Wheat seed is surrounded by a husk that must be removed to use the wheat. In Jesus’ time harvested wheat seed was beaten with flails to loosen the husk, or chaff. Throwing baskets of gathered beaten wheat and chaff up into the air allowed the wind to blow away the lighter chaff; the heavier wheat kernels fell back into the basket to be used. In the not-so-distant American past, bundles of cut and dried wheat stalks were shaken in a threshing machine until the husks were separated. These days a combine does it all, from cutting the wheat to separating the chaff, in one quick process.
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Darlene Stern
Married for 44 years, Darlene Stern and her husband have raised a family of nine in rural southeast Wisconsin. She has been a stay-at-home mom, goat herdsperson, dyslexia tutor, midwifery advocate, newsletter creator, manuscript editor, published author, model for professional artists and passionate pursuer of Jesus Christ. Her degree in geography is from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.
