The spiritual nation is the church, the holy nation of I Peter 2:9, to which Jesus prophesied the Kingdom would be given after being taken from Judah's leaders (Matthew 21:43). God's promises to Abraham are fulfilled in both the physical nation of Israel and spiritual Israel, and the paired Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Pearl of Great Price capture this overlap. The Mustard Seed shows the biological family growing large yet infested with unclean spirits, while the Pearl shows the spiritual Family supremely valued. Physical descent matters far less than receiving from God the faith of Abraham, for only those of faith are sons of Abraham (Galatians 3:7-9). Though Israelites descended from Abraham, they had hearts of unbelief, and the word was not mixed with faith. The merchant who sells all to buy the one pearl is Jesus Christ, who gave up His divine position and sinless life to redeem those with Abraham's faith, a gift of God demonstrated by obedience. The pearl does not represent individuals but the wholeness and seamlessness of the nation God has slowly built, adding a person here and there. The Hidden Treasure shows faith hidden in a few individuals; the Pearl shows the collective value and beauty of faith working in concert. The Dragnet shows that God's judgment is not based on race or ethnicity, since the gospel gathers some of every kind. Yet membership is not secure merely through cleansing by Christ's blood. Citizens must abide in Christ, the Vine, and bear fruit, or they will be cast into the fire. Those who continue to live by faith will be accounted worthy at the end of the age and will use their God-given understanding to teach others.

God's purpose runs through the Seed, from the woman through Abraham and David to Christ, and Zeresh's words in Esther 6:13, "the seed of the Jews," show that nothing can thwart that purpose. In the Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers (Matthew 21:43), Jesus announces that the Kingdom of God will be taken from the Jews, who had become enemies of the Seed, and given to a new nation that bears its fruits. Membership in this nation no longer rests on physical descent from Abraham but on spiritual likeness to him, as Jesus tells those who sought to kill Him in John 8. Paul confirms this in Romans 9: not all who are of Israel are Israel, and the children of the promise are counted as the seed. Like Isaac, they are born by God's miraculous choice, election, and calling. They are adopted and grafted into Christ's Body by faith and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 3 says that all who are baptized into Christ are one in Him, Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 6:15-16 calls this new creation "the Israel of God." Because the church is this spiritual seed, God will reverse its trials and persecutions and exalt it, as He did Mordecai. The church is also the bride He is preparing, as Esther was prepared to replace Vashti.

The kingdom of God will be taken from the leaders of physical Judah and given to a nation bearing its fruits (Matthew 21:43), and that nation is the church. The church is the chief realm where God's reign is evident today. Jesus spoke the first four parables of Matthew 13 to the multitudes, addressing the degenerate state of the physical nation. He spoke the last four to the disciples alone, turning to the spiritual nation that would bear the Kingdom's fruits. The two halves are joined in a chiasm, in which each problem posed to the multitudes finds its spiritual solution in the parable given to the disciples. At the center, the Parable of the Leaven and the Parable of the Hidden Treasure form the pivot. Leaven, meaning corrupt belief, ruined the physical nation and made it hospitable to demons. The hidden treasure answers it: God-given faith, which includes trust in God and a body of true beliefs, along with the wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and fear of God that belong to it. The spiritual nation has the same faith as Abraham. Jesus marveled at such faith in a Gentile centurion, found it in a few in Israel, and kept it hidden until He had purchased the world by His sacrifice. Faith is the basis of the Kingdom given to this nation. Because the church is the light of the world, it is not meant to stay hidden.