Meaning of WHEAT

This plant was cultivated:
in Babylon (Herodotus 1:193), in Mesopotamia (Gen. 30:14), in Egypt (Ex. 9:32), in Palestine (Ex. 34:22; Deut. 8:8; Judges 6:11) and other places since ancient times.

In Palestine, wheat was planted after the first rains, in November or December. It was harvested in April, May or June; This depended on the regions, the state of the sun, and the climate (see WEATHER).

The ordinary bread of the Hebrews was of fine flour (Gen. 18:6; Ex. 29:2). Roasted grain was also eaten (Lev. 2:14, 16; Rt. 2:14). Fresh crushed ears were also consumed (Lev. 23:14; 2 Kings 4:42).

Egypt was the granary of the Mediterranean, and its wheat, shipped in Alexandria, reached Rome (Acts 27:6, 38). According to Pliny (His. Nat. 18:47), the best wheat was that from Upper Egypt (Thebes).

It was distinguished by its bearded and very voluminous spikes ("Triticum compositum"). This species, which is mentioned in Gen. 41:22 and is represented in ancient monuments, it continues to be cultivated in our days. The ordinary wheat of Palestine was "Triticum vulgare", with a straight ear.

Wheat is used by the Lord as a representative of the children of the kingdom, the fruit of the good seed that He was sowing in the earth, in contrast to the tares that Satan secretly sowed along with the good seed (Mt. 13:25- 30).

On the other hand, the same Lord, the second Man, "from heaven", is compared to the grain of wheat that should have remained alone unless it died, but when it died it would bear much fruit.

This clearly shows that there can be no union of Christ and the natural man by His incarnation alone, and that by the death of Christ the fruit produced by His resurrection is of the same order as Christ Himself (John 12:24; 1 Cor. 15:48, 49).