The
Spice of life
We
have all heard how too much salt is detrimental to our health. Let’s look into
this matter and come to our own conclusion.
Salt was traded for
its weight in gold in the past. That shows us the value of this precious
substance in the days of old. The Trans-Saharan trade routes in northern Africa
supplied gold rich territories with precious salt. Many cities came into
existence and thrived due to the gold-salt trading. Liverpool England got its
start with the trading of salt, which in turn led to the trade of slaves,
sugar, and other products. In ancient Greece, slaves were traded for salt, from
which came the expression "not worth his salt." The word salary is
derived from the word salt; this is because in roman times the army was paid in
part with salt. The Via Salaria (Salt Road) was one of the oldest roads in
Italy. It was the route by which salt was transported from the coast to Rome.
The ancient Romans went to great lengths to promote and preserve the salt trade
in Italy, recognizing the many benefits of salt, as both a preservative and a
health benefit. In times of old, many people had to go for long stretches with
little or no fresh meat. They had to rely on dried or salt-preserved meats
during those times.
Timbuktu
to this day relies heavily on the mining of salt from the Earth. Northeastern
China strictly controls the salt production, causing people to smuggle the
substance, and to be sold in black markets. The uses and importance of salt
have changed over time; salt has become one of the main staples of modern
production. The Manufacture of plastics, soaps, glass and other modern day
conveniences use over 90% of the salt produced today. Salt is extremely
important in your diet. Without salt your body will not function properly. Salt
depletion can cause faintness, vision loss, nausea and confusion. Our hearts,
digestive system, and bodily cell functions rely on the consumption of salt.
Salt
has long held an important place in religion and culture. Greek worshippers
consecrated salt in their rituals. Jewish Temple offerings included salt; on
the Sabbath, Jews still dip their bread in salt as a remembrance of those
sacrifices. Salt took on a religious and social significance in the ancient
world, as it was connected with the idea of a covenant, or binding
relationship. The Scriptures have examples of how salt was used to seal a
covenant. Let us read three of these.
Leviticus
2:13-14
13‘And season
with salt every offering of your grain
offering, and do not
allow the salt of the covenant
of your Elohim to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you bring salt. 14‘And if you
bring a grain offering of your first-fruits to Yah’weh, bring for the
grain offering of your first-fruits green heads of
grain roasted on the fire, crushed heads of new grain.
“All the contributions of the
set-apart gifts, which the children of Yisra’el
present to Yah’weh,
I have given to you and your sons and daughters with
you as a law forever. It is a covenant
of salt forever before Yah’weh with you and your seed with you.”
5“Do you not
know that Yah’weh Elohim of Yisra’el has
given the reign over Yisra’el to Dawid forever, to him and his sons, by a covenant of salt?
It
is obvious that salt at the time of the giving of the commands was precious,
and seen not only as a form of wealth, but also a sustainer of life.
We
do not grasp the importance of salt today as our fore fathers did, probably
because it is so easily obtained. In times of old salt was necessary for life,
it was generally scarce, and was appreciated for its life sustaining
properties.
Here
is an example of a customary making of a covenant in earlier times.
Two men wanting to form a pact would each
take a pinch of salt from the salt pouches, which they carried. This salt was
precious and used as a form of money. They would pronounce the pact and then
take a pinch of salt from their pouch and drop it into the pouch of the person
with whom the pact was to be made with. Once this was done, the two would shake
their pouches mixing the salt grains. There would be no way to take back this
oath from each other because the salt grains could not be distinguished from
each other if one of them were to want to break the pact. Thus the pact was
made, a covenant forever between them.
We
cannot read of any instance where our Creator has broken a covenant with
mankind. We can be assured that a covenant with our great Abba is for all time.
Breakable only on our end, by our thoughts, words, or actions.
Yah’shua
has this teaching for us on the properties of salt.
3“Blessed are
the poor in spirit, because theirs is the reign
of the heavens. 4“Blessed
are those who mourn, because they shall be
comforted. 5“Blessed
are the meek, because they shall inherit the earth. 6“Blessed
are those who hunger
and thirst for
righteousness, because
they shall be filled. 7“Blessed are the compassionate, because they shall obtain compassion. 8“Blessed are
the clean in
heart, because they shall
see Elohim. 9“Blessed are
the peacemakers, because they shall be called
sons of Elohim. 10“Blessed
are those persecuted for righteousness’ sake, because
theirs is the reign of the heavens. 11“Blessed are you
when they reproach and persecute you, and falsely say every
wicked word against you, for My sake.
12“Rejoice
and be glad, because
your reward in the heavens is great. For
in this way they
persecuted the prophets who
were before you. 13“You are the salt of the
earth, but if the salt becomes
tasteless, how shall it be seasoned? For it is no longer of any use but to be thrown out and to be trodden down by men.
14“You are
the light of the world. It is impossible for a city to be
hidden on a mountain. 15“Nor do they
light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it shines to all those in the house. 16“Let
your light so shine before men, so that they see your
good works and praise your Father who is in the
heavens.
This teaching shows the virtues that man should have, or
strive for in his life. By our attitudes, our dispositions, how we treat those
around us, if and how we proclaim these virtues of goodness to others, if and
how we proclaim Yah’shua and his teachings to the world. By these actions we
salt the world around us. Sterilizing wickedness, neutralizing animosity, and
preserving the teachings of the Creator and of Yah’shua our brother who was
raised to teach the deeper meaning of our Fathers words and commands.
Those who do not long for these virtues, or have slipped
away from them and do not practice them, are tasteless in the Eternals sight.
They will be tread upon as ashes under the feet of the virtuous. Like old,
dilluted, or polluted salt is used to salt roads and driveways, so it will be
for those who are tasteless.
The apostle Paul expands on
this same subject
Masters, give your servants what
is righteous and fair, knowing
that you also have a Master in the
heavens. 2Continue in prayer,
watching therein, with thanksgiving,
3praying
at the same time also for us, that Elohim would open to us
a door for the word,
to speak the secret of Messiah, for which I am also in chains, 4so
that I make it
clear, as I should speak. 5Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. 6Let your
word always be with favour, seasoned with salt, so that you
know how you ought to answer each one.
Here
Paul is teaching us to ask our Father through heartfelt prayer to help teach
others of Yah’shua Messiah in a clear, wise, and understandable way. Using the
salt of our virtues to help us to answer any questions that might arise.
The
world we live in is dire need of the salt of our virtues. May we all
prayerfully ask our great Abba daily to allow us to reach out to those around
us. Using our virtues to salt those around us with the right and true word of
our awesome Creator Yah’weh.
Are
you worth your salt?
Shalom & Agape in YHWH’s precious Name
