Honey From The Rock, Part 1

Part 1 of 2

The image is a rich one, particularly so from a Jewish-Catholic perspective. The phrase comes from Psalm 81, in which the Jewish people are promised that if they turn to God with their whole hearts, they will receive honey from the rock. The psalm reveals God's tender love for his people, the Jewish people. Meribah was where, shortly after the Jews has fled Egypt and entered the desert, they lost confidence in God and were convinced that they had been abandoned to die of thirst in the desert. It was there that they challenged Moses "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?" (Ex 17:3), at which point God told Moses to "take in your hand the rod... [and] strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, that the people may drink." (Ex 17:5-6) At Meribah, God gave them water to drink, which was enough to sustain life. When Jews turn to Him with their whole hearts, He will give them honey sweetness itself - rather than water to drink.