The Tares (second
half)
The Parables of the Tares has a specific latter-day
application and has been more fully interpreted by the Lord. (D&C 86; also
38; 11-12.) Of special interest is the part which the angels will play in the
destruction and harvest. Concerning this President Wilford Woodruff on one
occasion, after reading D&C 86 to his listeners said:
These angels that have been held for many years in the
temple of our God have got their liberty to go out and commence their mission
and work in the earth, and they are here today in the earth. I feel bold in
saying this to the Latter-day Saints. . . .
God had held up the angels of destruction for many years,
lest they should reap down the wheat with the tares. But I want to tell you
now, that those angels have left the portals of heaven, and they stand over
this people and this nation now, and are hovering over the earth waiting to
pour out the judgments. (October 8, 1894). (G. Homer Durham, comp. The
Discourses of Wilford Woodruff [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, Inc., 1954], p.
251)
The difference between the order of gathering as
presented in the Doctrine and Covenants (Section 86) and as presented in
Matthew 13 should be noted in discussing the parable. In Matthew 13:30 the
tares are to be gathered first. As explained in the Doctrine and Covenants 86:7
the wheat is to be gathered first, and then the tares are to be bound in
bundles to be burned. (The Inspired Version of Matthew, chapter 13, by Joseph
Smith follows the sequence given in the Doctrine and Covenants) The latter case
is surely the most accurate—the gathering of Israel precedes the day of
destruction. Concerning the good farming habits, it would also be wiser to
gather out the wheat first, rather than to trample down the good grain while
binding the tares. (Robert J. Matthew, The Parables of Jesus [Provo,
Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1969], 85-86)
The Sequence of
Parables in Matthew Chapter 13.
Not all of the parables of Jesus are preserved in their
proper chronological order, but many scholars feel that those in Matthew 13 are
accurately presented. (Talmage, Jesus the Christ, p. 300. Trench, Notes on the
Parables, pp. 118-120. Farrar, The Life of Lives, p. 227. Gobel, The Parables
of Jesus, pp. 21-22) A proper order was also seen by the Prophet Joseph Smith
in an article upon the subject written for the benefit of the elders of the
Church. (Teachings, pp. 94-102) This most interesting and enlightening
article places a direct application of the seven parables in Matthew 13 to the
gathering of Israel and the establishment of the Church in the last days.
The Prophet’s explanation draws a sharp distinction
between the Parable of the Tares and those which follow it by making it the
dividing line between those parables having an allusion to the Church in the
Savior’s day and those parables having an allusion to the Church in the latter
days. (Ibid., p. 98) His division is as follows:
Soils (sower)
Tares (first half)*
_________________
Tares (second half)*
Mustard Seed
Leaven
Pearl of Great Price
Hidden Treasure
Gospel Net
*The parable of the Tares has a double application and it
bridges the gap between the meridian of time and the last days. (Ibid., 86)