You might have heard the famous text from the Torah, “Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.” Deuteronomy 6:34.
Many people may consider this passage to be just symbolic of blessings in general however the Israeli Holstein Friesien Herdbook cattle, which account for 90% of Dairy producing cows in Israel, are the considered one of the best milk producing breeds on earth (“The Dairy Industry in Israel”, n.d). Most herds are milked three times each day. The standard Israeli cow typically produces around 1100 kilograms of milk solids each a year, while a cow in New Zealand, which is also known for dairy, produces about 373 kilograms. (Hutching, Gerard 2017)
The Israeli-Holstein cow was developed from a series of breeding. First the Damascus cow was bred with a Dutch bull. The resulting offspring was bred again with another Dutch bull and then their offspring were selectively bred again with Israeli-Dutch bulls and their offspring were then bred with the Holstein-Friesian bulls to create the Israeli-Holstein cow. (“Breeds of Livestock - Israeli Holstein Cattle”,1998) The prefect cow isn’t all that is required for great milk production- the environment has to be right. For best results, the Israeli Dairy Board encourages providing the cattle with well-designed buildings with cooling systems to reduce distress that can be caused from the summer heat to increase milk production and a well-balanced diet (“The Dairy Industry in Israel”, n.d).
So, what can we learn from this? Well, for one thing when God promises a blessing, that doesn’t mean no human participation will be involved. God said to Abraham, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: you will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.” Genesis 17:4-6 “Then God said, ‘Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.’” Genesis 17:19
Although God said “I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,” Genesis 22:17, God did not just drop their descendants out of the sky. God used Sarah and Abraham to fulfill His own promise to them and this was still a miracle. Just because blessings are a gift, that doesn’t mean we should see receiving those as a purely passive thing. We need to accept the blessing and have faith that God can provide us with the wisdom or materials needed to accomplish what needs to be done even, if it seems impossible to us.
References:
Author Unknown 1998 “Breeds of Livestock - Israeli Holstein Cattle” Breeds of Livestock - Oklahoma received from State University http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle/israeliholstein
Author Unknown n.d “The Dairy Industry in Israel” Israeli Dairy Broad received from
http://www.israeldairy.com/cgi-webaxy/item?info_dairy-farming_dairy-industry.htm
Hutching, Gerard 2017 “Israeli cows lead the world in milk production” received from https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/93842719/israeli-cows-lead-the-world-in-milk-production
Picture originally found here
