HAS YOUR NAME BEEN CHANGED?
By Pastor Jim May
All through the Bible there are lists of names called genealogies. Since we do not believe that there are any accidents in the placing of these names, I thought it might be interesting to see what a few of them would tell us.
Every name in the Bible carried with it a meaning. Most of us in the modern world, especially in western society, are not concerned with naming our children with names that carry any significant meaning. We name our kids after grandma or grandpa, or maybe some aunt or uncle. We might name them something whimsical, like “Wind song”, or musical, like Octave, or maybe after some other person, place or thing that left an impression upon us. Thus we have genealogies in our modern families that contain names that carry no underlying meaning or message.
It was not so in the times when the Bible was written. Just about every name in the Old Testament, not only carried a meaning with that name, but when the Holy Spirit inspired men to write down their genealogy, those names not only made a statement within themselves but when combined with other names often told a story of great significance.
Most people never get deep enough into the study of the Bible to recognize this but the message of a coming Redeemer was hinted from the very beginning of Genesis. God’s plan was already underway when man was created. In the mind of God, all of human history, and the beginning of the eternal kingdom was already a completed task.
As you look at the Book of Genesis, chapter 4 you will see one such genealogy listed. It is the genealogy of Noah, and it begins with the very first man, Adam.
Genesis 1:27, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."
Here we see the start of God’s plan for a redeemed people who will serve Him of willingly and worship Him from their heart. That’s all God wanted from the very beginning. He wanted a creation that would want Him in return. He wanted a creation that had the power to choose, and would choose to love God for who He is and glorify Him because He is God.
But God was not to be fooled by this creature called man. God knew of the inherit dangers of giving mankind the power to choose to serve Him or not, and He knew that man would choose to rebel.
That’s why God named the first man Adam. Adam’s name meant “earthy, or red” and God knew that this man Adam was made of flesh from the dust of the earth, and as such he would be susceptible to the same corruption that the earth would endure after the fall in the Garden. Adam’s nature would fall from one of God’s perfect creation, possessing eternal life, to an earthy nature, preferring the works of darkness, and needing the red blood of a sacrifice to bring him back into relationship with God.
God created Eve out of the side of Adam. In a sense showing that his love for man would not allow man to remain under the sentence of death, but that life would come from the side of the pierced Savior one day. Eve’s name meant, “living”, for from her womb would come the first of the race of living human beings, all bearing the same image of God, that would fill the earth. God’s love for His creation allowed the earth to be filled with people until the time of Noah’s Flood. It has been estimated that there were as many as seven billion people on the earth at the time of the flood. There is no doubt that there were at least many millions.
Adam & Even bore two sons at first. The first was Cain, whose name meant “possession or possessed”, because his birth proved that God had given man the power to procreate and possess the earth. The problem was that Cain also was possessed by a spirit of rebellion against God, inherited from his father, Adam.
Then came Abel, whose name meant “vanity, breath, vapor, or mourning”. Who can doubt that Abel fulfilled his name’s meaning for his life was just a vapor that appeared for a while and was gone like a breath. The vanity and pride of Cain had caused him to kill Abel and now the first family on earth was cast into mourning over the loss of their second son at the hand of their first son.
As we look at these names let’s look at their meaning and see what God was saying as their names were listed. Placing the names in order and adding their meaning to a sentence give us this message:
Earthy living possessed vanity, vapor, breath and mourning.
Is there any doubt that God was not trying to tell us exactly what was happening before it happened? Nothing of the fall in the Garden was a surprise to God and He already had a plan in action to restore man to his place of honor in the Kingdom of God.
The generations of Cain continually went downhill. Their murdering father was the first of many that eventually led them so far from God that they went about as low as man can go into rebellion. Cain lost out with God and then caused several generations to follow him into the depths of rebellion.
Genesis 4:16-24, "And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech. And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. And his brother’s name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah. And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold."
The last in this line tell the whole story of Cain’s family. Lamech was the last to be named here and his name meant, “poor or made low”. This family tree had been made about as low as it could go. There was no mention of God here anymore, only a dedication to earthy things.
Then in Genesis 4:25-26 the Bible says, "And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD."
Adam and Eve’s third son was named Seth. His name meant, “Fixed”. God had mercy on Adam and Eve and gave them another son to replace Abel and in a sense, fixed their grief and continued their family tree.
Seth then had a son and named him Enos, whose name meant “mortal man, sick, despaired of; or forgetful”
The scripture then says in Genesis 4:26, “…then began men to call upon the name of the Lord”.
This has a double meaning that can only be caught if you have a chance to study the old manuscripts and or learn from some Bible Scholars what is really being said.
I’ve been taught, or at least I understood this scripture to mean that mankind did not begin to worship God until after Enos came along. Now that may true to some extent, because families were growing larger and perhaps larger groups were coming together to worship in a specific place.
But it goes another way as well. Many scholars have pointed out that this is actually talking about the beginning of idolatry in mankind.
One scholar has explained it this way:
“In the days of Enos the sons of Adam erred with great error, and the counsel of the wise men of that age became brutish, and Enos himself was one of them that erred; and their error was this: they said, Forasmuch as God hath created these stars and spheres to govern the world, and set them on high, and imparted honor unto them, and they are ministers that minister before him; it is meet that men should laud, and glorify, and give them honor. For this is the will of God, that we magnify and honor whomsoever he magnifieth and honoureth; even as a king would have them honored that stand before him, and this is the honor of the king himself.
When this thing was come up into their hearts they began to build temples unto the stars, and to offer sacrifice unto them, and to laud and glorify them with words, and to worship before them, that they might in their evil opinion obtain favor of the Creator; and this was the root of idolatry.”
In time there stood up false prophets among the sons of Adam who created idols out of the stars in the sky. Then they began to make images and place them into temples with groves of trees, or on the top of a mountain for all men to see. This idolatry was scattered over all the earth and as a result, the name of God was forgotten. No man spoke God’s name anymore and the knowledge of Him was gone from the heart and mind of man.
But I don’t want to leave us in this hopeless condition of sin and darkness. This was the evil that prevailed over the whole world when Noah came upon the scene.
Jesus told us in Luke 17:26, "And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man."
There were some very strange things going on in the days of Noah and I think we should be aware of them because those very same things will likely be happening before Jesus comes again and you and I my see some of it before the church is raptured out of the earth.
Genesis 6:1-6, "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart."
Who were these “Sons of God”? They were beings, created by God and not by man, who fell from their place of honor, and began to intermarry with earthy women. The offspring of these unions created giants in the land who were known for their great power and size. What kind of wickedness can prevail when fallen angels unite with fallen man to create their own brand of corrupted children. Angels can interact with humans if they desire. The Bible says that they don’t marry, but it doesn’t say that they can’t marry. The angels of Heaven don’t marry because they are wholly dedicated to living a holy life and serving a Holy God. The same may not be true for fallen angels.
Whether this will be happening in these last days or not, I cannot say. But it is something to think about when you consider that the Antichrist will be a son of the devil, an imitation of the Son of God.
I am so glad that Genesis 6:8-9 are in the Bible after all of the evil that mankind has created. It says, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God."
Thank God for His mercy and grace. I need it. You need it. All of fallen man needs it. Without the grace of God there would be no hope for any of us.
Let us look for a moment at the genealogy of Noah and see what message is contained in the names of his family tree.
In the 5th Chapter of Genesis we find the generations of Noah listed. One of them, “Enoch”, the father of Methuselah, was taken into Heaven. It is encouraging to see that someone could walk so close to God that God would just allow him to step right over into the Heavenly realm while he was taking a walk down the road.
Let me also say that this was a type of the rapture of the church. There are only two men who have ever been “raptured”. One was Enoch and the other was Elijah. Enoch was raptured halfway between Adam and Abraham, and Elijah was raptured halfway between Abraham and the coming of Jesus as the Messiah in Bethlehem.
In each instance, it was only a single “body”, one man, who was taken out of the midst of untold millions of people on planet earth. It’s going to be the same with the next rapture as well. Only “one body”, the “Body of Christ”, the “Bride of Christ”, without spot, wrinkly or blemish, will be the only “body” raptured the next time as well. Are you a part of that “one body” that will go to Glory?
What about the names of Noah’s generations? What did their names have to say to us? Did they give us a hint of what was to come?
The first of Noah’s generations was named Cainan who was the son of Seth. His name meant, “possessor; purchaser”. Next in order came these names, Mahaleleel, whose name meant, “praising God”. Jared, whose name meant, “a ruling; commanding; coming down”. Then Enoch, whose name meant “dedicated; disciplined”. No wonder he was raptured! Then came Methuselah, the oldest man who ever lived at 969 years. His name meant, “who demands his death”. Then came Lamech, whose name meant, “poor; made low”. Then came Noah, and his name meant “repose; consolation”.
If we were to place all of their names in a sentence it would read something like this:
The possessor or purchaser, who was praising God and who was a ruler and commander, would come down. He would be dedicated and disciplined, but his death would be demanded. He would become poor and made lower than his original position. But he would repose, or rest, from his labor and then consolation would be for all men.
Aren’t you glad for a God in Heaven, your Heavenly Father, who has it all under control! Nothing has escaped his view. Nothing interferes with his plans.
My name may not carry any real significance while here on this earth, but my new name is written down in Glory and that’s what really counts. One day soon we are going to go the way of Enoch and Elijah. Are you ready for that day? Is your name written down in Glory?
If you are going to be a part of the next “body” that is raptured out of this earthy place, it means that you are going to have to identify with Enoch by being dedicated and disciplined. I want to be a part of that body, and I certainly want to be a part of the genealogy in Book of Life in Heaven.
