The good land is a land of wheat and barley; whereas wheat signifies the incarnated, crucified, and buried Christ, barley signifies the resurrected Christ who is unlimited, nourishing, and powerful in us to bring us into the experience of His resurrection. Hallelujah!
As believers in Christ, we need to be brought on with the Lord little by little, day by day.
Our Christ is not a small, limited, or shallow Christ; He is rich, unlimited, and universally vast.
As typified by the good land of Canaan, our Christ is universally vast, immense, all-inclusive, and able to meet all our needs.
But how much do we enjoy and experience Him? He is a land full of wheat and barley and many other riches, but how much do we experience Christ in our daily life?
Do we even care for the experience of Christ, or do we just want to make it through the day and take care of the things that we need to take care of?
Christ as the good land has been allotted to us, and our portion is rich and wonderful.
We all as saints in the light have a portion of Christ allotted to us.
Do we labour on our portion of the land? Do we cooperate with the Lord in our daily experience to enjoy Christ, contact Him, and have the experiences we need for us to possess the good land?
We all need to come to the Lord again and again concerning our growth in Him and our experience of Him.
The enemy is actively working to veil the all-inclusiveness of Christ from us, the people of God.
He darkens people’s minds, veiling their understanding that they would not see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
So many believers in Christ today are focused on doing a work for God, worshipping God according to certain routines or practices, or going to preach the gospel.
Who labors on the good land?
Who tills the ground and labours on the all-inclusive Christ so that he may bring forth some rich produce of Christ for God’s satisfaction and for man’s nourishment?
We need to come back to the divine revelation in God’s word and see what it means for us to enjoy Christ and experience Him as the rich, all-inclusive good land.
We need to partake of the riches of Christ and cooperate with Him in our daily living so that we may have the experiences we need for us to “grow wheat” and “grow barley” in the allotted portion of the land.
May we open to the Lord concerning this and may we prayerfully consider these matters before Him so that He would shine on us and bring us into the experiences of Himself as the reality of the wheat and barley.
Barley Signifies the Resurrected and Unlimited Christ – Christ as the Firstfruits of Resurrection to be our Supply
On one hand, Christ is signified by the wheat, the grain of wheat; wheat signifies the incarnated, crucified and buried Christ, the Christ who is limited and is willing to suffer, being satisfied with being put to death and buried.
On the other hand, barley also signifies Christ; barley signifies the resurrected Christ.
We see this in Lev. 23:10 and 1 Cor. 15:20. In Lev. 23:10 we are told that barley ripens first, and the firstfruits of the harvest should be offered to God for His satisfaction.
This is a type of Christ as the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Cor. 15:20).
In the good land, barley ripens first (Lev. 21:23); a sheaf of barley was to be offered to the priest as firstfruits to God.
Barley, therefore, typifies the firstfruits.
Who is the firstfruits? It is Christ. 1 Cor. 15:20 says that Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
The firstfruits of the harvest typify Christ as the firstfruits of resurrection.
Barley, therefore, signifies the resurrected Christ.
Because barley ripens first, it is the firstfruits of the harvest, a type of the resurrected and unlimited Christ.
On one hand, wheat signifies the limited Jesus; on the other hand, barley signifies the resurrected and unlimited Christ.
In incarnation, crucifixion, and burial, Christ is limited and constrained.
In His resurrection, however, He is unlimited!
Wheat and barley typify two aspects of Christ; wheat typifies His coming – His incarnation and death, and barley typifies His going – His resurrection.
We need to experience not only the limited Christ, the Christ who can bear all things and is satisfied to be put to death and be buried, but also the resurrected and unlimited Christ, the Christ who cannot be limited by anything, including death.
Have we experienced Christ as the wheat? Have we experienced Him as the barley?
We rejoice to learn that Christ is the barley, the resurrected Christ within us, and that He is able to meet every situation.
He is able to meet all our needs and face all our problems, for He is resurrected and unlimited.
The power to endure the limiting situations, to be patient, and to remain in the constricted situations, is the barley-Christ, the resurrected and unlimited Christ.
On one hand, He’s the limited, incarnated, crucified, and buried Christ; on the other hand, He is the resurrected and unlimited Christ in our spirit.
He can meet all our needs, and He can face every situation.
Sometimes we face the situation and we realize we can’t make it, we can’t be it, and we can’t do it; we want to quiet.
But the Lord is right there with us and in us, and He can face the situation.
![Which He caused to operate in Christ in raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavenlies, Far above all rule and authority and power and lordship and every name that is named not only in this age but also in that which is to come; And He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him [to be] Head over all things to the church, Which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all. Eph. 1:20-23](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Which-He-caused-to-operate-in-Christ-in-raising-Him-from-the-dead-and-seating-Him-at-His-right-hand-in-the-heavenlies-683x1024.jpg?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "Which He caused to operate in Christ in raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavenlies, Far above all rule and authority and power and lordship and every name that is named not only in this age but also in that which is to come; And He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him [to be] Head over all things to the church, Which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all. Eph. 1:20-23")
His resurrection life can do it, make it, and be it.
It is true that in ourselves we can’t do it, but the empowering One is in us and He can do it.
It’s so true that in limiting situations and in constraining environments we can’t be it, but the resurrected and unlimited Christ in us can be it.
He is able, and we can do all things in Christ, the One who empowers us (Phil. 4:13).
We need more of the experience of Christ as the wheat and barley in the church life.
When we experience the resurrected and unlimited Christ, there will be no more complaints and no more murmurings.
Rather, there will be more joy and more hope, for Christ in us – the resurrected Christ – can meet the situation.
Christ as the firstfruits of resurrection is the Firstborn from the dead that He might be the Head of the Body (Col. 1:18; Eph. 1:20-23).
Since He, the Head of the Body, has been resurrected, so we, the Body of Christ, will be resurrected as well. Praise the Lord!
He is the firstfruits, and we are the many fruits.
When Christ died, we died in Him and with Him, and when He resurrected, we were resurrected with Him and in Him.
We died with Him, we were buried with Him, and we were resurrected with Him. Praise the Lord!
Lord Jesus, thank You for being not only the Christ who is willing to be limited and crucified but even more, the resurrected and unlimited Christ! Hallelujah, Christ not only went through death and burial but was also resurrected to be the resurrected and unlimited Christ! Amen, Lord, You are the reality of barley, and we want to experience You as such a One. We rejoice to learn that Christ is the barley, for the resurrected Christ is within us and He’s able to meet every situation! Amen, Lord, we can’t do it, be it, or make it, but the resurrected and unlimited Christ can do it, be it, and make it! You are the firstfruits of resurrection, the Firstborn from the dead, so that You may be the Head of the Body! Amen, Lord, we believe that, even as You were resurrected, we also as Your Body will also be resurrected! Praise the Lord!
Christ in Resurrection is the Bread of Life to us, Rich and Unlimited to Meet all our Needs
In John 6 we see how there were five thousand men (besides women and children) with the Lord Jesus, and He fed them all simply by blessing the five barley loaves and two fish (vv. 9-10).
The fact that the loaves were of barley is very significant.
As the firstfruits, Christ has become the bread of life to us.
Barley loaves signify Christ in resurrection as food to us (John 6:48).
The loaves were not of wheat but of barley; if they were of wheat, something would be wrong, but they were of barley.
![There is a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are these for so many? Jesus said, Have the people recline. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men reclined, in number about five thousand...So they gathered [them] and filled twelve handbaskets with broken pieces from the five barley loaves which were left over among those who had eaten. John 6:9-10, 13](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/There-is-a-little-boy-here-who-has-five-barley-loaves-and-two-fish-but-what-are-these-for-so-many-Jesus-said-Have-the-people-recline-683x1024.jpg?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "There is a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are these for so many? Jesus said, Have the people recline. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men reclined, in number about five thousand...So they gathered [them] and filled twelve handbaskets with broken pieces from the five barley loaves which were left over among those who had eaten. John 6:9-10, 13")
He is not only the resurrected and unlimited Christ who can meet all needs and who empowers us to bear all things; He is also the bread of life for us to partake of and live by.
Five loaves fed five thousand people or more; this is a multiple of one thousand.
We think we have a pressing need, a great hunger, and we cannot meet that need.
But the resurrected Christ can meet our needs one thousand times over, and there still is something left over. Amen!
As the incarnated Christ, He was just one grain, a little Nazarene, very limited and humble.
But when He entered into resurrection, He became unlimited, no longer being held by time and space.
He is enough to feed thousands of people and have something left over. This is barley; this is Christ in His resurrection.
He can never be limited in His resurrection.
The number five – five loaves of barley – signifies responsibility; this indicates that the resurrected Christ is able to bear responsibility.
We are not able to bear the responsibility, but He is.
Do not give up. Don’t give up when you see and realize that you can’t bear it; Christ can bear the responsibility, for the resurrected Christ is unlimited! Hallelujah!
We simply need to take Him, enjoy Him, and apply Him. Just apply Him.
When there’s a great need, when there’s a great lack, when there’s a pressing situation with so much limitation, we can just apply Christ as the loaves of barley, and He will meet the need, He will feed us and others, and there will be much food left over for many others to eat.
When we apply this unlimited Christ to our situation, we are well-fed, nourished, and filled up, and there is something left over.
As we feed on Christ as the barley loaves, we become a loaf of barley to feed others with the Christ whom we have experienced. Wow!
We enjoy Him and experience Him as the unlimited One, and we have something of Him to feed others also.
We want to experience this Christ so much in our limitations, in our situations.
First, we experience the wheat Christ, and then the barley-Christ; these are in tandem, concurrently.
As we feed on the wheat-Christ,w e will be limited, but at the same time, we’re inwardly released and freed, for we partake of the barley Christ.
On one hand, yes, we are limited, and there’s much constrain; on the other hand, we are fully released and freed, and there’s multiplication of food both for us and for others!
There is so much of Christ that we feed on and we also feed others with, for we experience not only the limited Christ (wheat) but even more, the resurrected and unlimited Christ (barley).
With five barley loaves, the Lord Jesus could feed five thousand people with twelve baskets of broken pieces left over; this is resurrection (Matt. 14:14-21; John 6:9, 13).
It is not just overflowing, it is multiplication.
Wheat points to Christ’s incarnation, death, and burial, and following this, barley points to His resurrection, the resurrected Christ (John 11:25; Eph. 1:20).
Paul experienced Christ both as the wheat, being daily put to death so that Christ may live in him and flow through him, and also as the barley, for he was able to do all things in Christ who empowered him (Phil. 4:13). Amen!
When the sisters who are wives live by the resurrected Christ and feed on the barley loaves, they can bear their husbands and their children.
They will be willing to be limited and constrained, and there will be much supply that they offer to others, with no complains.
When the husbands experience the resurrected and unlimited Christ, they can love their wives and not be bitter against them but rather, minister life to them as fellow partakers of the grace of life.
We should not expect that the wife will be like an angel in married life while the husband is like Superman, always bearing all things with no murmuring.
Rather, we should learn to experience Christ as the wheat and barley, thus growing much wheat and barley in the good land and bringing a rich produce of Christ to the meetings of the church.
May we learn to grow the limited Jesus and the unlimited Christ.
May we have an abundance of both wheat and barley on which to feed and with which to feed others.
Lord Jesus, we want to feed on You as the barley loaves so that we ourselves may become a loaf of barley to feed others with the Christ whom we have experienced. Amen, Lord, may we know and experience You not only as the limited Jesus but even more as the resurrected and unlimited Christ. Keep us eating You as the barley loaf so that we may be supplied and nourished. Only You can meet the need. We cannot bear it and we cannot make it. We come to You, dear Lord, to grow both the limited Jesus and the unlimited Christ. May we have an abundance of wheat and barley on which to feed ourselves and with which to feed others. May the church life be filled with the feasting on Christ as the land of wheat and barley! May we all enjoy the unsearchable riches of Christ until we can declare that we are able to do all things in Christ, who empowers us!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Minoru Chen in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1961-1962, vol. 4, “The All-inclusive Christ,” ch. 5, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Laboring on the All-inclusive Christ Typified by the Good land for the Building up of the Church as the Body of Christ, for the Reality and the Manifestation of the Kingdom, and for the Bride to make Herself Ready for the Lord’s Coming (2023 Winter Training), week 3, entitled, A Land of Wheat and Barley.
- Similar articles on this topic:
– The bread of life, a portion from, The Divine Economy, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee.
– The Experience of Christ as Life, via, An Open Letter.
– Christ living in resurrection and in us, a portion from, The Secret of Experiencing Christ, Chapter 7, by Witness Lee.
– How Spacious is Your Christ? Article via, Holding to Truth in Love.
– The experience of Christ and the enjoyment of Christ, a portion from, The Experience of Christ, Chapter 3, by Witness Lee.
– The Vital Groups for God’s Building, via, Living to Him. - Hymns on this topic:
– Jesus is now the land of wheat— / Incarnate, crucified. / But resurrection life is He / By barley signified. / He is a land of figs and vines— / Blood of the grape, the cheering wine. / With such supplies He satisfies— / Christ our land! (Hymns #1164 stanza 2)
– Reaping wheat and barley, death and resurrection, / Though the loss sustained our old man often grieves; / But in life abundant, life in resurrection, / Coming to the meeting, bringing in the sheaves. (Hymns #1167 stanza 2)
– O how glorious! O how holy! / God is the eternal life! / Full, unlimited, and pow’rful, / Pure, and merciful, and bright! / In this life are all His riches, / All His nature, love and light. (Hymns #302 stanza 1)
About aGodMan
Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1961-1962, vol. 4, “The All-inclusive Christ,” pp. 233-234
We the believers, by growing the limited Jesus, are producing the unlimited Christ.
By this unlimited Christ, we are able to do all things by Him who empowers us.
May we learn to grow the limited Jesus and the unlimited Christ.
In this way, Christ becomes an abundance of wheat & barley in us with which we can feed others.
Hallelujah for the barley.
Christ is resurrected!
Christ is unlimited and He not only supplies our needs but also gives more than enough.
What a Christ we have!
We can enjoy this unlimited One in all our situations.
A Land of Wheat and Barley (Week 3, Day 4)
“Whereas Wheat Signifies the Incarnated, Crucified, and Buried Christ, Barley Signifies the Resurrected Christ” (Part 1) In the Good Land, Barley Ripens Earlier Than Any Other Grains, Therefore, It is the Firstfruits
In John 12:24, the Lord Jesus likened Himself to a grain of wheat falling into the ground to die. From His incarnation to His crucifixion, He was wheat. But in John 6:9-13, He was typified by barley. Barley signifies the Christ in resurrection, because in Palestine, barley is the first grain to be ripened and harvested. Thus, barley signifies the firstfruits of resurrection.
It is significant that the Lord Jesus fed the five thousand with just five loaves of barley (John 6:9). Wheat and barley signify Christ from the time of His incarnation all the way to His resurrection. As we know, the lamb signifies the redeeming Christ, and the good land signifies the All-inclusive Christ. It is also great to know that wheat signfies the incarnated Christ and barley as the resurrected Christ.
John 6:9-13 narrates of the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand with the five loaves of barley and two fish. Here, the Lord is being portrayed as something small in form like five loaves and two small fish, but He is unlimited in His riches. He, as the five loaves and two fish, can feed many thousands of people (five thousand men) and still have a remainder of the fullest and the most complete measure—twelve handbaskets!
Five signifies the responsibility of Christ being life to us. Two signifies the testimony of Christ being life to us. Loaves are of the vegetable life representing Christ’s life as the generating life. Fish are of the animal life representing Christ’s life as the redeeming life. Barley ripens early and is the first of the harvest. The barley loaves represent Christ in resurrection as food for us to be strengthened and to be empowered.
As the generating life, Christ grows in the land, the God-created earth; as the redeeming life, He lives in the sea, the Satan-corrupted world. In order to redeem us, He came and lived in the satanic and sinful world, but He was not sinful. Like fish that live in the salty water but are not salty, He was not affected by it.
Wheat and barley typifies two aspects of Christ:
a.) Wheat typifies Christ coming down from the heaven to the earth to be the incarnated, limited and restricted, crucified, and buried Christ. Barley typifies Christ going up from Hades (place for the dead), that is, He has risen from the dead by the power of His resurrection.
b.) As the wheat, He is the limited Christ. As the barley, He is the unlimited Christ.
c.) As the wheat, He is weak and powerless. As the barley, He is strong and powerful.
As believers in Christ, we need to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings (Phil 3:10-11). Also, in Philippians 4:13-14, the Apostle Paul says, “I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me. Nevertheless, you did well to have fellowship with me in my affliction.”
On the one hand, we need to know and experience Him as the wheat in order for us to experience the limitations and restrictions, and the burial of our natural life so that the glory of the divine life may be released from within us. On the other hand, we cannot remain in such restrictions and sufferings unto death, without knowing and experiencing the power of His resurrection, as typified by barley. In order for us to undergo a proper Christian life, we need both the limited and restricted Christ, typified by wheat, for us to live a restricted life, and the unlimited Christ, typified by barley, to empower us to live in such a restricted life.
In this text, we read about a story from the Bible where Jesus feeds 5,000 people with only five barley loaves and two fish.
The author then goes on to explain that wheat represents Christ’s incarnation, death, and burial while barley represents His resurrection.
This is because in the land of Canaan, barley always ripens first and was offered as the firstfruits of harvest to the Lord. Similarly, Christ is referred to as the “firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” in Corinthians 15:20.
The author also suggests that wheat and barley represent two aspects of Christ – His coming (as wheat) and His going (as barley). They ask readers if they have experienced Christ as both wheat and barley and what kind of experience each one brings.
So essentially, this text is discussing how different grains symbolize different aspects of Jesus’ life and teachings. Barley specifically represents His resurrection while wheat can represent other parts like His incarnation or death.
(HWMRW3D4) Enjoyment 😊
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