The Parable of Zenos

(The Parable of the Lord of a Vineyard Having Two Sons Who Hired Laborers that Prepare for a Massive Banquet)

Primary Reading:

• Zenos 12

Objectives:

• Increase our understanding of the parables of Christ, and the parable of Zenos by finding common threads between them.
• Recognize that these parables were Zenos’s experience right before seeing the vision of the New Heaven and the new Earth, so these parables might prepare us to better understand the contents of the next discussion, which lead up to that same vision.

Introduction to The “Comparison” Text:

• The parable of Zenos doesn’t “line up” with the parables that Jesus shared during his earthly ministry in the same way that Zenos “lines up” with John’s Revelation, however the THEMES of the parable of Zenos are blatantly overlapping with the themes that Jesus had in several of his parables, and some of the phrases line up nicely.    So, the Comparison text for this discussion are just the parables of Christ that have theme similarities with the things that Zenos includes in his parable.  It appears that the way this parable is intended to be used is to stitch together the parables of Christ into one story.

Passages for Comparison:

• Zenos 12:1-3 :: A Man Having 2 Sons
  • Parable of Man with 2 Sons (Matt 21:28-32)
  • Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32)
• Zenos 12:4 :: A Banquet
  • Parable of the Banquet (Luke 14:15-24)
• Zenos 12:5-6 :: A Spiteful Son
  • Fall of Cain (2 Moses 7:12, 19, 21)
• Zenos 12:7-24 :: Laborers in the Vineyard
  • Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard (Matt 20:1-16)
  • 10th Commandment (3 Moses 28:18)
• Zenos 12:25-45 :: Preparing for a Banquet
  • Parable of the 10 Virgins (Matt 25:1-13)
• Zenos 12:46-50 :: New Heaven, New Earth
  • Vision of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:105)
• Zenos 12:51-54 :: The Vision Closes
  • All Things Created Spiritually before Physically (1 Moses 4:3)