Transcription
Okay, honey. Let's do a podcast. Apparently, I'm bad at intros, so we're going to try something different. All right, let's start the music.
[music]
That was awesome. Have you, you get, must you must have remember the video. Oh, welcome to King Speak with Pastor Dan McCulla, by the way, everyone. We're just mixing it up this week. Making sure you're on your toes. Um, Linda Honey.
Linda Honey.
Yes. I do remember the video.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. So good.
So good.
Yes.
So when I sense we're going this direction with the podcast, it just makes such a natural way to start out. And apparently I'm bad at intros. I was like,
We sit here for 30 minutes and then you drop an insult on me like that right before.
Just as we're walking through the door.
Wow.
Yeah, I know.
Wow.
Yeah. I'm not.
Not to hash this out on the air.
Um.
Oh, no. No, we won't.
We would never want to do that.
I'm not sure I said you were bad at intros. I think you're you're surmising and you're adding uh some verbage.
What did you say?
What did you say? I said, "Do we want, do you want."
Do we want to go back? Yeah. I said.
[laughter]
Something about you're not always accurate with the start or something like that's what I said. What I mean was is the words immediately prior to me saying that.
[clears throat]
Should not make the recording.
It won't. Um, and I will admit there are times that things don't go as planned.
See, this is good. This is good for you.
Thank you for bringing this up.
You're a better person now.
And uh, you know.
[snorts]
It, it's not always easy to hear, but um, thank you for that. The humility.
Thank you for that.
It's amazing. Welcome everyone to another week. Uh, boy, last week wasn't that controversial? Woo! Wow.
You usually tell how it's going to go.
Not even by the comments as much as the.
The text messages.
Yeah. You, you.
[laughter]
Get a little uh.
Yeah. So, I don't get those. Do you get those?
Me neither.
No.
No.
Well, their their numbers, folks, are.
[laughter]
Yes.
Oh my.
Yeah. You probably shouldn't do that. Good episode, I must say. Uh, even if I'm a bit biased.
It was good.
Yeah.
And now, uh, let's turn to.
The internet.
To, uh, see what everyone is saying.
I was just actually looking at some of the comments on that episode you're talking about.
Yeah.
It's like, wow, that was a quick hour.
Yep.
Um.
It was.
There's a lot here.
Thank you for that. It was a quick hour. I listened till the end. No trinity 72 says.
[laughter]
I love the balance. I wonder what their view is on the godhead.
The commandments of God are pure.
Oh, actually, I misread this.
[clears throat]
The commandments of of God.
Oh.
Are pure, enlightening.
[snorts]
The eyes.
Yes.
Uh, you know, I will say if you're going to leave us a comment, you should maybe spell check it.
On spellchecking, there's there's a comment here. Derek, do you see this one?
No. No. I need to say amen to no trinity, though. Give me a sec. Thank you for your comment. We do appreciate it.
Trinity, you got to say.
Over to you, producer.
No. The B in subtle is not voiced.
Oh, yes.
It is a silent letter. The word is pronounced subtle, and the actual the way the word is written is is wrote out there. Meaning the B is not heard at all. It remains in the spelling due to the 17th century Latin sentences who added the letter back.
[laughter]
To match the Latin root subtalis, despite the pronunciation not changing. The B is silent in subtle. Have you.
What about.
[laughter]
What about.
[sighs]
If I was saying referring to subtility? Would you say subtility?
No, you would not. Exactly. Thank you very much.
This is from Patricia.
[laughter]
Keen. I5Q.
All right. Amen to Patricia.
Amen. Amen.
I hate that we can't.
[screaming]
Hate that I can't pull the name of this comedian, but have you guys heard the guy? He's he's he's like British. He has such a real accent and he is talking about the uniquenesses of the English language and all of the silent letters.
I must have heard it, but it's not. I'm not. No. He talks about how we need to have one day a year where all the silent letters come out and play.
[laughter]
Okay. Okay.
And you have to pronounce all of the silent letters.
For the game.
Yeah.
I like that.
Yeah. And he feels like it should be on a weddings day.
A Wednesday.
[laughter]
Weddens day.
Yes. Day. That needs to be the day that all the silent letters come out to.
I like it. I like it. Yep. And And you have everybody over for a buffet.
Mhm.
[clears throat]
And you use the knives.
To cut up the.
Solomon.
Mhm.
I like this.
He just. Yeah, it really is good.
Yeah.
I like it. Uh, there's also more uh microwave talk.
There is.
Seriously.
Listen, it doesn't go away. U this. The whole point of microwaves is quick, folks. And you guys are like, you're dragging this out.
Maybe we need like a Kingdom Speak microwave recipe cookbook or something like.
[laughter]
You know.
By the way, are the t-shirts ordered?
They are. No.
You nailed it. Got them.
For real.
We did. Yes. No, for real. We worked.
I have them ordered and we got to get them.
We will deliver and the next time you see.
They say.
God is pretty smart.
Well, we'll show you when we get them.
Yeah.
We put a lot of time.
You know what that means right there?
We put a lot of effort interpretation on that means they're not done yet.
No, no. We put a lot of time and effort into.
R&D. Uh, exactly where the words placed.
Color choices.
Um.
[snorts]
This was pretty much a full week of of Derek and I collaborating to make sure we got the.
Is Randy and Derek working on it? This R&D, R&D, R&D.
Sorry, I had to say it.
Oh man.
[laughter]
It is. It's a great looking shirt. It is.
It's a great looking shirt. I It It will be a head turner. Uh, wear it through the airport. People will be like, "Nice shirt, bro." Like, it's going to It's going to be your thing. Yeah. And look for us in person with the.
Ask me for prayer shirts and and then God is pretty smart.
We could do that together. Like a collab.
Collab. Yeah.
Yeah.
It's going to be nice. It could be the nicest shirt we've ever designed.
Probably.
And the most work we've ever put into a piece of merch.
By far.
Yeah.
By far.
Um, there's more comments here. I'm just gonna have to move on. But again, thank you for all of this. Um, yeah, so many people.
Reviews. We got a review. Should have looked it up. Uh, on Facebook. I really.
Yeah, I didn't even know that was much of a thing, but yeah.
What? Okay.
Um.
H.
So the reviews help.
Somebody did say that uh they heard Bishop Booker talk about what you were talking about and used an example when he was teaching it that Moses set the line around the mountain for no people or beast to cross. In other words, God let him set the line.
Yeah. Somebody chimed in and we're kind of refuting the idea that Adam. Do you see that?
On this episode?
Yep. Yep.
Adam.
Might have been one of the quick cuts maybe.
Um, where they were it it was just in the last few days or hours maybe that that it came in.
Sorry, my eyes are trained not to see the negative comments. I I like.
No, I don't see them. Um, so.
I bet you I can find it.
Uh, someone says, "Good nuggets at the end."
I do have the one on Facebook. Excellent podcast that speaks truth and edifies the hearer as well.
Come on. That's worth a.
From apostolic gentleman on Facebook.
Yeah. Amen to the apostolic gentlemen.
[clears throat]
Thank you for amen.
Can I get a Hallelujah?
[screaming]
Hallelujah.
Yeah. That's.
All right. Here it is. Uh, I'm not as good at pronouncing these. You don't think you don't just say it as like.
Sabalos.
Yes. Because G A Z gets.
Fantastic. Okay. Fantastic.
[clears throat]
Um, what what is the issue here or the controversy?
The reason Eve was deceived because when she touched the fruit and didn't die, it gave the serpent's lie credibility. If I can touch it and not die, then I can eat it and not die. The fence was an accidental setup for Eve's deception.
[clears throat]
Interesting. Adam's fence was used to discredit God's command. This is why Adam wasn't deceived. He knew the difference between his addition and the actual word of God. So, they go on um and and they're making the point of not adding to the word of God. Not one jot, not one tithe taking it away. Um, which we we referred to that.
[snorts]
In the setup. Obviously, we disagree. Um, but the feedback is excellent.
Yeah. Exactly.
Love it.
And I love how they ended it. I don't know you guys more than you know me. I'm just sharing my thoughts and that's what this is all about. Thank you for tuning in.
So, here here would be my my straight off the cuff response to that.
Mhm.
Um, then how come Timothy didn't sin? Because if if I was reading it again today.
If Paul made him be circumcised after articulating um in such a way that that that we still refer to uh Paul's revelatory teaching that's that's that's included in the canon of text of why circumcision is no longer.
[snorts]
A requirement for salvation and is not the sign of our covenant. Then when when Paul put that stipulation, that standard.
[clears throat]
Around Timothy, how come it didn't set him up to fail the same way that it did Eve? And and we could just keep going and going. Um, I think the root of the deal is that it doesn't say the fence was more subtle.
Than.
Subtle.
Subtle. Thank you.
Okay. It doesn't say the fence was or the standard was. It says that the serpent was.
That's right. Yes.
The to to to ascribe the deception to the standard. We do not have Bible for that. But we do know that Lucifer, that great serpent, was described as more subtle. There you go. How about than any other beast in the field. So to infer that Eve would not have been tripped up.
If Adam wouldn't have added that standard. Again, who who can argue it with absolute certainty? That's that's our position on it. And I think the overall.
Uh, trajectory of scripture supports that.
But thank you for chiming in. Yes.
That's the whole that's the whole point.
We love seeing the comments.
It inspires. That's right. Conversations.
And it's it's very good. So, thank you for that.
I've lost their name again, but.
Uh, yeah, I need to say amen.
Thank you for this.
Amen.
Got to get a Hallelujah.
Hallelujah.
So, we kind of started into this topic last week a bit.
We did.
Um, but it was more around, you know, the discussion around Saul saying, "Don't eat the honey." Right?
You know.
Right?
And that got us into this discussion which has now provoked a bunch of input. But you were saying just in show prep, I think there's more here. We're going to go back into this. I'm like, "All right, let's talk about the honey."
Yeah. So, um, this has a a lot to do with where we have been kind of hanging out as as a church with I I believe that we are entering and this is broader I believe than just our local church. I believe the apostolic movement is is ripe for increase.
Um, I think it's always supposed to be increasing. The kingdom of God.
[snorts]
Is is ever expanding, ever increasing. We referred to it last week. Um, I'm I'm not a proponent of this massive end time revival, so that's not what I'm inferring when I say increase. I think it just always is expanding and it's it's incrementally consistently growing. Okay.
So, uh, Deuteronomy, which is interesting to me because it's it's where we get the the the the anchor point for our understanding of who God is.
Both numerically and in his attributes and it's the shama Deuteronomy 6 and4. The context of that supports what I'm saying right now and it introduces not only the idea of increase but the ingredients associated with it. So um, why don't you go ahead and just and and leap in there in verse three of Deuteronomy chapter 6.
Here therefore O Israel and observe to do it.
That it may be well. I love I love all of these nuances of scripture and and how they just pop out. But hear and then observe.
Okay. It's it's a.
You have to be able we uh I believe in the apostolic ranks we are we are audible creatures. We should not be visual creatures.
Yeah. Faith comes.
By.
[clears throat]
Okay.
Hearing. So we walk by faith, not by.
Sight. So notice how he is leading up to the introduction of the shama. And he said it's hearing.
And observing to do it. All right? That it may.
Be well with thee.
And that.
[clears throat]
You may increase.
There it is. Mightily.
Not just not not just.
You know, but this is this is a significant increase. As the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee in the land.
[clears throat]
That floweth with milk.
And honey. So we have to hear, we have to observe so that we can increase, but that is also connected with a place, not just anywhere, but we increase in a land.
[snorts]
That is flowing with milk and with honey. Now, we we referred to this at at the conclusion of our of our episode last week where we talked about Saul forbidding the people.
To eat the honey.
Okay. So, I want if if you haven't listened or heard heard that episode, go back and listen to it and and this will help make a little more sense. I want to I want us to unpack this a little bit. And I think there is there is biblical significance to the fact that increase here is not just some abstract thing that is going to happen to you anywhere, but it is specifically tied in this example to a place, a land.
That flows with milk and honey. All right, we could talk about this and go through a number of biblical examples to the point where we wouldn't be able to include it all in one episode where the geography matters to God and it's and it's hard to get our head wrapped around that concept because we serve a God that is omnipresent.
So.
How could a God that is everywhere care.
About a.
Specific location? Yeah. Mhm.
Okay. But how many times throughout the word of God does does he speak with specificity to the location? He it's it's the it's the God positioning system.
Where Elijah go by this brook, not just any brook.
Right.
But by this brook.
Abraham.
[clears throat]
Climb a mountain that I will show you.
Start walking.
And it will.
[clears throat]
Be a city that I am going to show you. I'm calling you to a specific place.
Correct?
So the expansiveness of God, the omnipresence of God.
Does not does not hold that part of God's being hostage that appreciates local.
Or location. And so when you are on one side of the Jordan in the wilderness and you are you're looking across the Jordan into the promised land, scientifically it may be just dirt on both sides and you may not be able to tell the difference if you put it in a vial and break it down.
Yeah.
To go, "Wow, this dirt that's dirt." The Brian seems to comedy this.
Episode. The Brian Rian uh school class. What's he What's he go for the school project? It's a cup with dirt in it.
[clears throat]
It's a cup.
[laughter]
With dirt.
What do you call it?
A cup of dirt.
Yeah.
Right. So I scientifically I cannot explain to you that um the the the the cup of dirt, the vial of dirt that you have in your lab from the promised land and the one from the wilderness may scientifically look the same, but the covenant that is tied to both of them makes them respond differently.
Yes. If you're going to increase mightily, it is going to be in a specific.
Yeah, that's right.
Land.
Now, we'll get to the milk and the honey, but first of all, it's it's not that land. It's this land. There's there's there is a specific local. Uh, I could give countless stories and our audience could chime back, I guarantee you, with amazing accounts of the same thing, but historically going back 95 plus years to the location that we are sitting on right now, when the founding pastor and his wife.
Yes.
Rolled into town.
[clears throat]
Okay, there was just a field here. The town, such as it is, hadn't even expanded extended down to this area.
And so before they drove on into the town, they said, "Well, let's pull our little pickup over and."
[clears throat and cough]
Let's have a have a lunch and we'll we'll go on into town and see what happens if this is where God wants us to start a church."
M.
And the the story goes that when they stepped out of the vehicle on the field on the dirt that the Holy Ghost fell on them and they started dancing and shouting and.
And just had an encounter with God without just sparing you a lot of the details just for the sake of time. They didn't know, nor did we that that was going to become the home for the church that they were trying to start.
Mhm.
Uh, and within a few years time they would be building a building there. Why in this field and and and not the one around the corner where they sold the land out from underneath of them and then we in recent history have have witnessed the same thing where we tried to purchase land.
And it just the doors were shut.
Yep.
[clears throat]
And why? Now we're going around the corner and we've got another building and and and why? Because location matters.
Yeah.
Okay.
So, if you're going to increase mightily, you have to pay attention to geography.
Where is God?
I want to work the land that God has entered covenant.
With. And it's a land that is flowing with milk and with honey. Now, I I find it really interesting that it says we're going to increase mightily. And he's talking to a people that are going to be.
[sighs]
They they've left they've left slavery.
Yeah.
And they're now moving into the promised land.
Okay. He's speaking prophetically.
But there's it's this period of time in Israel's history.
And when you get there, it's going to be different than Egypt. And we know that Egypt and the promised land are are not the same place, but he's highlighting the significance of the promised land. And here's one of the things that I think is noteworthy. When they were in Egypt, the Bible says the more that they afflicted them.
Y.
The more that they grew.
[clears throat]
The church is built to flourish in the face of opposition.
That's right.
Persecution did not stamp out the first generation church. I guess not. Can't spread it.
Like a fire.
Okay.
The church knows.
How to respond to persecution, oppression.
What the church still struggles with handling is blessing.
Oh, wow. Wow. Boom. Listen to that.
Man, that's so true.
Don't know how to handle it. I want you to know, Israel, that when you get to this land, it's going to be a blessed place.
Yeah. It's almost like it needs to always be hard.
Who did we have on that talked about the fact that we're spiritualizing poverty? Remember that?
That was Caleb Adams, wasn't it?
I think Caleb Adams.
Caleb Adams.
But that's the same type of thing where.
We're geared for the the negative all the time.
We are. It's like we embrace it.
So the harder.
[clears throat]
They beat us with the whip.
Yeah.
The more straw we have to gather, the more slime, the more.
The tougher it is. Oh yeah.
The church thrives.
Yeah.
There's something about opposition that rallies the troops.
Yeah.
God's telling them, "That's not my preferred method."
My preferred method is the promised land. And in the promised land, it flows.
And it's a land of blessing. But can you handle blessing?
So.
If if we and here here's here's a a key point. If we multiplied in Egypt, then we better be able to increase in the promised land.
Mightily. Don't get to the promised land and go, "Man, there's no slave drivers here. Ain't that cool? Hey, ma, bring out the sweet tea. I just upgraded my rocker on the front porch. I have arrived."
Yeah. There's nothing to do.
There's nothing to do. There's nothing to resist.
There's nothing forcing me to do anything.
Right.
There's nothing making me stiffen my back and get a resolve in my spirit. So if we're not careful.
The blessings of God can rob from us.
Yes.
The ability to continue to increase.
Yeah. Yeah.
He did not bless me just for me to stay the way that I am.
That's right.
If he expected me to multiply in Egypt, he's wanting Israel to know, I am expecting you.
To increase.
In the promised land.
Okay. The second thing that I think is noteworthy here is just for what it's worth. I think this is God-given. And if you if you go to Deuteronomy 11, this this kind of underscores it. Deuteronomy 11 and verse number 8 says, "Therefore shall ye keep the commandments which I command you this day that you may be strong and go in and possess the land whether ye go to possess it."
Mhm.
And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the Lord swear unto your fathers to give unto them, and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk.
And honey. For the land whether thou goest in to possess it.
Is not as the land of Egypt from which it came out.
It's not like Egypt. Again, scientifically, a vial from there and a vial from there. It may not you may not be able to delineate between the two cups of dirt, but in the eyes of God is not the same.
The land of Egypt from whence you come out, where you're going.
Is not like that.
Okay?
But back there, you had to sow your seed and.
Water it with your foot.
Water it with your foot. But the land that you're going to possess.
Is a land of hills and valleys and drinketh water of the rain of heaven. A land which the Lord thy God careth for. The eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it from the beginning of the year.
Even unto the end of the year.
I want to live where God's looking.
Yeah.
Oh, that's good. Yeah.
That's good. The eyes of the Lord are on. I know that the eyes again, he's an omnipresent God and and his eyes run to and fro seeking.
But there's little places that he prefers to look.
[clears throat]
And that's where I want to plant my seed. Yeah.
And that's where I want to be working. And I believe that every apostolic church needs to be God's favorite place to look.
100%.
Amen.
And if it is.
It's a land that flows. It's a land that has hills and valleys. Don't make it some plain. It has ups and downs.
Be up and down.
But it flows. It flows. And it drinks in the rain from heaven. So, what he's saying here is, I'm comparing I'm comparing where you're at with where I'm taking you. And I want you to know that over here you worked and got nothing for it.
M.
You built houses and you never owned them. You built cities for Pharaoh and you never lived in them. Over here it's a land of blessing. It's not a labor-free zone.
Right. Yeah.
It's a zone. It's a geographical place where you get reward for your labor.
Okay. I think this is a a central understanding that is necessary. God's not blessing you so you can be lazy.
Yep. That's right.
He's blessing you and he's given you access to the favor of God for you to work the land and do something with it. Which is why I really believe, and again, this is just my opinion, but I think that God was giving Israel the chance to dwell in a land as close as possible to what pre-fall Eden.
Was like. Prefall Eden was a land that was very profitable.
It was all growth. Yeah.
It was all growth.
Full of resources.
It was Adam could not be lazy.
That's right. That's right.
He still had to work every day.
He had to work it. Yeah.
He had to dress it. He had to keep it.
And he had to multiply in it.
[clears throat]
Okay, so God didn't have to create anything new. He's literally taking that model and he's laying it like a filter over Canaan land and he's saying, "Guys, I'm giving you an Edenic opportunity here, a pre-fall garden opportunity."
Yeah. Increase here.
Yeah.
Yeah. Sometimes we look at at blessing as being almost synonymous with easy or falling into your lap or.
Yeah. We look at blessing as the medium for less labor.
Right? So.
I'm it's pulling me towards having to do less.
Right. So So my knee-jerk is is Adam had to work the the garden, but it was but it would have been easy. No.
No, toil.
But it was still work. It.
Sure was.
It wasn't easy. You still had to diligently work.
Yeah. I think it's a flawed perspective to.
To say that work is the result of sin.
Right.
Yeah. That right.
Mhm.
And so now you're going into a promised land where the blessing should be motivating you to increase, not the persecution.
Now listen, some churches never get this. Some people never get this. And so God has to continually persecute them to keep them multiplying and growing.
But I want to get to the place and I I want to be careful with this. We all have seasons. There's hills and valleys for all of us to go through.
All right? But the overarching intent of the promised land is that it's different than Egypt.
Yeah.
And I'm going to bless you there. And it's a land that flows. You're not going to have to pump it. That's what you have to do in Egypt. You've got to you got to water it with your foot.
Okay? So, even the methods of the promised land are so so different than the methods of Egypt.
In Egypt, it's it's it's I mean, you got to work at it. You never get a flow. You're always losing the prime on the pump.
Okay? Y.
And and there's no uniqueness uh of of methodology in in Egypt. It's the same thing everywhere.
Mhm.
But when you get in the promised land, it's unique. You do things differently.
It is.
It's heaven that drops it down. And so when you're in Plaster Rock in a little rural town.
Mhm.
The flow is different than it is in some metro area. But yet, we don't sit and shoot at each other's methods and say, "Well, do this. Pump it. Pump it. Pump it. Pump it." I've used this as an example before when it comes with evangelism.
Brother, if it works for you to run a fleet of buses, run a fleet of buses.
Yeah.
It doesn't work here.
Mhm.
Now, in Egypt, everybody should have buses, but in the promised land.
It depends on where your field is. You're drinking up the the the rain that falls from heaven. And he ties it to the fact that if you please me, I will make it rain. And we see this later on in the history of Israel that when Ahab is leading Israel contrary to the ordinances of God and their backsliding, what does the prophet do? Shut it up.
That's right. The land the land responded.
Right.
Yeah.
Right. And you can't irrigate your way through it.
Uh-uh.
This land is different.
Yeah. So good. That's good.
Okay.
What about the land?
So in Egypt, increase happens because of toil. In Canaan, increase happens because of flow.
Two different methods. When you get to Canaan, you're going to get houses that you didn't build. In Egypt, you didn't get the houses that you did build.
That's right.
It's two different methods.
Very different. Yep.
Okay. So, um, that brings us. We haven't we haven't gone so far that we are forgetting what our um assignment is today. This brings us to the ingredients of the land. What role does milk and honey play in the blessing? Okay. Now, again, before this is over, I want this to tie back to what we talked about last week with Saul forbidding.
Them to to eat honey. When you look at the ingredients of milk and honey, this is what he told the patriarchs, there's a land and that land is going to flow.
With milk and honey. It became a prophetic motivation to a people that is not always going to be like it is right now. It's not always going to be as difficult as it is right now. How do I know? Because this land's going to flow with milk and honey. We read um in the word of God that milk is.
[snorts]
Like um and even even I think it was Paul that said the milk of the word.
It's a baseline ingredient.
It's it's it's nourishment. Everybody is entitled to it.
Okay. Uh, there's prohibitions. We've talked about it on previous episodes that you read. Do not boil.
[snorts]
A kid in its mother's milk or seethe a kid in its mother's milk. Why? Because milk is lifegiving. Milk is nourishment. And when you take that which is supposed to provide nourishment and you nourishment to support life.
And you take life with it, that's just there's there's something skewed with that. And so there's a prohibition against that in the word of God. Um, but I can have a dairy-based soup and have meat in it. That's okay if it's from your mother. All right. I'm just asking the tough questions.
Just.
[laughter]
Okay. So when he looks at them and said it's going to flow with milk.
I believe the essence of what he is saying is.
I'm going to take care of all your needs.
Yeah. Okay.
Makes sense.
I've got you covered. It's uh there's not going to be a shortfall of the nourishment that you need for the basic necessities of life.
Yeah. And your young will prosper. And.
Yep.
Mhm.
Yep. Honey, on the other hand, is not nearly as commonplace as what milk was.
And there were various types of honey. There's bee honey.
There's fig honey.
Fig honey. Mhm. Biblically and and even now. But.
Is it kind of like a jam or something?
Yeah. Yeah. I guess. Yeah. You you boil it down. Date honey.
Okay. Yeah. Probably it's like a some sort of a syrup.
Yep. Which for the what it's worth department that's what many theologians feel was the inference or the reference to the land flowing with.
H was it was the fruit of the land that produced the sweetness.
Gotcha. Gotcha. Is there any way you could.
More than just bees?
[snorts]
Do you have any thoughts around honey or what we were what chat about?
Well, I can.
[laughter]
See the look in his eye at once in a while when we're talking where he's like he wants to speak. You see all the binary codes in?
Yeah. Yeah. He wants to speak and he gets nervous and he taps on his keyboard.
[laughter]
Uh, no. The estimated variety count of honey is over a hundred. Over a hundred different varieties.
You're just nicely done. How?
Yes.
I don't know how this guy comes up with this stuff.
Potentially thousands if you count local terroir variations. Terroir.
[laughter]
Variations.
Wait a minute. Terrier honey. Just take a couple minutes and expound a bit more on that.
I I'm going to need more information.
[laughter]
I mean, I was thinking traditional honey, like bee honey, and then you pushed my limits with figs, and now we're talking about terriers.
[laughter]
Terroir is a French term that describes how a product's environment influences its flavor and character.
Okay, thank you for that. Man, this guy's an endless source of resources.
Common around here would be like certain levels of terroir for maple syrups. Oh.
In our local New Brunswick products.
[laughter]
Yes. Thank you for bringing it home to local context.
Hey, but it is true.
The definition is the taste of place. The taste of place. Interesting.
So, which reinforces the fact.
That Egypt could not produce.
Produce it. That's right. The honey.
That was uh geolocational.
Yeah. Yeah.
To terroir.
Yeah.
I'm guessing I'm guessing uh in the promised land there were vineyards and a lot more fruit trees and.
Right.
Than in the desert.
Yep.
So that would speaks back to what you're talking about about the land.
Well, the land was different.
It's like it's like um maple.
[clears throat]
Mhm. Yeah. It's geographical.
You brought it up. Maple syrup. Well, I'm sorry, but you may be able to get maple syrup in Florida.
It's not the same, guys. Stop. But.
Yeah.
Yeah. Unless you imported it from.
I'll use another one.
All right. Okay.
Like Okay.
Seafood, for example.
Ah.
You know, when you're on the coast, it's not the same.
Is when you're in like Winnipeg and somebody says, "Oh, our special tonight is, you know, scallops and steak." It's like, okay, I'll have this steak.
Have you ever noticed this when you.
[laughter]
When you travel? It's like when I get to the destination.
They are selling there for a premium.
Yeah. Well, you can get.
What I left at home.
Totally. Totally.
You know, Maine lobster.
Okay. But I'm on the coast of California.
[snorts]
No, I'm good. You want to eat where you're at.
What's What's good. So the point, and I think we've proved it with this, is that the honey that was the trademark of the promise.
Yeah.
Could not be produced in Egypt.
That's right.
It was specific.
To the land of promise that God was calling them. And milk was a staple, but honey wasn't. Mhm. Honey was in fact there are uh there are some sources that say honey was considered a luxury food or even an export.
Okay.
During the time of Israel being in the promised land. Um, and it became a synonymous ingredient. This this honey became synonymous in the eyes of Israel with the prophetic upcoming.
[clears throat]
Sweetness.
Of promise. And so while they're going through Egypt, just the very inference of honey quickened their spirit.
It brought sweetness to their soul. And honey was was It was more than just.
Um, the result of a few buzzing around bees that we often.
Okay. It's what God chose, milk and honey. Now, I find this really interesting and we could we could hunker down here for a few moments, but uh let me just hit it quick. I I find it really interesting that the the patriarch Jacob and his boys, all of his boys with the exception of Joseph who has already gone to Egypt. Jacob is in a famine. And the famine is so sore. I mean, this is the famine that God gave Pharaoh the dream about.
And said that you're going to have seven prosperous years, but then there's going to be seven lean years. And the leanness of the seven years is going to be so intense that you forget, you forget the fatness. Like that's a pretty severe famine.
Mhm.
Okay. And so this is the famine that Jacob is in. But Jacob is not in Egypt. Joseph is.
But Jacob along with many of the other countries that are surrounding Egypt are are feeling the effects of the famine. And so they're going to Egypt for corn because they need something to sustain them. And I find it so intriguing that Jacob on the second time that they're getting ready to send their family, his boys back down to Egypt, and there's been the whole thing. I mean, there's just so many there's layers to the story, but Joseph has taken the money, put it back in the mouth of each of the sacks of the boys, the gold.
And he's told them that they got to bring Benjamin.
Mhm.
And Jacob's like, "There's no way. I'm not sending Benjamin."
No.
Because I've already lost one boy and I'm not doing it. But the famine kept eroding away. This this is one of the one of the most um one of the most pressing examples I think that that that could give us a little insight into how bad the famine was. Jacob was willing to lo gamble to run the risk of losing Benjamin.
Mhm.
Because he knew if I don't our whole family.
That's right.
Is going to die. That's right.
That's how bad it was. It's tough times.
Okay.
Yep. It's a bad deal.
Genesis 43 and verse 11.
43.
Jacob or Israel said unto them, "If it must be so now.
Do this." Yep.
Take of the best of the fruits in the land and your vessels.
And carry down the man a present.
Oh.
A little balm and a little honey.
And a little honey.
Spices. Or nuts. Almonds. Okay. Now.
Interesting. Yes. Bring some honey.
I find it so interesting that you're in a famine and you're about to starve because of what you don't have. But he refuses to send them down empty-handed.
Mhm. So, he carefully goes through.
The ingredients that they do have.
Yep. And he says, "Now look, we don't even have a lot."
Mhm.
But I'm going to send you with a.
A little.
A little.
Yeah. Very interesting. Little taste.
Because we don't have anything. But even when you don't have anything, you always have something.
Mhm.
Okay. This this this is this is going to be an uncomfortable truth. But needy people.
Needy people.
[clears throat]
Need to be generous people or they will always be needy people.
Well, well it gonna do it.
Think about it.
Well, I'm in a famine and I can't afford and I can't. No. No.
Can't afford to be poor at this moment.
You can't afford to not be generous.
There are some fruit and honey somewhere. You may not have the corn that you need, but don't go empty-handed. It's not even about how much you take. Just take a little. And the honey had the power within it to soften. That was the intent. Israel's sitting there saying, "We've got a guy that's going to be upset because he thinks we stole money."
That's right.
He's he's he's in a position of authority.
And we want to put a sweet taste in his mouth. And we also want to send him something that he can't produce himself.
Because he he may have what we need.
But we have what he wants.
Yeah.
He may have corn, but he can't produce the honey that we've got. H and I believe that Israel was looking long-headed enough that from Canaan he is sending into Egypt.
Yes. Exactly right.
A prophetic little sampling.
This is what we have.
We won't always be in this position.
[clears throat]
And we won't always be coming to Egypt for our substance. So, I'm going to send you a little honey because there's coming a day. We won't be in Egypt forever. We may have to sojourn like strangers in a foreign land for 400 plus years, but before it's over, we're coming out. And when we get back here, it's going to be flowing.
With milk and with honey.
You wonder when Joseph saw that if it brought back. Oh, he tasted home.
He's like, "Oh, man. This stuff is That right there, boys, is good stuff."
Egypt.
[laughter]
Couldn't produce it.
Yeah. It's like, "You guys need to try this." Yeah.
They didn't even know that they were sending sweetness to the soul of a brother that they had embittered.
Oh, true.
They didn't know.
They didn't know.
They didn't. They didn't know.
The the little honey.
That was sent was a prophetic foretaste of this is where we're going.
Mhm.
[clears throat]
This is what God has for our future. The honey became a portable little reminder.
[snorts]
Of destiny.
And it's the land itself, right? It's.
It is it's the land that's producing it, not the bees. That's so awesome. Yeah.
The land is flowing with it.
Mhm.
Okay.
And it it became that thing that kept Israel motivated.
Mhm.
Don't throw in the towel. Don't quit. Don't it it it's going to be okay. It won't always be this bitter. Egypt can produce onions and Egypt can produce leeks and Egypt can produce garlic, but it can't produce the sweetness.
The sweetness. I think that is why that even when you read of the children of Israel going through the wilderness and and and their doubt and their lack of going into the land um that flowed with milk and honey, God still allowed them to consume manna that fell from heaven and it tasted like wafers with honey.
Mhm.
Every time they put that in their mouth, it was a reminder we're not going to be in the wilderness forever.
We're we're coming out of this. Okay.
Just a taste. Yep.
So, we've we've we've taken kind of a meandering walk here through the word of God underscoring the role of geography. This land is a land that increases. It's a land of multiplication. It's a land of blessing. Okay, that brings us to last week. We spent all of this week to get to last week, which is the story, the account in 1st Samuel 14.
Where Saul is chasing down the Philistines. Jonathan has has confronted them up at the top of the hill said, "If you want me, man, beckon me." And they said, "Get up here." And man.
Yeah.
Him and his.
Armor bearer. Careful with that.
Yeah.
And he knocked him down and his armor bearer slew them. Okay. While Jonathan's up there doing the king's business, the king is down there saying to the people, "Nobody eat until this day is done." And so he puts them into a covenant.
That and we we we underscored this last year or last week where they are not permitted.
Yep.
To eat until I, that's what Saul said, am I am avenged of my adversary.
This was not Saul's battle. And I'm going to reiterate what we said last week. The standard maker should never make the standards about him.
This is God's battle.
And God's the one that brings the victory.
Okay? The people have been working. They have been pursuing. They have been in intense.
Battle and confrontation and they're wiped out. And Jonathan.
Has.
leading the charge. Man, that the guy has has literally knocked out singlehandedly. I mean, we don't even get a number. It just says about the the the the size of ground that an ox can plow in a day. I don't know how many Philistines that is, but that's quite a bit.
Okay, he's hungry. He's famished. And he comes back down and they enter into the wood. And the Bible says in 1st Samuel chapter 14, and verse 25, and they and all they of the land came to a wood, and there was honey upon the ground. And when the people were come into the wood, behold, the honey dropped. But no man put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath.
But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the oath. Wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and he dipped it in a honeycomb, put it in his mouth, and his eyes were enlightened.
Cuz it tastes good. Oh, oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. That's right. All right. There's something about [clears throat] consuming what the land has been prophetically foretold to produce. The land knows what you need when you need it.
All right. Read. Then answered one of the people and said, "Thy father straightly charged the people with an oath, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food this day." And the people were faint. Then said Jonathan, here's here's the statement. My father hath troubled the land. Not troubled me, not troubled the people. He has troubled the land. Why? Because the land [clears throat] has been prophetically foretold. It's been divinely programmed to drop honey when the people are weary to produce when the people need nourishment.
That's right. That's why we're here. This land, it's different than Egypt. Yeah. And so now you're troubling the land, Dad. That's what Jonathan is saying. Wow, what a statement. You're troubling the land. Why? You're upsetting the divine rhythm of this thing. Because God said that this is what he had for us. There was something about the land that when they stepped into it, we're seeing it literally fulfill what God had told Abraham hundreds of years before. It's flowing with it.
And as the people step into the wood, it just goes, "Uh, eat this." Have you ever had that when you go to the house of God and you have been running and fighting and the intensity of the struggle has been so wearying [clears throat] and you walk through the doors of the church house and you sit down on a pew and the honey begins to drop like on Q and and you find yourself saying like who told them how did it know how who who ordered the honey? It was exactly what I needed. Yeah.
And when I put it in my mouth, my eyes were enlightened and I could I could see my way clearly again. And I I could tell this is going to be all right. I'm going to make it. I'm going to survive. And the sweetness brought that light back to my soul. Saul, don't forsake the people and forbid the people to consume the honey that God said would be the earmark of the promised land.
That's right. That you're living in. And so I I I think as we as we wrap this episode up and this [clears throat] ties even back to standards, manmade. And when I'm saying man-made, that's not speaking down. Moses was a man and he said, "This is the bottom of the mountain." That that was a man-made boundary. But we must be certain that we do not forbid what God has put into the very soil of this thing. If we didn't need it, he wouldn't have put it there.
I don't want to I don't want to trouble the land. And I I because it'll start to feel like Egypt real fast. It will. And we're not there anymore. We should We shouldn't be fighting. As we as we were when we were in Egypt. Should not be.
And I I'll throw this in at at the conclusion just as a freebie. But John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus Christ. He came preaching repentance. And he had that propensity. He didn't care about politics. He didn't care about position. He'd look at Herod and say, "Stop sleeping with your brother's wife." He He called it exactly how he saw it. You know what his diet was? Locust and honey. It was balance. Locust are a type of judgment in the word of God. God used locust against Egypt. Pestilence. So you have both judgment and the prophetic sweetness of honey. And that was the the required diet of a man that was going to forerrun Jesus Christ. Don't preach judgment without honey and don't preach honey without judgment. It takes a balance. And when you have a diet of balance, Jesus can walk in the wake of your footsteps. And your voice can lead people to a place of repentance. And ultimately, it leads them to Jesus Christ himself. So don't don't withhold the honey. When it drops it, don't trouble the land. Eat it. It knows exactly what you need and it'll drop it right on time. Heat up here.