Bible students will note that God’s first warning to mankind concerned touching. In Genesis 2:16,17 we find Him telling Adam that He had planted “… the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” in the center of the Garden of Eden. He then told Adam not to partake of the tree–not to so much as touch it– because should he do so “… you shall surely die.” We are all familiar with the expression “The Kiss of Death” which refers to the kiss Judas gave to Jesus which identified Him to the Roman soldiers who had been sent to capture Him. That kiss would, a few hours later, result in Jesus being beaten beyond recognition and nailed to a cross where He was left to die a most horrible death.

In Genesis two the Lord warns about what I call “The Touch of Death.” This refers to His command not to “touch” anything connected to sin. Question: What is it about sin that makes it spiritually “untouchable?” Why does God condemn someone for merely “touching” a forbidden object, situation, etc? If I find a Playboy magazine on a park bench, why does He forbid me to “read it for the articles?” In fact, He commands me to get as far away from it as possible as quickly as possible. Why? I will answer the question using nature’s sweetest, most perfect food–honey.

Honey is the most complete food source known to mankind. The Jaques family eats a lot of it and not just for its nutritional value. We eat it because it tastes good. But all is not positive when it comes to the nectar of the bee–honey always finds its way onto one’s hands. It matters not how thoroughly I wash the outside of the jar, within a day or so the jar is once again sticky. Others have also found this to be the case. Another characteristic of honey is that honey also sticks to whatever the sticky-handed honey lover touches. Only a thorough soap and hot water cleansing can remove it. To prevent this phenomenon from happening, one needs to be aware of the situation and take measures to prevent it. Is the Lord teaching us a lesson using honey as the instrument of instruction? I believe so. A well-known Bible verse says it all: “A little leaven leavens the whole loaf” (1 Cor. 5:6). Here the Apostle Paul is warning the church that by allowing an adulterer to remain in the church (continuing to “touch” him) the people were guaranteeing that more adultery would be occurring. In verse 7 he tells them to “Purge out the old leaven”–sin. Why? Because the sweet, attractive, uber-religious honey man would infect the entire congregation if allowed to remain in it. Such is the character of nature’s elixir. What honey touches, it clings to and affects everything with which it comes in contact. Sin has the exact same qualities. No matter how religious, sweet and loving the sinner is, everything he/she does, says or thinks becomes tainted with sin. Whatever sin touches it rots. Then the rot infects whatever it touches. Such is the characteristic of leaven (sin) (honey)–a little bit goes a long way. All this brings us to a familiar saying: “All that glitters is not gold.” Both honey and sin can taste, look and feel good while being the exact opposite. Which brings us to another characteristic of both sin and honey. To be continued. L.J.