Wait! Please read the story before calling for the tar and feathers! It is indeed interesting to note the aurora of meanings surrounding words whose basic definition is unknown to us. A typical example are the words “beer” and “Beersheba.” “Beersheba” has a sort of romantic ring to it, and one may imagine some great and noble thing is alluded to by the compound word.
However, the word “beer” is actually a Hebrew word, hijacked by breweries, and inserted into the English language bodily (transliteration). The Hebrew Word actually translates as “well”
as in a well of water, and places make or fermented brew may be referenced as “watering holes.” Of course, such perverted usage of terms is clearly understood in that context as having nothing to do with plain and simple water.
The word “Sheba” is the Hebrew word for the cardinal number “seven.” So, one may wonder just how the cardinal number seven came to be joined to the word for “well” to create
“Beersheba” (well of seven). Here is an interesting story. There was controversy over the ownership of a well of water that Abraham laid claim to as having actually dug. In a covenant of peace with the inhabitants of that country Abraham gave their prince seven ewe lambs as the token of a covenant made between them that the well belonged to Abraham. Hence it is the well that was redeemed by a “gift of seven” lambs. Out of that context, Abraham called the place
“Beersheba” (Wel of Seven).
Now read the story in Genesis 21, and you will never forget the history of Beersheba.
That place still exists to this day. It is controlled by descendants of Ishmael, and is a town called Hebron. Here is Beersheba, and also the cave of Machpelah which was the burying place of Sarah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.,
Far from being boring, aloof, and uninteresting, the Bible abounds with mountains of fascinating information to bless the lives of all who invest a little time and energy into it. The Old Testament truly is a treasure house of “Hebrew Honey.”
FOR THOUGHT: Do you have a few nuggets of understanding from the Bible that bring you joy, and delight as you share them with others? The Bible is a repository of such, just awaiting discovery by the believer. Try it! You will like it!
DRIVING THE TICK-TOCK
“The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.” Psalm 81:15.
Perhaps it was a small, wind-up alarm clock placed on a nightstand near the bed, or a larger wall mounted clock that struck the hour. It may have been the cherished grandfather clock whose ticking and tocking dominated the quietness until the hour chimes sounded, the purpose in them all was to accurately measure time, and faithfully transmit that measure to people preoccupied with other things.
Their sound was a constant reminder of the steadfast, unalterable passage of time. Each tiny measure seemed to tick “Now-gone, Now-gone.”
My generation is the last to have experienced the familiar trick-tock from infancy to adulthood. The sound was often motivational. At other times it conveyed comfort, and security as it overrode the anxiety of insomnia with the assurance that all is well and proceeding as normal. Even a puppy being weaned from its mother would cease its night time whimpering and sleep soundly if a ticking clock were wrapped and placed in its bed to mimick the heartbeat of another so close.
In the throes of nostalgia, it truly seems something dear was lost when the old, faithful instruments of tick-tock gave way to the silent digital instruments that simply produced a readout of the more precise time of day. Thus the colloquialism of “what makes you tick” alludes to the old tick-tock of mechanical time clocks. Like the ticking and tocking of the clocks, there is a ticking and tocking of life. It reveals purpose. Clocks had a simple, but specific purpose to which they were limited and largely faithful, but with people the ticking and tocking is widely varied, giving rise to the curious inquiry: “What makes you tick?”
Aside from the commonality of providing for home, offspring, and dedication to the tasks necessary to life commensurate with one’s generation, “What real y makes you tick?” Is it the acquisition of power, wealth, popularity or other mundane things destined to pass away? Such pursuits are attached to losers whose “Mainspring” of life has been reprogrammed by the forces of evil away from the pursuit and enjoyment of truth that comes from the Creator.
In other terms, unlike people, it is always the potter, not the vessel who decides which lump of clay will be preserved as useful. Therefore, the vessels of humanity need to know this about their Creator: it is the very glory of God to conceal a thing, but the honor of kings is to search it out. Prov. 25:2. It follows then that all those who would be a preserved vessel of truth must return to the original programming of the Creator through the only channel He prepared for them: repentance from sin and faith in Christ Jesus. That is the foundational programming that allows the pursuit, or the “tick-tock,” of life to fulfil creation’s purpose.
After all, when life is soon over, all one may take into the next dimension is what he has become on earth: that is what he truly believes, and one can not believe what he does not know. What then are you pursuing? What is it that is driving the “tick-tock” of your life?
FOR THOUGHT? Has this article succeeded in drawing attention to a vision of life seldom considered? How will you answer the last question of the article? Will you make changes in your pursuits today?