PARABLES OF THE KINGDOM – THE SECOND – THE WHEAT AND THE TARES – Part 1 of 2
We come to the second of the Kingdom Parables commonly known as The Parable of the Tares.
Previously we studied the Sower and saw this to be the good seed sown by the Sower who is Christ, but taken up by His Apostles in the first century. The word went forth into the world. Towards the end of the first century we saw that some problems were creeping in; some false teachers becoming very active.
The Parable of the Sower had a strong relationship to the church at Ephesus and to the first age in church history we called The Apostolic Period. We shall see that the 7 Kingdom Parables match the 7 churches of Asia from revelation 2 and 3, and also connect with 7 periods of Church History. It is quite remarkable.
THE SCRIPTURES FOR THE PARABLE OF THE TARES
Just before the quotations, we can ask, “What are tares?” The word is sometimes translated as darnel. It is actually “darnel”, (Lolium temulentum) a ryegrass which looks much like wheat in its early stages of growth. It is a type of imitation wheat and Satan has all his imitations that look like the correct thing but they are false.
FROM MATTHEW – {{Matthew 13:24-30 He presented another parable to them saying, “THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN may be compared with A MAN who sowed good seed in his field but WHILE MEN WERE SLEEPING, HIS ENEMY CAME AND SOWED TARES also among the wheat and went away, but when the wheat sprang up and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ and he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ and the slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ He said, ‘No, lest while you are gathering up the tares, you may root up the wheat with them. ‘Allow both to GROW TOGETHER UNTIL THE HARVEST and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “FIRST GATHER UP THE TARES and bind them in bundles to burn them up but gather the wheat into my barn.”}}
In the first parable we have the seed being sown, but inevitably we run into trouble. Nothing of good is left in this world without corruption creeping in, or banging at the door to destroy it. Just leave food in the open for a short while and Beelzeboul’s agents, the blowflies, soon find it and come to lay their maggots.
A good Christian work commences, and before long someone is on the scene to cause trouble or some overbearing Government regulation wants to shut you down. This is what the tares is all about – opposition from the enemy of souls against what is of God.
The interesting thing about these parables is that they move from one to the next, but they represent a time sequence in their broader understanding, as we will see near the end of this parable, and we saw in the last. The church has never settled down and if it does, something is wrong. We should always have opposition to the preaching of the gospel. A church that is in luxury and settle contentedly, is not preaching the gospel.
Have a look at these two special verses – {{2 Timothy 3:12 “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus WILL BE PERSECUTED. 2 Timothy 3:13 “Evil men and impostors WILL PROCEED FROM BAD TO WORSE, deceiving and being deceived.”}}
VERSE 12. When an individual or a church desires to live godly and desires to practise righteousness and godliness, that one will be persecuted. No persecution – no godly living. There was a lot of persecution happening in the Apostolic age but it increased after that time.
VERSE 13. Second Timothy 3 has a focus on the last days and verse 13 is set in the last days, which is our time. However there has been a steady increase of wicked men over the time since Pentecost and the scourge of evil men only grows worse. In the period leading into the second century some very evil men appeared. We look at that later.
[1]. MAN AND THE GOOD SEED
The parable begins with “a man” who could have been any man, but he was a servant of God because he had the good seed. This man was a sower as in the first parable. If there is good seed, then there is bad seed. In science we have the law about action and reaction. Everything of God, or from God, has a matching evil reaction from the devil and his demons. Just two examples – God said originally, “Be fruitful and multiply,” but the devil says, “Keep having abortions.” In Genesis God joined man and woman in marriage, but Satan has his own marriage of two homosexuals.
God’s servants sow the good seed; Satan’s servants sow the bad seed, and too often in churches, too.
[2]. SLEEPING BUT NOT DILIGENT
{{“but WHILE MEN WERE SLEEPING, HIS ENEMY CAME AND SOWED TARES also among the wheat and went away,”}}
All the hard work of preparation had been done, and the sower worked hard to plant the seed, but then a disaster happened. It occurred in the night while men were sleeping. Mischief happens in the night, in the darkness, for that is Satan’s preferred time being the Prince of darkness.
Were men supposed to guard the wheat field/paddock day and night? Well in this practical case it was not feasible, but had men not been asleep and more vigilant for enemies, it might not have happened. I will say more on this a bit later.
THE DURATION OF THE TARES
(a). An enemy has done this!
(b). Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’
(c). No, lest while you are gathering up the tares, you may root up the wheat with them.
(d). Allow both to GROW TOGETHER UNTIL THE HARVEST.
(1). {{An enemy has done this!’ and the slaves said to him, He said, ‘Allow both to GROW TOGETHER UNTIL THE HARVEST”}}
The tares had become evident in the early stage but the farmer allowed them to grow along with the wheat, because to have rooted them out prior to harvest would have possibly damaged the wheat. It would have been hard to distinguish the true from the false. This was his assessment, and it was not easy balancing the enemy and the harvest.
(2). {{In the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “FIRST GATHER UP THE TARES and bind them in bundles to burn them up but gather the wheat into my barn.”}}
That is very significant for the prophetic application we shall do later on. The tares were the slaves’ dilemma but the master solved it. It was easier to pull up the tares at harvest time because the ground was dry and the wheat would not be rooted out the ground, and they would be clearly distinguished. The tares were destroyed but the wheat was gathered and stored in barns. That covers the physical aspect of this parable. Now we come to the very important explanation.
EXPLANATION OF THE TARES
{{Matt. 13:36 “Then He left the multitudes and went into the house and His disciples came to Him saying, “EXPLAIN TO US THE PARABLE OF THE TARES OF THE FIELD.”}}
The disciples did not understand the parable of the Sower and again they could not fathom this one either. Peter and John certainly would have had vivid memories of this explanation because in their letters there is much about false teaching and the pernicious tares that were causing havoc in the church in the first century.
{{Matthew 13:37 He answered and said, “THE ONE WHO SOWS THE GOOD SEED IS THE SON OF MAN,”
Matthew 13:38 “and THE FIELD IS THE WORLD and as for the good seed, these are the SONS of the kingdom, and the tares are the SONS of the evil one,”
Matthew 13:39 “and THE ENEMY WHO SOWED THEM IS THE DEVIL, and THE HARVEST IS THE END OF THE AGE, and the reapers are angels.”}}
This is a very prophetic parable but we’ll take it step by step. VERSE 37 is very clear. Jesus is the Good Sower, and of course sows the good seed. This sowing is from His servants but under His direction. The gospel is preached. That is why we can say also that the Sower in the first parable is also the Lord Jesus.
In VERSE 38, the spread of the sowing is the world in line with – {{Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples OF ALL THE NATIONS, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”}}
It is interesting that here the Lord counts the good seed as not the gospel, but the results of the gospel, the sons of the Kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one. Again we have this strong line of distinction between the sons of light and the sons of darkness. Jesus did that here also – {{Luke 11:23 “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.”}} There are only two camps, no in between. Either with Christ or against Him.
In verse 39, clearly the enemy is the devil and the harvest is the end of the age. Matthew is very clear in his Jewish gospel about the end of the age. We will look into this.
EXPLANATION OF THE TARES - THE HARVEST AND THE BURNING
We continue with the explanation given by Jesus to His disciples and this really is a big area, and placed as it is in Matthew, it delves into future prophecy. Just for now a simple summary of what Jesus said will be given, but later we take up the prophetic angle.
{{Matthew 13:40 “Therefore just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age.
Matthew 13:41 The Son of Man will send forth His angels and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks and those who commit lawlessness,
Matthew 13:42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. In that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 13:43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”}}
The term, “The end of the age” is critically important, but just for now we learn that there will be a time when the tares are gathered up – all of them - and they will be burned. They will be taken out of the way. This work will be done by the angels (verse 41).
The “burned” in verse 41 is not burned to extinction. In verse 42 there will be gnashing of teeth and weeping in that “furnace of fire,” so there is consciousness.
The tares are taken away so that the righteous (they are the wheat) are left. We will talk about them later on. They will be in the kingdom of their Father, which will be on earth. Yes, that is true! That is a simple explanation just for now.
APPLYING ONE ASPECT TO OUR CHURCH AGE
More on this is coming but I want to look at “How Will You Deal With Error?” in the church setting. We have tares among us. The Lord said they would continue until the harvest so we can expect them, and now at the end of the Church age, we can expect more and more. The bible makes that very clear about the end of the Church age. Just one verse – {{2 Timothy 3:13 “Evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”}}
DEALING WITH THE TARES IN THE CHURCHES
[Number 1]. {{1 Corinthians 5:12-13 “For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN from among yourselves.”}}. This might seem like radical surgery but God knows best. You remember that before Israel entered the promised land, God told them to remove the wicked idolatrous persons from the land, but they did not, and in time were overcome by the idolatry of the nations. It is necessary for the same reason that sin be removed from the fellowship.
[Number 2]. {{1 Corinthians 16:13 “BE ON THE ALERT; stand firm in the faith; act like men; be strong.”}}. Being on the alert is exactly what the workers did not do who worked for the farmer in this parable. “While men were sleeping,” was their downfall, and is the downfall of the church when it won’t deal with false teaching in its congregation. Neither will it be on the outlook to prevent its entry.
[Number 3]. {{Philippians 3:2 “BEWARE OF the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision.”}}. Dogs, evil workers and false circumcision were all the same in purpose. Today at our Lord’s Supper there was a blowfly that kept trying to land on the covering over the elements. The purpose of that blowfly was to spread corruption with its maggots. That is the same with the false teachers who get into churches who come from Beelzeboul – the lord of the flies.
[Number 4]. {{Colossians 2:8 “SEE TO IT that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”}}. This is straight forward. I suppose I can be widespread here – see to it that humanism, socialism, liberalism in all their forms do not get in and hold you captive. They are the modern tares of the enemy.
[Number 5]. {{Revelation 2:2 “I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you CANNOT ENDURE EVIL MEN, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false.”}}. This was a commendation for the Ephesian church of A.D. 96. The church would not tolerate evil men (evil men are those with evil doctrines of distortion of the Christian faith). Discernment is horribly lacking in the churches of today with their tolerance, in some cases, of anything,
[Number 6]. {{Jude 1:3-4 “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you CONTEND EARNESTLY FOR THE FAITH which was once for all delivered to the saints. For CERTAIN PERSONS HAVE CREPT IN unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”}}. Jude had the urgency to change the tone of his letter to deal with these evil ones who had crept in unnoticed. It is not narrow-minded to oppose the false teaching and expose it. We need more of it as the tares are growing stronger, challenging the wheat for ascendency. This is a moral failing of western churches.
PRACTICAL ISSUES TO OFFSET THE TARES
I am not sure if I wrote down the following points many years ago, or if I found them on an old internet site. These are some pointers to combat the entry and growth of tares in churches. I am adding some more today to the original list.
(1). “Be Aware Always.” This is just covering the scriptural procedure for us so we don’t sleep and let the sower of tares come in. We do not get paranoid about the enemy’s workings but we must be diligent.
(2). “Meet Regularly for Review”. This is where you want a godly, wise, and discerning eldership that can overseer God’s flock correctly. Blessed is the church that has this in operation.
(3). “What Approach is Needed?” Godly, spiritual men must be prepared to deal with the emergence of tares in their fellowship. There needs to be procedures in place. This is not witch-hunting and is likened to Galatians 6:1.
(4). “Examine All Ministries.” In a bigger church, some home groups and ministries can go without scrutiny and it is possible for these to be an outlet for problems. Also, have accountability in place.
(5). “Instruct or Discipline.” I don’t like saying it but I feel there is a big neglect in both these areas in the churches. Well-instructed sheep don’t wander into error. Church discipline needs to be spiritual, fair and with an aim to restoration. I have written on this a bit in the messages in Galatians 6.
(6). “Grab No One Suddenly.” This is so important, for it can have disastrous consequences – {{1 Timothy 5:22 “Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thus share responsibility for the sins of others. Keep yourself free from sin.”}}
(7). “Guard access to the field”. This is not draconian but is being careful. I once was in a small fellowship and some outsider came to me wanting to be a shepherd for the sheep; or at least, one of the elders. I had to stop that and it proved the correct thing to do. The eye of scrutiny is not the iron hand of refusal, but we must be guardians of the flock.
(8). “We need to look out for one another”. Lastly, it is essential that a fellowship be caring and watchful. We must watch out for each one and help one that might struggle with the matters of worries, desire for riches, ambitions and temptations – those aspects that can encourage the thorny soil. Also be alert for the error of tares.
In Part 2 of this Parable of the Tares, we look at what the end of the age is; the church at Smyrna; and the corresponding period of Church History.
