Seeds For Thinking

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

* Milk and Honey
* Scripture: The Lord said, "So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey." (Exodus 3:8a, NKJV)

Living things come in many forms, from the microscopic, one-celled amoeba to the multi-ton elephant and whale. We all share one common trait (yes, people, too!) We require nourishment to sustain life. We eat.
People can, and do, live almost anywhere. Anywhere that there is an adequate supply of food, that is. This may come as a shock to many urbanites, but supermarkets do not create our food. Food comes from the land, fertile, productive land. The phrase "land flowing with milk and honey" is repeated numerous times in the biblical books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, holding forth the promise of not just a safe haven, but also the promise of a sufficient and sustainable food supply.
The people of the Exodus often complained to Moses and Aaron that their new-found freedom was leading them to starvation. They hungered for the familiar foods of Egypt, even if it meant a return to slavery. In reality, they did not lack food. The Lord provided sustenance to the people in the form of manna and quail. They also had access to meat and milk from the flocks they took with them (See Ex. 12:32.)
The Lord had promised Abraham that his descendants would have a land to call their own, a "land flowing with milk and honey." Moses sent out a band of men, leaders chosen from each tribe, to survey or 'spy out' the land they were to occupy. I find it to be interesting that they did not bring back examples of milk and honey from their foray.
Instead, we read that "they came to the Valley of Eschol, and there cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes; they carried it between two of them on a pole. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs." (Numbers 13:23, NKJV)
Livestock must have grass to eat, and where there is vegetation wild bees will be found, adding honey to their diet. So, in a sense, they already had their milk and honey. They were, however, strangers and sojourners in the land through which they traveled.
Fertility and fruitfulness were highly valued in Biblical times, indeed, in much of the world even today. Pastures feed the flocks of even a nomadic people. Fruit trees, however, and fields of grain require permanence. No more wandering, no more transportable tent dwellings. A place to call home!
A good and large land, indeed, with the fertility and resources to not only support agriculture, but to also raise families and build a great nation - and to live as God's people.
Many people today have their "milk and honey" - God's word and access to Him - but are like sojurners in the wilderness. They need to find a place to call home, a good, supportive church home, to fully live as God's People.
July 16, 2006

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: And the LORD said, . . . “So I have come down to deliver them out of the land of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey. . . *. (Exodus 3:8a, NKJV)

Milk and honey! Sounds delightful. Maybe add cookies. Like a candy store, but a good and large land full of milk and honey. The Promised Land. How could anything be bad about that?
Well, the more that I researched the topic of milk and honey, the more complex it became.
As a beekeeper, the references to honey in the Bible have always intrigued me. How sweet are the words of Psalm 19:9b-10: “The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.”
Or, consider this Proverb: “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.” (Proverbs 16:24) Priceless advertising for any beekeeper.
But now things begin to become, well, sticky! Honey comes from bees, a non-kosher insect. And Leviticus 2:11 specifies that no grain offering to the LORD made by fire shall contain leaven (yeast) or any honey. How, then, does honey and the honeycomb play so prominent a role in the scriptures, and the customs of Israel?
Turning to the internet for research, I found numerous references to the issue, which has apparently been much debated among the Jewish authorities. Here is an answer from http://answers.yahoo.com/question/
that quotes a Beraita (a Halachic teaching from the time of the Mishna) which says even though bees bring honey into their bodies, it is not a *product* of their bodies [it is stored there but not produced there]. According to Rabbi Yaakov, the verse prohibits one to eat a flying insect, but *not* that which is *excreted* from it.
Contained in the response is this further note on milk and honey: “You may wonder: How could one even think
that bee-honey is not Kosher -- the Torah refers to the Land of Israel as "a Land flowing with milk and honey"! Certainly the Torah would not choose a non-Kosher product as a means for describing the beauty of the Land of Israel! This may come as a surprise, but the honey mentioned in the verse about "milk and honey" is not bee-honey -- rather it is fig-honey. The Talmud in Tractate Berachot tells us that another verse "It is a Land of wheat, barley, grapes, figs and pomegranates -- a Land of olives and *honey*" -- is referring to date-honey.” Source(s):
http://ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php?search=land+of+milk+and+honey
(See also Deuteronomy 8:8)
More checking brought up numerous advertisements for both kosher bee honey and date honey. One company had this note: “Date Honey is made from the syrup of dates and is not a bee product. ...”
One custom that popped up during searches for ‘honey’ was associated with apples: “Traditionally, from Rosh Hashana until after Sukkot, honey is served with every major meal. It is smeared on the bread over which we recite the "Hamotzi" blessing, the sweet apple is dipped into honey on the night of Rosh Hashana, sweet baked goods are baked with honey, and honey is used in the preparation of foods such as glazed carrots and sweet desserts.”
http://www.aish.com/h/hh/rh/48959531.html
One of the most unusual honey bee colonies is mentioned in Judges, in a carcass of a lion that Samson had killed earlier. Read the story of Samson’s riddle, his betrayal, and his curt response, “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle.” (Judges Chapter 8)
How easily riches and comfort make us forget our dependence on God. A prophetic warning is given to Moses as he turns over leadership of the children of Israel, just before they enter the promised land: “When I (the LORD) have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves, and grown fat, then they will turn to other gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant.” (Deuteronomy 31:20)
Moses therefore includes these words in a prophetic song he teaches the people: “But Jeshuran (Israel) grew fat and kicked; You grew fat, you grew thick, you are obese!” (Deuteronomy 32:15)

*Note: Figuratively, a “land of milk and honey” is any place of great abundance.