Matthew 13:24-30

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares

²⁴ Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; ²⁵ but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. ²⁶ But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. ²⁷ So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ ²⁸ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ ²⁹ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

When I would read these verses, I thought the tares were just weeds that were planted to annoy the owner of the field. I knew they were symbolic of false doctrine, but what I didn’t realize is that Tares were way more than a simple nuisance sown to distract believers, these were sown to destroy them.

Tares

The scientific name for Tares is ,darnel (Lolium temulentum).

Darnel (tares) grow in the same zone as Wheat and is a cultivated weed that has to be planted. It is known as “false wheat” because of how closely it resembles wheat.

Since we know that the Tares were planted by the enemy and it represents false doctrine, we can see that the intention was to closely mimic the good doctrine (good seed) and deceive as many people as possible.

 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Proverbs 14:12

Darnel (tares) in Latin it’s known as ebriacus, meaning intoxicated.

It was added to beer to make it more intoxicating, it was used to induce sleepiness and was known to cause hallucinations especially when it was infected with the fungus, Neotyphodium occultans (in English… it means OCCULT… something hidden). At the end I list what AI summarized about darnel from all the research papers published on the internet about it. Just focusing on the effects of causing Sleepiness, drunkenness and loss of mental clarity, you can clearly see the enemy sowed these seeds to cause as much damage as possible.

We can see the effects in the body of believers now. We have entire churches convincing people they can be saved without repentance… that you can have Jesus as your savior without making him your Lord. The preacher doesn’t preach from the Bible, he gives you affirmations mingled with scriptures that affirm you and tells you that God wants you to live your best life now. The worship services are designed to get you to confirm your faith through feelings. The lights are low… the music plays… beautiful songs… the worship team leads you… “Raise your hands and praise the Lord…. the HOLY SPIRIT IS HERE…” The crowd gets excited… people begin to weep… overwhelmed with feelings they now think is the Holy Spirit. You become addicted to it…. and when you attend a service and aren’t brought to tears in worship, you leave feeling like you got nothing… no touch from the Holy Spirit…. your faith is shaken. The reason is because your faith was redirected by this clever tare from true worship of God to worshiping your own self. Your worship stopped being about blessing God with praise and started being about seeking a blessing for yourself. You’ve become addicted to the intoxicating effect of having your faith confirmed by being brought to tears in worship so that you feel blessed by the Holy Spirit, confirming that you are right with God. This counterfeit is so cunning that it dares to mimic the true worship of God when in reality it’s idolatry by way of self worship.

If you try to get out… like I did… you will have to go through a detox… you can bet there will be mental confusion as you realize you have been deceived. I was gripped by fear…the idea that I would even question “GOD’S ANOINTED”.

Some people become intoxicated and never come back… they die in the false doctrine…poisoned by tares.

The effects of consuming tares are mental confusion, blindness, intoxication, sleepiness, laziness… the same things we see gripping people in the church.

The time has come though… where the field is ripe for the harvest… and it is at this time when the Tares ripen they show themselves to be tares by turning dark, their heads are light for lack of fruit so they stand tall and proud… but the wheat turn golden brown, their heads humbly bowed from the weight of the fruit. Again, just like in the Church.

You could write a complete book on all the ways false doctrine resemble tares and wheat resembles sound doctrine in a metaphorical way. What amazes me is that Jesus used tares and wheat … I am amazed by this very succinct parable, he said this way before we even realized the entire scope of damage tares can do to a person through scientific research.

Here is what AI presented when I asked what the effects of Lolium temulentum had on humans:

Lolium temulentum, commonly known as darnel, poison ryegrass, or “taumelloolch” (German), is a toxic grass often associated with contaminated wheat and other cereal crops. It is widely considered an unsafe substance to ingest due to poisonous fungi-derived compounds—namely lolitrem B and ergovaline—present within the seed. Historically, it was sometimes used to intentionally increase the intoxicating effects of beer, but in modern contexts, it is a dangerous contaminant. 

Acute Physiological Effects (Poisoning)
Ingestion of Lolium temulentum causes symptoms similar to “drunkenness” or narcotic poisoning, often occurring within 1–2 hours of ingestion.
Neurological: Dizziness, headache, trembling of the whole body, confusion, delirium, weakness, ataxia, and in severe cases, stupor, convulsions, and paralysis.

Gastrointestinal: Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea.

Vision: Dilated pupils and blurred or confused vision.

Cardiovascular: Transient hypertension or vasoconstriction leading to cold extremities.

Severe Cases: Death has been reported in historical literature, with symptoms ranging from profound weakness to severe coma. 

Other Effects

• Hallucinogenic/Intoxicant: Historically used as an entheogen in ancient, small-dose rituals to achieve altered states of consciousness.
• Medicinal/Folklore: 19th-century folk medicine used water-based decoctions (infusions) of the straw as a poultice to treat minor joint aches and pains.
• Homeopathic Use: Used in highly diluted forms to treat symptoms like vertigo, trembling, and anxiety, though this is not backed by conventional medical evidence. 

Safety Warning
Lolium temulentum is considered unsafe for human consumption. It is particularly dangerous for pregnant or breast-feeding women. Its toxicity is often linked to the presence of an endophytic fungus (N. occultans) in the grain, which is more common during wet seasons.