The Prodigal Son is Not You

We have been lied to for many centuries. The Prodigal Son is NOT you, not me, or anyone else drinking too much, having unmarried sex, partying too much, or not going to church and family functions. Rather the Prodigal Son is talking about ‘symbolic drunkenness on power’ and ‘symbolic fornication with false gods’, remembering that Jesus Himself says ‘I have spoken all these things to you in symbolic or figurative language’ (John 16.25 and Mark 4.34). So if you have ever had ‘The Parable of the Prodigal Son’ used against you, then keep reading… this will forever change your perception of the Bible and ‘Who Jesus actually was’. And for many it will eliminate a lifetime of guilt and shame by coming to the realization that ‘you never were the Prodigal Son or Prodigal Daughter’. In other words, this is ‘the real Good News’ that you have been waiting a lifetime to hear, and this real Good News will literally blow your mind (in a good way) if you are willing to read on and accept the possibility that ‘we have been lied to’.

So how is it possible that so many biblical scholars have missed the true meaning of the Prodigal Son? Quite simply it is because they suffer from a classic case of ‘not looking at the big picture’. That is, this is on a bigger level than anyone ever thought, dealing with the fate of kingdoms and the kings who rule them; remembering that Jesus is referred to as ‘the King of kings’. Therefore it is no small coincidence that this true interpretation, which has been lost for 2000 years, comes exclusively from ‘The Book of Kings’ in the Old Testament. And in one breath, ‘The Parable of the Prodigal Son’ is simply a BIG PICTURE SUMMARY or paraphrase of the HISTORY of ISRAEL from about 1000 years before Christ. This summary highlights:

The breakup of Israel into a separate Northern Kingdom and Southern Kingdom,
Their continued and unrelenting worship (especially in the Northern Kingdom) of false gods and false idols,
The consequences of their idolatry, such as civil war, famine, and widespread desolation,
And finally, consolation for those who leave their false gods and return to the one true God.

It is important to note here that the people of the Northern Kingdom (around Samaria) are referred to as Samaritans (similar to our Yankees of the Northern U.S.), and the people of the Southern Kingdom (around Jerusalem) are referred to as Jews (similar to our Rebels of the Southern U.S.). And just like the animosity between our ‘Yankees and Rebels’, civil war was also the reason why there is so much animosity between Samaritans and Jews in the New Testament. One major difference between the United States and Israel is that the Samaritans of the North were actually ‘the ones seceding from, and rebelling against the unified state’. And so you should already be piecing together that it is in fact ‘the Samaritans’ who are symbolized by the Prodigal Son, ‘seceding’ from the father’s ‘unified family’ so to speak.

Step back for a minute, forget all that you have been told about Jesus, and think logically about the words that are actually in the Bible; NOT the words that other people have added to the story, and NOT all the foregone conclusions that we have been taught. Think about it. Jesus shows up on earth, hangs out with prostitutes, and others that we would actually consider ‘prodigals’ in today’s world. Jesus even admits that He drinks more than His fair share of wine. So it doesn’t really make sense for Jesus to monitor and micromanage ‘who is sleeping with who’ and ‘who drank too much last night’ when these same people were really His only friends on this earth. What does make sense is for Jesus, ‘the King of kings’ and ‘Judge of the Nations’, to be concerned with what other kings are (or should be) concerned with… macro level, long term peace and stability for everyone on earth, and the long term securing of the basic needs of the multitudes (i.e., food, water, and shelter).

But these basic needs are the things that the multitudes in Israel did not have because of the continued Civil War between the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. To the people in Israel (and their descendants in Jesus’ day) this war was a bigger deal than our American Civil War, lasting multiple centuries. Putting Israel’s Civil War in today’s terms, it would mean that our American Civil War would still be going on today in the year 2025. So just imagine the brutality, starvation (even cannibalism), oppression, torture, and overall cruelty to humanity that the general population of Israel had to endure, with their Civil War lasting much longer (i.e., 100’s of years) than our own bloody American Civil War, which only lasted 4 years. Therefore, after realizing this major part of Israel’s history – just as the American Civil War is a major part of our history – we can now make the simple, yet hidden connection that ‘The Parable of the Prodigal Son’ is in fact paraphrasing ‘ONE of the BIGGEST STORIES from Israel’s history book (i.e., the Old Testament)’. And we must also realize that, if you or I had lived with Jesus 2000 years ago, then we would be quite familiar with the major historical events of our past, with Jesus many times referencing these events. Jesus even sets up the Prodigal Son by directly referencing historical events which are symbolized in The Parable of the Prodigal Son, saying ‘In the days of Elijah, there was a 3 ½ year drought and a great famine’. This appears in Luke 4.25, with the Prodigal Son then appearing in Luke 15.11.

Before examining the true interpretation of this parable, some words about symbolism should be addressed. This may seem simple and obvious to most, but simple and obvious things can be hidden for 2000 years because they are sooooooo simple and obvious, therefore becoming easily overlooked. Jesus, and most of the Prophets in the Old Testament, used symbolic language to convey a larger message. That is ‘an object, person, tree, animal, or deed’ = ‘some larger ruler, nation, or evil deed’. Examples include: A) ‘The Beast of Revelation that looks like a leopard, a bear, and a lion’, and B) ‘Israel taking on the shape of a withered fig tree’. Now even though the Beast is obviously evil, and Israel was doing something evil, that does not mean that every leopard, bear, lion, and fig tree is evil. Just like every ‘literal goat’ is not evil, even though they represent or symbolize evil people when Jesus judges the nations in Matthew 25.31-46. So the implied ‘drunkenness and fornication’ in the Prodigal Son is in fact symbolizing:

‘the drunkenness of rulers on power’ and
the spiritual fornication between ‘many people playing the role of a female harlot’ (like the Scarlet Harlot of Revelation) and ‘Satan playing the role of a husband other than God’, remembering that Jesus is many times called ‘the Bridegroom (of humanity)’ and Jeremiah 3.14 says ‘I am God, your Husband’.

Examples of this ‘figurative drunkenness and fornication’ are:

‘The false prophets are swallowed up by wine, they err in vision and stumble in judgement. They are drunk, but not on wine.’ (Isaiah 28.7 and 29.9)
Jesus says to the Jews in John 8.38 & 44 ‘I speak what I have seen with My Father (God), and you Jews do what you have seen with your father. You are of your father Satan, the Devil.’ The Jews respond to Jesus in John 8.41 saying ‘We were not born of fornication, we have one Father… God.’ This makes it clear that the term fornication is being used on a macro generational level, where Jesus is accusing their ancestors (acting as a symbolic macro level bride) of having ‘unmarried spiritual intercourse’ with Satan, the Devil, thereby producing ‘spiritually bastard children’ in the eyes of God and Jesus.

And so the morality of ‘literal excess drinking’ and ‘literal unmarried sex’ can be argued all day long. But to focus on these things is small-minded and short-sighted… and not at all what this parable is about. It’s about ‘the drunkenness of rulers on power’ and ‘the spiritual fornication between people and false gods (i.e., Satan in disguise)’ that affects multitudes of people for untold centuries and untold generations. And ‘drunkenness and fornication’ are merely the ‘actual physical deeds’ that are symbolizing ‘deeds that are far more evil and sadistic’; that is, the evil deeds of slavery, supremacy, and oppression that eventually leads to large scale, multi generational division, war, and hate. Therefore, if you really want to know what is important to Jesus, then you must THINK BIG and THINK LONG TERM, realizing of course that we are still talking about the Prodigal Son 3000 years in the future!

The following paragraph paints a general picture of the actual historical events which Jesus was paraphrasing in The Parable of the Prodigal Son. After that, 4 distinct parallels have been identified as A thru D. These parallels state the actual historical event from ‘The Book of Kings’, then equates those actual events to symbolic events in The Parable of the Prodigal Son, as found in Luke 15.11-32.

For many centuries we have been taught that ‘the Prodigal Son represented an actual man who went off to foreign lands to literally get drunk and literally fornicate with harlots’. But this is false. Remembering again that Jesus spoke almost exclusively in figurative or symbolic language, the Prodigal Son figuratively represents or symbolizes the Samaritans, or ‘the people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel’. Led by King Jeroboam – a king who is mentioned constantly throughout ‘Kings’ as ‘the man who made Israel sin’ – the Samaritans went off to the mountains of Shechem to start their own religion that worshiped golden calves (see 1 Kings 12.25-33). Eventually, King Jeroboam’s successors also worshiped the false god Baal, among others. 1 Kings 16.31-33 says that ‘King Ahab built an altar, an image, and a temple to worship Baal’. Therefore Elijah, a true Prophet of God, declared a drought, and consequently “There was a severe famine in Samaria” (1 Kings 18.2). The 3 ½ year drought does finally end when Elijah proves that the 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah are indeed false prophets, with the people of Israel then declaring that “The Lord, He is God” (1 Kings 18.39)… afterwhich all the false prophets are executed and a ‘heavy rain’ ends the severe famine.

Now examine the following irrefutable parallels between ‘the Samaritans’ and ‘the Prodigal Son’ which undeniably prove that the Prodigal Son symbolizes the Samaritans… that is, the Prodigal Son is NOT you.

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A. In 1 Kings 11.30 & 31, the prophet Ahijah took a garment and divided it into 12 pieces, which represented the 12 Tribes of Israel. He then said to Jeroboam ‘Take 10 pieces of the garment, for God is giving you 10 of the 12 Tribes of Israel’. So God divided the Kingdom of Israel. Then the Samaritans, leaving God, took His inheritance and went off to another country. That is, Jeroboam left Jerusalem to build Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim (1 Kings 12.25), which is in the region of Samaria.

This Equals

The younger of a man’s 2 sons (as in 2 Kingdoms) asked for his inheritance. So the father divided his livelihood. Then the younger or prodigal son took his inheritance and journeyed to a far country (Luke 15.12-13). It is IMPORTANT to note here that the 2 sons of Abraham, Jacob (later named Israel) and Esau, also represented 2 Kingdoms in the womb of Rebekah (see Genesis 25.23); a well known precedent for Jesus to draw upon.

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B. The Samaritans wasted God’s inheritance, playing the harlot by figuratively fornicating, or spiritually joining themselves with false gods (i.e., Baal in 1 Kings 16.31-33) and false idols (i.e., 2 golden calves in 1 Kings 12.28). That is, they joined themselves to Baal in Samaria, a foreign land.

This Equals

The prodigal son wasted his father’s inheritance in the company of harlots (Luke 15.13, 15, and 30), and ‘joined himself’ to a citizen (i.e., Baal) of a foreign country.

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C. The Samaritans experienced a severe famine (1 Kings 18.2) due to the 3 ½ year drought declared by Elijah (1 Kings 17.1).

This Equals

The prodigal son experienced a severe famine (Luke 15.14). Notice that the exact words ‘severe famine’ are used in both Kings and Luke. And also remember that Jesus sets this up in Luke 4.25 saying, ‘In the days of Elijah, there was a 3 ½ year drought and a great famine’.

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D. After Elijah – on an altar made of 12 stones – totally consumes ‘the 12 stones, a burnt sacrifice and soaking wet wood’ by ‘God’s fire from heaven’, many of the Samaritans then turned away from Baal and came back to God saying ‘The Lord, He is God’ (1 Kings 18.39), with God consoling the people by bringing heavy rain (1 Kings 18.41 & 45), thereby ending the drought and famine. Note here that Elijah, like the prodigal son’s father, says to King Ahab ‘Go up, eat, drink, and (implied) be merry’.

This Equals

The prodigal son left the ‘citizen’ and came back to his father (Luke 15.20), with the father then consoling him with a robe, sandals, and meat from the fatted calf (Luke 15.22 & 23), saying ‘Let us eat and be merry’; which is what Elijah said to King Ahab.

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Hence, by examining these parallels, it becomes quite obvious that, although King Jeroboam does a good job of playing the role, the Prodigal Son is not an individual, but rather ‘a nation of people from the Northern Kingdom (i.e. Samaria)’. And the Prodigal Son is not specifically King Jeroboam (i.e., he died and other kings came to power) because this story spans a time frame of many, many years and multiple generations, making the Prodigal Son a ‘general symbol’ of ‘the many people of the 10 Northern Tribes of Israel’. But wait, if that’s not enough proof, then look at the following parallels that further support that the Prodigal Son = the Samaritans.

Now since 10 Tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (i.e., the region of Samaria) split off from the ‘original Kingdom consisting of 12 Tribes’, then it would be considered ‘younger’ than the remaining Southern Kingdom of Judah; which would therefore be considered ‘older’. So the Prodigal Son being ‘the younger brother’ corresponds to Samaria being ‘the younger brother’ of the Southern Kingdom of Judah (where Jerusalem is located). Or in equation format:

‘the younger brother’ = ‘the Samaritans’
‘the older brother’ = ‘the Jews’

And so the older brother in this parable – who was still working in the field – figuratively represents the Jews of the Southern Kingdom who were jealous or mad that God was still willing to give salvation to the idolatrous Samaritans. The Jews – having a supreme mindset, even though they had practiced their fair share of idolatry – wanted to exclude the Samaritans from salvation because they felt like they had always been following God’s Commandments. This corresponds to Luke 15.29 where the older brother (i.e., the Jews) says ‘All these years I have been serving you, and never once transgressed your commandments’. Thus, just as in ‘The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard’ (Matthew 20.1-16) – where ‘the Jews had been laboring (i.e., performing religious deeds) in the vineyard or field since early morning, and thus felt superior to the Gentiles and/or Samaritans, wanting to exclude them from God’s salvation’ – Jesus was stating here that, even though the Samaritans (i.e., the Prodigal Son) had practiced idolatry with golden calves and worshipped Baal, they would still be treated as equal to the Jews in terms of salvation. Furthermore, if the Jews, being angry like the older son, did not want to accept – or ‘make merry with’ – the Samaritans (i.e., the Prodigal Son), then they would continue to ‘work in the field’ because of their superior attitude, thereby being treated as last, and the Samaritans as first. And does that not make more sense on a big level, given that, in the New Testament, the Jews and Samaritans are at each other’s throat as if they are ‘the Hatfields and McCoys fighting a family feud that they just can’t seem to settle’?

And if that is still not enough proof then consider the following. The number 12 is used throughout the Bible (i.e., 12 Apostles, 12 Gates of the New Jerusalem, 12 baskets of bread leftovers, etc.) to symbolize ‘the 12 Tribes of Israel’. Even in this story from Kings, the number 12 is used 2 times. First when ‘Ahijah tears the garment into 12 pieces’ (1 Kings 11.30), and second when ‘Elijah constructs an altar out of 12 stones’ (1 Kings 18.31 & 32). And since Ahijah said ‘Take 10 pieces to symbolize 10 Tribes’, we now see the significance of the number 10. Now we have already established that:

‘the Prodigal Son’ = ‘the 10 Tribes of the Northern Kingdom’

Therefore, given the significance of the number 10, we should immediately draw our attention to the parable that Jesus told RIGHT BEFORE The Parable of the Prodigal Son. You guessed it… The Parable of the Lost Coin (Luke 15.8 – 10) about ‘a woman having 10 SILVER COINS and then loses 1 coin’. Knowing that these 2 parables are told in succession, it becomes obvious that:

‘the 10 Silver Coins’ = ‘the 10 Tribes of the Northern Kingdom’

The 10 coins in this parable were customarily worn in a 10 piece garland, strung together to make one necklace, thereby symbolizing 10 Tribes ‘strung together’ to make one nation. Now the symbolism here is pointing to the possibility that maybe 9 Tribes (or Tribe leaders) had repented after Elijah kills the false prophets and ends the famine, with 1 holdout. And maybe that 1 holdout (or ‘lost coin’) was King Ahab, who considered Elijah to still be his enemy (1 Kings 21.20), but then finally repented in 1 Kings 21.25-29. It says ‘There was none as wicked as King Ahab, who followed abominable idols, yet he repented, mourning and humbling himself before God’. Now you can be sure that along the way there were many ‘lost coins’, but King Ahab was a major player in this big historical picture, and the timing fits as far as ‘9 being with God, and 1 being lost’. So there is a very probable chance that Jesus was referring to King Ahab as ‘the lost coin’. Regardless, you can be sure that it was no mistake for Jesus to use the number 10 in ‘The Parable of the Lost Coin’, especially knowing that ‘The Parable of the Prodigal Son’ is in fact referring to the 10 Tribes of the Northern Kingdom.

Just think about this. Jesus tells these 2 parables, one immediately after the other, and they both have an almost identical summation line. That is:

The Parable of the Lost Coin ends with ‘We should rejoice, for I have found the piece which I lost’ (Luke 15.9).
The Parable of the Prodigal Son ends with ‘We should make merry and be glad, for your brother was lost and is found’ (Luke 15.32).

Furthermore, just a few chapters later in Luke 17.11-19, Jesus cleanses – you guessed it – 10 lepers. And these 10 lepers are in Samaria, the same area as the 10 Tribes. And, it even says that ‘the returning leper’ was a Samaritan. Luke 17.18 says ‘Were there not any FOUND who returned to God except this Samaritan’. The key word here is FOUND, making the connection with ‘The Lost Coin’ and ‘The Prodigal Son’. To explain further, compare this to the preceding idea that ‘after King Ahab repented, then all 10 Tribes (or coins) would be considered FOUND’. Then fast forward 500 plus years to Jesus’ day. Jesus is in fact saying (regarding the lepers) that at one point in time, all 10 Tribes were found and had repented. That is, many people repented. But now, in Jesus’ day, only a few (probably including both Jews and Samaritans) have repented (symbolized by this 1 leper). And this ‘cleansing of the 10 lepers’ is an historical parallel to the idea that ‘Samaria was once found, but most (as in 9 out of 10 lepers) had in fact fallen back to their ways of idol worship’; noting that King Ahab’s son, when he became king, already ‘walked backwards by worshiping Baal’ (1 Kings 22.53). Also, in Jesus’ day, Acts 8.9 mentions ‘A man named Simon who is practicing sorcery in Samaria’.

Is this the truth? Is this not the truth? Well ask yourself, ‘How in the world could all these coincidences line up?’ When you look at it from a point of view of strictly ‘the facts’ as they are written in the Bible, then you should be saying to yourself ‘How can this NOT be the truth?’ You may also say ‘Why have I never heard this before if it really is the truth?’ Well consider that this very story involves Elijah – ‘the only true Prophet left’ (1 Kings 18.22) – and 850 FALSE PROPHETS. If anything we should gather from this that, throughout history, the truth is the smallest voice compared to ‘a mammoth voice of lies’, many times deceived by their own ancestors, thereby not even realizing that they are even lying to people. As they say ‘The best deceptions are those where people do not even realize they have been deceived’; which is probably the way it was with the 850 false prophets, as well as most false prophets in history. That is the real great deception of Satan: to disguise himself as God and make people repeat his lies, believing they are repeating the truth.

Jesus said ‘My words of truth will set you free’ (John 8.32). So now ask yourself ‘Do I feel free of the guilt and shame false prophets have piled on top of me for an entire lifetime?’ If your answer is ‘Yes, I feel free’, then it also means that ‘Yes, this is the truth that sets you free’. And this is the REAL GOOD NEWS that has been hidden for 2000 years… of course also meaning that WE HAVE BEEN LIED TO for 2000 years.

What you have just read is only the tip of an enormous iceberg. And just as most of the iceberg is hidden underwater so that you can’t see it, most of the true meanings of Jesus’ words and parables are also hidden under a ‘sea of lies’ so that we cannot see what they really mean. As Jesus says repeatedly in Matthew 24.5, 11, & 24, ‘Most of the world will be deceived’ (see also Revelation 12.9).

If you are interested in learning the true, decoded meanings of Jesus’ words and parables, then email me at:

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