Saturday, May 27, 2023

Weeds




“He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds [darnel or tares] among the wheat and went away. So, when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not scatter good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So, the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn”” (Matthew 13:24-30, ESV).


This is another passage that is allusive. It is an indirect reference to the rapture of the body of Christ. So, I call it a prophetic allusion. This parable, which is more of an allegory because it has a hidden meaning, was taught by Jesus to describe what the church-age would be like leading up to and concluding with the rapture of the church. This prophecy is yet another revelation of the church that was not born yet, at the time of this teaching. Some disagree, believing it is referring to something else. Let me interpret this allegory with the help of Jesus’ explanation to his disciples in Matthew 13:37-43.

The man who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man (Matt. 13:37). The phrase “son of man” is used in the Old Testament to describe the offspring of earthly men and women. The prophet Ezekiel was referred to as son of man over and over. Daniel was called son of man by the angel Gabriel (Dan. 8:16-17). In a vison Daniel saw Yeshua Hamashiach riding on the clouds of heaven whom Daniel referred to as one who looked like a son of man (Dan. 7:13). Daniel saw Jesus being given: “The dominion, and the honour, and the kingdom; and all nations, tribes, and languages, shall serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed” (Dan. 7:14, Septuagint – English Version).[1] Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man over and over in the Gospels. Therefore, when Jesus said the man who sowed the seed is the Son of Man, he is referring to himself.

Jesus said that the ἀγρός (agrós) field, refers to the κόσμος (kosmos) world, (Matt. 13:38a). The good seed is the sons of the βασιλείας (vasileías) kingdom (Matt. 13:38b). Vasileías translates as reign in English, therefore it should read: sons of his reign, or his rule, or his sovereignty, or his kingdom. These sons of his vasileías (kingdom or reign) are allusive to the new creation, the body of Christ. The ζιζάνιον (zizánion) weeds, is an intentional reference to the sons of Satan who is the πονηρός (ponirós) wicked one (Matt. 13:38c-39a). I do not think it is a coincident that the apostle recorded the Greek term zizánion to refer to the sons of the wicked one. Zizánion is a weed that grows among wheat referred to in English as tares or bearded darnel; it is poisonous. According to Merriam-Webster the definition of bearded darnel is: “a weedy annual grass (Lolium temulentum) with very long awns on the glumes and seeds sometimes considered poisonous that often occurs in grainfields and other cultivated land.”[2]  Please do not overlook what Jesus is saying. The zizánion (weeds/darnel) looks like wheat and can be mistaken for wheat, but they are not wheat. In fact, darnel is toxic, it is destructive. So, the sons of the wicked one being compared to bearded darnel is a good analogy within the context of good seed being scattered in a wheat field.

The sons of the ponirós (wicked one) mentioned in this prophetic allusion are not necessarily individuals that are not churchgoers – the likelihood of them being churchgoers is serious – but rather they are church-people who do not practice righteousness, and associate with those in the church that do not practice loving the brethren (1 Jn. 3:10). What do I mean the sons of the wicked one are not just those that are not churchgoers? What I mean is that the sons of the ponirós are not just Luciferians and devil worshipers. Some church-people walk in deception and do not even know it because they are driven with personal agendas—they think they are doing God’s will but their attitude especially towards people that disagree with them shines a light on their true heart and real motives. The sons of the wicked one are also church-people that purposely avoid doing what is written in the word of God, and ignore the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Rather than having a heart for the truth they ignorantly choose to follow the schemes and teachings of demons instead (1 Tim. 4:1); and they believe themselves to be spiritually trendy. That is why they are called sons of the wicked one. They do not live by the Holy Spirit or walk with him so that he can guide them in truth, but rather they shut their ears to God as he works in revealing to the church what is to come (Jn. 16:13)—in this final generation of the church-age the Spirit of God is revealing endtimes prophecy – what is to come – clearer than in previous generations to those who have ears to hear, but those that cannot hear are instead giving their ears to the spirits of the evil ones. Their hearts and minds are set on this world and not on the eternal realm, where the Messiah is seated with his Father (Col. 3:1-2). Instead, they forge ahead with their own spiritual aspirations, they are spiritually ambitious rather than spiritually modest. That is why they are referred to as the sons of the wicked one; they are neither humble or meek but rather haughty and arrogant. The sons of the ponirós are given to a spirit of ἐμπαιγμονῇ (empaigmoní) mockery (2 Pet. 3:3-4). This type of Christian follows the game plan of the wicked one within the churches of God. The sons of the wicked one do not have to be foaming-at-the-mouth demon possessed. They do not have to be wearing upside down crosses around their necks with black-painted finger nails. They do not have to stand in the foyer hailing Lucifer. How many Freemasons are there in the Christian church that have leadership roles? The wicked one plants these individuals into the body of Christ to set the believers off course (Matt. 13:39a). Among these sons of the wicked one are false prophets and false teachers. They cause many to be deceived and led astray, they even lead them into apostasy (2 Thess. 2:3; 1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Tim. 4:3-4). Do you notice how many church leaders have given themselves the titles of, apostle and prophet, especially in this final generation of the church-age? Has the Lord Jesus Christ appointed these modern-day apostles and prophets or have they just appointed themselves? If they were true apostles and prophets their works would line up with what is written in the Scriptures.[3]  Some groups within the church claim that the church is now in the dispensation of the “apostles and prophets,” but that proclamation is just false. The sons of the wicked one work freely in the church because of a lack of discernment and knowledge of the Scriptures, but they will be weeded out at the harvest. 

The harvest, says Jesus, is the end of the age (Matt. 13:39b). Some suggest the end of the age is at the end of the Tribulation Period and the harvest is parallel with the separation of the sheep and goats (Matt. 25:31-46), but the two events are separate. I am convinced the end of age referred to in this passage and in other places refers to the end of the church-age (Matt. 13:40, 49; 24:3; 28:10). Do you remember where I wrote in chapter ten that the disciples asked, “what will be the sign of the end of the age” (Matt. 24:3c), that they did not really know at the time what they were asking? Once they said it, they likely wondered why they said it. Before Jesus was raised from the dead they had no comprehension of the church, of its beginning or its end. The church was not even born at that moment, it was just in its embryonic stage. The disciples were the unborn church at that time but they did not know it. They were in the rudimentary stage of becoming the foundation of the church. I said in chapter ten that likely the Holy Spirit put this question in Matthew 24:3c into their minds and they then spoke it without thinking. I said I thought it might have been Peter that asked this question. I figure the Spirit of God put this thought into Peter’s mind and then prompted the disciple to speak it, so that Jesus could continue with his teaching and eventually reveal and prophecy the rapture of the church in Matthew 24:36-44. I said all that to say, that the end of the age referred to here is the end of the church-age and not the end of the seven-year Tribulation period.

Jesus also said in the prophetic allusion above, that the angels are the harvesters (Matt.13:39c). When the rapture happens, the Scripture says that the Lord will give a loud command, and an archangel shall speak (1 Thess. 4:16ab). Archangels are chief angelic beings; they have authority over classes of lesser angels. So, could it be that when the rapture occurs the Lord commands the archangel in charge to order the angels under his command to gather up the body of Christ and snatch them out of the world?  Could it be that when the rapture occurs that angels literally grab the physical bodies of everyone that is appointed to eternal life and seizes them off the earth into the eternal realm with such force that people left behind will be left with the impression that the raptured persons just vanished into thin air? It says in Hebrews that the believers who will inherit salvation have ministering spirits who serve them (Heb. 1:14). So, again, is it likely that once the rapture occurs the archangel orders the angels under his command to grab hold of the body of Christ like Superman would grab hold of an unaware young child about to be run over by a speeding car, and then snatches them up out of the world into eternity. I think it is highly possible. When Jesus says in this Scripture passage that the angels are the harvesters of the sons of the kingdom then this scenario is certainly feasible.

In Matthew 13:40a, Jesus says: “As then the darnel is gathered and is burned in the fire” (Darby Bible). Some think Jesus is saying the angels are throwing the sons of the wicked one into the lake of fire. And then because it continues with, “thus it shall be in the completion of the age” (Darby Bible), that this again alludes to the end of the Tribulation Period. But the only two people cast into the lake of fire at the end of Israel’s seventieth-week is both the Antichrist and the false prophet (Rev. 19:20). The rest of the sons of the wicked one will not be cast into the lake of fire until after the great white throne judgement (Rev. 20:11-15). This does not happen for at least 1,000 years after the end of the seven-year Tribulation Period. As you can see, I do not agree with what some think. Please let me proceed.

As I have written in other places, I maintain that the place of darkness, the furnace of fire, the place where there will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth is really Israel’s seventieth-week period, the seven-year Tribulation period. In Matthew 13:41, Jesus said he will, “send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity” (KJV). And then they will be cast into, “the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 13:42, KJV). Is this not a picture of them that do not walk in true holiness, them that do not practice righteousness and do not love their brother, being left behind to then enter the most difficult time ever for man? I see this as the angels not literally casting the sons of the wicked one into a blazing furnace, but rather casting them into the seven-year Tribulation Period. Matthew 13:43a, follows up with, “Then the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (KJV). This is a picture of the body of Christ being glorified, being clothed with glorified bodies (1 Cor. 15:50-53). When the rapture of the body of Christ happens, in the twinkling of an eye, the body of Christ will shine like the sun in the kingdom of heaven, and the sons of the ponirós (wicked one), the zizánion (weeds), will be gathered to then be placed into the Tribulation Period.

 

Picture: Lolium temulentum -- H. Zell

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lolium_temulentum_001.JPG



[3] Do those that give themselves the title of apostle perform signs and wonders (Acts 2:43; 2 Corinthians 12:12)?

Do those that give themselves the title of prophet speak God’s word or just things their hearers want to hear? Do the words they speak contradict God’s revealed word? If they make one false prediction or one prophecy that is not 100% accurate than they are false prophets and apostles (Deuteronomy 18:20-22; Jeremiah 28:9).


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