What Would Jesus Eat? by Don Colbert

Author:Don Colbert
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: eBook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2010-02-25T21:00:00+00:00

Do not fear . . . make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. For thus says the LORD God of Israel: “The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth.” (1 Kings 17:13–14)

The woman did as Elijah requested, and we read later in this chapter that her barrel of meal did not run out for nearly three years, and neither did the jar of oil.

For the vast majority of history, olives have been abundant in the land of Israel. In 1 Kings 5:11 we read that King Solomon gave Hiram, the king of Tyre, an annual gift in exchange for the cedars of Lebanon that were shipped from Tyre for the building of the temple. This gift from Solomon included “twenty thousand measures of wheat as food for his household, and twenty measures of pressed oil.” Twenty measures of pressed oil were more than one hundred thousand gallons of olive oil!

The Pressing of Olives

The olive tree was first cultivated in the Mediterranean countries more than six thousand years ago. Many believe it was first cultivated in Greece. Today, Spain and Italy produce more than 50 percent of the world’s olives and olive oil. California is the leading state in olive production in the United States.

During the days of Jesus, olives were eaten both raw and cooked, but most olives were pressed into oil.

On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. This garden was located on the lower hillside of the Mount of Olives—aptly named for its olive groves. Olive trees were grown there so the oil might be harvested and taken directly across the deep valley to the temple. These trees produced the oil that burned in the large lamp stands of the temple, as well as the oil used for bread and meal sacrifices and for the making of the showbread. The groves were within a Sabbath day’s journey of the temple, which allowed the oil to be carried from olive presses to the temple even on a Sabbath should the temple run short.

The word Gethsemane is derived from the word in Hebrew that literally means “oil press.” The Garden of Gethsemane was, therefore, the garden with the olive press.

Olive oil was extracted from olives using large wooden presses. In Old Testament times, some olive oil was extracted by the treading of olives by feet. In Micah 6:15 we read: “You shall tread the olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil.” Some olive oil was also extracted by pressing the fruit with a round millstone.

Not only was olive oil used for cooking, but it was also used as an ointment for making medicines, as part of cosmetics, and as a component of soap. Even today, castile soap is made of pure olive oil.

Not only were the temple lamps filled with olive oil, but also the lamps of the people’s homes.

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