While Joseph Smith was reviewing his translation of the Bible, the Lord revealed an interpretation of the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Doctrine and Covenants 86; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43). The first part of this revelation is straightforward:
- The field = the world
- The sowers = the apostles
- The enemy = Satan
God allows wheat (his disciples) to grow alongside tares (people who don’t follow Him) in order to give the wheat time to mature. In the end, He will separate the wheat from the tares, but for now, they coexist, and sometimes the tares even “choke the wheat” (Doctrine and Covenants 86:3).
But the last four verses of this revelation really bring the message home and make it relevant to modern church members:
Therefore, thus saith the Lord unto you, with whom the priesthood hath continued through the lineage of your fathers—
Doctrine and Covenants 86:8
Abraham “sought for the blessings of the fathers,” and said that the priesthood was “conferred upon [him] from the fathers; it came down from the fathers” (Abraham 1:2-4). Even though his own father worshiped idols, Abraham recognized the “wheat,” the good things which had been passed down through generations of imperfect people, and to which he “became a rightful heir.”
We should be grateful for the good things we have received from our ancestors and acknowledge our debt to them.
For ye are lawful heirs, according to the flesh, and have been hid from the world with Christ in God—
Doctrine and Covenants 86:9
Paul told the Colossians to set their hearts on heavenly things, not earthly things. “For ye are dead,” he explained, “and your life is hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).
Some people around us will not understand us, because their assumptions and priorities differ from ours. In that sense, we are “hid” from them, invisible or at least incomprehensible because they don’t understand what is most important to us.
Don’t worry if you feel overwhelmed by tares. You are in a good place. You are “hid with Christ.”
Therefore your life and the priesthood have remained, and must needs remain through you and your lineage until the restoration of all things spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets since the world began.
Doctrine and Covenants 86:10
Peter taught that the heavens had received Christ, “until the times of restitution of all things,” which prophets have foretold throughout the ages (Acts 3:21). Those times of restoration have begun, but as President Russell M. Nelson has testified, “We’re witnesses to a process of restoration. If you think the Church has been fully restored, you’re just seeing the beginning. There is much more to come” (“Latter-day Saint Prophet, Wife and Apostle Share Insights of Global Ministry,” Church Newsroom, 30 October 2018).
Be patient. God will restore all things, but not all at once.
Therefore, blessed are ye if ye continue in my goodness, a light unto the Gentiles, and through this priesthood, a savior unto my people Israel. The Lord hath said it. Amen.
Doctrine and Covenants 86:11
The Lord called Isaiah to be “a light to the Gentiles” (Isaiah 49:6; 1 Nephi 21:6). Obadiah prophesied that “saviours” would one day “come upon mount Zion” (Obadiah 1:21).
Wheat and tares may appear to have fixed identities, but people change. As wheat among tares, we can uplift and inspire the people around us so that they are drawn to God and are ready for the harvest.
Wheat can be a light among the tares.
To the Nephites and Lamanites gathered at the temple in Bountiful, the resurrected Jesus declared, “Ye are the children of the prophets; and ye are of the house of Israel; and ye are of the covenant which the Father made with your fathers, saying unto Abraham: And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed” (3 Nephi 20:25). It may be uncomfortable to feel like a tender blade of wheat surrounded by tares, but we will feel less lonely and more empowered when we see ourselves as heirs to promises and obligations given to prior generations.
Today, I will remember the covenant lineage that continues even in a wheat-and-tares world. I will trust that God is restoring and will restore all broken things, and I will take advantage of opportunities to inspire and encourage the people around me.
Amen