30/60/100

Have you ever noticed this term in the bible?  Hundredfold...sixtyfold...thirtyfold???  Or 30/60/100?  Well, there is some complicated and controversial information out there on what it means...so let's take the main verse from the Old Testament and the main from the New and see if we can make some God-sense out of it...sound good?

The only time I found "hundredfold" in the Old Testament is in Genesis 26.  There is a famine in the land and God tells Isaac to stay put right where the famine is.  I think He does it to bless Isaac outwardly so that everyone will know that Isaac is God's chosen child.  Even though there is a famine, Isaac chose obedience.  In return, God blessed the seed Isaac had sown.  Genesis 26:12 tells us "Then Isaac sowed in that land and received in the same year a hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him." It goes on to describe all the wells of water that were dug.  Springs of water flowed and the LORD made room (rachab:  to broaden/enlarge) for Isaac...he was very fruitful in the land despite the barren famine all around.

God likes to make it all about him.  So, even if you are in a place of wilderness, God can easily show up, bless the seed that you are sowing, allow springs of living water to flow, and make you very fruitful.

All for the display of HIS glory.

Let's do like Isaac, though. When God shows up, let us build an altar of remembrance and call upon the name of the LORD...not point our fingers to our own self perceived greatness.

Now to the New Testament.  We see this concept mainly in Matthew 13:23.

"But he that received seed into the ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

I love that we have the theme of good soil already established here.  Basically, you have Believers listening to the Word of God.  They are hearing and welcoming what they learn.  We know the seed is the Word, so we know it will take root in this good soil.  The amount that it produces is up to God, but I can't help but think that those that have (understanding of the Word) will be given more (Mt. 13:12.)

Here is a commentary I liked on the 30/60/100 principle:

"Here, in the parable, these various increases intend the different degrees of fruitfulness in gracious souls; for though the fruits of grace in believers are of the same quality, yet not of the same quantity.  Some believers are grown to a greater maturity than others:  some are but little children, some are young men, some are fathers."  Gill's Exposition of the Bible

I think maybe this is what my soul is longing for...a greater "fold" of the Word and of Jesus Himself.  Whether it be 30 fold, 60 fold, or 100 fold, I will leave that to God.  I think I want more maturity in this soul when it comes to knowing Jesus and becoming like Him. 

What do you make of the 30/60/100 fold idea?