QUESTION: In your understanding of the wheat and weeds parable at matt 13, does the wheat only represent “anointed” Christians or all Christians? I know the WT always says its just anointed, but it seems more fitting that it would be all. Comparing what you have written on the topic if the weeds are being separated from the kingdom, if it was just representing anointed Christians how many weeds or impostor anointed would there really be, doesn’t seem like it could be that many. Where as if it was weeds or false Christians spread amongst average Christians (which I would imagine is much bigger amount than with the anointed) it would seem like more of a head count to separate those weeds from just average Christians.
ANSWER: Satan has always sought to infiltrate Christ’s congregation using false brothers brought in from the outside. Or he may cause once-faithful Christians to become apostate. In any case, Jesus allows it to develop until the harvest.
But are the weeds those who claim to be anointed? Apparently so. The reason being is because the wheat are described as being “the sons of the kingdom.” So, if Satan is intent on producing fake sons of the kingdom, as we know he is, and the weeds are virtually indistinguishable from the wheat from a human standpoint, then it stands to reason that the weeds are indeed false anointed brothers.
During the conclusion the wheat will be gathered into the storehouse. In other words, they will be accepted as kings in the kingdom of God, at which point “they will shine as brightly as the sun.” This phenomenon parallels the “revealing of the sons of God.” At that point the weeds will be outside the kingdom, but not yet destroyed – merely bundled up and prevented from entering the kingdom. They will most likely still be claiming to be the voice of Jehovah’s earthly organization, while the real organization will be completely separated from the Watchtower Society at that point.
However, it seems that the illustration of the dragnet and the good and bad fishes does represent all Christians. Jesus went on to say: “Again the Kingdom of the heavens is like a dragnet let down into the sea and gathering fish of every kind. When it was full, they hauled it up onto the beach, and sitting down, they collected the fine ones into containers, but the unsuitable they threw away. That is how it will be in the conclusion of the system of things. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from among the righteous and will cast them into the fiery furnace. There is where their weeping and the gnashing of their teeth will be.”
You’ll note that in this illustration there is no mention of the sons of the kingdom, only the righteous and wicked. In this illustration the Watchtower Society serves as the dragnet. But once the conclusion commences the Watchtower will have served its purpose.
