salt and light...

theseldomscene · Banned Joined: 17 Mar 2005 Posts: 7817

by revjp...

I’ve been thinking about Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:

Matthew 5:13-16 You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste (its strength, its quality), how can its saltiness be restored? It is not good for anything any longer but to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by men. (14) You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. (15) Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a peck measure, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all in the house. (16) Let your light so shine before men that they may see your moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.

What an interestingly strange combination; salt and light. Why such an odd pairing? When most people think of salt, they think of it simply as a cooking ingredient. But this is not all salt is. It is used in a great variety of industrial processes, including the production of ceramics, medicines and textile dyes. In ancient times, it was also used extensively in metallurgy, particularly in the refining of gold. For thousands of years, salt has been a precious commodity. So high was its value, Roman soldiers were often paid a salarium (from this word salarium we get the English word salary.) - an allowance of salt as their wage, from which comes the English expression, “He’s worth his salt.” The traffic of salt shaped many of the ancient trade routes and salt was often traded ounce for ounce for gold. The ancient Chinese used salt coins as currency, and salt cakes acted as money in Ethiopia, Tibet and in many areas around the Mediterranean Sea. So valuable was salt that several ancient cultures levied taxes on it. The Hebrew phrase, “To be salted with the salt of the palace,” draws on the concept of salt’s high value, since often it was only the rich who had access to it. Salt seasoned many of the sacrifices prescribed in the Old Testament (see Leviticus 2:13; Ezekiel 43:24) and many covenants were called “a covenant of salt” (Numbers 18:19; 2 Chronicles 13:5). This is because salt was commonly used in covenant ceremonies, hence the Arab expression, “There is salt between us,” and the modern Persian phrase, “Untrue to salt.” As the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia explains:

This custom of pledging friendship or confirming a compact by eating food containing salt is still retained among Arabic-speaking people. The Arabic word for ‘salt’ and for a ‘compact’ or ‘treaty’ is the same.

Salt has three important qualities:

Salt adds flavor

Job 6:6 Can that which has no taste to it be eaten without salt? Or is there any flavor in the white of an egg?

Salt is often added to food to provide zest and enhanced flavor. God has also intended for your life to add tang to the community in which you live. In their book, Becoming a Contagious Christian, Bill Hybels and Mark Mittelberg write:

When Christians live out their faith with authenticity and boldness they put a little zing into a sometimes bland cup of soup. They catch people off-guard and make them wince. They wake people up with their challenges and seemingly radical points of view. And they overturn a few apple carts here and there. In short, they put some spice into the lives of those around them.

Salt preserves

Before the invention of the refrigerator, people salted meat to preserve it. In a similar way, the Christian acts as a preserving agent in a world bent toward moral decay. Just as salt stings, so the presence of the Christian pricks the conscience of the unbeliever. Though salt rubbed in a wound is painful, it prevents infection. The Disciple’s Study Bible observes:

The life of a true disciple flavors and preserves the society. Such saltiness is an essential part of a disciple’s character which will endure to the end. For Christian influence to permeate and preserve society, disciples must get involved in the lives and social affairs of our day. Disciples do not withdraw from society to preserve our holiness. Disciples involve themselves in all parts of society to give it a righteous flavor.

In 2 Thessalonians 2:7, we read: “For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.”

Although Paul is not forthcoming on exactly who “the one who now holds it back” is, many scholars believe it to be the Holy Spirit indwelling the believer. As a person filled with the holy presence of God, you are part of God’s strategy to stem the tide of moral decay.

Salt makes people thirsty

One of the most distinctive qualities of salt is that it makes people thirsty. There is an old saying: “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.”

Well, this saying is not altogether true. You may not be able to force a horse to drink by pushing its head down toward the water, but you can make it thirsty enough to want to drink. A small salt tablet placed in the horse’s mouth will quickly change its mind!

In the same way, your presence is intended by God to make the people around you thirsty for the presence of God. As a spiritual seasoning in a tasteless world and as a supernatural preservative in a decaying society, you are the salt of this earth. In the words of Henry van *Female with a Nice Mullet*:

Christ chose an image that was familiar when he said to his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth.” This was his conception of their mission – their influence. They were to cleanse and sweeten the world in which they lived, to keep it from decay, and to give a new and more wholesome flavor to human existence. Their characters were not to be passive, but active. There is no use in saving salt for heaven. It will not be needed there. Its mission is to permeate, season, and purify things on earth.”

The Disciple’s Study Bible adds this comment:

Salt is marked by its ability to flavor with only a little of its presence… Christians should give the world the gospel flavor.

rjustice7 · Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 12:08 pm Post subject: Amen

I definitely have been thinking about the same thing seldomscene. Our youth group is doing 6 weeks of Wednesday night Bible studies. I am writing the lessons. My intentions were to us the scripture Matthew 5:13, and stress the importance being a light to the world. If we stop now we are good for nothing in the kingdom of God but to be trampled under feet of men. I find what you said about salt to be rather interesting though. I didn’t know all of that. I like to learn something new everyday. Man, if only salt was worth as much in Lot’s days. If I were him, I would grabbed my wife up and traded her later for gold…haha, why make it a total loss right?

galen · Ferret Joined: 22 May 2005 Posts: 115 Location: Maine

Some marriage ceremonys include a salt covenant.

The minister holds a small dish of salt, and before vows are spoken, the bride and grrom each dip the tip of one finger into the salt and then to their lip. So their words are salted.

My wedding included a salt covenant, and when I perform weddings I offer to include a salt covenant.

Nobby · Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 3:11 pm Post subject:

Hi rjustice7, I would remind you that the opening post was not written by Tss which he told us right at the top of the post, by RevJP (one of our moderators) but by
re-posting it in this way Tss is agreeing with it's contence. Smile