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Specific Bible Studies - Bible Foods - Figs
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SUBJECT: Bible Foods - Figs
FIGS
Beginning in the Garden of Eden, the fig, with its astonishing health-giving and healing powers, is mentioned more than 50 times in the Bible. In fact it is the first fruit specifically named in Genesis (3:7) the leaves of fig tree used for covering nakedness.
The fig held great importance as one of the 'seven species" with which the Holy Land was blessed. In biblical terms, the fig is a symbol of peace, prosperity and great joy. (1 kings 4:25). Figs, either fresh or dried, have been prized since ancient times for their sweetness and nutritional value. Greek and roman athletes ate figs to increase their stamina and improve their performance. There was the time, the Bible tells us, when Hezekiah, the king Judah (727-699 B.C.), was "... sick even to death...."He was visited by the prophet Isaiah who"... ordered that they should take a lump of figs and lay it as a plaster upon the wound, and that he should be healed." (Isaiah 38:1-2)In some versions," wound is translated as boil," which some Bible scholars believe actually meant a form of cancer. According to the story, the fig treatment was so effective that Hezekiah lived ad ruled for another 15 years (this and being the will of God). Much of the fig's medicinal value is due to its high levels of fiber, magnesium, potassium, vitamin C and other nutrients.
One study found that the fruit fiber in figs is linked to reduced systolic blood pressure (Upper number, representing pressure during heart's contractions). All fiber is associated with reduced diastolic blood pressure. Figs also contain vitamin B6, which has been shown to help women to cope with the stress and tension. The fig substance, the investigators added,"...proved more markedly effective on human malignant tumors than on experimental tumors in mice.
- Figs used as food:-1 Samuel 30:12.
- Figs sent as present: 1 Samuel 25;12.
- Figs used for healing:-Isaiah 38:21.
- Figs are figurative of :- prosperity and peace:1 Kings 4;25.
- Righteousness and the wickedness: Jeremiah 24:1-10.
- Barren religion :Matthew 21;19
- Final judgment; -Rev 6:113.
Even today in the Middle East, a component of dried fruits is a popular dessert!......
At one Abigail hastened and took...two hundred cakes of pressed figs...(1 Samuel 25:18).
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