the land of milk and honey

A case of honey was dropped off on our front porch last week. Twenty cases of bees were dropped off in the apple orchard.

The bees get a great place to live in an orchard full of blossoms. We get a plethora of tiny pollinators to boost the apple yield. And a case of honey. A sweet deal for everyone.

The rich color variations come from the different orchard blossoms. Blackberry orchards produced the darkest jars of honey. So far, I can't taste the difference.

In the Bible, honey symbolizes delight.

Can you imagine, way back in Old Testament days? Food was pretty monotonous. There were not a lot of natural sweeteners lying around. Periodically someone stumbled across honey in the cleft of a rock or an animal carcass... yum. (Maybe the bees were a bit different back then?) Even so, it must have been equivalent to liquid gold.

God's people were wandering in a desert, with the dangling promise of entering the "land of milk and honey"... a land of abundance and delight.

This is a land still promised to all of God's people. Abundance and delight... if only we will follow where He leads.

Psalm 81:10, 16
"I am the Lord your God who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it... 

But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;
with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."

Oh, to be satisfied with honey from The Rock.

This year we consider the generous spoonfuls of honey we add to our tea and oatmeal a special act of worship. A way to remember the Author of delight itself.