Salt Of The Earth

Posted by David Puffer on Sunday, September 16, 2018

Matthew 5:13  "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and  trampled underfoot by men.

 

Behavior follows belief.

 

Throughout the Bible, God has described Himself in terms of virtues that all people are drawn to – Almighty, Merciful, Patient, Faithful, Truthful, Good, Trustworthy. 

 

Together, these attributes add up to Holiness.

 

And because He is a Holy God, He is a “blessing” God.

 

In the 5th chapter of Matthew, the Lord Jesus summarized Christian doctrine in His Sermon on the Mount.

 

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus tells those who believe Him what sort of behavior is blessed of God.

 

Matthew 5:3-11 tells us that God blesses the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, the seekers after righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and the persecuted for righteousness' sake.

 

Blessing is approval. 

 

It is a bestowal that promotes happiness or well-being.

 

And because God is a good God He is pleased with the qualities to be found in the people mentioned in these verses.

 

Why?  Because those qualities bear a close relationship with the virtues that God uses to describe Himself.

 

Now, because the Divine nature is expansive and generous, those He blesses, in turn, become a blessing to others.

 

So in verse 13 Jesus tells us that as we are blessed by the Father, we become the “Salt of the Earth”.

 

To understand this statement we need to know something about salt’s place in the ancient world.

 

Salt was held in such high esteem (value) that it was used as money in Jesus day. (Note the similarity between the Hebrew word for salt (melach) and the Hebrew word for king (melek).

 

Roman soldiers were paid a salarium, and, in fact, the word salary comes from the Latin word for salt  -  salaria.

 

Cakes of salt have been used as money also in Ethiopia and elsewhere in Africa and in Tibet.

 

As a matter of fact, salt is still highly prized in some parts of the world.

 

In central Africa it is still a luxury only available to the rich.

 

It has, until recently, been considered to be vital to human and animal life.

 

When deprived of it, both man and animal suffer nausea and weakness in the short run. 

 

But long term deprivation causes dehydration, a dangerous drop in blood pressure, coma, and eventually death.

 

I know from personal experience what insufficient salt in the diet can do  -  Heat stroke.

 

Salt has also long been valued as a condiment – even Job refers to it in this way in Job 6:6 where he asks, “Can flavorless food be eaten without salt?”

 

As well as being vital to health and mans’ eating pleasure, salt has played an important part in religions.

 

It was employed in rituals and religious ceremonies in almost all ancient nations  -  including the Hebrew sacerdotal system.

 

Lev 2:13 And every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.

 

Here we see that it was to be an integral part of the offering of firstfruits which foreshadowed Jesus and the born-again believer.

 

Salt played a vital role in the covenant making process. 

 

Covenants were normally made over a sacrificial meal in which salt was a necessary element. 

 

This was because the preservative qualities of salt made it a fitting symbol of an enduring contract.

 

In Numbers 18:19, God directed that, "All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to the LORD, I have given to you and your sons and daughters with you as an ordinance forever; it is a covenant of salt forever before the LORD with you and your descendants with you."

 

So salt acquired a connection with high esteem and honor in ancient and modern languages. 

 

The Arabic idiom (figure of speech), “there is salt between us” speaks of obligation to a pact. 

 

In modern Iraq disloyalty or ingratitude is referred to as “untrue salt”.

 

And here we can hear unreliable people referred to as not being “worth their salt”.

 

Salt was used as a disinfectant as well as a preservative by the ancients  -  as in Ezekiel 16:4 where God compares Israel to a new born baby that He rescued from the elements, "As for your nativity, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you; you were not rubbed with salt nor wrapped in swaddling cloths.”

 

Salt symbolizes a great deal when applied to born-again believers.

 

It speaks of our value to God and to each other. 

 

And also to the world  -  it is the presence of the body of believers in the world that promotes divine blessing and protection from the adversary.

 

God desires that as we have been blessed by Him, we would be a blessing to others.

 

This can only happen if we keep our saltiness - His righteousness.

 

Let’s look at our opening Scripture, Matt 5:13, again  "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

 

Here is a warning that we can loose our salt (our value).

 

And if we loose it, what good will we be to anybody.

 

We then become “poor” salt which was used to spoil a conquered land  -  Which Abimelech did to Shechem in Jdgs 9:45 -  So Abimelech fought against the city all that day; he took the city and killed the people who were in it; and he demolished the city and sowed it with salt. (So that it would never rise up again.)

 

Consider Lot’s wife.

 

She is a picture of the believer who makes a superficial claim of God’s offer in Christ Jesus, but remains connected to Sodom.

 

She becomes “poor salt” that misrepresents the Kingdom of God.

 

Just like the provial pig of 2 Peter 2:22 that returns to the mire or the dog that returns to its vomit. 

 

The Lord Jesus bestowed on His disciples a high honor in calling us the salt of the earth.

 

But as His disciples we are to realize that the honor is not to be taken lightly.

 

Should we lose our saltiness we would cease to be a blessing to others.

 

For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.  Romans 2:24

 

But praise God, He has given us a way to keep our saltiness.

 

That way is Christ in you.

 

In Exodus 12:9, referring to the passover lamb we read, “Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire--its head with its legs and its entrails.

 

Meat that is boiled loses its salt to the water it is boiled in.

 

But roasted meat maintains the salt that it contains and it is taken into the one who eats it.

 

So what does this mean?

 

Jesus is the Passover Lamb. 

 

It is His mind, His walk, and His heart that we must seek to emulate.

 

So,  just as Jesus told us that our feet need to be washed often by our brothers and sisters in the Kingdom of God, we must constantly feed on the Lamb of God (the Living Word) and nourish ourselves with His purifying and preserving salt.

 

We are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God by the intake of the Word of God Romans 12:1

 

We are to be transformed by God's Word as it takes up residence in our souls And renews our minds.  Romans 12:2

 

We are to be changed, transfigured - we come into this world as sons of Adam but we can be adopted as Sons of God.

 

How?

 

The Scriptures make it clear in John 1:12-13, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

 

That can only happen when we are changed by the Living Word (Jesus).

 

I believe that is what is meant by Luke 20:18 which says, "Whoever falls on that stone will be broken (from root sun: meaning union/completeness); but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder." (Remain dust of the Earth)

 

So let me ask you; have you fallen on Jesus?

 

Are you the salt of the Earth seasoning the Kingdom of God; or the dust of the Earth that Genesis 3:14 declares is food for the Devil?

 

Have you fallen for Him?

 

Is Jesus the most important part of your life?

 

Do you know Him as your closest friend and brother.

 

Can you say, as doubting Thomas said, that He is you Lord and your God. John 20:28

 

Then you are truly the Salt of the Earth.

 

Let us pray in the words of Psalm 119:170-173:

 

Let my supplication come before You; Deliver me according to Your word.

My lips shall utter praise, For You teach me Your statutes.

My tongue shall speak of Your word, For all Your commandments are righteousness.

Let Your hand become my help, For I have chosen Your precepts.

 

How wonderful is our glorious Savior.

 


 

Amen




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