1 VERILY, thus saith the Lord unto you my servants, concerning the parable of the wheat and of the tares:

2 Behold, verily I say, the field was the world, and the apostles were the sowers of the seed; [ The sowers of the wheat seeds were the ancient apostles. ]

3 And after they have fallen asleep the great persecutor of the church, the apostate, the whore, even Babylon, that maketh all nations to drink of her cup, [ This is a direct reference to the jewish wedding traditions. In which after the marriage contract was arranged by the father's, after the bride price was established, after the bridegroom gave the bride to be a generous gift, the bridegroom would sit down with the bride to be and poor a glass of wine(symbolic of blood). Then the bride would have 30 seconds to decide whether to drink the glass of wine or not. To drink the cup meant that she accepted all of the covenants (the marriage agreements) and was ready to become bethrothed, if she did not drink within that 30 seconds the bridegroom would simple leave never to be seen of again. ] in whose hearts the enemy, even Satan, sitteth to reign—behold he soweth the tares; [ Satan uses Babylon (the world) to sow the tares ] wherefore, the tares choke the wheat and drive the church into the wilderness. [ This verse contains paraphrases from John’s Revelation. Of particular interest is that the “church” is presented as being driven into the wilderness. In Revelation, the figure driven into the wilderness is a woman, and commentators have been wrangling over who this woman represents. Here the woman is plainly identified as the ancient church. It is also worthwhile to note the JST on Rev. 12 presents the woman as the church as well. ]

4 But behold, in the last days, even now while the Lord is beginning to bring forth the word, and the blade is springing up and is yet tender— [ The blade is again springing forth in the last days (v. 4), with the restoration of the ancient church]

5 Behold, verily I say unto you, the angels are crying unto the Lord day and night, who are ready and waiting to be sent forth to reap down the fields; [ The angels are ready to begin the reaping process. ]

6 But the Lord saith unto them, pluck not up the tares while the blade is yet tender (for verily your faith is weak), lest you destroy the wheat also.

7 Therefore, let the wheat and the tares [ Compare D&C 101:64-75.] grow together until the harvest is fully ripe; [ The reference to being fully ripe refers to the ripeness in iniquity of the tares and not the ripeness of the wheat, cp. 2 Ne. 28:6, Jacob 5:58, Alma 10:19, Ether 2:9, D&C 18:6, D&C 29:9. ] then ye shall first gather out the wheat from among the tares, and after the gathering of the wheat, behold and lo, the tares are bound in bundles, and the field remaineth to be burned. [ As indicated in v. 2 the field is the world. On what the “burn[ing]” is cp. 2 Ne. 26:4-6, and also comments on D&C 87. Here the order of wheat first then tares is reversed from the order appearing in Matt. 13:30. The IV/JST also reverses the order. However, in the present text, the field is left to be burned where in the Matt. 13 passage, in both the KJV and the IV/JST, the bundles of tares are burned. These are subtle differences in the text, which lend themselves to considerable speculation for eschatological interpretations. ]

8 Therefore, thus saith the Lord unto you, with whom the priesthood hath continued through the lineage of your fathers— [ These latter day priesthood holders are cast into the same mole as the ancient apostles, and are to prepare for the Day of the Lord, cp. D&C 65:2-5. this right is to continue through their lineage until the “restoration of all things”, i.e., the restoration of Israel and fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant with the Day of the Lord, cf. D&C 45:25. Presumably at that point the lineage-based covenant associated with Abraham will cease, returning the human race to the pre-Abrahamic style universal covenants. As for being heirs by lineage, Smith was apparently natural Israel by birth (cf. 2 Ne. 3:11-15), but a good many others surely were not. For those that were not natural Israel by birth, they are made covenant Israel by adoption, cf. Isa. 56:1-7. This adoption is achieved by obtaining and upholding the Priesthood covenants, cp. D&C 84:33-34. Thus the heavy emphasis on the connection between the Priesthood and the status as heirs. These verses also imply they are in a good position, or in other words they are the wheat and not the tares. ]

9 For ye are lawful heirs, [ Lawful here means that you have a legal or legitimate claim as an heir. A reference to the covenant which the Lord made with Abraham that all nations of the earth would be blessed through the literal seed of his body, who would bear the ministry and the priesthood (see Abraham 2:9–11). Therefore those of which he speaks of here have a legitimate right to the blessings of Abraham. ] according to the flesh, and have been hid from the world with Christ in God— [ A paraphrase of Col. 3:3, so the context of Col. 3:1-11 is invoked. The interpretation is those being addressed in the revelation are dead as to things of the world and alive unto God through Christ (i.e., born again). That they are “hid” means that the world is not perceiving them and when Christ is revealed they will be with him. ]

10 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.

11 Therefore, blessed are ye if ye continue in my goodness, [ After they are identified as those of the covenant, the Lord admonishes them to “continue in my goodness”, meaning they are to endure to the end. They are also to be a light to the nations, and a savior to natural Israel, Isa. 42:6-7, Isa. 49:5-6, Isa. 51:4-5. Thus, they are to be like the ancient apostles and go and be sowers of the seed so the nations and Israel may come unto the Lord.] a light unto the Gentiles, and through this priesthood, a savior unto my people Israel. The Lord hath said it. Amen.

 

[ Historical Material Pertaining to Doctrine & Covenants 86 Excerpt from History of the Church On the 6th of December, 1832, I received the following revelation explaining the parable of the wheat and tares: [text of D&C 86 quoted] (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, volume 1, page 300) Excerpt from The Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith That the reception of section 86 was closely connected with the inspired translation of the Bible is affirmed by a statement in Joseph Smith’s journal: “December 6th translating and received a revelation explaining the Parable the Wheat and the Tears &c.” (Lyndon W. Cook, The Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith). ]