For Easter-tide we’ll offer some
thoughts, history, and recipes based on my book A Sampler of Bible Beauty. As we stay in our own homes, we can find solidarity with the women of centuries ago by
creating some of the foods and beauty products they might have used. We’ll
think about ways they flourished and were faithful in their time, which
certainly didn’t have all the benefits we enjoy even in self-isolation.
Last week we looked at how milk
might have been discovered and used. Today, we consider another basic food
source: Grains. Even before ancient peoples started cultivating seed-bearing
grasses, they gathered them for use in their diet. Bread was made from any
grain that grew in the area. In my book, I use the familiar story of Ruth to
illustrate the importance of grains. By the time of Ruth, grains had been
cultivated and used for millennia.
In hunter-gatherer societies,
the women would have been the ones seeking out the best grasses and grains to
use. As ancient people became more settled, the women would have been part
of the process of growing, harvesting, and milling the grain. Of course, they
also would have been the ones who used the flour to make daily bread.
Women of the Bible were involved
in all aspects of using grains. The
barley and wheat harvest were some of the defining seasons of the year. As Ruth
learned, the barley harvest came first, about the time of spring equinox. The
wheat ripened later.
Barley and wheat were important
food crops in other nations. During the seventh plague on Egypt, Moses stretched out his staff towards
heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire came down on the earth… (Now
the flax and the barley were ruined, for the barley was in the ear and
the flax was in bud. But the wheat and the spelt were not ruined, for
they are late in coming up.) (Exodus 9: 24-32)
Because grains were so
important, Moses tells the Israelites “the
Lord your God is bringing you into a good land… a land of wheat and barley…where
you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing…”
(Deuteronomy 8:7-9).
Grain is important in the religious life of Bible men and women. Grain was part of the ‘wave offering’ commanded in Exodus 29, and in Leviticus. A sheaf of barley was presented to the priest who swung it up and down as an offering to God. This sheaf was then used by the priests for their own meals.
After the Babylonian Exile, King
Cyrus of Babylon allows the Jewish people to return to Jerusalem. A few years
later research by King Darius unearths the original decree of Cyrus. (Ezra
6:1-5) designating offerings to God from the people around Jerusalem. He then
writes to Tattenai, governor of the
Province Beyond the River…Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, or sheep for
burnt-offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil…let that
be given to them day by day without fail... (Ezra 6:9-10).
In the New Testament grain is important. We see Jesus and his disciples picking grain on the Sabbath because they were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat… (Matthew 12:1-4). There is also the image of the end of the age when two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left (Mathew 24:41)
The grains in our groceries, whether flour or whole grains like rice and oats, are likely grown on large farms. This is now done by machinery, but until less than a century ago this wasn’t true. Families, or communities worked together. Large landowners used, and too often abused, workers whether they were serfs, slaves, or freedmen. We often think of cotton and tobacco plantations as locations where the enslaved people worked. There were also rice plantations which sought out men and women from specific areas in Africa because they knew how to grow rice.
Many women around the world are still closely involved in the planting, harvesting, processing, and cooking grains. Despite this, there are areas of the world, like India and Africa, that do not have enough food for the people. Droughts, floods, insects, and lack of land all contribute to this problem. Poverty and lack of education are also contributing factors. You may want to research organizations that help address the underlying poverty or lack of education. With Earth Day just past, you may want to consider the effect large scale farming has on the environment.
We are most familiar with grains being used for cooking, but they can also be used in beauty products, as we saw last week and below. Try one of these recipes. You might even get some whole grain and grind it yourself. Remember that while you use a blender, many women are still grinding their wheat, oats, rice, or other grain in a mortar or even on a stone.
2 ¼ cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup water or milk
Combine flour, oil, and water or milk until a stiff dough forms. Use your hands if it is too stiff to use a spoon. Knead until smooth. Cover with a towel and let rest for 20-30 minutes. Divide dough into 10 pieces. Roll or pat each piece into a round (as thin as possible) on flour dusted board. Heat a dry cast iron or non-stick griddle over medium-high heat. Toast one side until lightly browned, flip and cook other side until lightly browned.
Haggith’s Honey and Oat Mask (for all skin types)
¾ cup oatmeal, cooked and cooled
1/3 cup honey
Combine ingredients into a sticky paste. Spread evenly and thickly on damp skin, avoiding eye area. Leave on for 20-25 minutes. Rinse with warm water, and pat dry. Use immediately after mixing, discard unused portion.
More recipes and stories of
women of the Bible are found in A Sampler of Bible Beauty by CynthiaDavis.
