Wednesday, January 11, 2012

What's In A Name?

What's In A Name?

Are names really important?

1. Often we'll read or see long genealogies in the bible and gloss over them or skip them entirely


2. Today does the meaning of name always reflect that person character or attitude? No. (IE brad means broad meadow)


3. In Ancient times, people names did have an important, though sometimes subtle, clue about their nature.


4. Do names have importance to God? Yes and No. No, in that a name doesn't totally define a man, but yes, in that by naming something does some value, power, and authority get tied into it?


5. In the Beginning of Gen, we see God the Father excising to 2 aspects of paternal authority, which were creator and author. He made the universe and everything in it and then gave it a name (except the animals). Just as today, this tradition continues, parents make a child, and then when it’s born they name it.

6. In Genesis 2:19-20, We see God, sharing this authority with his newest and greatest creation: man, which he called Adam. He then invites Adam, this unique creature, made in the image of God to share in the divine process to give names to the animals and other living creature, who though made by God, lacked the spirit (breathe nooma/ruha), God had only put it into Adam. Furthermore when God makes Adam a helper, it is he who names her 'woman' (G 2:23) and again after the fall, Adam specifically names her "Eve" G 3:20. Later on though, we see Eve partaking in this naming process. She names her 3 sons (Cain, Abel, Seth)


7. Going back to what's in a name, For the ancients again names where small clues about the person or some circumstance surrounding that person life.

Bible is chalk full of Examples:

Cain- bring forth- first time a human was ever brought forth in the "conventional" way

Abel- means temporary- he didn't last very long did he.?

-Abraham- father of many nations (how many nations trace back to him today)

- Jacob- grasp the heal or deceiver, he was both in his story

-Ruth - friend, -Noami- delight, Maria-bitter, 2 sons Mahlon, "sick" Chilion, "weakening" Boaz str in him

-Moses - to draw forth - Who drew Israel out of bondage?

-Emmanuel- God with us, That was literal wasnt it..lol

Classic Gospel example of Names Meaning:

Adam -Man

Seth - Appointed

Enosh -Mortal

Kenan Sorrow;

Mahalalel The Blessed God

Jared -Shall come down

Enoch- Teaching

Methuselah -His death shall bring

Lamech -The Despairing

Noah -Rest, or comfort.

(Side note of Methuselah (his death shall bring) died the same year of the flood

The first 10 name genealogy in the Bible gives us a code, which summarizes the gospel

Man appointed mortal sorrow, the Blessed God shall come down preaching his death shall being the despairing comfort.

7. Adam was the first man, and gave the animals names and his wife and by extension his family and got the process started, and here we are 1000s of years later we still walk in the precedent he got from God by again, naming those which were are responsible for namely our children. However Adam is not the only 'man'. The Bible calls Christ the 2nd Adam, and this Adam comes to finish and repair the work of the 1st Adam who allowed sin and death to enter the world (Romans 5).

8. The interesting thing is that is that this new Adam , Jesus also had a habit of giving new names to things. The classic example being Simon to Peter. However, the Bible tells us that those who are saved and in the Lord will one day not only get a new Body (1 cor 15), but a new name (rev 2:15).

9. I can't help but wonder if the Lambs Book of life (rev 20), which has the names of all the righteous written in it, has our earthly name, or perhaps our heavenly names, maybe both...who knows..its only conjectures, but it is interesting to think about.

10. What is really important is that right now God has given us a name. When Moses said to God, who shall I say sent me, in other words what is your name God so i can tell those guys what God to praise or be anger at. God response was not a noun like we'd would expected, My name is "Baal" "Zesus" "Apollo" "Isis" etc.... God answer was a verb: "To be" or "I Am" or Yahweh or I AM what I AM . However you phrase it. When God did that world, the world changed forever, ripples were started. 1400 years later, the World changed again with even bigger ripples were made. When God himself put on a robe of humanity and paid the price for our sins on a cross. That time he gave us a new name to be saved (and it was a noun..yay) This name literally means to save. That name was Jesus Christ, and as Peter declared: Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other NAME given under heaven by which we must be saved.” So will your trust in that Name today, so you can have yourself a New Name, a better Name, one that is forever...