| “For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land … a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey” (Deuteronomy 8:7-8). |
| “We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick” (Numbers 11:5). |
| We all like to eat unless we are sick, and we all have our favorite foods. We know too that other countries and different parts of the world like different foods. Sometimes we like food from foreign countries, but perhaps there are some things we do not like. I occasionally visit countries where they eat hot, spicy food, with lots of chili peppers in it. Since I have a sensitive throat, that hot spicy food makes me cough, so I sometimes ask them to put fewer chili peppers in it. But most of the time I like to try something new. |
| In our verses today, we find two different kinds of food. Some of it was the food of the land of Canaan — the promised land where the Lord wanted to bring the children of Israel. The second verse describes the food of Egypt — the country where the children of Israel had been slaves, and from which God had delivered them. Can you notice a difference between the food of Canaan and the food of Egypt? |
| If you look at them carefully, all the food of Canaan grows above the ground, and it requires effort to get it. Wheat and barley must be threshed, then ground into flour, before it can be used to make bread. Grapes must be picked and crushed, in order to make grape juice and wine. Figs must be picked, and also pomegranates. Olives must be picked and then crushed to make olive oil. Honey is perhaps the hardest to get, for you must dress up very carefully so that the bees do not sting you when you come and take the honey they have made. The food of Canaan is a picture of heavenly things, and teaches us that the things of Christ often require some effort to enjoy. They are above the ground; they are not connected with this world. |
| But the food of Egypt grows either on the ground, or in the ground, except for the fish. They are of course in the water. This food speaks of the things of this world. They are relatively easy to enjoy, for it does not take much effort to pick a melon and eat it, or to enjoy a cucumber. Also some of the things of Egypt, like onions and garlic, leave a taste in your mouth, and have an odor to them. That odor tells other people what you have been eating! My wife tells me that after I eat garlic, she can smell it on my breath for two days! It is like that with the things of this world; other Christians can soon tell that we have been feeding on those things. |
| It is important to feed on the things of Christ, and not on the things of this world. It may take more effort, but it is well worth it! |
