Hidden Treasure, Pearl & the Net
The day of parables closes with three more likenesses of the kingdom and a word about the teacher himself: a treasure a man finds and sells all to secure, a pearl a merchant sells all to buy, a net that gathers every kind until the good are kept and the bad cast away, and the scribe of the kingdom who brings out of his treasure things new and old.
Note. These four are Matthew’s alone; there is no Mark, Luke, or John parallel. Joseph Smith expounded all four in the close of his 1835 letter to the elders: the last portion of the same letter that runs through the Sower, the Wheat and the Tares, and the Mustard Seed and the Leaven.
? How to read this edition
The reading is the Joseph Smith Translation, in the text of the Covenant Christian Edition, carried beside each Gospel and set against the King James baseline. Headers give both numbering systems: the CCE chapter and verse, and the traditional KJV reference.
Each movement Joseph discusses carries a JS link down to his letter; the letter carries a roman-numeral link back up to the movement.
A man finds a treasure hidden in a field and, for joy, sells all that he has to secure it and buy the field. The kingdom is worth everything one has.
44Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in a field. the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and And when a man has found a treasure which is hidden, he secures it, and immediately, for joy thereof, goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
A merchant seeking goodly pearls finds one of great price and sells all that he has to buy it. The one thing worth all is found, and all is given for it.
45Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, 46who, when he had found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
A net cast into the sea gathers of every kind; when it is full, the good are gathered into vessels and the bad cast away. So at the end of the world the angels sever the wicked from the just.
47Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind, 48which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. 49So shall it be at the end of the world — and the world is the children of the wicked. The angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just 50and shall cast them into the furnace of fire out into the world to be burned. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Asked whether they have understood, the disciples say yes; and Jesus likens every scribe instructed in the kingdom to a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.
51Jesus said unto them, Have you understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. 52Then he said unto them, Every scribe well-instructed in the things of the kingdom of Heaven is like unto a householder, a man therefore who brings forth out of his treasure that which is new and old.
Joseph Smith on the Treasure, the Pearl, and the Net
The 1835 letter closes its run through Matthew 13 by reading these last parables as the gathering: the treasure and the pearl as the Saints selling all to gather to Zion, the net as the seed of Joseph spreading the gospel net over the earth, and the householder’s things new and old as the Book of Mormon, the covenants, and the translation of the Bible.
Letter to the Elders of the Church, 30 Nov.–1 Dec. 1835 · Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate (Dec. 1835) · Joseph Smith Papers ↗But to illustrate more clearly upon this gathering, we have another parable.
Again the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hid in a field, the which when a man hath found, he hideth and for joy thereof, goeth and selleth all that he hath and buyeth that field:
for the work after this pattern, see the church of the Latter Day Saints, selling all that they have and gathering themselves together unto a place that they may purchase for an inheritance, that they may be together and bear each other’s afflictions in the day of calamity.
Again the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, who when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
For the work of this example, see men travelling to find places for Zion, and her stakes or remnants, who when they find the place for Zion, or the pearl of great price; straitway sell all that they have and buy it.
Again the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind, which when it was full they drew to shore, and sat down and gathered the good into vessels, and cast the bad away.—
For the work of this pattern, behold the seed of Joseph, spreading forth the gospel net, upon the face of the earth, gathering of every kind, that the good may be saved in vessels prepared for that purpose, and the angels will take care of the bad: so shall it be at the end of the world, the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire, and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus saith unto them, have you understood all these things? they say unto him yea Lord: and we say yea Lord, and well might they say yea Lord, for these things are so plain and so glorious, that every Saint in the last days must respond with a hearty amen to them.
Then said he unto them, therefore every scribe which is instructed into the kingdom of heaven, is like unto a man that is an house holder; which bringeth forth out of his treasure things that are new and old.
For the work of this example, see the book of Mormon, coming forth out of the treasure of the heart; also the covenants given to the Latter Day Saints: also the translation of the bible: thus bringing forth out of the heart, things new and old: thus answering to three measures of meal, undergoing the purifying touch by a revelation of Jesus Christ, and the ministering of angels, who have already commenced this work in the last days, which will answer to the leaven which leavened the whole lump. Amen.
So I close but shall continue the subject in another number. In the bonds of the new and everlasting covenant.
The Gospel Net Gathers of Every Kind
In a Commerce sermon in the summer of 1839, urging the Saints to gather to the stakes, Joseph Smith used the net as the 1835 letter had: the gospel net gathers of every kind, and the gathering is not to be put off.
Discourse, between circa 26 June and circa 4 August 1839, Commerce, Illinois (Willard Richards, “W. Richards Pocket Companion Written in England,” probably recorded by John Taylor; Words of Joseph Smith, “Before 8 August 1839 (1)”) · Joseph Smith Papers ↗There will be here & there a stake for the gathering of the saints Some may have cried peace. but the Saints & the world will have little peace from henceforth. Let this not hinder us from going to the Stakes, for God has told us to flee not dallying. or we shall be scattered. one here, another there, There your children shall be blessed & you in the midst of friends where you may be blessed. The gospel net gathers of every kind, I prophecy that that man who tarries after he has an opportunity of going will be afflicted by the Devil.
The Pearl of Great Price Is the Inheritance Prepared for the Saints
The short sermon headed “Parables,” preached at Commerce the same summer, runs through these three in a few lines: the treasure in the field is the kingdom in the last days, the pearl is the inheritance prepared for the Saints, and the net gathers of every kind. These are its lines on them; the whole sermon is on the Wheat and the Tares.
Discourse, between circa 26 June and circa 4 August 1839, Commerce, Illinois (Willard Richards, “W. Richards Pocket Companion Written in England,” probably recorded by John Taylor; Words of Joseph Smith, “Before 8 August 1839 (2)”) · Joseph Smith Papers ↗Like unto a treasure hid in a field. This figure is a representation of the [kingdom] in the last days. …
… The pearl of great price is the inheritance prepared for the Saints. Sell all you have got, purchase &c. What is the end of the world? the destruction of the wicked. The Angels have begun to be revealed. They shall bind up the testimony Like unto a merchantman buying goodly Pearls A net that gathers of every kind. The wheat gathered into barns; the tares left on the field to be burned. The Net gathers in of every kind.
The World and Earth Are Not Synonymous Terms
Joseph Smith is not expounding this parable here. At the opening of a school of instruction in Nauvoo in January 1841 he stated the rule behind the 1835 letter’s reading of the net, where “so shall it be at the end of the world” (v. 49) means the wicked severed from the just: the world is the human family, not the earth. Ehat and Cook tie the distinction to his translation of Matthew 24, which reads “the end of the world” as “the destruction of the wicked.”
Discourse, 5 January 1841, Nauvoo (Old Homestead) · Extracts from William Clayton’s Private Book; Words of Joseph Smith, 60 · Joseph Smith Papers ↗… The world and earth are not synonymous terms. The world is the human family. …