Who's Planting In Your Garden?

False Teachers Part two. There's more? Oh yes, absolutely there's more. You bet your bottom dollar there's more. There's so much more, that the bible from the beginning warns us about false prophets and teachers. But, I was studying today and ran across the parable that I wanted to share. And now that I think about it, this blog is really a good combo of the first "false teachers" blog and my other one about the need to "stay awake".

A Story About Wheat and Weeds

Matthew 13:24-30 (Easy-to-Read Version) 

24 Then Jesus used another story to teach them. Jesus said, “God’s kingdom is like a man who planted good seed in his field. 25 That night, while everyone was asleep, the man’s enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat and then left. 26 Later, the wheat grew, and heads of grain grew on the plants. But at the same time the weeds also grew. 27 Then the man’s servants came to him and said, ‘You planted good seed in your field. Where did the weeds come from?’

28 “The man answered, ‘An enemy planted weeds.’

“The servants asked, ‘Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?’

29 “He answered, ‘No, because when you pull up the weeds, you might also pull up the wheat. 30 Let the weeds and the wheat grow together until the harvest time. At the harvest time I will tell the workers this: First, gather the weeds and tie them together to be burned. Then gather the wheat and bring it to my barn.’”

Let's pay special attention to verse 25. It says that "while everyone was asleep...". That is a very important part of this parable. I did a blog entry entitled "Sweet Dreams, Horrible Lies". In it, I spoke about how it was time to wake up and pay attention to the things going on around us. In this parable above, people were sleeping - unaware, at ease, comfortable. At that point, the enemy was able to come in and sow weeds among the plants to later be harvested.

What does that have to do with false teachers? It is the modus operandi - or "M.O." for short. It is their method of how they operate. Let's look at what the parable warns us about concerning them:

• They strike when people are least expecting it under the cover of darkness so their actions can't be seen. "That night..."
• They strike while people are comfortable and unaware. "...while everyone was asleep..."
• They seek a garden to defile. " ...the man’s enemy came..." 
• They "plant" what will later result in separation of what is "growing together". "... Let the weeds and the wheat grow together until the harvest time..."

Let's look at weeds for a second. A weed by definition is any wild plant growing where it is not wanted and in competition with cultivated plants. So, if the plant is wanted, it is not a weed.  A weed is wild, untameable, uncontainable, and is something that will suck the life and nutrients out of a particular already existing form of vegetation. 

The man knew his crop and what didn't belong. But, the crop had no idea it was contending with weeds that were planted and had taken root. The crop may have known that getting what it needed was a little harder and its surroundings were not what it was used to. In fact, it by nature may have even later adapted to get some kind of normalcy so it can survive (note surviving and thriving are two different states of being), but it didn't know that in time it could be overtaken and killed. Surely not all the crop will make it out unscathed by the weeds. Some of the crop will succumb to the changing environment the weeds that were planted will bring, while some will be able to be harvested.

Now let's put faces to these characters.

The man is the Father. He sees and assesses the situation. He knows what is good and bad and exacts judgement on the "bad seed".

The enemy is just that, the enemy of our souls. BUT, sometimes we also know that the enemy will use people to carry out his plan i.e. false teachers. They plant weeds - thoughts, ideas, false teaching, even other people into the midst of good seed with the intention of dividing and choking the life out of the good seed.

The wheat are Yah's people. The Word often talks about people as some sort of vegetation. It refers to the righteous as like a tree planted by the water, it speaks of man being like grass, and flowers of the field. In this particular instance, the word is referring to the people of Yah are the good seed. 

The weeds (in this particular story) are those who the Father considers unrighteous. Those who are unrighteous also have unrighteous thoughts, do things that are contrary to Yah's will, and will be removed from the field and burned in the lake of fire.

Please listen to what I am saying here. The bible warns us that in these times, there WILL BE false teachers among us. To ignore that warning is to be asleep. To think it can't happen to you and your assembly is to deny the words of Yah. There will be some crop/wheat that will grow among the weeds that are slyly planted and SOME CROP WILL NOT MAKE IT. Some will be choked out - their strength taken because of the enemy that crept in with weeds (thoughts, deeds, people etc). Some will "survive" just barely making it by the grace of Yah.

So, please, stay awake and beware of who comes into your garden and what they are planting.....