by Gary L. Evans
(5/4/2023)
The Parable of The Tares — Part 1
Jesus taught publicly using Parables, and each one represented absolute truth. They were not fairy tales, but instead are critical to our understanding of God’s Word. Some revealed hidden mysteries not fully understood except by careful study of other Scriptures on the same subject as the teaching of Jesus. The public was not meant to understand, but Jesus explained them to His disciples in private. Consider the “parable of the tares.”
Matthew 13:24-30 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 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? He said unto them, an enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 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.
The subject of this Parable is “The Kingdom of Heaven.” It is compared to a field and a man who sowed good seed in the field. Since it is comparative, it immediately begins to explain itself from the beginning.
It also contains a hidden mystery that is not obvious from a mere surface reading. We can identify the major components, and Jesus will later explain what each one represents so we can understand: the man, the field, the wheat, the enemy, the tares, the servants, the time of harvest, and the reapers.
Whosoever has eyes to see and ears to hear, let him hear.
The Parable of The Tares — Part 2
Tares, commonly called “zoan,” are poisonous and while growing appear very similar to wheat plants and so are almost undetectable. Only near maturation do their heads turn black revealing their present danger to the entire crop. Even when detected early, their roots become intertwined with the roots of the wheat plants making it impossible to pull them up separate from the wheat.
So we perceive in this Parable that there is a prevailing condition of evil right up until the very end. Jesus continues to provide more information with another comparative Parable on the same subject:
Matthew 13:31-32 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
The subject is The Kingdom of Heaven. And the major components of this Parable are the man, a tiny mustard seed, a field, the grown mustard plant, and the birds.
Note that “birds” in general are considered unclean, except when the context describes otherwise, and so usually represent something evil. What is missing is any notion of harvest, just the prevailing condition of evil dwelling in the branches of the fully grown mustard plant. Jesus continues to provide more information with a third comparative Parable on the same subject:
Matthew 13:33 Another parable spake he unto them; the kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
The subject is The Kingdom of Heaven and the components of this parable are the woman, some leaven, the number three, and some meal. The number three may indicate that this is the third and final parable in this set. The woman is preparing dough to bake some bread.
Note that in the Scriptures, “leaven” most often represents falsehood and deceit, and was banned during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It was unlawful to even have any leaven inside ones house during that feast.
Mat 16:6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
Jesus warned His Disciples to be on guard of the “leaven” of those hypocrites. Obviously He was using the word “leaven” in a figurative sense. But His Disciples thought He must be concerned because they had forgotten to bring bread with them.
Mat 16:11-12 How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
So Jesus used the word “leaven” to represent the “false doctrine” of hypocrites, which later would be the contradictions of God’s Word taught by those many antichrists that would come deceiving and confusing the whole world.
Also adding leaven to dough would cause it to puff up and become very large compared to the amount of food that was in the loaf, so it would appear misleading to an unsuspecting buyer. In those days people lived primarily off of bread for nutrition. They calculated the number of loaves needed to feed their families each week. Unwittingly buying loaves of leavened bread in a market was like getting cheated. Today, bread is sold by weight, not by size.
What is missing here is the actual notion of baking, just the prevailing condition of evil mixed into the dough. These additional two Parables add emphasis to the notion of evil mixed into something otherwise good, which is related somehow to The Kingdom of Heaven.
Whosoever has eyes to see and ears to hear, let him hear.
The Parable of The Tares — Part 3
Matthew 13:34-35 All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.
Matthew notes Psalms 78:
Psa 78:1-3 Maschil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
Jesus was fulfilling this prophecy by teaching publicly in Parables, teaching hidden mysteries that have been kept secret.
To dig a little deeper into this verse, it is necessary to go beneath the English translation and look at the actual Greek word in the manuscript that was translated to “foundation.” Using the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance we see that the word is “katabole,” which means “a deposition,” “founding,” or “conception.”
A Strong’s word definition consists of three parts:
First is the dictionary word number, Greek spelling (or Hebrew), and the English transliteration and pronunciation;
Second is the root word number, followed by the word definition;
Third, after a colon and a dash, each English word that the translators of The King James Bible translated the word to in each of the various verses in which it was used.
G2602 καταβολή katabole kat-ab-ol-ay’
From G2598; a deposition, that is, founding; figuratively conception: – conceive, foundation.
And it is from the root word “kataballo” which means “to throw down.” So the sense is “a casting down” or “overthrow.”
G2598 Καταβάλλω kataballo kat-ab-al’-lo
From G2596 and G906; to throw down: – cast down, lay.
The usual Greek word used for “found” or “foundation” in the sense of building something is a different word, “themelioo,” which means “to lay a basis for, erect, and consolidate.” So the use of katabole in the text suggests that Matthew was telling us something hidden in a subtle way.
G2311 θεμελιόω themelioo them-el-ee-o’-o
From G2310; to lay a basis for, that is, (literally) erect, or (figuratively) consolidate: – (lay the) found (-ation), ground, settle.
Considering these linguistic facts we can use the root word meaning in the translation: “I will utter things which have been kept secret since the overthrow of the world.” But this world has not yet been destroyed, so these secrets have been hidden since the destruction of the world that existed on earth before this one.
This word is a clue to another mystery, The First Earth Age. For now, we learn that these mysteries have been hidden since the beginning of this world up until the time of Christ, which was a very long time. And also what was at The Beginning of This World? The Garden of Eden and the entry of The Children of The Devil into this world, which is another mystery.
Whosoever has eyes to see and ears to hear, let him hear.
The Parable of The Tares — Part 4
Matthew 13:36 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.
Jesus takes His disciples to a private place and begins to explain the Parable.
Matthew 13:37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
The “man” is Jesus, The Christ, who also has the title “The Son of Man.”
It is important to note that the prophet Ezekiel was also given the title “Son of Man,” but was never called The Anointed One, which is the meaning of the words “Messiah” and “Christ.”
Matthew 13:38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
Now we know the meaning of the field, the wheat, and the tares. They are about two kinds of people in this world, one good and one evil, and about their origins. So The Kingdom of Heaven is on this earth and is in this world.
The Son of Man sewed the good children of The Kingdom of Heaven, which are The Sixth Day Creation of Mankind, and also The Man Adam and his wife Eve, whose lineage would eventually bring The Promised Messiah, Jesus Christ.
The tares are the evil or poisonous children of The Wicked One, The Kenites.
Matthew 13:39-40 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
The enemy is The Devil who sired Cain, whose descendants are The Kenites.
The “time of the harvest” is the end of this world which will be The Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ when He returns as King of kings and Lord of lords.
The “servants” and “reapers” are the Lord’s Elect and His angels.
Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
We learn in Revelation that The Devil is also called The Great Dragon, That Old Serpent, and Satan. Note that Eve was not deceived by a literal snake, but by a Cherub.
Matthew 13:41-43 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; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
When Christ returns He will establish His Millennial Kingdom on earth. And at the end of that one thousand years will be The Great White Throne Judgment, when Satan, alias Lucifer, and all of the still unrepentant lawless ones are cast into The Lake of Fire where they will burn to ashes from within, never to exist again forever and forever. This is another mystery, The Seven Seals, which teach us all of the conditions and events that lead up to the end of this world and the Return of Christ.
Malachi 4:1-3 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.
And The Lord’s Servants, His Elect, who overcome The Deception of Satan, will walk over their ashes!
Whosoever has eyes to see and ears to hear, let him hear.