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Bible Eating

October 2, 2005

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Dear Friends,

The emperor of Ethiopia, Menelik II (1844-1913), had a strange habit. He literally ate the Bible. Whenever he didn’t feel well, he was convinced he would feel better if he ate a few pages of Scripture. However, after suffering a stroke, the emperor asked that his servants feed him the entire book of Kings. The king died before finishing his “supper.”

There are many references to consuming the Bible within its pages including some of the prophets, in vision, eating the very pages of the text. Despite King Menelik’s literal adherence to some of these passages, these verses all have a figurative meaning. Perhaps the most famous of the “Bible eating” passages is “…man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.” (Deut. 8:3)

We live in a time when not too many of us go without missing a meal, let alone going a whole day without food. Yet, all too often we go days (weeks, months, years?) without a steady diet of God’s word. Jesus tells us, “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” Do we believe it? If so, how could we go days at a time without reading them.

We are living in times of famine for the word of God as predicted by the prophet Amos. “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.” (Amos 8:11) Our language is filled with snippets of Bible passages, but for most they have no idea of the context or truth behind those snippets. For example, in today’s newspaper there was an article in which a mother defended her middle-school-aged son for hitting another student while defending a smaller student. The mother said concerning her son, “We have always taught him to be a good Samaritan.” Funny, but I don’t recall the good Samaritan hitting anyone. Rather, he bound up the wounds of the man that had been attacked rather than tracking down the perpetrators like some Biblical Rambo. Likewise, many throw out Biblical phrases and concepts without any idea of the true meaning or teaching behind the words.

Lest we mislead, understand that this is not simply an exhortation to read the Bible every day. Far from it. Any person that is able to read and has a few spare minutes can read the Bible. God wants us to consume it. Take the word into our hearts and minds regularly and integrate it into the very fabric of our being. The Jews [v 18] read their Bibles. Jesus said to them, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life.” (John 5:39) Yet, in the very next verse, he says “ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” They could read the Bible all day long, and unless they opened their eyes and their hearts to the truths contained therein, it was all for naught.

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” (Ps. 1:1,2) “Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.” (Ps. 119:2)

Have a great week!

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