Wheat and Tares and Raptures

In my article "Of Covenants and Favour" I show that Jesus' words were spoken primarily for, to, and of Israel. This comes from his words to the Gentile woman in Matthew 15:24, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

From that position, the parable of the Wheat and Tares in Matthew 13:24-30 must refer only to Israel.

Jesus explains the parable at the disciple's request later in Matthew 13:38.

This would indicate that within the nation/people of Israel are those who are "sons of the evil one" masquerading as "sons of the kingdom."

Matthew 13:49-50 "So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

If Jesus was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel then this verse must be interpreted as speaking to a situation specific to Israel. In that case, the righteous that are left must refer to Israelites and not to Christian Gentiles.

As laid out in, "Of Covenants and Favour" this verse must refer to Israel and as explained there the Christian Gentiles (a.k.a. the church) will already have been raptured.

The "end of the age" must be a time when only the Wheat (children of Israel) and Tares (those that are not) remained on the earth.

Some suggest that Matthew 24:30-31 suggests a post-tribulation rapture where it reads:

"And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with A great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other."

This last line identifies first, His elect, a phrase which only fits the children of Israel (see Invitation or Election), second the gathering together occurs in the sky, not on the earth. The phrase "four winds" as distinguished from the "four corners of the earth" used elsewhere, also indicates a heavenly gathering rather than an earthly one.

In my thinking, this is an account of the post-tribulation initiating the millennium. If the tribulation period is over there would seem to me to be no reason for a rapture event. What purpose would it serve to have the believers "caught up" and returned to earth with them in the same "twinkling of an eye" (see Rapture with Purpose").

Since Jesus was sent only to "the lost sheep of Israel" it is evident that Jesus' words in the gospels could not be accurate if the Christian Gentiles were still on the earth at "the end of the age."

The rapture of the Christian Gentiles is a necessity to leave only Wheat and Tares (true Israelites vs Gentiles) for the final harvest.

Soon…

©2015, Dr Steven Bydeley, a man.

All publishing rights reserved. Permission is herewith granted to reprint this article for personal use and to link or refer to it; however, no commercial re-publishing of the material in this article is permitted without prior written consent.

Steven is the author of Fathered by God and, with his wife Dianne, co-author of Dream Dreams and Dreams the Heal and Counsel. They have been guests on the Miracle Channel, Trinity Television, and Crossroads Communication, and has taught internationally on various topics.

Without Prejudice. © 2024, Steven., house of bij de Leij., of man.