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Who doesn’t like chocolate? I guess most if not all of us have eaten chocolate at some time in the last two weeks or so. Maybe you still have lots of chocolate to consume.

Chocolate is not mentioned in the Bible. Chocolate – or cocoa – originated in South America over 1000 years before the birth of Christ. We should not expect chocolate to be part of an Israelite’s diet. Today, however, some of the main Christian and Jewish celebrations all involve chocolate: there’s chocolate at Hanukkah, chocolate at Easter, and chocolate at Christmas.

But just because chocolate is not mentioned in the Bible does not mean people in the Bible never had sweet things to taste. Honey was very popular in Bible times – its sweetness making it the Bible’s equivalent of today's chocolate and candy. And the Bible says a lot about honey.

Probably the most well-known is the Lord’s promise that he will bring the Israelites into the Promised Land – a land flowing with milk and honey. Milk and honey become symbols of God’s blessing and bounty.

There’s another well-known symbolic use of honey in the Bible: honey symbolizes the sweetness of God’s Word. In fact, God’s Word is sweeter than honey. Psalm 19:10 says the commands of God “are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.” Psalm 119:103 says, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.” No wonder in Ezekiel 3:3, Ezekiel must “eat the scroll” of God’s prophecy – and this scroll “tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.”

So, milk and honey are an image of God’s promise and honey is a metaphor for the sweetness of God’s Word. Put in today’s language we could say God’s promise is like cream and chocolate and God’s Word is richer than chocolate.

Maybe you don’t need an excuse to eat chocolate; maybe you do. Either way, I invite you to select a chocolate now. As you taste the chocolate, give thanks to God for his promises to you and for his promise to bring you safely into his eternal rest – the heavenly Promised Land. And give thanks for his Word – for as we listen to his Word, read his Word, and obey his Word, may our lives be like the sweetness of God’s love to others.

 視頻大意翻譯(Brief video Chinese translation):

巧克力，誰不喜歡巧克力? 聖誕節剛過，我相信我們大部分的人在過去兩周都吃過巧克力。或許你你還有許多吃不完的巧克力。

你知道聖經裡沒有提到巧克力嗎?你或許早知道了。巧克力-或者可可-基督誕生前100年源始於南美。我們不會以為巧克力是以色列人飲食的一部分。當然今天，主要基督徒和猶太人的慶祝都有巧克力:猶太人的光明節、復活節和聖誕節都有巧克力。

但是，聖經中沒有提到巧克力並不意味著聖經裡的人沒有甜食。聖經時代蜂蜜很流行-它的甜味等同於巧克力和糖果。而且聖經多次提到蜂蜜。

可能最為眾人所知的是主應許帶以色列人進入應許之地-一個流奶與蜜之地。在主所能使用的形容-在舊約中他也使用了其他的東西-他最常用兩種東西來形容他賜給以色列民能在他的愛和恩典裡可以生活和敬拜的地方:就是牛奶和蜜。牛奶和蜜成為神祝福和豐盛的象徵。

舊約中其他地方也提到了蜂蜜。 有時它象徵著快樂，有時它象徵著誘惑。 但如果說蜂蜜還有一個眾所周知的用途，那就是：蜂蜜象徵著神的話語的甜美。 事實上，神的話語比蜜更甜。 詩篇19：10說神的命令 

“比蜜甘甜、且比蜂房下滴的蜜甘甜。”

詩篇119：103說

“你的言語在我上膛何等甘美．在我口中比蜜更甜。”

 難怪以西結在以西結書3：3說，當他被告知要傳遞神的預言時，他必須先 “吃下神預言的書卷”--而這書卷 “我就喫了、口中覺得其甜如蜜。”

所以，牛奶和蜂蜜是神應許的象徵，而蜂蜜則是神話語的甜美的隱喻。 換成今天的語言，我們可以說神的應許就像奶油和巧克力，而神的話語比巧克力更豐富。

也許你現在不需要一個吃巧克力的藉口; 也許你需要。 無論怎樣，去吃巧克力吧。 當你品嘗巧克力時，感謝神對你的承諾，感謝他承諾將你安全地帶入他永恆的安息--天上的應許之地。 並感謝他的話語--因為當我們聆聽他的話語，閱讀他的話語，並遵守他的話語時，願我們的生命就像神給他人的愛一樣甜蜜。

讓我們禱告。

Grace and peace

Pastor Callum