The writers of the epistles also use salt as a kind of imagery to represent internal characteristics.Ĭolossians 4:5-6 - “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. If someone who follows Jesus is not living a life that reflects their relationship with God, can they be used for Him? For believers, it also presents a challenge. They had stopped living for Him in the way God called them to, as if salt had stopped flavoring or preserving food. First, as it relates to the Israelites, they were called to a covenant with God to be His nation that represents Him to the world so that all may come to know Him. He discusses those who are blessed, and then states, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet” ( Matthew 5:13). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus uses this comparison right after the Beatitudes. Saltiness is used to describe an aspect of a person’s passion, righteousness, and love for the Lord and people. Jesus begins using salt in His ministry when He speaks about His followers. The use of salt as a point of symbolic comparison continues into the New Testament, though it changes. Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Atstock Productions
God is the salt in this symbol, making a promise last longer by His ability to uphold it forever through His eternal nature, His righteousness, and His holiness. The covenant between God and David, that his descendants would sit on the throne of Israel forever, is also described as a covenant of salt ( 2 Chronicles 13:4-6). It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and for your offspring with you” ( Numbers 18:19). “All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the Lord I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. For example, the promise between God and Aaron’s priestly descendants is that they will always be able to live off the Temple. God has the meat of sacrifices sprinkled with salt, which represents God’s ability to preserve a covenant. While an overabundance of salt can quelch life, an appropriate amount of it can preserve something, making it last longer.
These meaning changes when God begins directly making covenants with the Nation of Israel. In the Book of Judges, the Hebrews salt the land of their enemies, so that nothing could grow in their fields again. In these contexts, salt is a thing which cuts off life, or cuts someone off from God’s blessings.
This practice of salting the earth is the other common negative use of salt in the Old Testament. Just like someone would salt a field in order to prevent bad things from growing, God metaphorically salted the earth of Sodom and Gomorrah, since it yielded only evil – or bad – fruit. She died and was cut off from the earth, along with the wicked land that she loved more than her own life and the God who was offering them a chance at life. While they fled, Lot’s wife looked back, and she was turned into a pillar of salt. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away” ( Genesis 19:17b). Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. The angels who warned Lot when it was time to flee said, “Escape for your life. He spared Lot and anyone in his family as an act of love toward Abraham, since they were cousins. When God decided to destroy those two wicked cities, He searched for righteous men and found none. Some theologians believe the Dead Sea is located in the general location of Sodom and Gomorrah, though this idea is debated. There are no wildlife or plants in the Dead Sea, and there are no population centers or significant animal life in the area. The water is also undrinkable, and nothing lives in it. This body of water has such a high salt content that when people go swimming there, they float. The most common instance of salt in the Old Testament is in reference to the Salt Sea, also commonly known as the Dead Sea. While it is not overly symbolic, the times where it does come up have to do with the end of life, or being cut off. There are two ways salt commonly features in the Old Testament.
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