Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends around the world.
Names of people are fascinating and can be very powerful in their implications, can’t they? May I ask, do you know the significance of your name? My name is Douglas and I’ve done some digging and I come up with two very different meanings. One is “dark water” and the other is ‘seeker of light’. Now which do you think I prefer!? And what about your name, my friend, what does it mean?
We’ve been traveling with Abram and Sarai for several chapters in the Bible, and we’ve encountered some very significant names. Let’s take a moment and reflect together.
ABRAM is the man to whom God reached with the amazing invitation to leave his homeland and follow God to a new land, developing a strong trust relationship with God along the way, for God wanted to accomplish some significant things through this man. The name “Abram” means “exalted father”. I’m sure his father gave his son that name in hopes he’d become an honored father of integrity in his household…but when we meet Abram at age 75, he is childless. However in Genesis 17 God changes Abram’s name to ABRAHAM which means “father of many” or “father of nations”. Already Ishmael had been born to Abram and Hagar, and soon Isaac would be born to Abraham and Sarah. From those two boys would come millions of descendants, who declare Abraham to be their patriarch! When God gives a name, it’s significant, isn’t it?
SARAI is Abram’s wife whom we meet in Genesis 11:29. Her name meant “princess”, perhaps given by her parents in hopes she would be cherished by a kind husband and blessed with wealth. Of course in those days children were the most important form of wealth and blessing, and would cause a wife to be cherished. But alas, Sarai was barren and unable to bear children, yet Abram cherished her.
HAGAR is the name of the Egyptian maidservant Sarai hired during the brief time she and Abram were in Egypt. (Genesis 12) Hagar became significant in Abram’s household as she became a surrogate mother for Sarai and bore a child with Abram, at Sarai’s request. When Hagar was running away from Sarai’s mistreatment she had an encounter with “the angel of the LORD”, in the desert. In that remarkable encounter Hagar gave God a name. . .“El Roi”. It means ‘the God who sees me’, for Hagar was overwhelmed that God was paying attention to her in her distress, and even came to meet her in the desert and speak hope to her there! (Genesis 16:13)
In that desert encounter, ‘the angel of the LORD” promised Hagar that she would have a son, and instructed her to name that son ISHMAEL.. (Genesis 16:11) The name ISHMAEL means “God hears” and was intended to be a reminder every time someone spoke his name, that God, the creator of everything and every life, sees and hears everything going on in every life that He has created!
Now today, let’s return to the remarkable Covenant encounter between God and Abraham found in Genesis 17. This life changing encounter begins with God identifying Himself to Abram with a new name: “El Shaddai”! God said “I am God Almighty”. It means God is more than capable of accomplishing ANYTHING He desires and especially anything He promises! Yesterday we looked at the remarkable Covenant God made with Abraham in Genesis 17:1-14. Today, let’s continue, for God wasn’t finished yet! Look at vs. 15: “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai, her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her… so she will be the mother of nations; kings of people will come from her.” (Gen. 17:15,16)
Even though 89 years old, Sarai became SARAH, by God’s declaration, and God began preparing her old womb to soon conceive and give birth to a son, born in her old age! The name Sarah is a slight variation of the name Sarai, but some scholars point to the fact that while “Sarai” meant ‘princess’, “Sarah” may mean “Queen Mother”. In ancient times when a man was elevated to be King of the land, his mother was often given a place of great honor as the ‘queen mother’.
Did you notice Abraham’s response to God’s declaration about his wife Sarah? The record says: “Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, ‘Will a son be born to a man 100 years old? Will Sarah bear a son at the age of 90?” (Gen. 17:17) We remember Abraham had fallen on his face earlier in this encounter with God, (Genesis 17:3) but that time it was in awe and reverence and worship. This time it’s in doubt and skeptical laughter! While God and Abraham have been on this character development and TRUST growth journey for 25 years, still there was more change God needed to see in Abraham before God could fully trust Abraham with a significant role in God’s global purposes! Did you get that? Is God able to trust YOU with the role He has designed you for, in His global purposes?
Abraham then steps forward into courageous negotiations with God. Abraham loved his son Ishmael who was now 13 years old. It seemed reasonable to Abraham that God could forgo his complicated plan to do a miracle with Sarah, and simply pour out His great blessing on the son Abraham already had, Ishmael! Have you ever found yourself in that situation, trying to convince God to do something that makes good sense to you, even though it may have some flaws? But God’s plan ,to build a miracle nation through a miracle son born to Abraham and Sarah, well after their child bearing years had ended, was not to be altered. God responded to Abraham’s request like this: “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him, as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. As for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him. I will make him fruitful and greatly increase his numbers…I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” (Gen. 17:19-21)
Do you hear God accommodating Abraham’s plea for Ishmael, while at the same time staying true to His covenant promise regarding a miracle son? I wonder if God has ever done that with you my friend? Did God accommodate your request while still accomplishing His great purpose? Is that what Paul meant when he wrote to the Ephesians Christians in Eph. 1:11 “In Him (Jesus Christ) we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him (God the Father) who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His (God the Father) will…”
Do you hear God’s clear and repeated declaration that His covenant with Abraham will be continued through the line of Isaac? Ishmael will be blessed by God, but the COVENANT would now be sustained through the promised, miracle son Isaac. May I ask why you think God chose the name Isaac for this miracle boy? Isaac means ‘laughter’. If you look ahead to Genesis 21:5,6 you’ll see Isaac was in fact born to Sarah about one year later, and the record says: “Sarah said, ‘God has brought me laughter and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me…” Yes it’s true, for all his life whenever someone said his name, Isaac was a living reminder of the amazing, promise keeping power of God, El Shaddai, and often, I’m sure, people shook their heads in amazement, and even laughter, when they considered old Abraham and Sarah parenting at age 100!! But it was more than that wasn’t it friends? God wanted Abraham to remember, every time he spoke his son’s name, that he had laughed in doubt at God! Oh I see God’s great mercy here. Rather than punishing Abraham for his doubt filled laughter, God gave him a lifelong reminder of that moment. I doubt Abraham ever laughed at God again!
You’ll note the record says “When He had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.” That tells me it wasn’t a dream, maybe not even what we’d call a vision. The presence of God had been powerfully with Abraham in this covenant conversation. Abraham never forgot this encounter and he was changed forever by it! The record says “On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household…and circumcised them as God had told him. Abraham was 99 yrs old when He was circumcised, and his son Ishmael was 13. Abraham and his son were both circumcised on the same day…” (Gen. 17:23-27) Now that, my friends, is obedience! Direct, immediate, complete obedience to what God had instructed Abraham to do as the mark of the covenant. No laughter, no doubt, no procrastination… complete obedience. The Covenant between God and Abraham was being accomplished!
Let’s pause right here. There’s lots to think about. Names, a God covenant, the painful, permanent sign of the covenant, laughter in doubt, commitment in obedience. As you look at your life, and I look at mine, my friends all around the world… what is the Holy Spirit saying to us today about our relationship with God? I found a song of reflection that may help you ponder these great truths about the Covenant keeping God: Do you know HIM?
Today’s Scripture is Genesis 17:15-27.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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