Matthew 13 is a chapter of many parables, and the parable of the tares is found there.  People have wondered who they are since it was written, and I know some of you have wondered if you are a tare.  Do you want to know for sure?  Let's find out, but before continuing with the subject of the tares, let's address the subject of parables in general, and why Jesus used them so much.

What is a parable?  I looked up the word "parable" in several reference works and found only some slight differences in the definitions.  Suffice it to say that a parable is a short story or anecdote using one very familiar thing to represent another less familiar thing for the sake of illustration.  It can be a comparison, a similitude or simile, and perhaps even a proverb.   That definition is appropriate for our study here.

Jesus used parables often when talking to the crowds and His disciples.  They may have been popular when He walked the Earth.  They are entertaining somewhat, sort of like a riddle.  Perhaps He was playing on their popularity with the people.  Today, when you ask people why Jesus spoke in parables like He did, they generally respond that He did it to illustrate something to make it clearer.  They say He wanted them to have a good understanding of what He was saying.  That would seem to be a reasonable response to the question, but it is definitely not the right answer.  Let's continue.
 

Matt. 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

Matt. 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

Matt. 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

Matt. 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

Matt. 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

Matt. 13:15  For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Matt. 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

Matt. 13:34  All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:

Matt. 13:35  That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.

Mark 4:9  And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

The parable of the tares.
 

Matt. 13:24  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

Matt.13:25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

Matt. 13:26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

Matt. 13:27 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?

Matt. 13:28  He said unto them, An enemy hath done this.  The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

Matt. 13:29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

The Greek word translated tares here is zizanion (Strong's No. 2215), which is the bearded darnel  (Lolium temulentum).  It is called zuwan by the Arabs today.  It looks very similar to wheat before it matures, but after it comes into ear it is easily recognizable and can be separated from the wheat.  The black seeds of the darnel are poisonous and if eaten can cause convulsions and sometimes even death, so the analogy of these plants to an evil group of people is appropriate.  To the unwary eye they grow unnoticed among the good plants and seem to be one of them.

Incidentally, the color of the seeds has no relationship whatsoever to skin color of any person, or persons, or race of people.  There is, however, a relationship between the black seeds and some other aspects concerning the tares.

Origin of the tares.

Matt. 13:36  Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.

Matt. 13:37  He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;

Matt. 13:38  The field is the world;  the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

Matt. 13:39  The enemy that sowed them is the devil;  the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

The tares are the actual offspring of the evil one.  You will see that more clearly as we go along.  The story is a little convoluted in Genesis but it can be understood when enough scriptures are disclosed from other books of the Bible.

It all started in the garden of Eden.

Gen. 3:1  Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Gen. 3:2  And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

Gen. 3:3  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

Gen. 3:4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

Gen. 3:5  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Gen. 3:6  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Gen. 3:7  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

This isn't talking literally about fruit hanging on a tree.  It is figurative.  She was seduced mentally and physically by Lucifer who had developed the art of seduction to the ultimate.  Thousands of years before this he had fully convinced one-third of the souls in Heaven to rebel against God (Rev. 12:4).  You can read more about this dazzling creature in Ezekiel, chapter 28.  When God made him He used the full measure.

Eve was like putty in his hands but she should have known better.  She wasn't ignorant of the wiles of the serpent.  You can be very sure that the Creator had instructed all the people when He had created them about everything essential to their well being especially concerning Lucifer (Satan, the devil, the serpent, the dragon, etc.).

It seems reasonable that Eve would desire him in a carnal sense because of his great beauty.  Yet, to make the seduction work he had to convince her that God was the liar.  He has a magnificent way of skewing the truth just enough to pervert it while making  it seem so righteous and wonderful.  The world today is totally enraptured with his lies.

Adam and Eve had been created for a very specific purpose     they were to be the original parents of a group of people that would eventually bring forth the Messiah into the world.  A Redeemer for all mankind would come through their offspring.  I am absolutely certain that our Father apprised them of their purpose.  This is where I think that Lucifer possibly got to Eve, by convincing her that she would produce the Savior immediately if they coupled.  Whatever he said to her, she obviously bought it.

Notice the word touch in verse 3.  It is naga (Strong's No. 5060), and it means to touch, to lay the hand upon, or to lie with a woman!

He was the forbidden fruit and she was not to naga him, touch him, or lay with him.  He convinced her that God was deceiving her and that she should lay with him.

Genesis 4:1  And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.

1 John 3:12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.

Cain has children and they are with us today.

Upon considering that statement you might ask, how did they survive the flood?  That's a fair question.  Relatively little is known about the flood during Noah's time except what men have assumed to be true from the book of Genesis.  The complete story concerning the flood of Noah is too large to address in this lesson, so I will cover it in another lesson later.  I will simply tell you here that only the direct descendants of Adam and Eve, whose DNA was corrupted with that of the fallen angels, were fatally affected by that flood.  It most likely took place in what is called the Tarim Basin in central Asia.  The Tarim Basin is truly shaped like a basin.  It is a bowl shaped area in central Asia, perhaps a little smaller than the Southeastern U.S.A.  The oriental people who lived east of the basin were also affected by flooding for years after the Noachian deluge due to the waters draining out of the basin, but they were not affected catastrophically like those who lived within the basin.

You can see the Tarim Basin in the upper right-hand quadrant of the map below.  It is the green somewhat oval shaped area in the Himalayas north of the Indian subcontinent.  The map is a little difficult at first because it is a topographical image, so take your time to get your bearings.  You can clearly see the boot form of Italy in the upper left hand quadrant, and the Indian subcontinent in the center of the right side.  I chose it because it clearly shows the basin.  Notice the four rivers all coming to a point within the basin.  Today, that basin is known as the Xinjiang Uygur region of China.  Ancient oriental legends locate the Garden of Eden in the Pamirs on the western side of the basin within modern Tajikistan.

(If map image does not appear click here)

Tracing the tares through time.

We have to start with Cain, their human father (approx. 3800-4000 BC).

Please read chapter 4 of Genesis at this time.

Now, if you have finished reading chapter 4 you should recall these things.  After Cain killed Abel God cursed him with respect to farming.  The ground would not produce a living for Cain and his descendants. Cain was very distraught because he was a tiller of the ground.  He complained that everyone would try to kill him if he was forced out on his own. God promised him that anyone killing him (or his descendants), would pay sevenfold for doing so.  Remember that number.

Genesis 4:15  And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

What's that you say?  Abel isn't mentioned either?

That's right.  He isn't, and it's because Abel had no children. He was murdered by Cain before he could have any.  Seth essentially took Abel's place in the line of Christ's ancestors.  Seth means substitution or compensation.

Note the characteristics and talents of Cain's descendants as they are shown in chapter 4.  They can't raise crops but they can have herds. They are excellent metalworkers, and likewise as musicians.  Look for these characteristics today because they are still there. Their original father, Lucifer, possesses great musical talent and is extremely intelligent.

Ezekiel 28:3  Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:

They were present in Abraham's time (approx. 1800-2000 BC).

Gen. 15:18  In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

Gen. 15:19  The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,

Gen. 15:20  And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,

Gen. 15:21  And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

They were present when Israel was moving into the promised land (approx. 1300-1500 BC).

Balaam, a famous seer in the area during the time of Israel's occupation of the promised land, gave the following statement concerning the Kenites.

Numbers 24:21 And he (Balaam) looked on the Kenites, and took up his parable, and said, Strong is thy dwellingplace, and thou puttest thy nest in a rock.

Please read chapter 9 of the book of Joshua.

This is where their cunning minds outsmarted the children of Israel.  Here they are called the Gibeonites even though four cities are mentioned. They so thoroughly duped the Israelites that they made them swear to an agreement that Israel would not harm them.

So, Joshua placed them doing the manual chores that took place in God's tabernacle.  They were given the menial jobs that the Levites and priests didn't like to perform.  So, what do we have here in essence?  The Kenites, the tares, the offspring of the devil himself, are now working directly for the priests who serve God in His holy tabernacle.  They are in essence on the inside now.  Poor Joshua.  He made a big mistake here.  Or did he?  Probably not because God is in control, full and absolute control.  The Kenites have a role to play in God's of redemption for mankind.

We find them mentioned in Saul and David's time (approx. 1000 BC).

Here we find Saul, the first king of Israel, sparing them.  Maybe because of the agreement that Joshua had made with them as you saw in Joshua 9.  But later Saul couldn't take the temptation any longer and he killed many of the inhabitants of Gibeon thinking he was doing Israel a favor.  This same scenario regarding the descendants of Cain has been replayed over and over again throughout history.  You can be sure that the perpitrators were severely punished each time because of God's promise to Cain.

Please read chapter 21 of 2 Samuel.  What you see in this chapter takes place about 28 years after Saul's death.

Look at the consequences that Israel had to pay for what Saul did nearly three decades before.  Now, recall that I told you to remember that number seven earlier in God's promise to Cain?  How many were hanged here of the house of Saul?  Yes, seven!  God kept his promise to Cain.  But how many Israelites died because of the three year famine? Who knows, because this information is not recorded, but somehow I feel very comfortable saying that it would be at least seven times the number of Gibeonites that Saul killed.

God made an additional promise to some of the descendents of Cain (approx. 500 BC).

Jer. 35:18  And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you:

Jer. 35:19  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.

1 Chronicles 2:55  And the families of the scribes which dwelt at Jabez; the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and Suchathites. These are the Kenites that came of Hemath, the father of the house of Rechab.

Go back up to 1 Chronicles 2:3 now to see the group in which they are included.  Among the descendants of Judah, and they now hold high, respected positions as scribes.  These scribes are no longer just hewers of wood and drawers of water, they hold high positions.  Ezra is very carefully conducting a census here, recording data on all of the Babylonian captives returning back to Jerusalem and the surrounding area.  This is happening approximately 410-400 B.C.

Rechab, incidentally, was a murderer just like his father Cain.  You can read about this perverse man in 2 Samuel, chapter 4.

They were very much in evidence in Christ's time (approx. 29 AD).

It is at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem and Jesus was speaking in the Temple to a mixed crowd.  The Kenites in the crowd were claiming that all present were descendants of Abraham and Jesus was calling them liars.  He clearly identified who they were and who their father was in these verses.
 

John 8:38  I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.

John 8:39  They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

John 8:40  But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.

John 8:41  Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

John 8:42  Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.

John 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

John 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

John 8:45  And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

Matthew 2:4  And when he (Herod) had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

Matthew 16:21  From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

Matthew 20:18-19  Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,  And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.

Where are they today?
 

Daniel 7:6  After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.

The first beast is Jacob, or Israel.  Notice the lion with eagles wings.  The nations of Europe today and their related people, especially including the old British Commonwealth nations and the United States.  Whose national symbols are the lion and the eagle today?  There were twelve tribes, or nations, which sprang out of Jacob.  What do you think happened to them?  They numbered two to three million when they left Egypt 3,500 years ago.  They number in the hundreds of millions today.  Surely you have heard of the lost tribes of Israel.  NATO is their military arm.

The second beast is Jacob's brother Esau, who was also called Edom (Genesis 36:8).  Notice the bear.  Edom means red (Strong's No. 123).  Who are the reds today?  This is Russia and her related people, Belarus, The Ukraine, et al.  They also number in the hundreds of millions today.
Their military arm was the Warsaw Pact.

The third beast is Cain's offspring, or the Kenites.  They are the tares mentioned in Matthew 13.  Notice the leopard.  They sprang from Cain and for now they have been given dominion, or control, in order to do their father's work.  For now, they sit in the catbird's seat watching over western civilization, and to some extent, the entire world.

The fourth beast is different from the first three beasts in that it is not a specific group of people.  It is a system, containing the first three beasts, plus many other people of the Earth, and it is controlled by Antichrist.  It is controlling our western civilization even now as I write this.  Notice that it contains the lion, the bear and the leopard and that it is diverse, or different, from the first three beasts.

This fourth beast in Daniel is the political beast rising up out of the sea in Revelation.

Revelation 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

The tares are in our churches.

Take time to read the short book of Jude.  Jude was adamant, and strongly accused them.

Revelation 2:9  I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

Revelation 3:9  Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

John 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Matt. 13:40  As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.

Matt. 13:41  The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;

Matt. 13:42  And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Matt. 13:43  Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Of course!  Salvation is offered to all.  If they repent and truly begin to serve God then they become His children and are no longer children of the devil.  God is very just and fair.

Christ loves all people especially when they are willing to change and repent.  He walked many  miles (up to 50 miles one way) to heal the daughter of a woman in Sidon.  She was a tare, but one who had faith in Him and she was humble.  The evidence that I see in these verses tells me that she was a convert to Jesus Christ forever.  Through her faith she and her daughter were delivered from a life of misery.  He put forth a lot of effort and time to do this miracle for her showing us that His hand is extended to all who are willing.  Read of it in Matthew 15:21-28 and Mark 7:24-30.

Still wondering if you are a tare?

Chances are very high that you are not.  There are not that many of them when you compare them numerically to the rest of the world's population.  But you could be a tare wannabe and adherent by loving this present world, and its system.  They are the ones who have, over long periods of time, set up and sustain the present world order with the help of their father, especially our western civilization.  Remember that they have been given dominion.

1 John 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.  If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Galatians 1:4  Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:

God bless with understanding of His word.