Tares
Immediately after the parable of the sower in Matthew 13 is the Parable of the Tares, Matthew 13:24-25.
24Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
The Parable of the Sower is about the heart condition of mankind and receiving the word of God. Others may use it for other doctrines, it is concerned with the spreading the word of God and how both believer and nonbelievers receive the word. Refer to Sower for a complete discussion. However, there is one concept that needs to be discussed from that parable, Luke 8:11.
11Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
Yeshua is very clear, the seed is the word of God. Word is the Greek word logos {log’-os}. In the context of scripture, this refers to the written word. This includes all 66 Books of the Bible. This is consistent in the Parable of the Tares.
Sometimes chaff is mistaken for the tares in the Parable of the Tares. Chaff is described in Matthew 3:11-12.
11I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and with fire: 12Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
Chaff is the ugly part of the wheat that must be removed to make the wheat edible, Jeremiah 23:28-29.
28The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. 29Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
The Word of God burns the chaff out of the life of the believer. In the Bible, chaff refers to ugliness of our lives that God must burn up to make us useful to do His works. Tares refer to something much different.
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