White Fox: Blessed are the Cheesemakers

One of our members works at a cheese counter and often provides us with a rich variety of cheeses to enjoy after the service. One in particular I find delicious, and there is a danger I am growing addicted to the stuff: White Fox. The packaging describes it as an ‘aged white Leicester, rich, nutty and intensely creamy with a nutty crunch’. Made at Belton Farm, in Shropshire, this has to be one of the best cheeses. I decided to look-up cheese in my concordance.

In 1 Samuel 17, David takes loaves and grain to his brothers at the front line, and ‘ten cheeses’ to their officers. Evidently, cheese was presumably considered too good to give to the sons; a luxury like that would go down nicely with the sons’ superiors. Cheese is only for the best, especially in so hot and parched a climate.

In 2 Samuel 17:28, we read of David and his people’s need for refreshment. We’re told that the following foodstuffs were brought: ‘wheat, barley and flour, parched grain and beans, lentils and parched seeds, honey and curds, sheep and cheese of the herd’. I have no doubt that when Shobi, Rabbah, Machir and Barzillai brought such items, especially the cheeses, the people hungered no more. Cheese is wonderfully filling.

Job goes a step further. He likens cheese production to God’s creation of man:

Did You not pour me out like milk,

And curdle me like cheese,

Clothe me with skin and flesh,

And knit me together with bones and sinews?

You have granted me life and favour,

And Your care has preserved my spirit (Chapter 10:10ff)

As a cheese lover and a God-lover, I am not surprised that cheese receives so positive a press in the Bible. I don’t know if the marriage supper of the Lamb will be a literal meal. If it is, I secretly hope that cheese will be served. 

Image by scrmbldsymbols from Pixabay