GLEANINGS — July 7, A.D. 2013                                                                                                               "Barabbas, Barnabas, and Barsabas"
Without looking at your Bible, can you identify those three men found within its pages?
Another man, Apollos, was described by Luke the physician as "mighty in the Scriptures" (Acts 18:24). This does not mean that Apollos was a Bible trivia master – but then again, though the profitability of some passages is not readily apparent, can anything in God's holy word be called "trivial?" 
One thing is quite apparent. The very Scriptures which Apollos knew so well, in which he was able to reason persuasively – the words of Truth which he could rightly handle, "divide," and proclaim – abound with commands, exhortations, gentle proddings, and  promises of choice benefits to those who diligently follow his example!
God's own encouragement to Moses' successor Joshua, whose ministry typified Jesus (the two names in origin being one) leading the Israel of God into the eternal promised land, included these words: "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." (Joshua 1:8)
Proverbs 30:5 celebrates the DEFENSIVE power of what has been written for our instruction, encouragement, and edification: "Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him."
And a crucial piece of equipment in that whole armor of God with which the Christian ever is to be clad includes the OFFENSIVE sword of the Spirit: "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God..." (Ephesians 6:17)
Paul the apostle exhorts us to be filled with Scripture: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." (Colossians 3:16, cf. Ephesians 5:18,19)
He also reminded Timothy that "...from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." (2 Timothy 3:15)
Barabbas was the thief let off the hook by Pilate at the demand of the fickle multitudes who wanted to see Christ hung. Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, was given the nickname Barnabas (meaning "son of encouragement") by the apostles. Barsabas (or Barsabbas, three letters B, in some translations) is perhaps the most obscure of the three men. He was a leader in the early church at Jerusalem.
The prefix BAR in all of these names is what grammarians call a patronymic. It is the Aramaic equivalent of the Hebrew BEN (as in BEN-jamin) and identifies a man according to his relationship as the son of  his father. At Matthew 16:17 the Lord Jesus calls Peter "Simon Bar-Jonah." 
There are at least three other men in the New Testament with names having the prefix BAR. Can you identify them? More importantly, will you set aside the time and devote the necessary effort to become an Apollos, mighty in the Scriptures?