Whatever is set aside from the holy offerings the Israelites present
to the LORD
I give to you and your sons and daughters as your regular share.
It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the LORD for
both you and your offspring.
Numbers 18:19
Don't you know that the LORD, the God of Israel, has given the
kingship of Israel to David and
his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?
2 Chronicles 13:5
The covenant of salt is an everlasting covenant (Numbers 18:19). In
biblical times, most men would carry a pouch of salt on their belts.
When two men desired to make a covenant of loyalty, each would take
some salt from his pouch and sprinkle it into the other man's pouch.
Then they stated the terms of their agreement and shook their salt
pouches, mingling the grains of salt. Because it was no longer
possible to go into the other man's pouch and retrieve the original
salt grains, this covenant was therefore an permanent contract that
could not be broken. If this covenant were a treaty between two
tribes or people groups, its violation would be a serious and
grievous offence. One of the punishments was to sow or plow salt
into one's land so that its future productivity would be impaired
(Judges 9:45).
Salt was an important mineral in the ancient world. Its chemical
composition is sodium chloride, a white crystalline substance. It is
a necessity of life. Mankind is well aware of the importance of salt
to their health. It is used for seasoning foods as well as to purify
and preserve certain foods and commodities. Salt is not only
inorganic, it is also non-degradable. Thus, a covenant of salt
implies faithfulness, dependability and durability. Nomads of the
Middle East still eat bread and salt together as the sign and seal
of a covenant of trust and brotherhood.
The Promised Land is rich in salt. High concentrations of salt exist
in the Dead Sea, a body of water that is more than nine times
saltier than the ocean. The ancient cities of Sodom and Gommorah may
have been located near the south end of the Dead Sea. It was here
that Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26). An
ancient method of extracting salt from seawater was to collect salt
water in holes dug in the sand. As the water in these salt pits
evaporated, salt was left behind (Zephaniah 2:9). Salt pans were
later used for this purpose.
According to the priestly laws, all sacrifices are to be salted:
Every grain offering you bring to the LORD must be
made without yeast, for you are not to burn any yeast or
honey in an offering made to the LORD by fire. You may bring
them to the LORD as an offering of the firstfruits, but they are
not to be offered on the altar as a pleasing aroma. Season all
your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt
of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings;
add salt to all your offerings. (Leviticus 2:11-13)
You are to offer them before the LORD, and the
priests are to sprinkle salt on them and sacrifice them
as a burnt offering to the LORD. (Ezekiel 43:24)
It is easy to understand this law in the context of meat sacrifices.
Besides being an excellent preservative, salt is great in removing
whatever blood still remaining after slaughtering the animals. But
with regards to the grain offerings, the requirement to use salt is
quite interesting. Salt is used on the altar of God whereas yeast,
leaven and other fermentatives are forbidden. Salt is pure and
undefiled. It is a symbol of permanence, in contrast to leaven which
produces change and degeneration. Here again, we see that the
covenant of salt is an unbreakable covenant.
Our Lord Jesus described His disciples as the salt of the earth in
Matthew 5:13:
You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt
loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for
nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
How can we become the salt of the earth? How can we preserve life
and season the lives of others? We can find the answers in the
following verses:
Let your conversation be always full of grace,
seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer
everyone. (Colossians 4:6)
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my
heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my
Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
Therefore by Him let us continually offer the
sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips,
giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to
share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
(Hebrews 13:15-16)
Out of the mouth of babes
and nursing infants You have perfected
praise...(Matthew 21:16)
As for your nativity, on the day you were born
your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water to
cleanse you; you were not rubbed with salt nor wrapped in
swaddling cloths. (Ezekiel 16:4)
The Israelites rubbed their newborn babies with salt so that they
would be free from diseases and other infections. Salt promoted good
health to the newly born babes. We can learn a great lesson here. We
need to perfect our praise and worship to the Lord. Babes and
infants are pure and innocent in offering to Him the fruit of their
lips, giving thanks to Him! They are healthy and unstained with sins
and lusts. Their conversations are harmless, full of grace and love.
As salt is required in our offerings to the Lord, we need to season
them with salt. What is salt in our present Christian context? Salt
is pure and undefiled. We need to be true, holy, righteous and just
before the Lord. We do not degrade ourselves by degenerating our
minds and souls to our fallen nature. We need to, by the mercies of
God, present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to
God, which is our reasonable service. And we do not be conformed to
this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that
we may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of
God (Romans 12:1-2).