Pishon and Gihon

My musings about River Jabbok  took my thoughts to a strange point, ie. Which is the first river mentioned in the Bible. And there I was in the second chapter of the very first book of the Bible - Genesis. It is in the second chapter that the mention of a river appears. But nay, it is not just one river, but four rivers originating from a single source, may be a fountain in the Garden of Eden. The word 'eden' has a Hebrew meaning , 'pleasure'. Well that name suits the garden. It sure was a garden of pleasure, the lush green of trees and plants , fruits and vegetation and the various animals under control of the human beings all brings images of natural pleasure. It is the garden where the Creator God used to take a stroll in the cool of the evening. There were the great trees too - the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge. Wow, one is reminded of a resort environment of modern days. And there was a special arrangement for irrigation. From the fountain I mentioned earlier, there originated four great rivers, just to water the garden. Hm... a real garden it might have been, to have such rivers to water it.
And the names of the four rivers _   Hidekel (Tigris), Phrath (Euphrates) , Gihon and Pishon.I'll better quote the Bible verses.

¹⁰A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. ¹¹The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of⁽ Havilah, where there is gold. ¹²And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. ¹³The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

I searched in the map, yes Euphrates and  Tigris are there. And where exactly were this Gihon and Pishon flowing? And where is Havilla that land of gold, bdellium and onyx stones? And Cush?
Well, I'll stop here and am going to search for these rivers like the Lama who wandered with his little chela in search of the sacred river  in Kipling's 'Kim'. Well , I'll be back after a few days. Till then I''m gonna search, yeah wander in the google land and in my little library here in this little room of mine, to search and fish out a little knowledge about Mesopotamia and  the archeological city of Petra. And of course I'll study some theories concerning Pishon as Ganges and  Nile etc, and Gihon as River Araxes in Armania.Good exercise for my brain, I hope. This may keep the spirit of Alzheimer out. God bless.

The Great Wrestling at the ford of Jabbok

In Genesis chapter 32 there is a reference to a great wrestling match between Jacob and God. Jacob, the 'deceiver',steals away from his uncle Laban at night, planning to go back to his homeland in Canaan. Twenty years of struggle in Paddan-aram has made him rich, but he feels homesick too. He returns to meet Esau, his elder brother whom he had cheated . Naturally, he was afraid. Still he makes the journey homeward.But as he reaches the River Jabbok fear haunts him .During the night he moves all his possession and family across the ford of Jabbok. Then he stays alone at the bank of Jabbok. It is then that he meets a mysterious Man who wrestles with him. Surely the Man was stronger than Jacob, but He allows Jacob to fight with Him, He does not overpower Jacob. The match remains a stale mate, nobody wins. But then it is dawn, the Man has to go. So He wounds Jacob on his hip bone.But Jacob in spite of his pain holds fast to the Man and demands of Him a blessing. Jacob receives the blessing, he gets a new name - Israel. From then on, he is no more the frightened fugitive or deceiver, he is Israel, meaning  'One who Struggled with God'.Some other translations says 'Is(h)rael' means 'Corrected by God'.And he named the place Penuel (Peniel), which means "meeting God face to face".
We too need to have such Penuel experiences in our lives. May be we already have had a few such experiences.God though Omnipotent - All Powerful - sometimes allows us to struggle or wrestle with Him.And sometimes when we tend to overdo the game, He gives us a wound. But that's the time we need to hold on to Him all the more, so that we can demand of Him a blessing. Surely we will receive the blessing.
But before receiving the blessing we need to empty ourselves of all our deceptions.River Jabbok symbolizes that,; the word Jabbok comes from the root, " to empty". Let us empty all our negativity, deceptions, frailties and fears before God and be straight forward and true to ourselves and to our God.Thus, once purified at our Jabbok, God will surely bless us.We then become Israel, corrected by God, but better human beings.

Yahweh, God Sabaoth, who is like unto Thee?

Yesterday's local newspapers were abuzz with a disheartening news about  millions of red worms swarming at the bathing ghat of River Periyar down south in Kerala.I was reminded of the plagues in River Nile in the times of Exodus! But, are we not responsible for all the pollution that we see and experience around us? What on earth is happening to the earth , we wonder. But what on earth has happened to us, human beings should be the question that should precede it. We, ourselves are the ones who spoil the good earth. We need to examine our conscience. Now that the situation has gone from bad to worse, what can we do to make a U-turn? There is only one Way, let us turn to the Creator of the Universe, let us acknowledge His power over the universe , by repeating after  the Psalmist,
    God, awesome in the assembly of holy ones,
     great and dreaded among all who surround Him
      Yahweh, God Sabaoth, who is like You?
    Mighty Yahweh, Your constancy is all around You!

   You control the pride of the ocean,
   when its waves ride high , You calm them
  You split Rahab in two like a corpse,
   Scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm .

Yes, let us cry out to our God and plead for mercy. God alone can destroy Rahab, the monster of chaos , who was subdued at the time of creation. Subdue O Lord all the chaos that we see around us today. " Blessed are those who know Your praise. They walk in the light of Your Face. They celebrate all day Your name and Your protection lifts them up."
  Psalm 89.

Wisdom grows like a brook growing into a river

There is a beautiful chapter in the book of Sirach ( Ecclesiasticus) in the Bible - Chapter 24. 'The Christian Community Bible' has given a lovely title to it - " The Hymn of Wisdom", and it surely is that..., a poem, a song in praise of Wisdom.This poem can be read along with Proverbs 8 and Wisdom 7. Wisdom "came from the mouth of God and  covered the face of the earth like a mist" and her "dwelling place is in the highest Heavens" and her "throne is within the pillar of cloud". God's glory is so supernaturally and infinitely majestic that a human being cannot encompass it within his finite brain. That is why God in His great concern for man has decided to cover it within a pillar of cloud. The sage Ben Sirach in this chapter is awed at the Wisdom he has received from God.He concludes the chapter by saying, " I for my part , went forth like a brook from a river, a stream diverted into a delightful garden. I thought , " let me irrigate my orchard and water my flowers." But now my brook has grown into a river , into the sea."Then he gives thanks to God Almighty.
 Watching the gushing waters of Ganges from the hanging bridge  Laxman Jhoola  could give you such an experience. I for one was so awestruck by the inexplicable beauty of the flowing of Ganges that i wanted to sing out praises to my God. Two songs especially filled my heart as I stood there. Even as the old Hindi song " O Ganga mayyaa..." was being played through the loud speakers there , these two hymns sprang forth from my soul, resonating surrealistically, even surpassing the hindi song. "O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder..., consider all the works Thy hands have made..." and the melodious lines of Tagore.." Author of beauty God on High..It is for You that I sigh..."