What's In A Name?

Early Saturday morning I awoke at 1 AM. I got up, went to the bathroom, and returned to bed. However, I was not able to get back to sleep. The name of someone from the Bible kept repeating itself in my head.

Eliehoenai, Eliehoenai . . .

Who the heck is Eliehoenai anyway? I finally dozed off, hoping not to forget this guy's name until morning so I could look it up. Here's what I found.

Eliehoenai was man's name from the Old Testament. He was a Korahite, and a returning exhile. He was a descendant of David, and both a Simeonite and a Benjamite. He was also a priest of the Lord.

But the cool thing about the name Eliehoenai is in it's meaning. 'El' means 'God' and 'ehoenai' means  'towards Jehovah (are) my eyes.' Basically, it means 'my eyes are on God.' What a cool name!

AND, it is a great reminder for all of us. No matter what situation we find ourselves in, we should always 'Eliehoenai' - look to God.

What does YOUR name mean? My name is Bob, or Robert. It means 'fame, bright, glory, honor, praise, renown, shining, light.' I was named after Robert the Bruce, king of Scotland.

Do our names, given at birth say anything about who we are . . . who we become? What about Jesus?

The name Jesus means 'Yahweh saves' or 'Yahweh is salvation.'

Perfect.

"²⁰Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him (Joseph) in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” - Matthew 1:20-21

Perfect.

What's In A Name?

What does your name mean? Did you know that in the Hebrew language, a person's name actually means something? For example, the name Jesus actually means "God (Yahweh) saves." The name Emmanuel literally means "God with us."

There are numerous examples of this cool fact in the Bible. Did you know that the Hebrew word for 'man' is Adam?

When the Old Testament says, "son of man," it is really saying, " Son of Adam."

“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him." - Daniel 7:13

The "Son of Man," the Son of Adam, is Jesus. The "Ancient of Days" is God the Father.

There are two lineages of Jesus written in the New Testament. One is found in the Book of Matthew (ch1v1-17). The other is in Luke (ch3v23-38). Matthew's lineage is through Solomon (to Joseph) and the Luke's lineage is through Nathan (to Mary).

Remember now than each person's name in those listings of Jesus' relatives actually means something. What if the meanings of all those names were all written down and read? Would those meanings then tell a story?

Oh, my... Do they ever! And the story is all about Jesus.

I challenge you to watch this video. You will be amazed and blessed by it.

Here's a taste....

He will be a .... 'red man' or 'earth man' (Adam) whose purpose is 'to set something in place' (Seth) He became a 'mortal man' (Enosh) 'to make a nest' (Cainan) 'dedicated' (Enoch) to 'their death' (Methuselah) 'to be low' (Lamech) 'to give 'rest' (Noah) .... and on it goes.

Watch the video....

Lineage of Majesty - Eric Ludy

LORD

There is something uplifting about discovering a new truth in God's Word. It's like being an archaeologist and finding a clue to the location of an ancient lost city. Or like piecing together clues on a treasure map to find hidden treasure!!

The Bible, in its compiled form, has been in this world for nearly 2,000 years. It has been in MY life since I received my first one back in Iowa nearly 60 years ago. The only problem was I never read it. I never read the Bible until I was in my 50's. Perhaps that's one of the reasons I fell away from the faith during college. Sad.

I ran across something interesting the other day, not while reading the Bible, but by reading a book by Tony Evans called Kingdom Man.

About half way through the first chapter there is a sub heading entitled God's Authority. That is where a new truth was revealed to me. Doctor Evans was writing about who God is and why the the Bible is written the way it is, in terms of God's identity. Open your Bibles to the Book of Genesis, Chapter one, verse one.

"In the beginning, God . . ."

Notice how the word God is spelled - capital "G", small "o" and"d." In Hebrew, God, spelled this way, is Elohim, which means "Creator God." God is referred to by the name Elohim while He is creating the universe, the animals, etc. Always spelled G-o-d.

Now skip ahead to when Adam comes onto the scene. Genesis 2, verse 4, after the heading Adam and Eve. How is God referred to in THIS verse? Now God is written of as "LORD God." Now there are two words to describe God and the first one, LORD, is all caps! Why?? What does that mean?

LORD, with all caps, means Yahweh (master and absolute ruler) and we already know that God means Creator. So now God is referred to as not only the Creator but He is Adam's master and absolute ruler.

Things were good in the garden up to this point. God was Adam's master and absolute ruler. Chapter 3 now, verse 1 . . . The Fall.

"Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”"

Did you catch the change? Satan is only referring to God as "the Creator," NOT as his "master and absolute ruler." Satan is not giving God the respect He deserves. So, what else is new, right? But look what happens next in verse 2 & 3.


"2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, . . ."

Oh my . . . Eve has already demoted God, her LORD God, to just a simple G-o-d. God is no longer her "master" or her "absolute ruler." So . . . who is? I'll give you one guess. Satan. And Eve hasn't even taken a bite out of the apple yet!

Eve sinned BEFORE she even did anything! She sinned in her mind and in her heart when she thought of herself before her LORD God. Eve and Satan referred to God as simply the "Creator." They never refer to God as their "master and absolute ruler."

And Adam? He doesn't mention God by name at all. He didn't know what to think it seems. We never, EVER had it right.

Is God simply "God" in your life? The Creator? Or is He "Yahweh Elohim?" - your "Master and Absolute Ruler?"

I wonder. If the New Testament would have been written in Hebrew, would we have seen a translation of "LORD God" when referring to Jesus? As it is, Jesus is referred to simply as "Lord" in the New Testament. Make Him Yahweh Elohim, "absolute ruler" of your life today.

Agnus Dei by Michael W. Smith