We start with milk, a staple of all cultures. In the book, I postulate that it might have been one of the very earliest Bible women mentioned who first used milk. The story of Adah and Lamech is found in Genesis 4:19-24. Milk isn’t specifically mentioned, but they did have livestock, which means they would have had access to milk when the sheep or goats or camels had young.
There are many places where milk and milk products are mentioned in the Bible. One notable citation is the description of Canaan as the land of milk and honey. (Exodus 3:8, 3:17, 13:15, 33:3, Deuteronomy 6:33, 11:9, Joel 3:18) This promise to the Children of Israel meant that they were entering a rich land of abundance.
Milk was used for hospitality, as told in Genesis 18:1-8. When the Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day, Abraham makes them visitors welcome. He tells Sarah to make bread, slaughters and cooks a calf, then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
Curds are the milk solids that form cheese. During the cheese making process the milk solidifies and is cut into chunks which ultimately form the cheese. The liquid, called whey, is drained away. The longer the draining and drying time, the harder the final cheese product. Abraham provided his heavenly visitors with the softest and sweetest ‘first cheese’ by giving them curds.
Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite uses milk to welcome and soothe Sisera when he flees from Deborah. She then murders him with a tent peg while he sleeps, gaining her a place in the book of Judges for her courage. (Judges
In the New Testament, Paul and Peter both use milk as an analogy for those who are new in the faith. (1 Corinthians 3:2, Hebrews 5:12-13) Believers are advised to rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good (1 Peter 2:1-3).
Ancient women, whether it was Adah or others, were probably the ones who realized how useful milk from the domesticated sheep, goats, camels, and cattle could be. It is thought that cheese was discovered accidentally when milk was stored in skin bags. The tannin in the skin curdled the milk and turned it to cheese. It was probably not long before women began experimenting with using milk products on their skin, too.
Women in many places around the world are still directly dependent on flocks and crops rather than grocery stores for their supplies. While we are limited in our access to going to the handy neighborhood market, we may take time to pray for the thousands and thousands of women who still milk their animals for their families. Consider supporting something like Heifer Project that provides livestock to women and families around the world to give them independence and access to healthy food sources.
Make one of these recipes in solidarity with women who don’t have a handy grocery store. You can make yogurt at home. You can use it for a snack, or in the face scrub recipe. You can also use store-bought plain (organic if possible) yogurt for the face scrub.
3 cups cold milk
1/3 cup nonfat dry milk powder
¼ cup commercial, unflavored, yogurt culture* (or one dry packet)
2-4 tablespoons sugar or honey (optional)
Heat milk gently to about 200oF, stir in nonfat dry milk powder. Do not boil. Cool to 112oF. Mix 1 cup of warm milk with yogurt starter culture.* Add to the rest of the milk. Pour immediately into the clean, hot 1-quart thermos, cover and incubate about 4 hours. Refrigerate immediately. Use within 10 days. Homemade yogurt will be thinner than store bought variety. Add honey, sugar, fruits, granola, or other ingredients when serving, as desired.
You can use a crockpot to make a larger amount. Here’s a recipe.
*An active (living) yogurt culture is needed as a “starter.” Yogurt starter cultures can be purchased at health food stores and online in dry or live varieties.
Zillah’s Facial Scrub
½ cup yogurt (homemade, or store-bought plain, organic)
½ cup oats
Process the oats in a blender or food processor until extremely fine. Mix with the yogurt. Use as facial scrub. Keep refrigerated for up to a week. The lactic acid in the milk provides natural skin softening benefits.
More recipes and stories of
women of the Bible are found in A Sampler of Bible Beauty by Cynthia Davis.
