A Pinch of Salt

Near the ancient ruins of Old Jericho, a spring burbles out of the ground, just as it did long before the famous city walls came tumblin down. It’s called Ain-es Sultan or Elisha’s Fountain. The story associated with this spring is told in 2 Kings 2.

The men of Jericho said to Elisha, "Look, our lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive." "Bring me a new bowl," he said, "and put salt in it." So they brought it to him. Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, "This is what the LORD says: 'I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.'" And the water has remained wholesome to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken 2 Kings 2:19-22.

Dew in the Diaspora

It was misty when my wife and I went for our early morning run, but before we had even left our yard we were arrested by an extraordinary beauty. During the night spiders had woven nets from every bush and railing they could find – and captured the dew in necklaces that sparkled like diamonds in the early morning sun.

For half an hour photography trumped exercise, but when I got running I got thinking about what the prophet Micah wrote about the dew in Micah Ch. 5.

Micah lived in a harsh dog-eat-dog world where wealthy land-owners were devouring their poor neighbors. He saw beyond the injustices and the grim exile that it would bring about. He foresaw a ruler who will come forth from the same obscure village where king David was born (Micah 5:2). He will shepherd Israel like a flock, protecting them from both aggressors and from their own aggressiveness. They will be a ‘remnant’, ‘a purged and select company’ (v.7 MSG) who ‘will live among the nations like dew from the LORD, like showers on the grass.’ (Micah 5:7)

The Paradox of Rivers

"All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full!"  Ecclesiastes 1:7

Isn’t that an amazing thought? We could stand in awe at the mouth of Amazon, the Yangtze, the Danube and Brahmaputra, the Mississippi, Thames and Congo, the Mekong, Volga and Rhine, the Columbia and a thousand other rivers, large and small, pouring themselves day and night into the sea, and marvel at the paradox of the sea never getting filled to capacity.

It’s fascinating how this world seems to be a perpetual motion machine.

With Palestine at the UN

The halls of the United Nations today are buzzing as the Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas asks the world to recognize his people as a nation. Some are excited by the prospect and others are incensed at the audacity of what they consider a publicity stunt.

I don’t know if this request is an effective diplomatic move, but my sympathies are certainly with a people who have been denied a homeland for far too long.

Both the Old and New Testaments echo an ancient wisdom that says
“If your enemies are hungry, feed them.
If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.
Proverbs 25:21 and Romans 12:20

And make no mistake, the Palestinian people are thirsty.

Presence

I think one of the most memorable lines in all of Isaiah’s inspiring 8th century prophecy is this –

When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,

they will not sweep over you.
Isaiah 43:2.

These words occur in the part of Isaiah that describes Israel’s release from exile and return to their homeland, but they also convey God’s promise to sustain Israel through the ordeal of exile, which was truly a deep water trauma. It was an upheaval so jarring and disorienting, many Jews doubtless lost what little faith they had. It seemed obvious that God had abandoned them and broken covenant with them.

Laver - God's Peace

When King Solomon replaced the Israel’s primitive tabernacle with a magnificent temple, he had a huge water-reservoir built to serve as the laver for the purification for the priests (1 Kings 7:23 and 2 Chronicles 4:2-6) It was so large – 15 feet across, 45 feet circumference and holding 16,500 gallons – that it was called a “sea”. This grandiose symbolic ocean illustrated the expansive dimensions of God’s grace and forgiveness.

But it also conveyed another level of meaning. Since the sea for Israel represented the chaotic forces of evil opposed to God, this artifact probably also symbolized “the forces of chaos that have been subdued and brought to order by the Lord who is creator of the world”(1) It affirmed that Yahweh was supreme over the Canaanite deities Yamm and Baal, gods of sea and storm.

Laver - God's Purity

If the first function of water is for human survival – for drinking and irrigating crops, the second function of water is for washing. Washing faces, hands and clothes is both hygienic and pleasing to the senses. It also symbolizes inner cleansing, purifying of the spirit.

Every culture and religion has its rituals of ablution – ceremonial cleansing. Hindus bathe in the Ganges, Cherokee in the Southern US have a ‘going to water’ ceremony; other indigenous people believe the body’s own sweat purifies them, The Qur’an tells the faithful to wash before prayers and if water isn’t available, they can ‘wash’ their hands in sand or earth. (Surah 5:6) The Jews also had a complex system of washings, and the rabbis of the Second Temple period around the time of Christ had mastered the art of complex washings.

River Director

In many parts of the world, small farmers irrigate their fields or rice paddies by means of small channels which divert water from a reservoir or stream, a pond or well. The farmer opens or shuts sluice gates to direct water where he or she wants it to go. In larger operations, a variety of irrigation systems are used to ensure that the crops that need water, get it when they need it. Farmers meddle with nature to boost the productivity of their fields. A Hebrew proverb draws a parallel between this agricultural practice and the influence of God on the practices of earthly rulers.

The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD;

he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.

Proverbs 21:1

Drip, Drip, Drip

That’s not the sound of early morning coffee, it’s the slow eroding of a marriage.

There’s lots of ways to wreck a marriage - infidelity, booze, sloth and indifference are a few of the standard poisons, but the Book of Proverbs has a choice little evocative analogy for another form of domestic vice guaranteed to breed discontent - 'a quarrelsome spouse is like a constant dripping on a rainy day' Proverbs 27:15.

Three Things that Amaze – No, Make that Four!

Near the end of a book written to teach us wisdom, comes a portrait of four things that can leave you in awe. Proverbs 30:18-19 says,

There are three things that amaze me—

no, four things that I don’t understand:

how an eagle glides through the sky,

how a snake slithers on a rock,

how a ship navigates the ocean,

how a man loves a woman.

Well-spring of Life

The Book of Proverbs is more than just a collection of witty observations about life. It is a passionate plea to adopt the best path – and that begins at the source. “Above all else,” the teacher says, “guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:23. The heart is a deep aquifer from which everything flows, my motives, my speech, my actions, passions and decisions. As these ‘waters’ flow out of my heart they have the potential to aggravate or enrich the people around me.

For a fully embodied wisdom, the teacher urges us in this text to guard my ears, eyes, lips and feet, all of which express externally what the heart devises.

Words of the Wise

Springs and fountains are wonderful gifts of nature that give access to the underground aquatic treasure of the earth. They can serve as apt metaphors of what  flows out of the human heart.

For example, Proverbs 10:11 says, ‘the words of the godly are a life-giving fountain, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence' . 

Our world is awash in words - tweets, blogs, books, whispers, broadcasts, advertizing, sermons, lectures. 

Sea of Glass and Fire

The Book of Revelation overflows with strange scenes. In Chapter 15 verse 2, the narrator John sees a crowd of people standing on the shore of the sea that looks like ‘glass mixed with fire’. If we didn’t know better this might appear to us as a glorious sunset on the water.

But in Revelation, as in common Old Testament imagery, the sea is the domain of evil and everything hostile against God. The Beast who assaults God’s people rises from the sea. But this crowd stands triumphant beside the sea, not frightened in the least. The fire glistening on the water is a sign that the evil has been judged.