Taste is an integral part of our physical senses, and it is definitely something we cannot do without. We are almost always judging the food that we put into our mouth, determining if it is too sweet, too sour, too salty, too bland etc. I feel that this sense of taste is also something that will affect our emotions. We feel happy when we have something delicious; we feel irritated when something does not fit our palate. So, have you ever wondered what the Bible tastes like?
In the Scriptures, the use of taste as a form of description is quite common, one being Matthew 5:13, where Christians are compared as the “salt of the earth”. In today’s simple article, we will take a look at the 2 most common tastes: sweetness and bitterness.
The taste of sweetness is mostly used to describe positive things, such as the Word of God, and even pleasant words are likened to sweetness. It is also used to allude to things that we crave, things that we desire. We can see them as used in Psalms 19:10; 119:103 and Prov 16:24.
Sugar, the main source of sweetness, helps to make the physical body satisfied. However, too much sugar can be detrimental to our physical body, bringing about higher risk of diseases like high blood sugar etc. Similarly, in the scriptures, sweetness is also not solely used to describe positive things, it is also used to describe deception, as seen in Prov 20:17.
On the other hand, bitterness is usually used to describe something not desired, and has a negative connotation. For instance, in Ephesians 4:31, bitterness is mentioned together with wrath, anger, malice and more. It is definitely not something we desire. In Romans 3:14, bitterness is also associated with cursing. As seen, similar to our physical self, the Bible also mostly associates bitterness with negative things.
Sweetness and bitterness are oftentimes used in opposing stands, as seen in Isaiah 5:20, Proverbs 27:7, James 3:11 etc. They both evoke 2 very extreme emotions from us. While they may or may not be the taste that we want to experience, I think there is one more taste that we should be more aware of. Or rather, the lack thereof is what we should be more vigilant about.
Previously, when I contracted covid, the loss of taste was something quite unforgettable. Everything I ate had no taste, it did not spark any emotions or joy at all. I believe everyone probably had some experience similar to this, be it due to covid or conventional flu. At that time, I was so afraid that if my sense of taste did not return, I would not be able to enjoy the different flavors food can have.
If we can be concerned about our sense of taste towards our physical food, then we should also start thinking about what taste the Bible provides us with. It could be sweet, bitter, or a mixture of different flavors. However, if the Bible starts to taste bland or even bitter to us, are we worried? And what are we going to do about it? Let us all take some time to ponder, what the taste of the Bible is to us, and what we can do about it.