SHOCKING FACTS on "TARES"

SHOCKING FACTS on "TARES"
-Andrew Strom.

Of course, we all know Jesus' parable of the Wheat and the Tares.
Tares are plants that look just like wheat until Harvest time -
when it turns out that they were counterfeit. Awhile ago I learnt
some facts about Tares that truly shocked and surprised me.

When you look up the word "Tares" on Wikipedia, it comes back
with the equivalent plant named "Darnel." This is exactly correct
according to most Biblical authorities. The Tares are almost always
considered to be the weed Darnel - also known as "false wheat"
which grows plentifully in the whole region around Israel. Here is
what Wikipedia says about it:

"It bears a close resemblance to wheat until the ear appears… It
parasitizes wheat fields. The French word for darnel is "ivraie"…
which expresses that weed's characteristic of making one feel
poisoned with drunkenness, and can cause death. This
characteristic is also alluded to in the scientific name (Latin
temulentus = drunk)… The plant is mentioned in… the Parable
of the Tares in the Gospel of Matthew."

So is this identification of Tares with "drunkenness" noted
elsewhere? Yes - many Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias say
exactly the same thing. In fact, the Faussett Bible Cyclopedia
states that "when mixed with wheat flour [it] causes dizziness,
intoxication, and paralysis" and says that bearded darnel is
known as "the only deleterious grain" among all the grasses.

On the giant website "Botanical.com" we read: "It is recorded to
have produced all the symptoms of drunkenness: a general
trembling, followed by inability to walk, hindered speech and
vomiting. For this reason the French call Darnel: 'Ivraie,' from Ivre
(drunkenness)."

Out of all the weed-type grasses, Tares are seemingly the only
ones that produce this deadly "drunken" effect. Isn't that amazing?
In the parable of the Wheat and the Tares in Matt 13, Jesus states
that his "enemy" sows tares amongst the true wheat. Then He says:

"Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will
say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in
bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn" (Mt 13:30).

I guess I don't need to point out the possible parallels with today's
"Drunkenness"/ River movement. What an alarming insight - if it
does have relevance to what we have seen in those circles!!