2014-05-23
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week, the Holy Spirit directed me to begin the devotion with looking at God’s way of looking at deeming what to think about others. Two back to back verses in LK 6: 37-38 give the Lord’s criteria. “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” This passage covers many of the contexts in which we interact with others. Then, I was led to begin discussing a name change and a meal. Name changes sometimes come up in life, and they need to be done for reasons right in the sight of the Lord. Last week, I discussed marriage and gave my view that a woman marrying for righteous reasons after mature decision-making would be happy to take on her husband’s last name. This is because of the love and mutual respect they both have for each other. Our ethical measure is found in EPH 5: 21-25. The married couple should submit to each other and to the Lord, even though the husband is the head of the household. Now, we continue with looking at another name change.
A man, whose original name was Abram, had his named changed by God when he was adopted into the family of God. Not much detail is given in the Bible about this, but the reasons for it become clear when we look at GN 17:1b- 2, 5, & 7 and NE 9: 7, “I am God Almighty [El Shaddai]; walk before Me and be blameless. I will confirm My covenant between Me and you and will greatly increase your numbers…You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations…I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you for generations to come, to be your God, the God of your descendents after you…You are the Lord God, Who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham.” Essentially, what God was doing was taking the first letter of His own name and attaching it to Abram’s. That was the 21st Hebrew letter, shin [pronounced “sheen”]. This was intended as a signal honor, given to the first man to be deemed acceptable to our Deity, simply because of Abram’s faithful obedience to God [GN 15: 6]. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the change of Sarai’s name to Sarah, which is meant here to signify “a mother of kings and nations” [GN 17: 15]. Both the names “Sarai” and “Sarah” mean “princess” in Hebrew, indicating here a royal female. These name changes were also accompanied in Abram’s case with the ritual of circumcision, which involved the drawing of blood by the removal of the foreskin of his penis. This ritual was to be done for all Jewish baby boys at the age of eight days from thence on [GN 17: 12] and is still carried out to this day. Abraham was ninety-nine years old, and his oldest son, Ishmael (which means “God hears”), was thirteen, when they were circumcised on the same day [GN 17: 25-26]. All the males in their household were circumcised that day.
H. Clay Trumbull, in his The Blood Covenant, cites another culture’s example of cutting a covenant [two-way promise]. The Araucanians of South America have a custom of establishing a covenant between two or more parties by having a lacu. This ritual is the killing of a lamb and dividing it [cutting it] between the parties to the covenant. As with the Jewish first Passover, none of the lamb must be left uneaten, so if a family isn’t big enough to finish it, other people are chosen to help out with this [EX 12: 4]. Gifts are exchanged, and names are exchanged. This sacred ritual involves both covenant relationship and obligations. The covenant partners are to share everything, including the interweaving of their names with their deity as symbolic of this covenant union. It’s a kind of adoption into each other’s families, just as we are adopted into God’s family [RO 8: 14-16] when we come to faith in His Son, Jesus Christ and repent of our sins.
While we can’t consider this a real covenant, Daniel and his friends were all captured from Israel and taken to Babylonia to serve in the king’s court in about 602 BC. Daniel was age 15 at the time. Daniel, Hanaiah, Misrael, and Azariah were all given new names by Ashpenaz, chief of the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar’s, court officials, once they were placed in his charge. Their new names were Belteshazzar (Daniel), Shadrach (Hanaiah), Meshach (Misrael), and Abednego (Azariah) [DN 1: 3, 7]. Now, if we look into the meanings of these names, we will see some change in perspective. Jewish people really care about the meanings of their names, and evidently, so did the Babylonians. Daniel means “God is my Judge;” “Hananiah means “The Lord shows grace;” Misrael means “Who is what God is?;” and Azariah means “The Lord helps.” Now, let’s look at what the Babylonian names signify that were given to them. Bel is a god of the Babylonians. Belteshazzar means “Bel [i.e. Marduke) protects his life;” “Shadrach probably means “Command of Aku (a Summarian moon-god);” Meshach probably means “Who is what Aku is?;” Abednego means “servant of Nego” [aka Nabu, another god]. Name changes usually mean a significant change or transition is to take place in a person’s life.
PRAYER: O Lord, as Your sons and daughters in the Covenant of Grace, we stand before You in awe of the love and opportunities You have given us. You are a gracious God, One Who heals, protects, loves, cares for, and matures Your children. We grow from babies, who feed on spiritual milk only, to adults, who serve You with faithful obedience, feasting on Your spiritual meat [PS 107: 19-20; PS 5: 7; JER 31: 3; 1 PET 5: 7; HE 5: 13-14]. Our names are important to us, and so are the many names by which You are known in the Scriptures. These names give insight into Your many attributes and blessings given. Eloheim is a plural name referring to Your Trinitarian nature—Your three personalities: The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. You are our Creator. El Elyon indicates Your position as “The God Most High” [IS 57: 15; DN 4: 17]. You see all at all times, thus You are El Roi, “The God Who Sees” [PS 33: 13; 2 CH 16: 9]. As we saw above, You are also El Shaddai, “The All-Sufficient One, or God Almighty” [NE 9:7]. You are our Lord, first called Adonai in GN 15: 2. We remember Your words in the burning bush “I am Who I am”; You are our Jehovah, meaning “The Self-Existant One” [EX 3: 13-14] We think of how often You provide for us “Jehovah Jireh” [PHIL 4: 19]. You heal us when we are ill Jehovah Rapha, which means “The Lord Who Heals” [PS 6:4]. You have many more names, which if we take the time to learn their meanings, You have provided us with greater knowledge of Yourself. Dearest Abba, we offer You our heartfelt praise and thanks in the holy/mighty name of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I’m finding this discussion of name changes quite interesting and hope you are too. The Holy Spirit directs me to continue with it in next week’s devotion. In the meanwhile, we can look over the transitions in our lives, the covenants we have made, and the relationships that have been borne out of them to see God’s hand in the whole thing. I hope you will join me in this consideration/meditation this week. We must remember how much God loves it when we rehearse our history with Him. He wants us to be “new creations in union with Christ” and to “have greater knowledge of Him” [2 COR 5: 17; COL 3: 9-10]. It is God’s great sacrifice of the physical life of His Son on the cross that gives all who believe in Him both peace with Him and salvation [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25]. It is by His grace and not by anything we do that our salvation and eternal forgiveness is accomplished [EPH 2: 8-9]. Our God has fitted us with talents, which are different in different individuals, to serve Him in tasks He has prepared for us to do [RO 12: 4-8; EPH 2: 10]. Our God answers our prayers, making true what He says, in IS 65: 24. “Before they call, I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.” God brings out our best. PS 63: 7, “Because You have been my Help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.” When we are burdened, our Lord cares enough to be here for us and to lighten those burdens. Christ’s words, in MT 11: 28-30 reflect this truth. “Come to Me, all you who are heavy-laden; and You will find rest. Take My yoke and put it on you; learn from Me, because I am humble and gentle in Spirit; and I will give you rest. For the yoke I give you is easy, and the burden is light.” You are our Refuge. PS 72: 14, “He rescues them from oppression and violence; their lives are precious to Him.” As we read the Scriptures and observe His presence and intervention in our lives, we can only come to the conclusion that we are His precious human creations, whom He loves dearly. Praise and thanks be to Him forever!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2014. All Rights Reserved.
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