20141013 Monday, October 13 2014
Job 04: Let Both Grow Together Until The Harvest

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"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 ... Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father"

The Messiah's "parable of the tares" was a two-fold lesson of why the LORD will not eliminate those who do evil before all has fully "ripened" into good or bad fruit (see The Manner Of Fruit).

First, the removal of the "weeds" (see Who Created Weeds?; also Seed-Bearing Plants: For Food Or For Folly?) before the due time (see The Harvest Prophecies) would also destroy those who don't do evil.

Secondly, it would prevent those whose time of repentance hasn't yet come to turn to the LORD in their later due time (see The Passed Over Pharisees and The Eighth Day: Empty Cemeteries).

"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: 13:25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 13:26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

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?

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?

13:29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn." (Matthew 13:24-30 KJV)

The explanation of the parable was a prophecy of the final Judgment ("the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels") in which fire will consume all who have knowingly refused to repent (see The Church: Mission Accomplished).

"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.

13:37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; 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; 13:39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

13:40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 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; 13:42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 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." (Matthew 13:36-43 KJV)

Job was a very righteous man - the specific reason that Satan targeted him (see How Did The Devil Challenge Job To Commit A Satan?). It was also the very reason that the LORD permitted it (see What Was In The Heart Of Job's Tabernacle? and Job's Prophecy Of The Resurrection).

Job's friends were also righteous men, but they mistakenly assumed that Job's troubles were the result of him having done evil (i.e. "they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same," verse 8 below), but that is not the case with the righteous. As made plain in the Messiah's parable of the tares, the righteous are surrounded by evil in the present world - they suffer, but also grow ultimately stronger because of the greater weight that they are given to overcome.

"4:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

4:2 If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking?

4:3 Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands. 4:4 Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.

4:5 But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. 4:6 Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways? 4:7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?

4:8 Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same. 4:9 By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed. 4:10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken. 4:11 The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad.

4:12 Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof. 4:13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men, 4:14 Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake. 4:15 Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up: 4:16 It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying, 4:17 Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?

4:18 Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly: 4:19 How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth? 4:20 They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it. 4:21 Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom." (Job 4:1-21 KJV)

Fact Finder: How was the Kingdom of God as "close at hand" for those who lived thousands of years ago as it is for those alive today?
See Could Christ Return Tonight? and Repent, For The Kingdom Of Heaven Is At Hand