Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Jesus spake this parable: The kingdom of the heavens is like unto a man that sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept his enemy came and sowed tares, and went away. But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. The servants of the father of the family came and said unto him, Lord, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it tares? And he said unto them, An enemy hath done this. But the servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that going we collect them? But he said, Nay, lest haply while ye collect the tares ye root up at the same time the wheat with them. Rather let both grow together until the harvest; and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Collect first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.
And His disciples came unto Him, saying, Explain unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answering said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; and the seed are the sons of the kingdom; but the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy that soweth them is the devil; while the harvest is the consummation of the age; and the reapers are angels. As then the tares are collected and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the consummation of the age. The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall collect out of His kingdom all things that cause stumbling and them that do iniquity, and shall send them into a furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the just shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of the Father (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43).
This parable teaches:
• that the "sower" means the Lord, who is here called "the Son of man"
• that the "reapers," or "those that reap," mean the angels
• that "the tares shall be cast into a furnace of fire and the good seed gathered into the barn" and that this could not be done until "the consummation of the age" (which signifies the last state of the church), "lest the wheat should be rooted up at the same time with the tares."
As this parable of the Lord contains arcana respecting the separation of the evil from the good, and the Last Judgment, it is important that its particulars should be explained —
• "The kingdom of the heavens" signifies the Lord's church in the heavens and on earth; for the church is in both.
• "The man who sowed good seed in his field" means the Lord as to the Divine truth, which is the Word, in the church
• "the man," who is called in the following verses "the Son of man," is the Lord as to the Word
• "good seed" is Divine truth
• "field" the church where the Word is.
• "While men slept his enemy came and sowed tares, and went away," signifies that while men are living a natural life, or the life of the world, evils from hell secretly, or while they are unconscious of it, introduce and implant falsities, "to sleep" signifying to live a natural life or the life of the world, since such a life is sleep as compared with spiritual life, which is wakefulness.
• The "enemy" signifies evils from hell, which influence that life when it is separated from spiritual life
• "to sow tares" signifies to insinuate and implant falsities
• "went away" signifies that it was done secretly and when they were unconscious of it.
• "But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also" signifies that when truth increased and brought forth good, falsities from evil were mingled with it
• "the blade springing up" signifying truth such as it is when it is first received
• "fruit" signifying good
• "tares" falsities from evil, here these mingled with truths.
• "The servants of the father of the family came and said unto him, Lord, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it tares?" signifies those who are in truths from good perceiving that falsities from evil have been mingled with them, and complaining
• "the Lord's servants" signifying those who are in truths from good
• "the father of the family" signifying the Lord as to truths from good ("father" the Lord as to good, and "family" the Lord as to truths)
• the "good seed," the "field," and the "tares," having the same signification as above.
• "And he said unto them, An enemy hath done this," signifies that such falsities were from evil in the natural man.
• "But the servants said to him, Lord, wilt thou then that going we collect the tares?" signifies the separation and casting out of falsities from evil before truths from good are received and increase.
• "But he said, Nay, lest haply while ye collect the tares ye root up at the same time the wheat with them," signifies that thus truth from good and its increase would also perish; for truths are mingled with falsities with the men of the church, and these cannot be separated and the falsities cast out until they are reformed.
• "Rather let both grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Collect first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn," signifies that the separation and casting out of falsities from evil cannot be effected until it is the last state of the church; since it is then that the falsities of evil are separated from the truths of good, and the falsities of evil are delivered up to hell, and the truths of good are conjoined with heaven, or what is the same, the men who are in them. This takes place in the spiritual world, where all who are of the church from its beginning to its end are in this way separated and judged.
• The "harvest" signifies the end or the last state of the church
• "to bind into bundles" signifies to conjoin together particular kinds of falsities from evil
• "to burn" signifies to deliver up to hell
• "to gather into the barn" signifies to conjoin with heaven.
• "He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man" signifies the Divine truth from the Lord.
• "The field is the world" signifies the church everywhere.
• "The seed are the sons of the kingdom" signifies that the Divine truth is with those who are of the church.
• "The tares are the sons of the evil one" signifies falsities with those who are in evil.
• "The enemy that soweth them is the devil" signifies that their falsities are from evil, which is from hell.
• "The harvest is the consummation of the age" signifies the last time and state of the church.
• "The reapers are angels" signifies that the Divine truth from the Lord is what separates.
• "The Son of man shall send forth angels, and they shall collect out of His kingdom all things that cause stumbling," signifies that the Divine truth from the Lord will remove those things that hinder the separation.
• "They that work iniquity" signifies those who live wickedly.
• "And shall send them into a furnace of fire" signifies into the hell where those are who are in love of self and in hatred and revenge.
• "There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" signifies where there is what is direful from evils and falsities.
• "Then shall the just shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of the Father" signifies that those who have done the Lord's commandments shall live in heaven in heavenly loves and their joys; those are called "just" who acknowledge the Lord and do His commandments. Such was to be the state of the angels after the Last Judgment because the superior power which had before been on the side of hell was then restored to heaven, which was a source of joy to the angels with unceasing increase.
It remains to give some explanation of the Lord's words respecting the separation of the evil from the good, namely,—
• "Rather let both grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Collect first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn." This signifies the separation of the evil from the good when the Last Judgment is at hand. Why they were not separated before may be seen in the work on The Last Judgment, to which I will here add —
It is according to Divine order for things that must, in the end, be separated to grow in connection, and that when the end is reached, separation is easily and as it were spontaneously effected.
(from Apocalypse Explained 911)