What’s In a Name?

It seems clear from Scripture that names are important to God, and they have significant meanings. This verse from Isaiah is thought to refer to the coming Messiah and certainly God gives clear instructions to Mary, even before she conceived her baby, to name him Jesus. Zechariah was told to name his long-awaited son John, and the Hebrew version of this name, Yohannan means ‘God is gracious’. God is speaking through a name.

Although we often assume that a parent gives a child his or her name, I wonder if God inspired many of these choices.

For example, Leah, Jacob`s first wife, called her first son Reuben, which means ‘see a son’. Leah felt unloved, because Jacob had been tricked by Laban into marrying her first, as she was older than Rachael whom Jacob really chose. Poor Leah hoped that having a son and heir for Jacob would cause him to start to love her, but it seems it was a vain hope.

But God was speaking. Her next son she called Simeon which means ‘heard’. She felt God had heard her cry for love, even though Jacob didn’t seem to respond. The next son was called Levi, which means ‘attached’. Would this third son finally cause Jacob to attach to her? And so it went on. You can read about the names of all Jacob`s other children in various chapters in Genesis. What’s in a name?  In these names we hear the heart cry of a very lonely and unloved woman, but the names these boys carried also impacted on them in other ways, since God had inspired her choices.

Later we see that Reuben was often the spokesman and seemed keen to do the right thing. He spoke against his brothers` plan to kill Joseph, and even planned to take him back to their father. He felt the responsibility of being the eldest son. He felt visible. His name was ‘see a son’. Simeon offered himself as a hostage in Egypt, when they were desperate for grain, whilst the other brothers went back to collect Benjamin. Did he ‘hear’ from God that this was the right thing for him to do? Levi was to be the founder of the tribe from whom the priest would come, those through whom the Israelites could ‘attach’ to God.

I have recently been wondering if God wants to speak through more of the names in the Bible and this Easter the name `Barabbas` really struck me in a new way. Suddenly it was obvious to me that it meant ‘son of Abba’ or ‘son of the father’ or even ‘son of God’. It made me acutely aware that, despite being a rebel leader, a murderer or whatever else he had done, he was, as we all are, God’s child. When Barabbas faced certain crucifixion as the legal punishment for his crimes, he had absolutely no hope of escape. But Jesus took his place, Jesus took his punishment, Jesus died instead of Barabbas, who deserved the death sentence.

It brought home to me in a new way that Barabbas stands for each of us. We are Barabbas. We are children of God, made by Him for a purpose and a destiny. But we have no hope, no way of escape and no future without Jesus to die in our place. What a Saviour; the One who saves utterly!

I’m going to study and consider more of the names in the Bible in coming weeks. Maybe God wants to bring some other new revelations or even a deeper understanding of His ways and His Kingdom.