On a Lighter Note ...

So lots of people have asked questions about why we are naming our first son Asher. Today I'm feeling like letting people into my world a little bit more so here goes... We knew we wanted a name with meaning, we wanted to start our boy off with a legacy. We knew we wanted a biblical name and then we came across this one and I remembered a Beth Moore study I'd read before. I wasn't able to attend this conference but I remember someone sharing it with me. So I went in search of it and found it and am including the pieces that spoke the most to us below:

Deuteronomy 33:24-25

About Asher he said:

       “Most blessed of sons is Asher;

       let him be favored by his brothers,

       and let him bathe his feet in oil.

The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze,

       and your strength will equal your days.”

There are two original words for blessed in the Old Testament. Barak which means the state of being blessed and Asher which means to go forward, be blessed, happy. 

Barak: “I am blessed” / Asher: “I feel blessed”

Barak: position, head / Asher: emotion, heart

One of the things I truly have fallen in love with is the story of Asher's name. Asher was one of Jacob's sons. If you know the story of Jacob, you know that he loved Rachel but was forced to marry Leah first. It's kind of a sad and depressing story (which you can find in Genesis 29) but long story short Leah knew she wasn't first choice. That had to stink and hurt. But here is what Beth Moore had to say about it ... 

Though asher is circumstantial, it not bound by circumstance—God can change any circumstance

Shes goes on to talk about Asher's birth and the desperation of Leah. Leah wanted so desperately to be loved that she gave Jacob her servant in hopes that she would produce produce a son for her to make her happy.  One thing I take from this is that God gives asher, true happiness comes from God alone. For those of you who know our story you know we've spent several years trying to get pregnant. I can remember many times when I prayed God if you just give me this it will make me happy. But the truth is his timing is absolutely perfect and that kind of Asher can only come from him.

So let's go back to the passage in Deuteronomy and dissect it in a way that let's be truthful, only Beth Moore can! 

Deuteronomy 33: 24-25 

About Asher he said: 

"Most blessed of sons is Asher; 

let him be favored by his brothers, 

and let him bathe his feet in oil. 

The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze, 

and your strength will equal your days. 

There's a ton of good stuff here but I'm just gonna pull out the part that we fell in love with..."and let him bathe his feet in oil."

Honestly, when I read that the first time I was like and things just got weird. But then I dug deeper. So Moses is pronouncing this blessing over each of the 12 tribes. When he gets to Asher he quotes the scripture above. Each of the tribes was being given land to occupy. Asher was given the land with the most plentiful olive groves. It was a very rich area, which produced much for her people (at which point I like to remind my Asher this means he will one day feel the need to provide for his people - me!). So when the olive farmer would press out the oil, they would walk on them with special shoes strapped to their feet. If they pressed a lot of oil, it would flow over their feet and bathe them in oil. 

Beth's interpretation of this verse is that it means he was blessing him to walk in the power of God's anointing oil and to bear fruit for God's glory. 

What better legacy could I ever ask for...for my own happy blessing. That we would walk in the power of God's anointing oil and bear fruit for God's glory. 

And the people said...Amen! :)