A Midweek Bible Study Rev. John Shane Vaughn First Harvest Ministries International Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 2 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel INTRODUCTION TO TONIGHT'S STUDY Beloved — tonight we take up one of the most puzzling parables in the entire Bible. For centuries, commentators have wrestled with it. Preachers have avoided it. Seminaries have handed it around like a hot coal, uncertain how to explain why YAHSHUA would seem to commend an unjust steward for cheating his master. The parable is not puzzling once you see it through the Two-House lens. •The rich man — YAHWEH, the Master of the Kingdom •The steward — Judah, entrusted with the covenant, the scriptures, the priesthood, the temple, the sacred oracles •The wasted goods — the treasures of the Kingdom, allowed to run to waste while Judah degenerated into empty formalism •The accusation and dismissal — the transfer of the Kingdom from Judah to another nation (Matthew 21:43) Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 3 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel •The soliloquy — "What shall I do? I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed" — Judah's response to the loss of covenant stewardship •The lord's commendation — not a moral endorsement of dishonesty, but a comment on worldly cleverness This is not a parable about how to be a good Christian with money. This is a parable about the dismissal of the old steward, the appointment of a new one, and the practical warning that the children of light must be at least as wise as the children of this world in their generation. Let us open our Bibles. And let us see — once again — that every parable YAHSHUA spoke was about the recovery of His scattered people. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 4 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel THE TEXT BEFORE US Luke 16:1–2 "And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward." Luke 16:3–4 "Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses." Luke 16:8–9 "And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. And I say unto you, Make to Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 5 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations." This is the parable of the dismissed steward — the Kingdom stewardship transferred out of one hand and into another. And it is the practical warning that the new steward must be shrewd enough to survive in a world where the children of darkness are often wiser than the children of light. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 6 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel I. THE WASTEFUL STEWARD IS JUDAH The Steward Had Wasted His Master's Goods. The parable opens with the steward being accused of wasting his master's goods — and on that account, he is to be dismissed. This is precisely what happened to the House of Judah. •The whole of the instructive and beneficial system of Israel law and religious ordinances had been allowed by Judah to run to waste •It had ceased to be profitable to the people •It had degenerated into a system of empty formalities •The scriptures were not being lived •The blessing of inspiration was quenched •The prophecies were ignored •The covenants were all wasted and rendered of no effect •The estate was in utter neglect •The steward was unfaithful to his trust Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 7 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Judah was given the whole treasure of the Kingdom — the Torah, the Prophets, the Writings, the priesthood, the temple, the sacred oracles, the throne of David. And the treasure was wasted through empty formalism, hypocrisy, and neglect. The Kingdom Was Taken From Him. This is the same transfer YAHSHUA announced explicitly in Matthew 21:43: Matthew 21:43 "Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." The Unjust Steward is the parable form of that same declaration. The steward is dismissed. The stewardship passes to another. The Kingdom is taken from the House that wasted it and given to the House that will bring forth the fruits. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 8 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel The Unjust Steward of Luke 16 and the Wicked Husbandmen of Matthew 21 preach the same transfer from two different angles. The Husbandmen focused on the murder of the Son. The Steward focuses on the wasting of the goods. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 9 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel II. THE SOLILOQUY — WHAT SHALL I DO? The Dismissed Steward Thinks Out Loud. "What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed." This is a remarkably human moment in the parable. The steward has been caught. He has been dismissed. And now he must think about his future. •He cannot dig — he was not trained for hard manual labor •He is ashamed to beg — he had held a position of dignity and privilege •He needs a plan — he needs to survive the loss of his position This describes exactly the historical experience of dismissed Judah. After the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, the covenant stewardship was gone. The Temple was gone. The priesthood was scattered. The nation was broken up. And the dispersed Judeans faced the same practical question — "What shall I do?" Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 10 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel •They could not simply farm the land — they were driven from the land •They could not simply beg — they had held positions of religious and civil dignity •They had to devise new strategies to survive in nations that did not recognize their covenant identity The soliloquy of the steward is the historical situation of dismissed Judah — needing to survive without the stewardship, without the covenant privileges, without the temple system that had defined their entire existence. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 11 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel III. THE STEWARD'S CLEVER SOLUTION Reducing the Debts of the Master's Debtors. The steward comes up with a scheme. He calls his master's debtors and reduces their debts: •One owed a hundred measures of oil — he wrote it down to fifty •Another owed a hundred measures of wheat — he wrote it down to fourscore Why did he do this? To make friends among the debtors — so that when he was finally put out of the stewardship, they would receive him into their houses. This was a shrewd but morally questionable move. He was still wasting his master's goods — reducing the master's income — in order to secure his own future. It was cleverness in the service of self- interest. It was worldly wisdom without covenant obedience. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 12 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel The steward's scheme is exactly the kind of survival strategy that dismissed people often adopt — using whatever resources remain to secure practical advantage, even at the cost of higher principles. Some in dismissed Judah historically pursued exactly this kind of shrewd financial and commercial adaptation after the loss of the covenant stewardship. But This Is Not the Whole Story. Do not miss the pastoral care here — this parable is describing a historical adaptation, not making a genetic or racial accusation. There have always been righteous Jews who honored YAHWEH through the centuries. There have always been unrighteous saints among the returning Israel. The parable is not painting an entire people with one brush. What the parable IS saying: the covenant stewardship was lost, and worldly cleverness took the Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 13 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel place of covenant obedience in the survival strategy of the dismissed steward. The unrepentant portion of dismissed Judah adapted with worldly wisdom. The believing portion of Judah — the good figs — joined regathered Israel and are no longer known as Jews at all. The parable is descriptive of a historical pattern, not a condemnation of every individual descendant. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 14 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel IV. THE MASTER'S COMMENDATION Here Is Where Preachers Have Gotten Confused. "And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely." Many readers stop here and are stunned. Did YAHWEH just commend cheating? Did the parable just endorse dishonesty? No. The lord in the parable is not approving of the dishonest methods of the steward. He is commenting on his cleverness in finding a way out of his dilemma and his skill in making his dismissal the means of securing for himself a strong material position. •The steward's actions were dishonest •But his practical shrewdness was undeniable •Instead of being disheartened by his discharge, he threw off restraint and immediately went into his scheme Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 15 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel •He secured for himself a better financial and worldly standing than he had before YAHSHUA is not commending sin. YAHSHUA is observing that the dismissed steward moved fast, thought practically, and secured his future — while the children of the covenant often move slowly, hesitate, and lose their material footing in the very moment of testing. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 16 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel V. THE PROPHECY OF WHAT WAS COMING YAHSHUA Was Not Just Describing the Past. Here is a dimension of this parable most commentators miss entirely. The steward's clever solution was not only a metaphor for something that had already happened. It was a prophetic prediction of what was about to happen — the historical adaptation of dismissed Judah after the covenant stewardship was removed. Look carefully at the steward's own words: Luke 16:3–4 "What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses." The steward names three options — and rejects two of them: •He will not dig — he will not become a farmer, a manual laborer, a producer of primary goods Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 17 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel •He is ashamed to beg — he will not become dependent on the charity of others •He resolves on a third path — he will become skilled in the movement of debt, in the reduction and restructuring of what others owe, in making himself valuable to "the houses" of the world This is exactly the historical adaptation that occurred. •After the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, dismissed Judah could not simply return to farming — the covenant land had been taken •Dismissed Judah would not become beggars — the covenant dignity would not allow it •Instead, over the centuries of the long dispersion, a significant portion of dismissed Judah became highly skilled in trade, in commerce, and eventually in the movement of debt and the operation of the financial systems of the nations that took them in YAHSHUA was prophesying, in parable form, exactly what would happen after the stewardship was removed. Dismissed Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 18 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Judah would not dig. Dismissed Judah would not beg. Dismissed Judah would learn to survive by mastering the mammon of unrighteousness — the world's systems of debt, credit, and finance — and would find "houses" open to them in every nation where those skills were valued. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 19 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel VI. THE PROPHETIC ACCURACY OF THE STEWARD'S PATH The Historical Outcome Matches the Parable Precisely. Consider how precisely history has followed the pattern YAHSHUA sketched in this parable: •Dismissed from the Kingdom stewardship of covenant goods, a portion of dispersed Judah entered the stewardship of worldly goods — the mammon of unrighteousness •Denied the priestly management of the Temple treasury, they became skilled in the management of Gentile treasuries — merchants, traders, financiers, bankers, brokers, exchange-agents •Barred from many trades in medieval Europe, they were often channeled by law into money-lending — the very "reducing of debt" the parable describes •By the modern era, this adaptation had produced significant financial influence across the nations of the diaspora Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 20 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel This is not a genetic accusation. This is a historical observation of a prophetic pattern. YAHSHUA foretold that the dismissed steward would find friends in "the mammon of unrighteousness" — the worldly financial system — and that those friends would receive him into their houses. That is exactly what happened. The pattern of financial adaptation was neither accident nor conspiracy — it was the natural historical consequence of a covenant stewardship being dismissed and a shrewd remnant surviving by whatever means the age permitted. The parable is prophetically accurate. The dismissed steward found his houses in the financial systems of the nations. The mammon of unrighteousness received him. And he survived — even prospered — through the very cleverness YAHSHUA described. But Note What the Parable Does Not Say. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 21 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel The parable does not say the steward was doing YAHWEH's work. It does not say the steward's cleverness was righteous. It does not say his houses were Kingdom houses. It calls his shelter the mammon of UNrighteousness — and it warns that those houses are temporary, that this age will fail, and that everlasting habitations are secured only by turning shrewdness back toward Kingdom purposes. Pastoral care must be exercised here. The parable describes a historical pattern of financial adaptation among dismissed Judah — but it does not identify every individual descendant with that pattern. Then, as now: •Many Jews across the centuries have lived quiet, honest, hardworking lives with no involvement in high finance •The good figs of Judah — the believing remnant — joined regathered Israel and are no longer identified as Jews at all •The pattern the parable describes belongs to the unrepentant portion, and even within that portion, Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 22 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel individuals stand or fall before YAHWEH one by one We speak the prophetic pattern that YAHSHUA embedded in the parable — while refusing to weaponize it against a living people. The parable diagnoses a historical adaptation. It does not license hatred against every son and daughter who bears the name of the dismissed steward's line. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 23 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel VII. THE MIRROR TURNS ON THE AWAKENING REMNANT And Here Is the Sharpest Word of the Whole Parable. Do not miss what YAHSHUA said next — because this is where the parable turns from description into direct pulpit command. Luke 16:8 "And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light." The dismissed steward mastered the mammon of unrighteousness. And YAHSHUA turned to His disciples — the children of light — and told them, in effect: *you had better learn to do the same.* •The dismissed steward learned to move fast when the stewardship was taken from him •The children of light are still moving slow Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 24 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel •The dismissed steward learned to think practically about survival and provision •The children of light are still thinking only about spiritual matters and losing ground in the material world •The dismissed steward learned to make friends who would receive him into houses •The children of light have failed to build the kind of Kingdom-networks that will receive us when the age of the mammon-houses finally collapses YAHSHUA was not commending the dismissed steward's dishonesty. He was rebuking the children of light for their financial and practical foolishness. If the dismissed steward could master the mammon of unrighteousness for his own survival, the children of light must master the same skills for the survival and expansion of the Kingdom. The Awakening Remnant Has Been Outmaneuvered for Centuries. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 25 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Consider what has been true of the awakening Israel- remnant for most of the modern era: •We have preached the covenant while others built financial empires •We have kept the Sabbath while others learned to compound wealth on the other six days •We have studied Torah while others studied markets, contracts, and instruments of finance •We have been generous to a fault while others built systems that channeled generosity into their own coffers •We have been outmaneuvered — not because our doctrine is wrong, but because our practical stewardship is naive The dismissed steward YAHSHUA prophesied has been operating with a fully aligned belief system in the mammon-of-unrighteousness world. The children of light have been trying to serve YAHWEH and mammon simultaneously — and the mixture has canceled us out in exactly the way the previous section described. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 26 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel The prophetic accuracy of the parable is a two-edged sword. Yes, it foretold what dismissed Judah would become in the financial systems of the world. But it also indicts the children of light for allowing that dismissed steward to outmaneuver us for two thousand years while we hesitated. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 27 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel VIII. THE CALL TO KINGDOM SHREWDNESS YAHSHUA's Command to the Awakening Remnant. The pulpit application of this parable is not "look at what Judah did with money." The pulpit application is "look at what the awakening remnant has failed to do with money — and start doing it now." •Learn how the mammon system actually works •Build Kingdom institutions that can survive economic upheaval •Train awakening saints in commerce, in finance, in enterprise, in the disciplined management of resources •Build friendships and networks in this present age that will "receive us into everlasting habitations" when the age of the mammon-houses finally collapses •Do not remain naive while the dismissed steward's adaptations continue to outmaneuver the recovered remnant Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 28 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel We must be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves. The dismissed steward mastered the serpent-wisdom without the dove-innocence — and it built him houses in the mammon of unrighteousness. The children of light have mastered the dove- innocence without the serpent-wisdom — and it has left us financially defenseless generation after generation. The Kingdom scribe must bring forth things new and old — and must handle mammon with at least the practical shrewdness of the dismissed steward, while directing every dollar toward the everlasting habitations of the coming Kingdom-age. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 29 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel IX. MAKE FRIENDS OF THE MAMMON OF UNRIGHTEOUSNESS The Practical Application. "Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations." Mammon is the world's word for money and material wealth. YAHSHUA calls it the mammon of unrighteousness — not because money itself is evil, but because the systems of worldly wealth are built on unrighteousness (usury, exploitation, greed, deception). But we still have to operate inside those systems. We live in a world where money buys food, houses, printing presses, broadcasting equipment, ministry buildings, and Bibles. •We cannot dig — most of us are not called to subsistence farming •We cannot beg — the Kingdom does not advance by mendicancy Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 30 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel •We must use money, but not love it •We must build friendships and networks in the world without becoming citizens of the world •We must ensure that when we finally lose everything at the end of this age, we have used our worldly stewardship to prepare everlasting habitations Every dollar the awakening remnant handles must be handled with the shrewdness of the unjust steward AND the integrity of a Kingdom scribe. Use the mammon. Do not love it. Use it to build the vineyard. Not to line your pockets. And when this age fails — as it will — the friendships you built in Kingdom stewardship will receive you into everlasting habitations. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 31 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel X. THE STEWARDSHIP IS NOW WITH ISRAEL The Kingdom Is Real and Earthly. Now — the parable reveals something crucial about the nature of the Kingdom itself. There are many who insist that the Kingdom of YAHWEH is spiritual only — that it consists of all those who make a profession of faith and thereby claim son-ship as the children of Elohim by new birth. Those who believe such a thing say that the Kingdom is in the heart — not made up of physical bodies with earthly responsibilities to rule with the King according to His law. This parable reveals that the Kingdom was taken from the failed stewards because they had physical bodies, earthly duties, and responsibilities to YAHWEH which they did not carry out. Therefore, it is conclusive that salvation and the new birth are not the Kingdom — for the Kingdom was Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 32 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel taken from them, but the offer of salvation to those who could believe was still in effect. The Kingdom is not a spiritual experience merely; it is not a state or condition of life, but a literal earthly Kingdom. It is a kingdom that YAHWEH formulated and gave to Moses and Jacob/Israel. The stewardship of the Kingdom is a real, earthly, governmental thing. It has treasures. It has responsibilities. It has a location. It has a King. And it was transferred from one steward to another. The new steward is the regathered House of Israel — awakening in this hour, taking up the goods of the Kingdom, learning to use the resources of the age for the purposes of the King. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 33 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel XI. THE STEWARDSHIP RESTORED IN THE AWAKENING REMNANT FHMI Lives Inside the Restored Stewardship. Every saint who has awakened to Torah, Sabbath, the feasts, the Sacred Names, and the Two-House gospel is part of the new stewardship of the Kingdom. •We have received what was wasted •We are called to bring forth the fruits •We are called to steward the goods faithfully •We are called to be shrewd in this present age — using its resources without loving them •We are called to prepare everlasting habitations through the friendships we make in Kingdom service But beware — if we, having received the stewardship, then waste it as Judah wasted it, we become the very thing YAHSHUA condemned in this parable. •If we allow our teachings to run to waste Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 34 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel •If we allow the treasures of the Kingdom to become empty formalities •If we build up wealth without building up the vineyard •If we hoard for ourselves what YAHWEH gave for the household We become the dismissed steward. The parable warns both houses. It warns unrepentant Judah of what has already occurred. And it warns awakening Israel of what could still occur if the stewardship is not honored. Do not repeat the failure that cost Judah the Kingdom. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 35 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel XII. UNIVERSAL RECONCILIATION AND THE STEWARDSHIP YAHWEH Never Purposed Eternal Destruction. Do not misread this parable — or any of the Two- House parables — as a doctrine of hatred toward the dismissed steward. YAHWEH did not purpose the eternal destruction of Judah. He removed the stewardship. He allowed the covenant house to be broken up. He permitted centuries of dispersion. But He did not close the door of reconciliation. •The good figs of Judah joined regathered Israel and are no longer known as Jews at all •The bad figs — the unrepentant Edomite-mixed remnant — remain outside the Father's feast •But even the bad figs will one day pass through the refiner's fire and be gathered The sickle of cleansing eventually falls on every soul — not to annihilate, but to refine. Even the unjust steward will one day be brought home. The parable Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 36 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel ends with the dismissed steward using worldly wisdom to secure temporary shelter — but the fullness of history ends with every son and daughter of Adam reconciled to the Father. We speak the sharp truth about Judah's dismissal — while praying for the final gathering of every son of Adam into the Father's house. The Two-House transfer is a corrective sifting, not a permanent damnation. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 37 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel XIII. THE PATTERN OF THE PARABLE Let Us Draw It All Together. •The rich man — YAHWEH, the Master of the Kingdom. •The steward — Judah, entrusted with the covenant treasures. •The wasted goods — the Torah, prophecies, priesthood, temple, allowed to run into empty formalism. •The accusation and dismissal — Matthew 21:43, the Kingdom taken from Judah. •The soliloquy — Judah's practical question: what shall I do without the stewardship? •The clever scheme — the historical worldly adaptation of the dismissed steward. •The lord's commendation — not moral endorsement of dishonesty, but recognition of shrewdness. •The children of light warning — the awakening remnant must be at least as wise as the children of this world. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 38 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel •The mammon of unrighteousness — the tool we must use, without becoming its slave. •The new stewardship — the regathered House of Israel, called to bring forth the fruits of the vineyard. This is the practical Two-House parable. It says less about eschatology than the others and more about how the awakening remnant must live in this present age — shrewdly, faithfully, using every resource for Kingdom purposes, preparing everlasting habitations even now. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 39 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel REFLECTION QUESTIONS Three Questions for Tonight's Class: 1. If the wasted goods of the parable represent the treasures of the Kingdom that were allowed to run to empty formalism — what treasures in my own life or ministry am I allowing to run to waste? What has become empty formality in me? 2. If the children of this world are shrewder in their generation than the children of light — where am I being naive in worldly affairs? Where do I need to become more practically wise without becoming morally compromised? 3. If the mammon of unrighteousness is a tool that must be used carefully — how am I handling money, resources, and worldly systems in this hour? Am I using them for Kingdom purposes, or am I being used by them? Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 40 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 41 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel CLOSING WORD The Unjust Steward is the practical parable of the Two-House trilogy. YAHWEH is the Master. Judah was the steward. The stewardship was lost through the wasting of the goods. The stewardship has been transferred to the regathered House of Israel. > And now the new steward must learn to be shrewd — to use the resources of this present age for the purposes of the King — without becoming corrupted by them. > We must be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. We must move faster than we have been moving. We must think more carefully than we have been thinking. We Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 42 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel must build the vineyard with every dollar, every hour, every friendship the age puts in our hands. Beloved — we are the new stewards. •Do not waste what the previous steward wasted. •Do not become morally compromised the way the dismissed steward became compromised. •But do not remain naive while the children of this world outmaneuver us. •Be shrewd. Be faithful. Be quick. Be watchful. The Master is coming to inspect the stewardship. He will not commend empty formality. He will not commend wasted goods. He will commend the steward who used the mammon of this age to build the everlasting habitations of the age to come. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 43 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Next in the Series — Part Seventeen: The Evil Spirits — and we will see how YAHSHUA warned that a house cleansed but left empty invites seven other spirits worse than the first. The Kingdom must not only be recovered from the dismissed steward — it must be filled with the King Himself. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 44 THE UNJUST STEWARD — Part Sixteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel ✦✦✦ Rev. John Shane Vaughn First Harvest Ministries International The Parables and the Lost Tribes — Part Sixteen: The Unjust Steward Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 45