Gold

From the earliest days of mankind, people were fascinated with the glint of gold, whenever it would be seen, while fording a stream, or walking along a rocky path. They would pick the gold up, nuggets, or gold dust. We’ve been fascinated by it since ancient times. The ancient literature informs us that the River Pishon flowed out of Eden, and people saw gold sparkling in the water. There was an attractive glow that compelled them to gather the precious metal and make use of it to brighten up precious stuff.

As gold was acquired by people, they would treasure it, gaze at it, wonder at the beautiful golden glow. The ancient people collected gold wherever thay found it. After awhile they figured out that they could heat it and make jewelry. Gold was closely associated with the precious union of man and wife, which produced little men and little women. Wedding rings must have been forged at about that time, and have been ever since. I have had a gold ring on my finger since 1980; I have never taken it off; it represents our marriage of 46 years, and the precious three humans who were created through our union. The ring is smaller than the knuckle that keeps it on my left hand finger. You could say that gold is just about the most precious thing on this earth, except for the love that it represents. Gold was treasured in ancient cultures, and has been ever since. The king of Babylon had a big golden statue of himself that he commanded the people to bow down to. The Egyptian pharoah included it in all kinds of precious places. Later, when the Hebrews had their Ark of the Covenant; the sacred Ark had gold cast onto its top; they also used gold in the tent of meeting, to brighten the holy place up. Later, when they had a temple, there was gold in all the utensils of sacrifice, and on the priests garment, to brighten their worship of the Creator of the Universe. Later in history, and throughout time. . .when things started to fall apart, gold often became booty whenever some people took control of a sacred place or a king’s palace. But gold has its limitations. Even though it is highly valued electrical conductor, it is mostly applied to other precious purposes.

Although gold is easily forged and made into precious objects, there’s only so much you can do with it, and it is so precious that the demand for it renders gold scarce. You don’t see much of it around. . . mostly on wedding rings, but sometimes on jewelry worn by rich folks. Even so, the story is told of an ancient rich guy, a good fellow, who endured a great loss when a lot of precious stuff was taken away form him; he had a terrible ordeal to endure. At the end of his ordeal, Job was really appreciating wisdom; but he said that wisdom could not be purchased, even with gold. Later, when Messiah was born, three kings from the east brought gold as gifts. That was nice; so I guess Mary and Joseph had some valuable assets for their provision while Jesus was growing up. Later, when Jesus sent his apostles out to spread the good news of salvation, he told them not to bother with carrying gold with them. Not necessary. Later after his resurrection and ascent into heaven, it was reported that Peter had told a crippled guy that he didn’t have any gold to give him, but he would give him a healing miracle so that the guy could walk. I’d say that being able to walk is more precious than gold, wouldn’t you? Even so, we discover in the Revelation that gold does have its place in the big picture. When this present world arrangement is blown away, the new heaven and earth will have streets of gold! So now we know the true purpose of gold. . . to pave the streets of the eternal kingdom of the Creator who created gold and all the other elements and all the folks who creep around looking for gold in them thar hills. . Glass half-Full