Bereansearching Bible Studies

Introduction

This post is an extension to the exposition of Judges 4&5. There it was explained how Deborah (meaning “bee” in the original Hebrew,  דְּבוֹרָה (dᵊḇôrâ) ^H1682, which is from the root word דָּבַר (dāḇar) ^H1696 meaning to “speak” or “declare”, is intimately linked with the Hebrew word for “word“דָּבָר (dāḇār)^H1697).  

It is an interesting fact that, where bees gather, you will also find “honey” (דְּבַשׁ (dᵊḇaš))^H1706 or “honeycomb” (נֹפֶת (nōp̄eṯ))^H5317, that comes from bees. And the those two words, as so translated from the original Hebrew, are both often used typologically to represent the Word of God/the Gospel of Jesus Christ (see Judges 14:8&9, and Psalm 119:103, and Revelation 10:9&10). This is entirely consistent with the fact that Deborah was a “prophetess”, or someone who faithfully proclaims the Word of God.  However, “bees” דְּבוֹרָה (dᵊḇôrâ) ^H1682 are also used by God in the Bible to denote a means of judgment that God sends in response to rebellion (because they are given power to chase and sting, see for example Isaiah 7:18 and Deuteronomy 1:44).  It is also noteworthy that Jesus said in John 12:48, “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” That last day is Judgment Day!

And it should also be noted that honey is never to be burned as an offering to God as we read in Leviticus 2:11, “¶No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the LORD,shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey^H1706, in any offering of the LORD made by fire.“ The Words of God will never pass away.

Honey as Found in the Bible

To underscore how the word that is translated as “honey” in the Bible consistently points us to the “Word of God”, please note for example, in Psalm 119:103, where we read, “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! [yea, sweeter] than honey ^H1706 to my mouth!”  In Proverbs 24:13 &14, we can see a clear link between honey and “knowledge of wisdom“, which is associated with The Word (Which Is Jesus), “My son, eat thou honey^H1706, because [it is] good; and the honeycomb^H5317, [which is] sweet to thy taste: So [shall] the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found [it], then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.“

And in Ezekiel 2:6-10 when God told Ezekiel to eat the roll (words were on the roll/scroll) we read,

“¶ And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns [be] with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they [be] a rebellious house. And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they [are] most rebellious. But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee. ¶And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book [was] therein; And he spread it before me; and it [was] written within and without: and [there was] written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.“

And then immediately following in Ezekiel 3:1-4, “¶Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat [it]; and it was in my mouth as honey ^H1706 for sweetness. And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.”

God is clearly and unequivocally equating “honey” with His Word! But please also note how that while the book (the Bible) was sweet in the mouth of the prophet Ezekiel (who represents all believers who have God’s Word faithfully in their mouths), that same Word is nonetheless full of “lamentations, and mourning, and woe” to the unsaved and rebellious of the world.

Please also note the similarity/close correlation with what we read in Revelation 10:9&10, “And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.”

Also in Psalm 19:7-11, we read, “The law of the LORD [is] perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD [is] sure, making wise the simple.The statutes of the LORD [are] right, rejoicing the heart:the commandment of the LORD [is] pure, enlightening the eyes.The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: 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 ^H1706 and the honeycomb^H5317. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: [and] in keeping of them [there is] great reward.“

And in Psalm 81:16, “He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey ^H1706 out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.” What this is saying spiritually is that God would have fed them with Jesus, Who Is the Word of God, as typified by the wheat (bread of life) and the “honey out of the rock” (and the “rock” that was smitten was representative of Jesus, Who was smitten for the believers’ sins and the “honey” is again representative of God’s Word that brings and sustains eternal life coming from Him).

Please also note that when Jonathan ate the honey that his eyes were enlightened!  See1 Samuel 14:25-29, with the last verse saying, “Then said Jonathan, My father hath troubled the land: see, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey ^H1706“

So then, it is therefore no coincidence that we find in Proverbs 16:24, “Pleasant (נֹעַם (nōʿam)) ^H5278 words (אֵמֶר (‘ēmer)) ^H561 [are as] an honeycomb (נֹפֶת (nōp̄eṯ))^H5317, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.”  This is particularly salient when we consider that the word in the original Hebrew, “Noam”, is another Biblical reference to Jesus (The staff “Beauty” is נֹעַם (nōʿam) ^H5278 in Zechariah 11:10, and its price was 30 pieces of silver, etc.).

Given that it can be shown that “Noam” is representative of Jesus, then we can see that this verse is really telling us that “Jesus’s words are like honeycomb, and they are sweet to the soul and health to the bones.”  Jesus’s words (and He is The Word) give us eternal life and they are very sweet and indeed very healthy for us! Note also the similarity with this verse in Proverbs 15:26, “The thoughts of the wicked [are] an abomination to the LORD: but [the words] of the pure [are] pleasant (נֹעַם (nōʿam)) ^H5278 words (אֵמֶר (‘ēmer)) ^H561.” While the word translated as “word” is (אֵמֶר (‘ēmer)) ^H561 and not דָּבָר (dāḇār)^H1697 there is still an implicit relationship between them, and hence also in a more nuanced way between God’s Word and the honeycomb.

To reinforce this point, God provides two very contrasting instances of the use of the identical word, “honeycomb” (נֹפֶת (nōp̄eṯ))^H5317:

1. The first instance is Proverbs 5:3, “For the lips of a strange woman drop [as] an honeycomb (נֹפֶת (nōp̄eṯ))^H5317, and her mouth [is] smoother than oil: But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.“
2. The second, and quite contrasting instance, is in Song of Solomon 4:11, “Thy lips, O [my] spouse, drop as the honeycomb (נֹפֶת (nōp̄eṯ))^H5317: honey (דְּבַשׁ (dᵊḇaš))^H1706 and milk [are] under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments [is] like the smell of Lebanon.“

What God appears to be telling us, from a Spiritual perspective, is that:

1. In the first instance, the “honeycomb” in view is that of a false gospel being portrayed as the True Gospel of Jesus Christ. That “honeycomb” is actually spiritual poison, and it is found coming from the lips of those, in adulterous churches, who preach a false gospel that will only lead the hearers straight to Hell.
2. But, in the second instance, in the Song of Solomon, we see a beautiful portrait of the Love between Jesus and His Bride, the Eternal Church. There we see a portrait of Jesus praising His Bride, with Jesus saying that she has the True Gospel of Salvation, which is being typified by that life giving honeycomb on her lips (along with honey under her tongue) that can lead the hearers to Heaven. How beautiful is that?!

And we should also remember the the last thing that Jesus ate after His Resurrection and just before He Ascended into Heaven was “honeycomb“. Note the specific verses and the context as they are given to us in Luke 24:41-45, “And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took [it], and did eat before them. ¶And he said unto them, These [are] the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and [in] the prophets, and [in] the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,“

The Land Flowing with “Milk and Honey” is another Allegory for Heaven

We also know that the “Promised Land (typifying Heaven) is frequently described in the Bible as a land that is flowing (or floweth) with “milk (חָלָב (ḥālāḇ)) ^H2461 and honey (דְּבַשׁ (dᵊḇaš))^H1706“(see for example Exodus 3:8). The phrase “milk and honey” is actually found 20 times in the Old Testament.  Is it not interesting that both milk and honey are related to this Creation of God, and, hence are not reliant in any way on the work of man? They are also dependent on green grass and flowers to be produced, but they result in a means of sustenance for man. Only those who are the chosen of God can enter into that land of rest (from work), a land that is flowing with milk and honey, hence that land of milk and honey is an earthly picture of the Spiritual Heaven wherein mankind can have eternal rest and sustenance for that which it cannot labor.

Heaven and Melita (Honey)

And it should also be noted here that when Paul’s was shipwrecked, that the “certain island” that Paul prophesied about in Acts 27:26 was named Melita (currently known as the island of Malta) in Acts 28:1. Melita (Μελίτη (melitē)^G3194 means “Honey” and it was also used in this event to portray “Heaven”… to where all 276 souls on the ship were saved, even though the ship (representing the corporate church just before judgment day) was destroyed.  Some swam,”And the rest, some on boards, and some on [broken pieces] of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.”  

Finally, with regard to “honey”, as it is employed in the Bible, we are also apparently given some warnings that we should take in the Word carefully, such as meditating on it, and not rushing through it as we also read in Proverbs 25:16, “Hast thou found honey^H1706? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.”  We simply cannot absorb the Bible as if we were reading any other book. And in Proverbs 25:27, we find this additional warning, “[It is] not good to eat much honey^H1706: so [for men] to search their own glory [is not] glory.”  

While this last verse is not entirely clear to this teacher, it may be that we are also being admonished by God that while studying God’s Word to seek enlightenment, we must be careful to discern our personal motivations.  Is it to glorify God? (which is all that it should be) or is it somehow a vehicle by which we are contributing to our own vanity because we have been enabled to see things that might otherwise be hidden from others? (Remember Jonathan and how his “eyes have been enlightened” when he “tasted a little of the honey^H1706 “, 1 Samuel 14:29?) If we have been enlightened by God through the reading and hearing of God’s Word, not only should we be willing to humbly share that honey with others, but we must never presume for one moment any pridefulness as a result of any such enlightenment. Proverbs 20:12, “The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them.” Whatever spiritual discernment that we might have, it is solely a gift from God, and therefore, God, Alone, gets ALL of the Glory!

POSTSCRIPT

One final note regarding “honeycomb^“H5317, which we have been shown so clearly represents the Word of God. Proverbs 27:7 tells us the following, “The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; ^H5317 but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.“ It would be fair to say that this proverb is telling us that those who are full with the things of this world are not hungering and thirsting for the Word of God, and moreover, they will despise the Word and Jesus Who The Word represents. They are satisfied with this sin cursed earth. This world is all that they desire. They do not see a need for Jesus, because they have it all in the here and now. However, Jesus tells us Matthew 5:6, “Blessed [are] they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” The hungry soul is aware of its need for Jesus, and even the bitter judgments found in the Word of God are sweet to that soul.

This entry was posted on June 8, 2023 at 3:51 pm and is filed under Bible Studies. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.