It's Raining Cats and Dogs
“Would’ve, could’ve, should’ve”…a phrase I say often.
“Better late than never” “Better safe than sorry” “It’s raining cats and dogs”
Idioms.
I remember my 7th grade teacher explaining what an idiom was. His example was twofold. “If I said, “Joe kicked the bucket” what am I telling you?” Of course, we know it means Joe died. It had nothing to do with a bucket or the kicking of said bucket.
His second example was, “Keep your eye on the road.” You don’t put your literal eyeball on the pavement. It means to keep a careful watch of what is happening around you while you drive.
“An idiom is a phrase or expression that typically presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase.” (Source: wikipedia.com)
Chances are you could read any of the following idioms and know exactly what is being said or implied.
Beat around the bush
Get your act together
Hit the sack
Your guess is as good as mine
Good things come to those who wait
Back against the wall
Up in arms
Scrape the barrel
Burn your boats/bridges
Break fresh/ new ground
Sell like hot cakes
Run around in circles
On cloud nine
Left out in the cold
Blow hot and cold
Cut corners
Boil the ocean
Keep an ear to the ground
Eat like a horse
A snowball effect (leverageedu.com)
There are many others:
A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush.
Chip off the old block.
Don’t cry over spilled milk.
Hook, line, and sinker.
Bear a grudge, and on and on.
According to wikipedia.com, in English alone, there are an estimated twenty-five million idiomatic expressions! WOW! I thought I was doing good with my few.
In fact, there are close to 50, if not more idioms in one book alone.
Have you heard the expression, “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”?
What about, “Put words in someone’s mouth”?
Or, “The writing is on the wall”?
There is also:
Let There Be Light
Forbidden Fruit
By the Sweat of Your Brow
Ashes to Ashes
Dust to Dust
My Brother's Keeper
As Old as Methuselah
Fire & Brimstone
Land of Milk & Honey
The Golden Calf
Manna from Heaven
Man Does Not Live on Bread Alone
Scapegoat
A Man after My Own Heart
How the Mighty Have Fallen
To Put Words in Someone's Mouth
Feet of Clay
Jezebel & Delilah
Skin and Bones
Skin of My Teeth
Weighed in the Balance
Bite the Dust
At Wits' End
Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child
Pride Goes before a Fall
There Is Nothing New under the Sun
For Everything There Is a Season
Make the most of life now.
A Fly in the Ointment
A Drop in a Bucket
No Rest for the Wicked
Like a Lamb to the Slaughter
Baptism of Fire
Head on a Platter
Go the Extra Mile
To Cast Pearls before Swine
Wolves in Sheep's Clothing
A House Divided against Itself Cannot Stand
The Blind Leading the Blind
To Move Mountains
The Eleventh Hour
Kiss of Death
Wash One's Hands of the Matter
Good Samaritan
Throw the First Stone
Better to Give than Receive
Struck on the Road to Damascus
The Love of Money is the Root of All Evil (Source: worldhistory.org)
All those everyday sayings and expressions come from the Bible!
The first Biblical idiom I discovered was “by the skin of his teeth” and it is a powerful story.
This man was broken in spirit and body. He had lost almost everything. His 10 children; seven boys and three girls were all killed when their home collapsed, all his livestock; thousands of heads, had been killed or taken. His many ranch hands had been killed or kidnapped. He was devastated. We are told he tore his clothes in aguish. We cannot imagine that kind of loss.
The story is of Job and you can read all of that in chapter 1. This is what struck me about this story. I have read Job many times. I have heard Job preached many times. I have quoted Job. But somehow, I did not realize that there was more than one meeting.
Meeting number 1:
“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” Job 1:6-8 NKJV
Meeting number 2:!
“Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord. And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” Job 2:1-2 NKJV
Now keep in mind, by the time meeting number 2 has rolled around Job has experienced loss. Deep loss. Not only on a tragic level in the loss of his 10 children, but also financial loss. He was basically a millionaire, wiped-out. Add to that all his hired help or servants. I can only imagine, that because Job was such a good man, that his helpers and servants were also his friends. He experienced that loss as well. He was a man hurting, hurting deeply, and now in that context the Lord says to Satan:
“Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.” Job 2:3 NKJV
It was after that second meeting that Satan was allowed to then inflict Job with what the Bible describes as, “…painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.” 2:7
Has any human, ever, had that much heartache, loss, and physical pain? Add to that the, what most likely could have been, humiliation. Before it was over his wife had told him to curse God and die and his “best friends” were convinced that he had done something wrong, and God was punishing him.
“Then Job answered and said: “I have heard many such things; miserable comforters are you all!” Job 16:1
Yes, Job knew heartache. He knew what it was like to be misunderstood. He knew what it was like to wonder, why? He was allowed to mourn, he had every right, but in all of that, the Bible tells us that he did not sin against God. Not only did he not sin against God, but he did not “charge God with wrong.” 1:22
Job knew where salvation lie. He knew where his hope came from. He knew his God loved him. Even in those terribly dark days, he knew, and he never wavered, he never blamed. Let’s be more like Job.
“My bone clings to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.” Job 19:20 NKJV
By Jeanette Stark – Tuesday, October 18, 2022