This is a weird topic for me but a lot of people are up in arms about it. I
think it seems like a translation issue. In the Hebrew it is "Debash"
or דְּבָשׁ just means "syrup," specifically coming from a tree.
Agave or Maple syrup are two kinds of this sweet . Only once does
"honey" have a connotation with bees, and that is where Samson
kidnaps some girl, tricks his parents, and lies to a bunch of wedding guests.
can't see anything good coming from that.
So we know that
"bees" are scripturally unclean based upon Leviticus 11.
Leviticus 11 (ESV)
20“All winged insects that go on all fours are detestable to you. 21Yet among
the winged insects that go on all fours you may eat those that have jointed
legs above their feet, with which to hop on the ground. 22Of them you may eat:
the locust of any kind, the bald locust of any kind, the cricket of any kind,
and the grasshopper of any kind. 23But all other winged insects that have four
feet are detestable to you.
And furthermore
directly after these verses we have this warning:
24“And by these you
shall become unclean. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the
evening, 25and whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes
and be unclean until the evening.
Now obviously honey
is not part of the bee carcass, nor am I implying that. However, it should not
take away from the fact that, if you are in Christ, and in perfect harmony with
Torah, Bees should be detestable to you. How many beekeepers are also Torah
keepers? None.
If something is detestable
to those in Torah, how then can we say that the Bible says it is good? Consider
the four verses talking about bees in the Bible:
Judges 14:8
"When he returned later to take her, he turned aside to look at the
carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of
the lion."
Deuteronomy 1:44
"The Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and
chased you as bees do, and crushed you from Seir to Hormah."
Isaiah 7:18 "In
that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is in the remotest part of the
rivers of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria."
Psalm 118:12
"They surrounded me like bees; They were extinguished as a fire of thorns;
In the name of the LORD I will surely cut them off."
They are harbingers
of the destructive power of YHVH. They are likened to Amorites, Assyrians, and
"the nations" that sought to kill David. Does this sound like a good
insect?
" These
creatures on the wing were like messengers sent to admonish the saints of God
that the sweetest spots of earth were polluted, and, therefore, they must watch
and keep their garments. The only clean insects were the locusts — the insects
so often used by God to punish a guilty land and an unclean people." AA
Bonar, commentary, Biblehub.com
There are over twenty sap producing trees, thirty
nectar producing flowers that can serve as a scriptural definition of
"Debash" - Why did the
translators choose: "honey?"
In the New Testament, Matthew 3:4 and Mark 1:6 the word using John Baptist's food (along with locust) is "Meli" or "μέλι" - the word used in Revelation by John the Apostle, in 10:9 and 10:10 is also "Meli" or "μέλι" , which means: "honey."
In the New Testament, Matthew 3:4 and Mark 1:6 the word using John Baptist's food (along with locust) is "Meli" or "μέλι" - the word used in Revelation by John the Apostle, in 10:9 and 10:10 is also "Meli" or "μέλι" , which means: "honey."
John the Apostle is
told by the angel that it will be sweet like honey but make your stomach sour,
and then just that happens. But both John's obeyed Torah and did not let
anything unclean touch their lips. So we know that this could not have been (in
John Baptist's case) real honey, and in the dream an angel (unless it was a
fallen angel) would never prompt anyone to disobey Torah either. So these are
instances of "syrup" or "sap" if you will.
Long and short of it
is, why would we continue on touting some myth just to serve our tradition? Why
can't we let God's word be God's word and let ourselves willingly submit to it?
I adore Bee honey
honestly. But if I am to submit to Torah and to the Will of YHVH, in obedience
to Yahshua our Messiah, then I must willingly lay down my pet doctrines and
pick up obedience.
"To obey is
better than sacrifice, and Agave, than the Comb of Bees." - A silly
paraphrase, based on a great verse.
I love you all, hope
this serves you well.
-Pauly Hart
2/15/18
P.S. I want to address rather quickly, Luke 24:42
in the King James Version, where it says: “And
they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.” Just a
quick note on that. Sorry. That version is wrong on several accounts. The part
about the honeycomb was added in and is not included in the 1598 Textus
Receptus.