In studying the scriptures, it can be beneficial to have an understanding of the cultural background of those people and situations we read about. I recently read something that added a whole new perspective to the phrase “salt of the earth.”
Matthew 5:13 reads
“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”
3 Nephi 12:13 reads
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the salt of the earth; but if the salt shall lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted? The salt shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men.”
I don’t know about you, but when I think about salt the first thing I think about is taste. Especially when the word “savor” is used. But this is NOT what those hearing these words come from the source (Jesus Christ) would have thought about.
In using the metaphor of us being “the salt of the earth”, with my understanding of taste, I would think about being a representative of the gospel to help it “taste” good to others. That by seeing the way I live, others can see that the Gospel is good. Another thought that comes to my mind about salt is its preservative properties. This metaphor could be looked at as those who are the salt of the earth conserve and preserve the Gospel, keeping it active and alive.
How would the ancient Israelites and inhabitants of ancient America have viewed this metaphor? Turns out, the primary purpose of salt to these cultures would have been its ability to impact the smell of sacrifices.
The commentary I read stated:
“When sacrifices were offered upon the altars of ancient Israel, the Israelites did not give the Lord the flesh of the animal, the fruit of the ground, or the ashes or smoke of such sacrifices. The acceptable part of the offering presented to the Lord was the smell, ‘a sweet savour unto the Lord’ (Leviticus 1:17). (Many translations have the word “aroma” in the place of “savour”). In the Bible, the word savour most often refers to the pleasant smell of burning sacrifice in the temple. To ensure that the smell would be sweet, the Mosaic law required that the offering be liberally sprinkled with salt.
“The scent of an unsalted burnt offering would be the stench of scorched flesh. But if the meat were generously salted, the odor would be quite different, ….. due to the reaction of the salt upon the cells that compose animal flesh. Under high-salt conditions, cellular fluid rapidly escapes the cells to dilute the salts outside cell membranes. ………When accentuated by heat, these fluids cause a sweet savour to emanate….
“In this context the charge to be the ‘salt of the earth’ takes on marvelous significance. The Lord said, ‘I give unto you to be the salt of the earth; but if the salt shall lose its savour wherewith shall the earth be salted?’ (3 Nephi 12:13). The Savior’s audience no doubt understood the law of Moses and the close connection between salt and acceptable sacrifice (emphasis added).
“It is clear that under the new covenant the followers of Christ, as “salt,” are responsible for extending gospel blessings to the whole earth. “When men are called unto mine everlasting covenant,” the Lord explains, “they are accounted as the salt of the earth and the savor of men” (D&C 101:39). It is our privilege and blessing to lovingly lead our brothers and sisters to Christ, helping them receive their covenant blessings. As we do so, we become the figurative salt that makes it possible for them to offer the acceptable sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. In addition, our own covenant sacrifice of time, talents, and means is pleasing to the Lord.”
The commentary concludes with this statement:
“So how do we become the salt of the earth? The Apostle Paul points out that charity is a key to this process: “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour” (Ephesians 5:1-2).
This gives the analogy of salt of the earth a whole new meaning.
Without the gospel of Jesus Christ, and those keeping the covenants of God on earth, there is no acceptable sacrifice on the earth.
I’ve written before about the One True Church and why it’s important. Our covenants are important.
Malachi 4:5-6 reads
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
Modern revelation gives us more insight into this curse.
D&C 128:18 reads
the earth will be smitten with a curse unless there is a welding link of some kind or other between the fathers and the children, upon some subject or other—and behold what is that subject? It is the baptism for the dead. For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect. Neither can they nor we be made perfect without those who have died in the gospel also; for it is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fulness of times, which dispensation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories should take place, and be revealed from the days of Adam even to the present time.
We are the salt of the earth. We are the enabling welding link, through the power and priesthood of Jesus Christ Himself, that allows the sacrifices of this world to be of any worth, of a sweet savor, to God Almighty.
What a beautiful and powerful responsibility. What a calling. Without the gospel our sacrifices are for naught. Our covenants are important.
We must be the salt of the earth to save it from the curse, to make our sacrifices acceptable to God, to link ourselves to our past generations, and to one day come before God, having fulfilled our salt-like duties. To preserve, save, and help the earth on its eternal trajectory. What a sobering an humbling thought.
As I always say, I am grateful for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am grateful for the priesthood attached to it. I am grateful that we can help in God’s glorious plan.
