We are in Numbers chapter six with our word for today. חֹ֫מֶץ vinegar. It is used 6 times in the Old Testament. Our word is used in the sense of vinegar, sour-tasting liquid produced from wine or other sources used as a flavorer or preservative. Because our word was used to identify something that was common and used every day we find it in wisdom literature to illustrate wisdom. Proverbs 10:26 כַּחֹ֤מֶץ Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him. Proverbs 25:20 Whoever sings songs to a heavy heart is like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, and like חֹ֣מֶץ vinegar on soda. We also see our word used in the context of a meal. Ruth 2:14 And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel בַּחֹ֑מֶץ in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over. This is how our word is used in our chapter. Numbers 6:1-3 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the Lord, he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no חֹ֥מֶץ vinegar made from wine וְחֹ֥מֶץ [our word is repeated but not translated in English so it is literally vinegar made from wife and vinegar made from strong drink] or strong drink and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried. I’ll close with our last use from Psalms that the Holy Spirit connects with Jesus fulfilling while dying on the cross for our sins. This is a messianic prophecy predicted around a thousand years beforehand. Psalm 69:20-21 Reproaches have broken my heart, so that I am in despair. I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me חֹֽמֶץ sour wine to drink. Matthew 27:48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. Luke 23:35-36 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”
