The Harvest - The Tares and the Wheat

Introduction: A personal story about clearing the ground of obstacles, for hay-making...

I’m sure you can relate my story to the scriptures we read this morning; but can you relate them both to the events happening in the world ― particularly in the Middle East and Iran at the present time? From a harvest point of view, it seems to me that since October 7, 2023, Israel has toiled to pluck out the ‘tares’ from their neighbours’ territories; viz., those who brutally attacked them. The collateral damage has been huge, and innocent people have been uprooted. Last June, and again this month, the United States has joined in.

Whether they have pre-empted, or precipitated the timing for God’s harvest agenda, I don’t know! But at the moment, Satan’s evil idolatrous empire is certainly being dealt a blow, and his God-opposing forces are degraded: but whether Israel and America will be successful or not is yet to be seen. However, there are certain facets about what is happening in the Persian Gulf at present, which fit our scripture readings this morning. (More about the harvest later.)

Are you up-to-date with world affairs? Do you hear and watch the news, and search out the scriptures relating to prophecy? Do you fossick out the truth, or do you just go along with others’ opinions? Some people won’t listen to the news... because it upsets them... I listen because of my interest in Bible prophecy. And I hear about things that are being fulfilled in scripture right now.

Like the prophecy (in Ezekiel 37) about the prophet joining ‘two sticks’ in his hand’ – naming them Judah (Israel) and Ephraim (i.e., the USA made up from many nations, plus the other 7.5 million Jews)! They both come together to fight (the old kingdom of Greece) in the territorial arena that is now Iran (recorded in Zechariah 9:13).

Jesus repeatedly used these words about having an EAR or EARS to hear as a ‘mantra’ or ‘chorus’ throughout his teaching ― he used it or its equivalent at least nine times in the Gospels and eight times in the Book of Revelation! So, it must be important! The phrase doesn’t only mean listen; we are to think about what we heard; test it, apply it and see where it’s going, so we can make the necessary connections. The phrase about EARS to hear, agrees with another of Jesus’ statements, let him that reads, understand. There is more to be understood from what precedes or follows those phrases, than the superficial meaning. For me, the key to understanding what is happening in our world today is like a sandwich. The base is history, the filling is scripture, and the topping is world affairs. If you don’t know what’s in the Bible you will NOT be able to make the connections, and without any one of those three layers you will NEVER understand God’s kingdom plan.

But whatever we hear today, we should always strain it through the filter of truth. Once upon a time, we used to say ‘seeing, is believing’ but with CGI in movies, and Generative AI available on every i.phone, that no longer applies! Much of what is fed to us by algorithms, online platforms and T.V. channels is biased and not to be trusted.

Even a hundred years ago, a US Senator said something profoundly truthful... His name was Hiram Johnson... he said ‘The first casualty when war comes is truth!’ Other people have said very similar things. But no one has said things quite as boldly as Winston Churchill, who said: ‘A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.’

Jesus warning words are a ‘sign of the times.’ We could add to that, take care what we look at. With the internet providing 5.g wireless broadband at fibre optic speed, and Television beaming down from satellites high in the sky, the Johnson and Churchill statements are entirely appropriate right now. The ‘breaking news’ bulletins broadcast into our homes doesn’t always come with the Truth, but it gets our attention in the mornings, even before we get our clothes on!

Jesus forewarned us of the dangers that would exist in the latter days... He said, See to it that no one deceives you. (Matt. 24:4) He was referring to ‘false’ prophets, but today, it applies to the liberal Media, pod-casts, Facebook pages and YouTube sites with built-in ‘spin’ and ‘click bait’ headlines, who foist their opinions onto others and get paid for it.

So, before we go on, I want to emphasise that twice in the readings relating to the harvest Jesus says, If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear, then take care what you listen to... see that no one deceives you. (Mark 4:23‒24; Matt. 13:43; 24:1)

The measure you deal out to others will be dealt to you with more added.

Mark 4:24 (Modern version)

It is quite likely that Mark’s shortened statement comes from Jesus Parable of the Servants and the talents in Matthew 25:14‒30, where the servants either increased their Master’s wealth, or stalled it. I think Mark has paraphrased that Parable with this ‘equation,’ but it also connects with the 3 interesting verses about seeds that sprout and grow in Mark 4:26‒29. These seeds or (servants that they represent) are put in touch with the soil producing a growth factor that will lead to each plant’s maturity. This combination is acknowledged, but it is not generally recognised that the growth factor lies within the seed itself. A seed merchant would call this growth factor ‘viability’ ...as to whether the seed will accomplish its potential to sprout, grow and mature? So, the seed’s potential to reach the harvest is first a matter of viability and then of sustainability. That is a fairly sobering thought when applied to our journey toward the Kingdom of God that is yet to come! The responsibility for what God reaps during the harvest is assigned to us ― as the sons and daughters of the kingdom. Do we have the sustainability to get to the harvest? Jesus said quite clearly those who persevere to the end will be saved. Matthew 24:13.

So, having told us to use our ears and take care about what we listen to, so that we will not be deceived, the next verse in Mark 4:25 can mean one of two things... If you’ve got it, you’ll get more; OR if you’ve got nothing, you’ll get nothing, and even what you have will be taken away. These verses have a broad application: what you put in, is what you get out! We can apply this to the home or environment we have created for ourselves to live in. Home is the soil that we grow in, and seeds will not mature in toxic soil. We can apply it to our faith, regarding what we believe; to our life-style and how we project ourselves to others; to what goes into our lives via the eye gate, and what we hear via the ears from the Media. We can apply this to our tithe or Church attendance; no blessings in, so no blessings out, OR to our pursuit of holiness to please God, or NOT!

What we do for God, or don’t do, will be rewarded by our own deliberate measurement! Will we receive abundant blessings or miserable loss at harvest time! There is only one voice that our EARS should be tuned into today, and that is the voice of the Holy Spirit, who doesn’t always speak loudly, but He does speak to our hearts and minds if we are willing to listen. So, having received all that as a warning, let’s return to the verse at the top of the first scripture reading.

For nothing is hidden except to be shown and nothing kept secret except to be revealed. Mark 4:22 (Modern Version)

Therefore do not fear them. (Referring to those who would hate you for Christ’s sake) For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops!

Mark 4:22: records Jesus uttering these phrases in relation to future events. In other words, there is much that has been hidden and secret, but it will all eventually be revealed and exposed, and it all revolves around harvest time.

I don’t know if you have noticed...but new revelation is happening in astronomy: via the James Web Telescope. Apparently things ‘away out there’ are not behaving quite as they should, according to the old scientific equations. New discoveries in geological diggings are re-setting mankind’s historical time clock. Revelation is happening in moral affairs, when the sins of notable people are no longer being covered up or ignored. You might think of some recent examples.

But above all, it’s happening with prophecy. Some scriptures even predict our modern technology and weaponry. Have a read of Joel 2, and Revelation 9, and think about drones, helicopters, motor-bikes and tanks that produce fire, smoke and brimstone! Read Revelation 6 about the 6^th seal, and see if you think it describes an earthquake or ‘something else’ that is familiar to us in our nuclear age, which sets off the sequence of trumpets and bowls, leading to the 2^nd Coming of Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords.

The prophet Daniel calls this season of revelation ― the consummation ― which means the completion and fulfilment of God plan, when ― whatever God has decided, will be done! Until now, God has been very patient... He has let both tares and wheat grow together, but there is going to be a harvest time, and God will not leave us ignorant about what that involves.

The problem that arises between seeing, hearing, and understanding Jesus’ last words to His Church in the Book of Revelation, is that almost everything is hidden in metaphor, in symbolism, and in the interactions that take place between the various parties portrayed. For centuries, all the facts that we ever needed to know about the progression of Biblical world empires until the end times, were right there in front our eyes; particularly within the animal beast symbolism recorded in Daniel and Revelation. But the essential ‘connection’ had remained hidden from us... we could not translate ‘first century information and thinking’ into ‘21st Century geography and technology’ although the clues were all there in the Bible. So while reams of commentary have been written about the supposed ‘abyss’ in Revelation 13, from which the bizarre beast with seven heads had come, the simple truth is... the animal beast with a neuter gender of it, (in the Greek), rises up from the sea (exactly as a piece of land does), while the second beast comes out of the earth (exactly as earthly humans do). The picture reveals a ‘God-opposing’ land-based Political Kingdom, joined to an idolatrous Religion, led by a second beast, a Prophet who exercises the Political kingdom’s power. Weren’t false prophets what Jesus warned about?

All this was hidden from the sages! They had an abstract idea of what Daniel’s beast symbols represented, but without modern maps they could not conceive of the beast as a solid ‘beast-shaped’ piece of land. That piece of land would alter its shape according to the seven kingdoms that would occupy it, as they successively conquered and ‘ate one another’ by integrating the previous kingdoms territory and its people, into its own expanding empire!

I literally saw that beast shape portrayed in a map in a World Atlas in the local library when I was searching for details about the Media-Persian Empire. I was astonished when I realised the map fitted neatly into Daniel’s description of the bear-beast in Daniel 7:5. This was the missing connection! The details of that revelation are recorded in my book, published in America since 2017. The Beast and Babylon – The Revival of Radical Islam. http://beastandbabylon.com

This ‘revelation’ opened my eyes to search the scriptures and write about it. If you want to know more, read the book, it is on line for $7 US. After 25 years of research, following on from the events of 9/11, I believe I know where and when the ‘tares’ were planted.

So in Matthew 13: 24‒30 we read the crux of the Harvest story. The Son of Man (Jesus) sowed the good seed, in the field of the world, and the good seed are ‘sons of the kingdom.’ The devil over-sowed the field of the world with tares, and they are the ‘sons of the evil one.’ Jesus explained the full meaning of His parable in a quiet moment later on with His disciples; recorded in the other part of Matthew 13:37‒43. He said, both should be allowed to grow together until the harvest, at the end of the age. Then God would send His angels to first harvest the tares and then the wheat.

The key to understanding this parable lies in the nature and appearance of the mature harvest; it was only when the tares and the wheat grasses were mature, that the reapers could tell which was which. Apparently these grasses look identical as seedlings, but not when they are mature. The word used here for ‘tares’ refers to ‘darnel,’ (which has a fancy botanical name). It is a type of ryegrass, which looks much like wheat in its early stages of growth. The nature of the tares, which are wild grasses, is that when they mature, their grain heads stand up tall and proud; while the wheat that is also a grass, when mature, bows down its grain heads. You will have seen that in the Title slide for this sermon. This is how and when the ‘sons of the evil one’ can be identified and separated from the sons of the kingdom. The ‘tares’ the ‘sons of the evil one’ reveal themselves by their arrogance and opposition to the sons of the kingdom! They confidently believe they cannot be thwarted, while their intentions are so obviously evil that they can no longer be ignored, so they have to be dealt with. Jesus was not talking about using a combine harvester here; that mows everything down like our hay crop; he was talking about the reapers going out into the field ― armed with a sickle to remove the ‘tares, the sons of the evil one’ which has to occur before the main Harvest can take place.

And so I see similarities between this parable, and the actions taken by Israel and America against the Mullahs’ leadership in Iran and the regime’s military infrastructure, together with its so called ‘Axis of Resistance’ proxy armies that have been embedded in the Middle East and around the world. Western Nations can no longer put up with the tares sown by the Devil. So, does this parable raise questions in your mind about what has become apparent during the last two decades of this Century, with the rise of militant Islamist forces and Jihadists that are intent on taking-over the world for their idolised Allah?

I’ve often wondered why... those living in Europe in the middle-ages... failed to see that Muhammad who founded the idolatrous religion of Islam in the 7^th Century was actually the false prophet depicted in Revelation 13:11‒17? After all, he was the religious counterpart to the Political Caliphate that he established in Mecca in the wilderness. The Islamic Conquest took LAND in the Middle East, Mesopotamia, Africa and Spain. Eventually, the Turkic Muslim armies conquered the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) empire in 1453 and became its heir. The Ottoman Empire; was led by Muhammad’s descendants for almost five centuries until WWI? Today the Muslims openly claim Muhammad was ‘The Seal of the Prophets’ and the ‘Messenger of Allah’, while his ‘mark’ is clearly revealed in the white circle on the ‘black flag’ the terrorists love to carry, and in the Arabic writing on the headbands they wear today as they scream ‘Allahu Akbar’ – meaning ‘Allah is the greatest!’

So, has the time come for the ‘tares’ to be removed from the field of the world?

Destroying the work of the devil. 1 John 3:8

So what is it that modern preachers avoid? They avoid talking about the justice of God ― which goes hand in hand with His salvation and redemption. When people read the Bible, they see that Jesus came to save the lost; this is the lovely ‘carrot’ of ‘salvation’ that modern preachers focus on and offer to sinners; they sincerely want them to become Christians and acknowledge Jesus as Lord.

The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. (1 John 3:8)

The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. (Matt. 13:41)

The picture in Revelation 19:11, is of the King of kings and Lord of lords returning with the armies of heaven, when He wields the double edged sword of truth. How will we measure up to that? Salvation is no longer the focus after the angel’s last ‘message to the world’ in Revelation 14:6‒7. Whether that will be delivered physically by an angel, or by Holy Spirit conviction, I don’t know; but thereafter justice, judgement and retribution for the martyred saints are the themes! The time for gentle persuasion is past. Jesus comes wielding a ‘rod’ with which He will strike the nations Rev. 19:15, He will destroy the works of the devil (that ancient dragon), and the works of his agents on the earth. The latter-day descendants of the beast kingdom and the false prophet, will meet their own special fate in Revelation 19:19‒21; and all who are involved with them will be struck down by that double-edged sword of truth.

Today, the prominent and public revival of Islamic terrorism aligns with the scriptures we could not understand (even 50 years ago). By using that ‘sandwich’ of History, the Bible, and world events, the Book of Revelation points to the SHIA TWELVER sect of Islam in Iran, also in Iraq and in Lebanon as the main source of anti-Christian, Anti-Semitism, and Anti-western ideology that is in enmity against God and His earthly Jewish and Christian flock. Left-leaning liberals are also joining in to destroy the very basis of our Christian legal and social standards.

The end-time enemy of God (and His Jewish and Christian saints), is a revived Jihadist alliance of radical Islamists who commit to Holy War. They will rise up out of the Muslim world across the Middle East, North Africa and Europe, and appear as an eighth coalition that is gathered out of all seven of the former God-opposing ancient and modern idolatrous kingdoms, featured in the Bible. (Rev. 17:11) The present day geo-political situation points to SHIA Iran and its “Axis of Resistance” calling for combatants from both Sunni and Shia terrorist groups (Rev. 16:12‒14), whom the Bible says become of one mind in their endeavour to destroy ‘the Lamb’ and the ‘called, chosen and faithful’ who are with Him. This is what Revelation 17:11‒17 exposes... all of which is yet to come to full fruition.

Accordingly, the basic ‘blasphemous statements’ ― that arouse Islamic hatred for the Christian God ― are written in Arabic in the Dome of the Rock, in several forms and places, denying that God has a son. In contrast, the Epistles of John declare four times that the antichrist spirit is an ideology that denies that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. This creed was first expressed in the 7^th Century during the Islamic Conquest, when the Dome of the Rock was built, and those ‘antichrist’ declarations were written in Arabic all around its walls.

The Dome of the Rock

‘God is only one God. Far be it removed from His transcendent majesty that He should have a son.’ (Sura 4:171) ‘There is no God but God. He is one. He has no associate.’ (Sura 2:163)

Today, the Dome of the Rock still sits proudly in place on the Holy Temple Mount in Jerusalem. But, fourteen centuries after it was built, Islam’s anti-Christian and anti-Semitic doctrines have influenced a quarter of humanity, (more than 2 billion Muslims), whose community and lands stretch across a third of the world’s territory, from Morocco, in North Africa to Pakistan, and from Turkey to Yemen. Their latter-day enmity became painfully evident on 9/11 in 2001, in New York.

Since the Arab spring in the Middle East in 2010, and the rise of SUNNI Islamic State in 2014; followed by the persistence of Iran’s ‘Axis of Resistance’ proxy Non-state Terrorist Organisations to create chaos that has erupted sporadically, millions of Muslims and their sympathisers have infiltrated the western nations through legal and illegal migration. In many of those nations, they have formed their own networks or societal groups that are now trying to impose Muslim Sharia Law within the Judeo-Christian western governments that host them. Only now, it seems, have the tares and the wheat come to a crisis point. Naively blamed on lack of integration... their numbers have now reached new heights... and lawlessness and corruption is rampant through many democratic countries... The question needs to be asked... is it time for the harvest?

Whenever the crop is ready, he puts in the sickle because the harvest has come. (Mark 4:29)

Whenever the crop is ripe... may well refer to the Israeli and American actions via their harvest of retribution aimed at Iran’s Mullahs, and the SHIA leadership during the last 3 weeks; whose regime has finally been condemned as an existential threat to the rest of the world. We’ve known about these ‘tares’ that were sown in hatred, discord and enmity in the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Since then, they have proudly raised their heads, and subjugated and killed thousands of their own people for 47 years, while their proxies have terrorised Middle Eastern nations, and killed western combatants. For decades Iran has created, inspired, and financially supported the ‘Axis of Resistance’ groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Palestinian Jihads, and Iraqi Shiite militias, and terrorist gangs who have repeatedly done the dirty work for Iran, while the Mullahs have maintained their distance and professed their innocence.

So, while there is a great stirring and shaking going on among the nations at present, (Haggai 2:6‒7; Isaiah 13:13) let’s not forget that God is sovereign, He rules over the nations, and He is preparing the way for His unshakeable kingdom. Remember that what has been hidden will be revealed, and secrets will come to light. You may be anxious about the days that lie ahead, so I want to leave you with a challenge to draw closer to God, plus some quotes from ancient Church leaders, who can have the last say with a warning and a promise.

First, this is what St. Augustine of Hippo (from North Africa), during the late 4^th Century had to say about the distinction between "wheat" and "tares." He lived to be 76 and wrote 113 books and preached 500 sermons; his most memorable book was the ‘City of God.’

Listen... with your spiritual ears... to what he said for such a time as this:

‘O you Christians, whose lives are good, you sigh and groan as being few among many, few among very many. The winter will pass away, the summer will come; lo! The harvest will soon be here. The angels will come, who can make the separation, and who cannot make mistakes. ... I tell you of a truth, my Beloved, even in these high seats there is both wheat, and tares, and among the laity there is wheat, and tares. Let the good tolerate the bad; let the bad change themselves, and imitate the good. Let us all, if it may be so, attain to God; let us all through His mercy escape the evil of this world. Let us seek after good days, for we are now in evil days; but in the evil days let us not blaspheme, so that we may be able to arrive at the good days.’

My Saving power will bring healing. (Malachi 4:2‒3)

But for you who obey me, my saving power will rise on you like the sun and bring healing like the sun's rays. You will be as free and happy as calves let out of a stall. On the day when I act, you will overcome the wicked, and they will be like dust under your feet. (Good News Translation)

And finally, a message from Origen who was a philosopher, and a prolific writer. He was born in Egypt in the late 2^nd Century, and died in Lebanon, aged 69. He wrote about this passage from Matthew 13:43, which ends our Bible reading and study this morning.

The Righteous will shine forth as the Sun. (Matt. 13:43)

‘Then shall the righteous shine, no longer differently, but all "as one sun". (Matthew 13:43) Daniel, knowing that the righteous differ in glory, said, "And the intelligent shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and from among the multitudes of the righteous as the stars for ever and ever." (Daniel 12:3) The Apostle says the same thing: "There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differs from another star in glory: so also is the resurrection of the dead." (1 Corinthians 15:41–15:42) I think, then, that at the beginning of blessedness the difference connected with the light takes place. Perhaps the saying, "Let your light shine before men" (Matthew 5:16), can be written on the table of the heart in a threefold way; so that now the light of the disciples of Jesus shines before the rest of men, and after death before the resurrection, and after the resurrection until "all attain to a full-grown man" (Ephesians 4:13), and all become one sun.^‘