You guys are like…really into wheat…
…says a friend who clicked around on the As It Is in Heaven blog. You’ve probably also noticed the trend. Now I like wheat as much as the next person, but our styling and content isn’t coming from an individual wheat obsession. As always, there’s a biblical reason.
The Parable of the Weeds (and Wheat!)
In Matthew 13:24-30 Jesus tells a parable. A man sowed good seed (wheat) in his field. However, when it was dark and everyone slept, an enemy snuck in and sowed the seed of weeds among the wheat.
As the two kinds of seeds began to grow, the servants grew concerned, suggesting to pull up the weeds. But the owner said no–let them grow together. At the appointed time of the harvest, the weeds will be burned and the wheat will be harvested to the barn.
Jesus says that this is what heaven will be like.
The kingdom of heaven. Let me ask you…do you think, “Wow…it’s heaven,” as you drive by a field of wheat or some other crop? If you drive through rural United States, trust me–the fields kind of lose their charm after about the third hour.
Obviously, Jesus is not telling us how to manage our farms in a godly way. He’s telling us something crucial about us.
Two things are growing. One is left in the field and destroyed by fire. The other is harvested to the barn in safety. Without even knowing the meaning of the parable, we already know which side of it we want to be on.
So What Does It Mean?
With this being about something as important as the kingdom of heaven, thankfully we aren’t left hanging. Just a little bit later in the chapter Jesus explains the meaning of the parable (Matthew 13:36-43). Take a moment to read it yourself–it will soon start to make sense.
The Good Seed is the Word of God
The man, or owner, is Jesus, who goes out to sow good seed, which is the word of God (Luke 8:11). This makes sense–Jesus was on this earth 2,000 years ago and carried out his ministry for three and a half years, all the while sowing, or preaching, the words of God.
Now when he sowed the word, he wasn’t preaching the gospel to the literal ground. Jesus preached to people. So if the seed is likened to the word of God, what is growing as a result? People’s spirits. As a result of receiving the true word of God, people can become the wheat, or the sons of the kingdom.
The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one.
Matthew 13:38
These are people who know and understand the word of God, the Bible.
The Weeds Are the Devil’s Lies
On the flip side, what would a farmer’s enemy do? Sow weeds. And that’s exactly what the devil did. If the seed of wheat is God’s word, the seed of the weeds would be the devil’s lies. The devil just can’t leave God and God’s people alone, so he comes in when it’s dark and mixes lies among the truth (Matthew 13:25).
Can you see how things are getting problematic?
What Happens if You Don’t Become Wheat?
The result of this is people who are no longer born of the seed of God, but born of the seed of the devil. Born of lies, born as sons of the evil one. Within the group of people who say, “I believe in God,” there are children of the devil and children of God. We see an example of this at the first coming.
“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies…
He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”
John 8:44, 47
Jesus called the leaders of God’s people sons of the devil that speak lies. This is what the devil wants. To make the believers of God into the devil’s own children, to stop people from going to heaven. And according to this parable, the weed-like believers are bundled up in the field and burned in the fire. Hell.
On the other hand, wheat-like believers are harvested to God’s barn. Heaven.
When Will This Happen? And How Can I Make Sure I’m Not a Weed?!
God has appointed a time–the harvest–when this separation will take place. The harvest is the time when Jesus will return to welcome the wheat-like believers into heaven and then will judge the weeds. This is the time of Jesus’ return, the second coming, the end of the age (Matthew 13:39).
The Bible says that no one–not even Jesus–knows the day or the hour of this (Matthew 24:36), but we do have insight on how to prepare.
We should take extra care to learn the word as it was given. Why? The devil has already mixed his lies into this world. And while the truth is out there too, in the 2,000 years since Jesus left, how rampant would you say those weeds have become?
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 John 4:1
Let’s All Be Wheat-Like Believers and Make Sure We Get Harvested!
So as far as the Bible goes, we should focus on having a thorough understanding of the promises God has made with us: the prophecies regarding Jesus’ return, the book of Revelation.
We have to learn what we must do to take part in it–what God expects of us in the New Covenant. Learning all of this may sound overwhelming–but you aren’t meant to do it on your own. All of us at As It Is in Heaven are here with you and for you. And guess who else is on your side? All of heaven.
The worst thing we can do is nothing. Good plants are harvested after immense effort–yet weeds pop up when we turn our eyes away. Let us not be the weeds that suffer fire, but the wheat that Jesus takes to heaven with him.
Written by Samantha
Read More
The Great Deception: How and Where Satan Works
What to Expect for the Second Coming of Jesus
How to Cash In Your Salvation Voucher
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