“We remember the . . . cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks and the onions, and the garlic.”
Numbers 11:5
Horseradish should not be confused with the red and white radishes you sometimes eat whole or in a salad. Horseradish is usually sold as a creamy sauce in a small jar. Beware! It is quite hot and spicy.
The horseradish plant itself is rather pretty and belongs to the mustard family. Its clean white blossoms give no clue as to the taste that is in its roots, which go down as much as fourteen feet and from which horseradish sauce is made. People who grow this in their home gardens usually make their own sauce by grating the roots to a fine hash and adding vinegar and salt. But the job of grating is unpleasant, for horseradish is much worse than onions in bringing tears to the eyes. It also has an unpleasant smell.
A strange thing about horseradish sauce is that most people who taste it the first time are not likely to try it again, because it is so hot. But those who continue to eat it learn to like it and will eat it when it is available.
This is the reason that horseradish has also been given the name “devil root.” An author of an article about it has said, “Certainly horseradish has some characteristics in common with sin: It’s delicious, but there are side effects. And like sin, it’s easy to start”—and, we might add, hard to stop.
What he said is worth thinking about, for any sin once allowed in our lives is hard to turn away from. The Israelites on the way to Canaan, complaining to Moses in our opening Bible verse, were an example of this. The Lord had delivered them from Egypt and the hard life there, promising something much better ahead, but they complained, for they could only think of the food they had left behind in that land.
The Bible warns of this in Proverbs 4:1415: “Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass [go] away.” Proverbs 1:10 gives the warning: “My son, if sinners entice [tempt] thee, consent thou not.”
And so the “devil root” to be concerned about is not really the horseradish that we eat, but that which it reminds us of—Satan himself. The Bible warns us about Satan’s temptations: “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11). The “armor of God” means being full of trust and faith in the Lord Jesus as our Saviour and walking according to God’s Word, allowing Him to be our help and guide in everything. Are you doing this?
ML-02/03/2002