Lee
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Post by Lee on Jun 15, 2014 15:00:15 GMT
Any significance to this?
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Ben
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Post by Ben on Jun 16, 2014 15:40:16 GMT
I don't have a direct answer to your question, per se, but I found this section on honey from The Law of Moses to be interesting. Brother Roberts is discussing the use of honey in connection with the meat offerings.
"6. Honey was also forbidden in the meat offerings (Lev. 2:11). What can this mean? Honey is sweet to human taste, and stands even in the ordinary intercourse of men for all that is of self-gratifying character. That it should be banished from the altar along with leaven stands in striking contrast to the appointment of bitter herbs as an ingredient in the passover sacrifice. It is probably the obverse of the same idea. Self-denial is an indispensable part of divine submission, so self-gratification is a prohibited element. But this has to be applied with qualifications. It is the extreme application of the principle that has led to the sterile asceticisms of ecclesiastical practice. There are enjoyments permitted. How could it be otherwise? You cannot breathe or walk in the sunshine, or eat or drink or sleep without enjoyment if you are in health. "The tender mercy of the Lord is over all his works." He designs nothing but pure joy at last.
"But there are enjoyments forbidden: there are mortifications enjoined. Here is where the exclusion of the honey comes in. The law of the Lord is the regulator on all points. For want of this discrimination, many an honest soul is in a state of slavish fear and restraint which is wholly without cause. I have known such in fear to enjoy their meals, in forgetfulness of the fact that the bounties of the table are "created", as Paul says, "to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth". Pleasure-seeking, in the gratification of "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life", appears to be the antitypical honey which is out of place on the altar of the Lord. These may be summarized in the phrase "self-complacency"--which is odious even in human intercourse, and, therefore, much more out of place in the service of God. It is this phase of self-contemplation and self-enjoyment that appears to be identified with the figurative use of honey in the Proverbs: "It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory" (25:27). This would suggest that the thing condemned in the typical prohibition of honey from the meat offering was self-glory. It is certain that for a man to come in this spirit to God will ensure repulse. The one thing required by His glorious majesty and called for in true reason, is the mental attitude more than once defined by Him in the words: "Poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word". (The Law of Moses, Chapter 24 - "Meat Offerings and Peace Offerings", pages 230-231).
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Lee
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Post by Lee on Jun 16, 2014 23:59:38 GMT
I'm having a difficult time deciphering this. I had always perceived this incident as a miracle and blessing, but now I'm wondering if also it was a test. We discussed this at class the other day and it was brought up that the lion was an unclean animal. Honey can be associated with self pleasing glory, but on the other hand the Israelites were told the land was full of "milk and honey", which makes one think they should be able to enjoys the benefits of the land.
Maybe I'm trying to read too much into this one....
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