Post by Mark on Nov 17, 2008 6:42:30 GMT -8
To say that the Israeli people were, in Messiah’s time, "the salt of the earth" was little exageration. Salt was a valuable commodity, even used in some cultures as the exchange (as opposed to gold or silver). Israel has the Salt Sea in the Southern region where various salts can be extracted easily and the Yotvata Salt Flat to the North where salt is still mined. The world knew Israel because of her salt, if nothing else. The various salts extracted by the Israeli people were of the purest and rarest quality.
The term "salt of the earth" became an idiom referring to the Jewish people. One Jewish sage took exception to being identified in this way. He said, "I’m not particularly fond of being called that which is dissolved into someone else’s food for flavor."
Today we sometimes use the term "salt of the earth" to compliment a person as being industrious and reliabe; but in the Eastern culture, it was not necessarily so endearing. The extraction of salt is very hard and very hot work. Salt crystals are heavy. The salt removes all the moisture out of your skin as you work with it, so that they crack and bleed… then the salt embeds itself in the wounds. While the industry has the potential of being very lucrative, it could not have been exceedingly popular. The actual laborers were, in many cases, slaves or criminals. There was no penal system in the Jewish culture. All crimes that were not violent or idolatrous (which required the death penalty), had fines imposed for retribution. If the offender was unable to pay, then he must enter into a work agreement (slavery) until the debt is settled. The risk of having to manufacture salt for up to seven years would have been a solid deterrant. As a nation, being identified as this class of people would have been a poignant reminder of how the rest of the world sees them. It’s like if someone were to say they were from the beautiful hills of West Virginia and the response was, "Oh, coal miners."
Messiah Yeshua didn’t give much time to wrestle with this title. He continued with saying, "but if the salt has lost its savor, what can it be good for? It is good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled under foot." (Matthew 5:13).
Scientifically, there’s a problem with this. Salt can’t lose its salt-like qualities. It can only be diluted with polutants, lessening its potency. Salt mining isn’t exactly rocket science. In fact, if you’ve seen the Salt Sea, you know that it collects in crystal pillars. You just have to wade out to it and break it off. In the earth, salt is usually layered in sheets, not mixed in with other components, You dig to it, then you dig it. There’s rarely an issue of purifying or refining on order to get a better quality. In fact, you would actually have to work harder to mess it up. The word Messiah actually is quoted as using in the Greek is moronos, which is the origin of our English word moron. You’ve got to be pretty silly to mess up salt.
Adonai spoke through Moses, saying, "For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it." (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)
I’m often told how difficult, binding and burdensome the
is to us, how the Law is a weight that is heavier than we are able to bear. This is directly conflicting to what we are told in the Scriptures. David said, "I will keep obeying your Law forever and ever. I have gained perfect freedom by following your teachings, and I trust them so much that I tell them to kings." (Psalms 119:44-46)
Messiah Yeshua, who taught consistently that His disciples should walk in a way that is obedient to the commands given through Moses said, "Come, my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:30).
Committing ourselves to live in a way that is consistent with the commands that Adonai has given us is not a difficult or complicated thing (as we and so many generations have made it to be). It’s as easy as gathering salt. Yet, our nature, that which we have become accustomed to, that which makes us look more distinguished to our neighbors (like, maybe herding sheep) makes the task with which we are to be identified distasteful.
If we are to consider ourselves to be the students and followers of the Messiah, then this teaching has powerful implications for us. What sort of salt are we distributing to the world? Of what quality have we the reputation for sustaining? Unfortunately, the expectations of the world around us has become very low. The slightest hint of saltiness, of moral compunction, identifies one as being devoutly religious, and we are satisfied having met their expectations.
Throughout the Scriptures we are admonished to stay pure, to not be mingled or diluted by the things of this world.
It should be the easiest thing… but, hey, what can I say? We’re morons. We would rather work harder, to lessen the sharpness of pure salt, than to be known the world over for our peculiarity.
One could season their food with lots of things. People are drawn to distinctive flavors the world over; but there is something about salt that is craved and valued by everyone. May we be stamped and identifiable as pure.
The term "salt of the earth" became an idiom referring to the Jewish people. One Jewish sage took exception to being identified in this way. He said, "I’m not particularly fond of being called that which is dissolved into someone else’s food for flavor."
Today we sometimes use the term "salt of the earth" to compliment a person as being industrious and reliabe; but in the Eastern culture, it was not necessarily so endearing. The extraction of salt is very hard and very hot work. Salt crystals are heavy. The salt removes all the moisture out of your skin as you work with it, so that they crack and bleed… then the salt embeds itself in the wounds. While the industry has the potential of being very lucrative, it could not have been exceedingly popular. The actual laborers were, in many cases, slaves or criminals. There was no penal system in the Jewish culture. All crimes that were not violent or idolatrous (which required the death penalty), had fines imposed for retribution. If the offender was unable to pay, then he must enter into a work agreement (slavery) until the debt is settled. The risk of having to manufacture salt for up to seven years would have been a solid deterrant. As a nation, being identified as this class of people would have been a poignant reminder of how the rest of the world sees them. It’s like if someone were to say they were from the beautiful hills of West Virginia and the response was, "Oh, coal miners."
Messiah Yeshua didn’t give much time to wrestle with this title. He continued with saying, "but if the salt has lost its savor, what can it be good for? It is good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled under foot." (Matthew 5:13).
Scientifically, there’s a problem with this. Salt can’t lose its salt-like qualities. It can only be diluted with polutants, lessening its potency. Salt mining isn’t exactly rocket science. In fact, if you’ve seen the Salt Sea, you know that it collects in crystal pillars. You just have to wade out to it and break it off. In the earth, salt is usually layered in sheets, not mixed in with other components, You dig to it, then you dig it. There’s rarely an issue of purifying or refining on order to get a better quality. In fact, you would actually have to work harder to mess it up. The word Messiah actually is quoted as using in the Greek is moronos, which is the origin of our English word moron. You’ve got to be pretty silly to mess up salt.
Adonai spoke through Moses, saying, "For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it." (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)
I’m often told how difficult, binding and burdensome the
is to us, how the Law is a weight that is heavier than we are able to bear. This is directly conflicting to what we are told in the Scriptures. David said, "I will keep obeying your Law forever and ever. I have gained perfect freedom by following your teachings, and I trust them so much that I tell them to kings." (Psalms 119:44-46)Messiah Yeshua, who taught consistently that His disciples should walk in a way that is obedient to the commands given through Moses said, "Come, my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:30).
Committing ourselves to live in a way that is consistent with the commands that Adonai has given us is not a difficult or complicated thing (as we and so many generations have made it to be). It’s as easy as gathering salt. Yet, our nature, that which we have become accustomed to, that which makes us look more distinguished to our neighbors (like, maybe herding sheep) makes the task with which we are to be identified distasteful.
If we are to consider ourselves to be the students and followers of the Messiah, then this teaching has powerful implications for us. What sort of salt are we distributing to the world? Of what quality have we the reputation for sustaining? Unfortunately, the expectations of the world around us has become very low. The slightest hint of saltiness, of moral compunction, identifies one as being devoutly religious, and we are satisfied having met their expectations.
Throughout the Scriptures we are admonished to stay pure, to not be mingled or diluted by the things of this world.
It should be the easiest thing… but, hey, what can I say? We’re morons. We would rather work harder, to lessen the sharpness of pure salt, than to be known the world over for our peculiarity.
One could season their food with lots of things. People are drawn to distinctive flavors the world over; but there is something about salt that is craved and valued by everyone. May we be stamped and identifiable as pure.
