There's Honey Where You Fought the Lion

There's Honey Where You Fought the Lion | Guest Speaker | Efficient Church

Introduction

A guest speaker, a hospital chaplain and pianist, brought a somewhat unexpected message this Sunday at Église des Lignes. She pulled a single thread through the whole Bible: honey. A word that keeps returning from one book to the next, from the wilderness of Exodus to the visions of Ezekiel, from a lion's carcass to the table of the risen Jesus. A tiny word that speaks of God's favor, his provision, and the sweetness he wants to place at the center of your life, even when your life tastes like a fight. Follow the trail of honey with her. You'll discover that God often uses what is small (a grain, an insect, a bee) to feed you in a big way.

Message Outline

1. The Land of Honey: God Hates Your Bondage

Exodus 3:17: God sees the suffering of his people in Egypt and decides to lead them into a land flowing with milk and honey. God is a God of favor who is stirred to indignation by oppression.
Our modern world has its own kinds of bondage too: work, commuting, schedules, hurry, the violence of the news. The speaker put it simply: "I dream of peace, of rest, of sweetness, and then I watch the news…"
Along the way, God gives manna, a white food, like coriander seed, tasting like honey wafers (Exodus 16:31). A foretaste of the kingdom in the middle of the desert.
Even today, the sweetness of his presence, his forgiveness, and his compassion is that same foretaste he wants you to receive.

2. Insects in God's Plan

At the gates of Canaan, ten scouts come back terrified: "We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight" (Numbers 13:33). They see themselves as insects to be crushed underfoot.
Where they were wrong: they forgot that God had already used the very smallest things to bring down Pharaoh (the plagues on Egypt, the locusts).
"God loves doing great things with very small ingredients." 1 Corinthians 1:27: God chose the weak things to put to shame the things that are strong.
If you feel small, insignificant, incapable (just a grain of manna, a mustard seed), remember: that's exactly where God loves to work.

3. Samson's Fight: Honey in the Lion's Carcass

Samson goes down to Timnah. A young roaring lion comes to meet him. The Spirit of the LORD rushes on him, and with no weapon, he tears the lion apart (Judges 14:5-6).
He tells his parents nothing. Silence is golden: he doesn't want to worry them. He carries the scars of the fight alone.
Some time later, he passes by again. In the carcass, a swarm of bees has made honey (Judges 14:8-9). Where fury once reigned, sweetness was born.
He shares this honey with his parents. Not a word about the fight. Just the sweetness, freely given.
This is also a picture of the cross: Jesus, this defenseless Man, wins the victory over the roaring lion who prowls about (1 Peter 5:8), and from that death, life is born for you.

4. Honey on the Lips: A Word That Traps or a Word That Blesses

Proverbs 5:3: "The lips of an adulteress drip honey... but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood." Samson will learn this the hard way with Delilah: betrayal, blinded eyes, grinding at the mill in prison.
Song of Songs 4:11: "Your lips, my bride, drip like the honeycomb." The church is that bride, called to carry in her mouth a word of comfort, truth, and love.
Proverbs 24:13-14: wisdom is like honey, good for the soul, opening up a future and a hope that will not be cut off.
What word is coming out of your mouth this week? Is it honey that blesses, or wormwood disguised as sweetness?

5. Feed on the Honey of the Word

Ezekiel 3:3: God hands his prophet a scroll and tells him to eat it. He opens his mouth, and the scroll is as sweet as honey. Feed yourself first, before you feed others.
Luke 24:42: the risen Jesus eats broiled fish and a honeycomb in front of his disciples. After the battle of the cross, he shares a meal of sweetness, a sign that he is truly alive.
1 Samuel 14:27: Jonathan dips the end of his staff into a honeycomb, tastes it, and his eyes brighten. The Word restores your discernment when you're worn out.
Psalm 19:11: the judgments of the LORD are sweeter than honey. When you feel accused, take refuge in his justice.
Jeremiah 41:8: ten men escape the massacre because they had hidden provisions, including honey. The believer is a pilgrim who keeps a reserve of faith, prayer, and knowledge.

Key Takeaways

God hates your bondage and wants to lead you into a land flowing with sweetness, even in the middle of your desert.
When you feel small like a grasshopper, remember: God uses what is despised to do immense things.
After the fight against the lion, there's honey waiting for you. Blessing is often born right where you least expected it.
Your mouth is made to drip honey: a word of truth, comfort, and love, given without needing to explain itself.
Feed on the Word every morning. It's your ration of honey for discernment, justice, and the pilgrim's survival.

Personal Application

What "modern bondage" is weighing on you right now, and where have you already tasted a foretaste of God's sweetness in the middle of that desert?
Where do you feel "like a grasshopper," too small, too weak, too insignificant? How could this very reality become the place where God works?
What was your last "fight against the lion"? Go back to it: could there be hidden honey to gather, a blessing to share without even telling the story of the fight?
Listen to your own mouth this week: is it dripping honey or wormwood? What exact word will you change?
What is your reserve of honey (faith, prayer, biblical knowledge) that you're building up today to hold you steady tomorrow?

Scriptures Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the Bible talk about honey so much?

Honey runs through the whole Bible as a sign of God's favor: the promised land flows with milk and honey (Exodus 3:17), the manna tasted like honey wafers (Exodus 16:31), the Word is sweeter than honey (Psalm 19), and Jesus himself eats honey after his resurrection (Luke 24:42). Honey speaks of sweetness, provision, and God's presence in the middle of the journey.

What does the image of honey in the lion's carcass mean for Samson?

Samson fights a young lion with his bare hands, seized by the Spirit of the LORD (Judges 14). When he passes by again, he finds a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass. Where the lion's fury once threatened his life, God brings sweetness. After your battle, there's honey waiting for you: a blessing to receive and then to share.

How do you concretely feed on the honey of the Word?

Like Ezekiel, who eats the scroll and finds it as sweet as honey (Ezekiel 3:3), you open the Bible to receive it before you pass it on. The Word feeds your understanding, restores your discernment (as honey brightened Jonathan's eyes in 1 Samuel 14:27), and vindicates you in the face of accusation. A regular reading, a short meditation, a prayer: that's already a honeycomb.

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