The Wheat and the Tares

The parable of the wheat and the tares given by the Savior is one that is particularly applicable to us in the last days.  We have not only the parable and its explanation given in Matthew 13 by the Savior, but we also have the modern day commentary in D&C 86 which shows its relevance to our time.  In the parable there is a man which “sowed good seed in his field”, and the Savior explained that “he that soweth the good seed is the Son of man”, or Himself (Matt. 13:24, 37).  In the modern explanation we read that “the apostles were the sowers of the seed” which seems to imply that the man in the parable had servants that did the actual labor just as the apostles serve under the Savior (D&C 86:2).  We also learn that the field in the parable represents the world, that it is the devil that “soweth the tares”, and that the angels are the ones which will reap (D&C 86:2-5; Matt. 13:39).  The wheat and the tares “grow together until the harvest is fully ripe” and then those angels will “gather out the wheat from among the tares, and after the gathering of the wheat, behold and lo, the tares are bound in bundles, and the field remaineth to be burned” (D&C 86:7).  This order of the wheat first and then the tares is confirmed in the JST Matt. 13:29. 

                The term tares is thought to represent the darnel plant, and assuming that is the case I think it’s instructive to understand a little about this plant.  One source says that “darnel usually grows in the same production zones as wheat and is considered a weed. The similarity between these two plants is so great that in some regions, darnel is referred to as ‘false wheat’”.  Furthermore, darnel can apparently be infected by a certain fungus which can cause the eating of darnel to be fatal (see here).  This description certainly match with other warnings from the Savior that it would be difficult for even the righteous to discern between messengers of God and those of the devil in the last days: “For in those days there shall also arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch, that, if possible, they shall deceive the very elect, who are the elect according to the covenant” (JSM 1:22).  To protect ourselves we must gather with the Saints as the Savior mentioned after the above warning: “Wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together; so likewise shall mine elect be gathered from the four quarters of the earth” (JSM 1:27).  In terms of the parable of the wheat and tares, we must band together with the wheat and find our protection in the strength of Zion. 

                I had always thought of the angels gathering out of the wheat and the binding of the tares into bundles as a very short process that would coincide with the moment of the Second Coming, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.  I believe now it is a gradual process in the last days that takes place as part of the preparation for the Savior’s return.  President Wilford Woodruff said this in 1896 in reference to the parable: “I want to bear testimony . . . that the day is come when those angels are privileged to go forth and commence their work. They are laboring in the United States of America; they are laboring among the nations of the earth; and they will continue” (Millennial Star, Vol. 58, pp. 738-9, Nov. 10, 1896).  After quoting this President Marian G. Romney said, “In confirmation of this testimony, the tempo of wickedness and destruction has been greatly accelerated since President Woodruff spoke those words, and so has the gathering in of the wheat. Even now the tares are binding themselves in bundles, making ready for the field to be burned” (see here).  In other words, the events of the last days that we are currently living in represent the time in which the wheat gradually is pulled out of the world and joined together, and the tares naturally bind themselves into bundles.  This makes sense in the context of another scripture in which we learn that Zion will be built up in a physical location and there “shall be gathered unto it out of every nation under heaven; and it shall be the only people that shall not be at war one with another” (D&C 45:69).  Our protection will come by holding fast to our membership in Zion as the division between the wheat and tares becomes more and more drastic in the days to come.