Exodus: 3:7-8 Then the Lord told him, "I have seen the deep sorrows of my people in Egypt, and have heard their pleas for freedom from their harsh taskmasters. I have come to deliver them from the Egyptians and to take them out of Egypt into a good land, a large land, a land 'flowing with milk and honey'....."
[Living Bible translation]
HONEY
Biblical Times:
During Biblical times, honey was a favorite Jewish food. Honey had a number of excellent uses. It was used as a medicine. It was also used as a food sweetener. It was mixed with "manna" to make what tasted like honey bread. (Ex. 16:31).
According to William L. Coleman in Today's Handbook of Bible Times and Customs,
Most of the Palestine honey came from wild bees. Coleman states that since honey was "widely appreciated in Israel," we can understand why the writers of the Psalms (19:10 and of Proverbs (16:24; 24:13) used it in illustration as when the writer said "the righteousness of God is sweeter than honey or the honeycomb." Id at p. 39.
John the Baptist ate honey. (Matt 3:4) After the resurrection, Jesus is also reported to have eaten of the honeycomb. (e.g., See, Luke 24:42 King James Version—some translations mention only fish, others mention honey).
Benefits of Honey
According to WebMD, honey has a long beneficial medicinal history. The Egyptians used honey as an embalming fluid and as a dressing for wounds. WebMD notes that some people use apple honey directly to the skin for wound healing, burns, sunburns and diabetic foot ulcers. www.webmd.com
Honey has been especially useful for its antibacterial uses. According to WebMD, honey has been shown to hamper the growth of food-borne pathogens such as E.coli, salmonella and staphylococcus aureus (i.e., commonly called "Staph"). Staph is a type of bacteria that about 30% of people carry in their nose. Usually staph does not cause any harm; however sometimes staph can cause infections which can be serious or fatal. See, www.cdc.gov/hai/organisms/staph/html. The darker the honey, the better its antibacterial and antioxidant power. See, www.webmd.com.
Honey mixtures (e.g. Honey and lemon) have often been used as a tasteful cough sup-pressant. However, WebMD warns that raw honey should never be given to babies or to children under the age of 12 months because of the chance of botulism poisoning. WebMD also recommends that people with pollen allergies also avoid honey, because honey, which is made from pollen, may cause an allergic reaction. Although there have been some claims that eating a small amount of local honey can help build up an immunity or prevent allergies, WebMD believes these claims to be false/
Q: Can local honey help my allergies?
A: No. The theory that taking in small amounts of pollen by eating local honey to build up immunity is FALSE.
Here's why: It's generally the pollen blowing in the wind (released by non-flowering trees, weeds, and grasses) that triggers springtime allergies, not the pollen in flowers carried by bees. So even local honey won't have much, if any, of the type of pollen setting off your allergies.
Studies show bees don't just bring flower pollen back to their honeycomb. They bring "tree and grass pollen, in addition to mold spores, diesel particles, and other contami-nants," says Palumbo. The problem is that it's difficult to make a honey from just one kind of pollen (say, weeds and not grass)....
See, "Does Honey Help Prevent Allergies?," by Susan Davis, reviewed by Laura Martin, MD, www.webmd.com/allergies/features/does-honey-help-prevent-allergies. Anyone concerned about the side effects of honey or about their own allergy problem should al-ways consult their own physician. If you have children with allergies, consult your chil-dren's pediatrician or other medical experts.
CHOICES
The Lord told Moses that He was taking the people out of Egypt into a land "flowing with milk and honey." When the people reached the land that God had promised them, they made the wrong choice—they refused to trust God's wisdom and direction. They refused to enter into the land. They were afraid. They were stubborn. They refused to stop doing what they had always being doing---in their case--- complaining, undermining themselves and "acting like slaves" instead of living like "mighty people of GOD." For some, their choices prevented them from ever entering the "promised land" and they later died in the wilderness as punishment for their disobedience and lack of trust in God.
Our choices which will also affect our future, the future of our children, grandchildren, godchildren, nieces, nephews or others who love and are concerned about us—like the members of this group.
Every day we have choices. Do we eat raw? Do we eat sugar or do we eat honey? Do we pray? Do we exercise? Do we read our Bibles? Do we take a stand against the violence in our communities or other injustices at home and in the world? How long do we just sit, procrastinate or continue to do the things that are not beneficial to our physical or spiritual health. Some of you are already in dialog with each other and with GOD about choices?
Like Joshua and Caleb (who trusted God, were guided by God and who were allowed to enter the promised land "flowing with milk and honey") we don't have to go it alone. (See Numbers 14:29.) We too can trust GOD! We can ask for HIS help in making the right choices for healthy living. We can ask for HIS guidance, HIS wisdom and HIS strength.
We serve a GREAT GOD and we are HIS PEOPLE!
As you make your choices today, have faith, think about what GOD would want you to do. Consult OUR GREAT PHYSICIAN. Pray—for yourself and let's continue to pray for others. We are all in this together.
Enjoy the day, make GODly choices and BE BLESSED!
