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 [among the wheat], and went away. But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. But the servants of the householder coming said unto him, Lord, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, A foe hath done this. But the servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we going gather them up? But he said, Nay, lest haply while ye gather up the tares ye root up at the same time the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn (13:24-30). "The man that sowed" means the Lord; the "field" means the spiritual world and the church, in which there are both good and evil; the "good seed" and the "wheat" mean the good, and the "tares" mean the evil; that they could not be separated until the time of the Last Judgment, because of the conjunction described above, is meant by the answer to the servants who wished to gather up the tares before, meaning to separate the evil from the good, namely, "lest haply while ye gather up the tares ye root up at the same time the wheat with them; let both grow together until the harvest," the "harvest" meaning the last judgment. That this is the signification the Lord Himself teaches in the same chapter where He says:

He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the [good] seed are the sons of the kingdom; the tares are the sons of the evil one; the harvest is the consummation of the age. As then the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be in the consummation of the age (13:37-40). This makes evident that "the householder that sowed the good seed" means the Lord, who here calls Himself "the Son of man;" and that "the field is the world" means the spiritual world and the church, in which there are both good and evil. It is clear that this means the spiritual world from its being said "The kingdom of the heavens is like unto a man that sowed good seed in his field;" "the kingdom of the heavens" meaning the spiritual world and the church; it is clear from this also, that this is said of the Last Judgment, and the Last Judgment is accomplished not in our world but in the spiritual world, as can be seen in the little work on the Last Judgment. This latter passage makes evident also that the "good seed" and the "wheat" mean the good, who are here called "the sons of the kingdom;" and that the "tares" mean the evil, who are called "the sons of the evil one;" also that the "harvest," when the separation is to be effected, means the time of the Last Judgment, for it is said "the harvest is the consummation of the age." ("The consummation of the age" means the time of the Last Judgment, as may be seen above, n. 397.) That "then the tares shall be gathered into bundles to be burned, and the wheat be gathered into the barn," signifies that the evil, according to the genera and species of the evil that is with them, are to be gathered up and cast into hell; this takes place with the evil when they are cast out, and is meant by "gathering into bundles;" that the good are to be preserved is meant by "gathering the wheat into the barn," the "barn" meaning where the good are collected. From this it can be seen that a complete separation of the good from the evil takes place at the time of the Last Judgment, and that it cannot take place before because of the conjunction described above, and that otherwise the good would perish with the evil; for it is said "lest haply while ye gather up the tares ye root up at the same time the wheat with them;" and it is further said "let both grow together until the harvest," that is, until the consummation of the age. Now, because the separation of the good from the evil is effected by a gentle and moderate influx of the Divine proceeding from the Lord, while the casting out of the evil into hell is effected by a powerful and intense influx of the Divine, it can be seen how all the particulars contained in the first three verses of this chapter are to be understood, when it is known from the spiritual sense what is signified by the "winds" that were to be held back, that earth, sea, and tree be not hurt until the servants of God had been sealed on their foreheads. [4] A few words shall be said about how this separation is effected. When the good are separated from the evil, which is done by the Lord by means of a moderate influx of His Divine, and by a looking into those things that are of spiritual affection with angels and spirits, then the Lord causes those who are interiorly and thence also exteriorly good, to turn themselves to Him, and thus to turn themselves away from the evil, and when they so turn themselves they become invisible to the evil; for this is a common thing in the spiritual world, that when anyone turns himself away from another he becomes invisible to him. When this is done the evil are separated from the good, and at the same time from the sanctity that they had simulated in externals; and thus they look towards hell, into which they are presently cast. (Concerning this turning about more may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell, n. 17, 123, 142, 144, 145, 151, 153, 251, 255, 272, 510, 548, 561; that the evil who were able to continue in external worship, or in external piety and sanctity, although not in any internal, were allowed to remain till the Last Judgment, and no longer, and why, may be seen in the small work on The Last Judgment, n. 59 and 70.)