Genesis Chapter 17
As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
(Gen 17:4-6)
And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
(Gen 17:15-16)
What’s in a Name?
Throughout the scriptures, both Old and New Testament, we often see the Lord changing people’s names. This meant a whole lot more back in Bible times than it does today. For people back then, a name actually told people something about who you were. Today we don’t see that very often. In our passage today, we see God changing the name of both Abram and Sarai… they become Abraham and Sarah. God was communicating something here… He was changing who these people were, their character and Identity. They were going to be different!
To this point in his life he had been known as Abram, the “high father”. Here God changes his name, and does so to further confirm His promise. He became Abraham, the “father of a multitude”; prophetically looking forward to the “many nations” he would father. And the promise is true; you and I are all sons and daughters of Abraham, the Father of the multitude of faithful believers.
Sarai’s name is changed to Sarah, which means “princess”. Very fitting, seeing as she would be the one who gave birth to the child of the promise. This wandering couple with no home of their own, had something far greater: the promises of God! He transformed them into His people, the very people He would use to raise up His own nation.
Think about this: if you had a name that described you before you met Jesus, what would it be? Liar, sinner, failure, fool? But when we meet Jesus, it all changes… what name might He give you now? Thank God today for the way He has transformed you, and given you a “new name”.
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11 comments:
One way to study the Bible that helps a lot is using an amplified Bible. It's really a great Bible to use for study, and it includes definitions, alternate words, etc.
Wow! That's really cool! I wish names would tell us so much about a person today. What does Tomtor mean?
This is CRAZY I just was anonymous but some imposter stole my name. I will not have a doubled name.
anyway I think that ROCKS!!!
but is kind of odd.
how can you just say whats your name to get information.
I like it now whats secret stays secret unless you give the info your self. Strictly for my ninja.
I no who LEATHER SHOE is???
The first anonymous was ME.
Strictly for my ninja.
I can't get Bobby to post.
but I don't care.
who on earth is Kin sha way and Leather shoo and evoryone else.
I wan't to no. NOW!!!
thanks Greg
The Bible also says in Revelation that the Lord has given us new names that are saved in heaven.
Really? What verse? I would also like to know who leather sho and "k iz izzel" are.
Tanks for posting todays devo so early Tomtor! That way I can have my devotions befor school! Please continue doing so!
who do you think I am!!!!!! it's not that hard to find out!!!!!
I was thinking about the name devo. My name is kind of strange as many of you know - because I have a hyphen in my first name. My middle name sounds like "and" even though it is Anne. People get confused about it a lot. I got to thinking about when I come face to face with Jesus one day. I hope He changes my confusing name to a simple one. I hope it is simply "Faithful Servant."
I remember at camp that people were teasing you about your name, Sarah. But I like it, I wish I had two middle names, or even a differint one than the one I have now.
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