simply means “timing”. It is interesting that the first time the word ’eth appears is in the story of Noah and the ark. Everyone knows the story of Noah. He knew how to float his assets when the world was in liquidation! He prospered during a crisis. Finally, when the rain stopped and the waters began to subside, Noah sent out a bird to see if there was dry land. But he sent the wrong kind of bird. You see, he sent a raven and ravens are scavengers. There were probably lots of dead bodies floating around for the raven to feed on!
But the second bird he sent out was a dove. Now, doves are not scavengers. So they are the right kind of bird to send out to look for evidence of life. Remember that doves are also pictures of the Holy Spirit. The dove found no place to rest outside the ark, so it returned to the ark, indicating to Noah that water still covered a lot of the land. After seven days, Noah sent the dove out again. This time, it returned with an olive leaf in its mouth. (Genesis 8:11) It is from this verse that you have today’s peace emblem — a dove with an olive leaf in its beak. So now, Noah knew that there was evidence of land and life.
Now, when did the dove come back to Noah? Genesis 8:11 says that it was “in the evening” . It is here that you find the word ’eth , which means “timing”, appearing for the first time in the Bible. In other words, the “timing” was “in the evening”. Or we could say that “in the evening” was the “right timing” because that was when the dove returned with good news.
Now, notice also that the first mention of “timing” or “right timing” here has to do with the Holy Spirit, represented by the dove. What does this mean? It means that it is the Holy Spirit who orchestrates the “right timing” in our daily lives! It is the Holy Spirit who places us in the right place at the right time. It is the Holy Spirit who causes us to experience divine appointments or God appointments.
It has nothing to do with your abilities or your smarts. Only the Holy Spirit can put you in the right place at the right time and cause you to prosper. And as long as you are a believer washed by the blood of Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit inside you to lead you and place you in the right place at the right time.
A Shunammite Woman’s Divine Appointment
In 2 Kings 8, there is an example of a woman being in the right place at the right time. But let me first give you the backdrop to this story. Elisha was a prophet of God who experienced double the miracles of his master, Elijah. Why? Because Elisha was hungry enough to ask God for a double portion of the anointing.
In 2 Kings 4:8–37, we see one of these miracles. God used Elisha to raise a boy from the dead. The boy’s mother was a kind Shunammite woman. Elisha would pass by the woman’s house regularly. She and her husband realised that he was a man of God. So they built a small chamber in their house for Elisha to rest in whenever he liked.
Now, the Shunammite woman and her husband could not have children, so Elisha blessed them with the blessing of the Lord and the woman soon gave birth to a boy. The boy grew up and one day, while playing in a field, he suffered a stroke and died later on his mother’s lap. To cut a long story short, Elisha raised the boy from the dead. 2 Kings 8:1–3 tells us what happened next to this woman:
1 Then Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise and go, you and your household, and stay wherever you can; for the Lord has called for a famine, and furthermore, it will come upon the land for seven years.” 2 So the woman arose and did according to the saying of the man of God, and she went with her household and dwelt in the land of the Philistines seven years. 3 It came to pass, at the end of seven years, that the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went to make an appeal to the king for her house and for her land .
Now, this
But the second bird he sent out was a dove. Now, doves are not scavengers. So they are the right kind of bird to send out to look for evidence of life. Remember that doves are also pictures of the Holy Spirit. The dove found no place to rest outside the ark, so it returned to the ark, indicating to Noah that water still covered a lot of the land. After seven days, Noah sent the dove out again. This time, it returned with an olive leaf in its mouth. (Genesis 8:11) It is from this verse that you have today’s peace emblem — a dove with an olive leaf in its beak. So now, Noah knew that there was evidence of land and life.
Now, when did the dove come back to Noah? Genesis 8:11 says that it was “in the evening” . It is here that you find the word ’eth , which means “timing”, appearing for the first time in the Bible. In other words, the “timing” was “in the evening”. Or we could say that “in the evening” was the “right timing” because that was when the dove returned with good news.
Now, notice also that the first mention of “timing” or “right timing” here has to do with the Holy Spirit, represented by the dove. What does this mean? It means that it is the Holy Spirit who orchestrates the “right timing” in our daily lives! It is the Holy Spirit who places us in the right place at the right time. It is the Holy Spirit who causes us to experience divine appointments or God appointments.
It has nothing to do with your abilities or your smarts. Only the Holy Spirit can put you in the right place at the right time and cause you to prosper. And as long as you are a believer washed by the blood of Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit inside you to lead you and place you in the right place at the right time.
A Shunammite Woman’s Divine Appointment
In 2 Kings 8, there is an example of a woman being in the right place at the right time. But let me first give you the backdrop to this story. Elisha was a prophet of God who experienced double the miracles of his master, Elijah. Why? Because Elisha was hungry enough to ask God for a double portion of the anointing.
In 2 Kings 4:8–37, we see one of these miracles. God used Elisha to raise a boy from the dead. The boy’s mother was a kind Shunammite woman. Elisha would pass by the woman’s house regularly. She and her husband realised that he was a man of God. So they built a small chamber in their house for Elisha to rest in whenever he liked.
Now, the Shunammite woman and her husband could not have children, so Elisha blessed them with the blessing of the Lord and the woman soon gave birth to a boy. The boy grew up and one day, while playing in a field, he suffered a stroke and died later on his mother’s lap. To cut a long story short, Elisha raised the boy from the dead. 2 Kings 8:1–3 tells us what happened next to this woman:
1 Then Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise and go, you and your household, and stay wherever you can; for the Lord has called for a famine, and furthermore, it will come upon the land for seven years.” 2 So the woman arose and did according to the saying of the man of God, and she went with her household and dwelt in the land of the Philistines seven years. 3 It came to pass, at the end of seven years, that the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went to make an appeal to the king for her house and for her land .
Now, this
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