NEUOFFENBARUNG← The Childhood and Youth of Jesus · Part 2 · Contents
The blessing of the Lord in the house of Joseph. The family's amazement and gratitude. James talks about the miracle of the wheat grain. 12 July 1844
01] During this talk, Joseph's sons took care of the cattle, milked the cows and the goats and obtained an unusual amount of the fattest milk.
02] When they had finished with that, two of them went to a field with already fully ripened wheat, cut several sheaves and rubbed them until they soon had a big basket full of the purest wheat.
03] And the two other brothers took the basket with the pure wheat, brought these to the two hand mills which Joseph himself had made and ground up the grain within a short time.
04] And through the blessing of the Lord, they obtained twice as much flour as there had been grain in the basket before.
05] And all this work was finished in three hours. And when the flour stood there in the sun in two baskets,
06] Joseph came out and asked the sons from where they had taken this wonderful flour.
07] And when the sons told him how they had obtained this flour, he looked at the rubbed sheaves and spoke:
08] "How is this possible? – I only see ten sheaves! Should the two big baskets of flour have been filled up with these?"
09] And the sons spoke: "Yes father, so it is! Through the grace of God we have obtained this flour within a very short time out of the ten sheaves;
10] and God's blessings were upon the sheaves and upon us, – hence this abundant yield!"
11] And with his heart utterly moved, Joseph thanked God, and went inside the house again to tell it to everyone.
12] And everybody went outside and looked at the flour and they all said:
13] "This is impossible, completely impossible by natural means!"
14] On an inner impulse, James picked up one of the wheat grains lying on the ground and spoke:
15] "This is astonishing for all of you, that so much flour came out of ten sheaves!
16] But who of us was has ever been surprised when after sowing a small grain into the earth we saw an ear of corn with a hundred grains arising out of that one grain?
17] And yet this everyday wonder is much greater than this double increase in flour, because it increases one grain a hundred times!
18] If the ten sheaves would have given only one basket of flour, no one would have been surprised about that although one basket is as good a miraculous gift from God as two baskets.
19] Nobody is surprised also about an ear of corn with a hundred grains because one is already used to this miracle.
20] But I ask you, is it right, to admire God only when He does something extraordinary although the ordered, ordinary occurrence is of a far greater significance, because it bears witness to the same infinite grace, omnipotence, love and wisdom of God all the time?"
21] This speech of James caused quite a stir. And everybody praised the Lord that He had given such wisdom to men. – Then the sons took the flour and started to prepare a good lunch.