Isaiah 7:22
22 And it shall come to pass, for the abundance [rob] of milk [chalab] that they shall give [`asah] he shall eat ['akal]
butter: [chem'ah] for butter [chem'ah] and honey [dabash] shall
every one eat ['akal] that is left [yathar] in [qereb] the land. ['erets] KJV-Interlinear
22 and
it will happen that because of the abundance of the milk produced he will eat
curds, for everyone that is left within the land will eat curds and honey. NASB
The description of
desolation is continued. And though it
is not apparent from the text, the context of this chapter is one of
desolation.
What has happened thus
far in this prophecy, is that the land is invaded by an enemy that is so
numerous, that the land is decimated of all of its wealth and most of its
population. The enemy leaves it in
ruins.
But there are survivors,
even when there should not have been any survivors. With a much smaller population and with fewer
means of commerce, which is to say there are fewer herds of cattle and flocks
of sheep, but the land is still there.
Though not cultivated because of the population that no longer exists,
then those cattle and sheep can wander further and eat in abundance, thus
producing more milk and thus butter.
Bees, when once confined
to controlled hives, will be free to build hives nearly anywhere, which means
more honey, even though one has to go out to find the hives and the honey.
So, even in disaster
there is some semblance of blessing for those who remain and survive.
In past generations this
would have been a blessing of survival, or the hope of some sort of
survival.
In the future
Tribulation, when the world is totally devastated, there will still be
survivors. And even though they are much fewer in number, they have more room
and space for squeaking out a survival for themselves.
In disaster there is still
hope and even a little bit of a treat or pleasure for ones sustenance. This verse applies to food or diet, but can
also indicate other pleasures or luxury items, even if they are small in
portion.
Even in our current day,
when people are losing their jobs or homes or health, or whatever, nearly
everyone has something that they have that could easily be classified as luxury
items. They still have clothes, they
still eat out, they still go to movies, they still have cell phones, and so
forth.
So, in even the worst of
conditions, if you look really hard at your own life, you still have blessings,
even if you do not want to recognize them as such.
Often times people do not
realize their blessings until they lose them.
Whether they are things or people in your life, or even the opportunity
to study doctrine, you should cherish them all and what you have now, because
one day, you might not have them.
And in disaster, when
things are lost for good, then it is doubly difficult to regain or replace them,
and even then those replacements may not be any better or even a bit worse than
what you had, but simply refused to appreciate.
The worldly implications
here are concerned with your loved ones, your things, your life in general. The
spiritual implications here are concerned with your entire existence and
eternal destiny. Therefore value what
you have and your opportunities now, because one day you may lose them.
