Honey: the goodness & richness of God’s blessings. 

Miele means “honey” in Italian, which is a name I chose to honor the testimony of how this business was started– on a firm foundation of faith in God’s provision & faithfulness. I love studying the mentions of honey in scripture and learning what it symbolizes and what it means for me today! This section of the blog will be called: Words of Miele & be filled with devotionals/ excerpts from scripture that are as sweet as honey<3

Throughout scripture, honey is mentioned 61 times. It symbolizes the goodness and grace of the Lord who is persistent to provide and see His people sustained. Honey is the symbol of God’s favor. 61 times, we are introduced to a God who is glad to turn the bitterness of His people’s circumstances into the sweetness of honey.  

In Exodus 3, honey is used to symbolize the Lord’s rescue from captivity and His gift of land to the Israelites. In his promise to Moses, God states that his people will be delivered into a land “flowing with milk and honey.” What a beautiful way to describe the journey from slavery to freedom. In his goodness, the Lord was faithful to see them delivered from captivity and bondage into sweetness and abundance. 

In Psalm 119:103, King David sings that the words of the Lord are “sweeter than honey” in his mouth. He was so delighted to keep the words of the Lord on his lips that the very taste was sweeter than that of rich honey. Earlier in the Psalm, he writes that the Lord is his portion– the fulfillment of every need he could have. King David recognized that God Himself is the provision & his gifts are as sweet as honey.

Ezekiel 3:3 also talks about consuming the word of the Lord. The author describes it as being “as sweet as honey in my mouth.” 

In 1 Samuel 14, the Lord delivers honey as a provision for Jonathan and Saul’s army. After a long battle, they entered the forest and saw a flow of honey along the ground. Though Saul had made everyone swear to a fast, Jonathan dipped the end of his staff into the honeycomb on the ground and ate some. 1 Samuel 14:28 says that “when he returned his hand to his mouth, he had renewed energy.” Even as some of the troops called him out for going against his father’s oath, Jonathan said: “Just look at how my eyes became bright because I tasted a little of this honey.”

Deuteronomy 6 is centered on the greatest command: “to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Moses commands the Israelites to keep these words in their heart. He says to do this in order to remember the faithfulness of the Lord. 

God’s promises for Israel were abundant! Yet, it would take their commitment to remember his faithfulness and his name when they came into the promised land… “a land with large and beautiful cities that they did not build & houses full of every good thing that they did not fill them with.” The Lord’s desire was to see them enter a land of abundance, flowing with milk and honey. Their only job was to trust that God would get them there and to remember him once he did!

Today, the same thing is true for us. Hebrews 13:8 tells us that Jesus is the same “yesterday, today, and forever.” He has never and will never change so we know that the God of Moses and the Israelites, Jonathan and Saul, and King David is still our God today. 

Still today, we serve a God who delights to turn the bitterness of our circumstances into a sweetness of abundance like honey. His promise for us is still provision, goodness & richness. 

He still longs to journey with us from slavery into freedom; to see us delivered from bondage into abundant life (John 10:10). He is faithful to fulfill our every need and all of his promises are yes and amen (2 Corinthians 1:20)! His gifts to us are as sweet as honey, always!!! 

By reading the testimonies of people in scripture, we are able to see the promises of the Lord fulfilled and gain confidence that it is the same Lord we serve today. What a blessing! 

We get to read the story of the Israelites in Exodus and know that the same God who delivered them from Egypt, split the Red Sea & promised them a land flowing with milk and honey is the same God we worship today. We read Deuteronomy and are reminded that we were created to love the Lord and be loved by him. The same God who established the land they would inhabit is the God we get to know! We read Psalm 119 and are promised that the same God who provided abundant peace for David is providing the same thing for us right now. Just like he did for Jonathan in 1 Samuel 14, the Lord is sending us provisions in our daily lives still! In the midst of our battles, he lays honeycombs at our feet to sustain us.

His desire is STILL to see us enter a land of promise flowing with milk and honey– which is ultimately a relationship with Him. Out of our bond with Him comes every abundant thing <3