Of Wheat and Tares

Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43

24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.

37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;

38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.

41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;

42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

One day I was thinking about the deception of false religions such as Islam. How they can appear good on the outside to most people, but are in fact evil counterfeits. I started to wonder how people can be tricked into believing these things, and how these religions came about. But I especially wondered why these false religions mimicked so many of the things found in the Bible.

Not to speak only on Islam, but it is staggering to see how many things were copied straight from the Bible (with "twists" of course). At first I thought it was strange- why not just start from scratch and create something completely different? But then it became clear as I thought about this parable... The best lies are the ones with truth mixed in.

To the untrained eye (non-farmer), wheat and tares look very much the same. Most would not even see the difference between the two. But the farmer would. The farmer would see the difference and know the fruit (seed) that is produced by both. The wheat seed is larger and good, while the seed from the tare is smaller and will cause vomiting and illness after it is ingested. A person with an untrained eye may not know what he has eaten until it is too late. 

Tare Seeds

Wheat Seeds

                                                                             

This is why we must train ourselves in prayer, in scripture, and in the fear of the LORD. The trained eye knows the difference between the tares (false religions) and the wheat (God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). The untrained person eats what is placed in front of him, and what appears good on the outside- only to learn of his mistake after it is too late.

*Next study- Why the tares are left to grow among the wheat, and the separation at the harvest and threshing floor.