"Reaping The Harvest" Part 6

Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who 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 grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.

So the servants of the owner came and said to him, "Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?"

He said to them, "An enemy has done this." The servants said to him, "Do you wants us then to go  and gather them up?" But He said, "No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.'" Matthew 13:24-30
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Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.'

He answered and said to them: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.

The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.

"The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! Matthew 13:36-43
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I guess its important to take a look at the parable of the wheat and the tares since we are on day six in this 'reminder' look at the harvest and this is where He led me for today's message. I think the first thing to remember at this point is that first and foremost is that the heart of the Father is that good seed is planted and harvested! He never intended that any should be lost which is why in verse 29 he tells the servants, "No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them." It is His heart that the good seed has a chance to take root and grow strong even if it means bidding His time in dealing with the tares. It is important to remember that the enemy is responsible for planting the tares, not God! It is the enemies heart that the good crop is destroyed not the Father's.

I looked up the word tares in the Strong's and was a little surprised to see that this parable is the only time that this word is used and that it doesn't mean what I thought it would. I thought it would mean weed or something similar. It comes from #2215 and it is of uncertain origin; and it means; darnel or false grain.

I found this to be very interesting since we are told in a number of places, such as the parable of the sower, that the word is the seed and that the enemy, in both the garden with Eve, and in the temptation of Jesus, takes the word of God, and manipulates it in order to cause deception. It says in John 8:44 that the enemy is a lier and the father of lies. He sows tares in the world for one purpose; to destroy. He plants, tares or false grain in and around believers for a purpose as well. It is his heart to, as it is put in Matthew 13:22 in the parable of the sower to choke out the good seed with the cares of the world, deceitfulness of riches, doubt, worry, unbelief, and the desires for other things.

It is the Father's heart that we would grow strong, rooted in Him! It is His heart that we yield a hundredfold harvest and with that goal in mind He plants good seed. The enemy will plant only a false grain meant to choke out the good that the Father has planted and while we are in a time of waiting at this moment, the day for reaping will come. The time for reaping the harvest will come or as Jesus put it in His explanation to His disciples the day will come when "The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth." The day will come when the tares will be dealt with and it is our job as the good seed to grow strong in faith and be ready, producing good fruit even until the end!