Honey from the Rock

 **  This post has been heavily influenced by a particular teaching from Ray VanderLaan. You could see a representation of this teaching by watching "They Were Not Wandering" (That the World May Know series, Volume #12)

This next post is driven by the following picture taken from the biblical desert:

I will make a few observations about this picture.

The first of those observations is about sight.  One of the things that surprised me the most about the desert was the limited sight I had.  I had always pictured the desert as this empty wasteland where one could see for miles in every direction.  The picture I had was distressing because of the hopelessness displayed in that mental image.  What I discovered when I arrived in the desert was that the desert is actually a place where I could never see around the next bend.  Instead of hopelessness, I experienced anxiety.  I found this to be a great life lesson.  In my deserts, I have found that one of my greatest frustrations is the many times that I feel the desert blindsides me with something I could never see coming.  One of the lessons of the desert is the that they teach us to follow and trust the voice of the Shepherd.  He knows the path; He knows where we are going.  Just walk the path and follow His voice.

Another observation I would make would be about rocks.  There are a lot of them.  Again, like shade, this image is an image that is found all over the Scriptures and we usually miss its significance.  Rocks are THE image of the desert — they are everywhere.  And one of the most striking images of the rocks of the desert is what Jewish teaching refers to as “stones of stumbling.”

In the desert there are many stones that cause stumbling.  Some of them are quite small (think of a baseball-sized rock you could hold in your hand).  These are the problems in life that serve as simple annoyances.  These annoyances can often pile up and affect our mood, but at the end of the day, these stones don't do major damage. A few nicks and bruises, but nothing to really worry about in terms of survival or significant pain.

But then there are bigger rocks.  Imagine a rock that a man would lift up, grunting, with both hands.  These rocks can cause some harm.  It's easy to twist your ankle on these rocks in the desert.  If you dropped it on a toe, you would need some attention.  There are moments in our deserts that hurt and cause some serious, yet temporary, pain.

Then, there are rocks that no man could lift.  Large boulders that could easily put a person out of commission.  Stumble into (or off of) one of these rocks and you will be in more than temporary pain.  It's the surgery and the lost job.  The family member that moves away and the broken relationship.  These are stones that will hurt for some time and leave some serious scars.

And then, there are the huge cliffs — the bedrock.  These are rocks that you can't climb over, you can't pass through, and you're never going to move.  They're rocks that change the course of your life.  It's the death of a loved one.  The cancer diagnosis.  The things in life that you have no control over.

These are the rocks of the desert.  In the words of Ray VanderLaan, “I wish I could tell you that if you prayed hard enough, God would take the rocks away.  But He doesn't.  Sometimes he gives us a smooth path for a season — praise Him — but walking the path of God is hard.  And there are rocks.”

What God does say is quite interesting.  Time and time again, God will insist that if we will walk the right path, He will feed us with honey.  Look at how it's stated here in Psalm 81:13–16:

“If my people would only listen to me,
    if Israel would only follow my ways,
how quickly I would subdue their enemies
    and turn my hand against their foes!
Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him,
    and their punishment would last forever.
But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;
    with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Honey from the rock.

Every Jew learns early in their education that God and the words of God taste like honey.  If we would walk the right path and trust in the right voice, God promises to feed us with honey from the rock.  It isn't that He promises to take the rocks away.  But He does promise that if you'll follow His voice, there will be just enough of His presence in every rock.

Another way the rabbis teach it is this: Be careful when you ask for honey, for God might put it in a rock.