The Gathering of the Wheat and of the Tares

[Bishop Otha Bell]

“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 the tares appeared 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 unto the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, gather ye first together the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”

“He answered and said unto them, He that hath the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; 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 it shall be in the end of the world. The Son of Man shall send forth His angels and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them also 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”.

 

The words written above appear in the 13^th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, in verses 24-30 and 37-43. Some years ago, in my first pastorate, I was dealing with church members who acted more like devils then saints. In prayer for a solution to this dilemma, the Lord gave me these Scriptures and revealed to me an understanding of not only what I was going through, but prophetically showed me what was going to happen, and that is now happening in the Church.

First, notice that Jesus told the parable in its entirety, and then gave us the meaning of the parable in its entirety. Nothing is left much to “private interpretation”, so disagreeing with what I am about to write won’t matter; it is the revelation God gave me, and I have lived long enough and have enough Scripture and spiritual discernment to see it coming to pass!

 Even though Jesus told and explained the parable in two parts, the parable is one.  And like in many in ways in life, church and ministry things occur in seemingly “parts”, but from a “God’s eye view” they are indeed one. With that in mind let us look at the parable and its explanation:

1. The “man” who sowed the good seed is later explained as the owner of the field or the householder. Again, without too much left to misunderstanding, this person is the LORD God Himself who indeed is the owner of all creation, the homeowner of this planet,  the provider, the one who will disburse, and send the angels, the Son of Man!
2. The good seed are the children of the kingdom, the sons/daughters, descendants, and offspring of the “man”. In this parable they are sown first to “seed” the field with the idea and purpose to reproduce other or more good seed like themselves; to literally fill the field!
3. The field, owned by the “man”, sown into by the “man” and expected to produce by the “”man” is the world we live in. In this Scripture the word for world is not the same word “world” as in 1 John 2. The word world of 1 John 2 is cosmos and means the world system which is under the influence and dominion of Satan. The word world here in this parable, and in John 3:16, is the word meaning the people of the world.
4. The “men that slept” are the ones given the care of the sown seed, which are the spiritual leaders (ministers, elders, pastors, etc), who the Lord tells us are asleep at the switch. In that state of sleep (ill prepared, unresponsive, careless, etc.) they are unaware of the approach, of the work in sowing the tares and in the departure of the enemy.
5. The enemy (“his enemy”; the householder’s enemy) is the devil. Satan’s sole purpose is to destroy in this way is not to stop the growth of the wheat, or otherwise hinder its process, but to corrupt the field in sowing the tares among the wheat. When he is finished with his sowing, and being undetected by the “men that slept”, and knowing full well the tares would grow up among the wheat causing the corruption and offense, he goes his way no doubt down the road to continue his demonic activity in another “field” owned by the householder.
6. The tares are the children of the wicked one, the enemy who is the devil and Satan who are in the owners field (His kingdom). A tare is a weed that looks just like wheat, having the same appearance, but cannot and will not produce or reproduce after its own kind (the Law of Genesis). In other words, tares are unfruitful; since they are not the real wheat they cannot and should not be expected to reproduce, grow or yield. However, they are taking of the ground space, water supply, etc that the wheat would have occupied had the enemy would have not had access to the field.
7. The servants, or the reapers, are the holy angels who alert the owner of the predicament, who knows full well what has happened. They, the servants, suggest an early harvest as a solution to the problem, whereupon they are told to “let them (the wheat and the tare) grow together until the time of the harvest, or until both reach maturity and it is time for harvest.
8. The time of the harvest is the”near” end of the world, of this present satanic Babylonian world system (New World Order). Notice here there are two (2) “gatherings” at the time of the harvest, and two (2) descriptions of the gathered.

A). The angels are sent forth to “first” gather the tares (out of His kingdom) into bundles (groups, movements, etc) “to be burned”. They are gathered, but not burned at this time; they must wait until the second gathering and for those gathered to complete, finish and accomplish what the owner originally intended for them to do.

B). The angels are again sent forth to “then” gather the wheat, who now can fulfill their purpose which is to reproduce and produce more like them, and then bring them into the owners barn (His glorious Kingdom).

1. The harvest is the end of the world, this present satanic Babylonian world system (New World Order). After the harvest of the tares into bundles, and after the wheat have produced, then the finally judgment is decreed; the tares are thrown into the furnace of fire, and the righteous shine forth in the Kingdom of God.

With all this being said, I believe we are beginning to see the “gathering” of the wheat and of the tares. Groups of “tares” are being assembled, those groups or movements seemingly in the Church who have abandon Biblical Christianity and “the faith once delivered unto the saints” for what I call 21^st century, new age, American Christianity and a faith that is tolerant of all manner of sin, uncleanness, shame and filth. We see now in these days whole groups of churches and church leaders who promote homosexuality, adultery, fornication, etc and do it in the Name of the Lord. Church leaders are greedy, heady and high-minded seeking money, power and fame; having dominion over people and their lives in “cult” like control and influence. The tares are indeed being gathered (identified) out of His kingdom!

Soon the fake will be clearly seen because the real will rise to the top. The wheat gathering is beginning to occur also. The “good seed, children of the kingdom” are being manifest. We shall come forth and shine like the sun, bringing light, truth, integrity, and the Word of God unto this lost and dying world. There will be a great harvest, a great in-gathering of souls in these days; so great that one church, denomination, group, fellowship, etc will not be able to contain them all! And then, as this harvest is happening, and as the tares are gathering, and as the enemy is mounting his greatest demonic onslaught I believe two things will occur:

A)     The anointing (the Person, the Power, and the Presence of God) will be seen all over this earth through the people of God, who will march as one man proclaiming Christ crucified, buried and resurrected the third day. And the Lord will work along with us, confirming the Word preached and taught with miracles, signs and wonders!

B)      Then after this last great revival, we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of the eye, and meet the Lord in the air!

So, let the gathering begin!