What’s in a name?

When I first decided that God was real and that he was the God of the Bible, I decided I was going to read the Bible - cover to cover.  The Bible I had didn’t have any notes and I had no idea what it was all about.  I remember getting to what I call the begats and just throwing up my hands, not knowing what I was supposed to learn from that.   I can remember giving up on that part in frustration. 

Fast forward a few years and  when I saw “ 2Ti 3:16   All scriptures is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:  that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. “ I remembered wondering about the begats & what on earth was I supposed to get out of that…

Fast forward  a few years and I got interested in the Hebrew language and how interesting it was that each of the letters didn’t just have a sound, but also had meanings and ideas behind them.  I picked up a book that went through letter by letter.  And it turns out the letter “hei‘ or “hey“ in the paleo Hebrew looked like a window and meant to reveal.  Its sound is “heh” like a breath of air, and it also can mean spirit and the creative force.  When God breathed into Adam, he gave him the “hey“. So God called changed Abram to Abraham.  Sari he changed to Sarah.  Both of these names have the “hey” added to them.  He changed their names adding the breath of God, or revealed himself to them by giving them the covenant and it changed their lives.  How cool is that? 
 
I read somewhere that if you are stumped by Gods word, you should write it all down and pray about it and God will bring an answer, and when you get that answer write it down too, and it will be a record of your walk and of God’s faithfulness. 

So back to the begats.  Adam begat Seth, Seth begat Enosh…  If you take the first ten generations and look up the Hebrew roots of those names, you find an amazing thing… Take a look. 
 
Here are the names in order:  Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalal’el, Jared, Enoch, Methusaleh, Lamech, Noah.  Here are the meanings:  Man, appointed, mortal, sorrow, the Blessed God, shall come down, teaching, his death shall bring , despairing, rest.    God is amazing!  So there you have a golden nugget tucked into the begats. 

I wish I could take credit for finding that, but I found it in a book called “Through the Bible in 24 hours” by Chuck Missler.  The skeptic in me did run to esword and check out all the Hebrew roots with a Strongs concordance though.      

So I am trying to design my new jewelry line to incorporate some of these amazing golden nuggets I have found over the years, and this is the “What’s in a name?” bracelet because “Begats” just didn’t sound to good…  Each of the tags has the name and root meaning stamped into it.  I loved adding the polymer gears to symbolize the inner workings of God’s plan from the beginning.    

 

I found these  lampwork beads at the Philly bead show last April and fell in love.  They are from Grace Lampwork Beads - a designer from California.  I bought a bunch of her sets and it made the standstill traffic on the way home much more enjoyable as I mused over what to make with all my pretties! 

 

I went to the Bead Fest Wire show near Philadelphia with a friend and saw some fun beads in Fall colors.  I tried to pass by them because it was barely Spring here, but the pull was too great.  I also picked up a fun circle cutter and used them both to make this fun bracelet.  It is a "Fruit of the Spirit" bracelet.  The fruits from Gal 5:22 are stamped on the various tags.  This was a real labor of love because my Bible study group has been working through a Beth Moore study on this verse all year.  It is really cool to combine the two passions.