Names in scripture are very important. Parents selected names based on what was happening at the time or what they hoped for a child. We still see this today as we scour the baby name book for meanings so we can pick just the right name for our baby. Even in our culture, changing your name is a major decision and usually occurs for a reason. In Genesis 17 we read how God uses a name change to signify an important change in someone’s life.
Abram to Abraham
In Genesis 12 Abram meets with God and God promised to make him into a great nation through his offspring. Abram and Sarai wait for a child. However, since this promise takes too long to fulfill and seems impossible anyways because of Sarai’s advanced age, they take matters into their own hands and Abram has a child by Hagar.
Thirteen years later in Genesis 17, God comes to reinstate his promise to Abram. He tells Abram that his attempt to work it out on his own through Ishmael was not good enough. God himself will do what seems impossible and provide an heir through Abram and Sarai. God then changes Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah. Abram means ‘exhalted father’ and Abraham means ‘father of many’ and Sarai and Sarah both mean princess.
Another Significant Name Change
In case you missed it there is another name change in Genesis 17. This passage reveals a new name of God. In verse 1 God calls himself El Shaddai (most English translations say God Almighty). This is pretty significant because until this point in scripture God is known as Elohim, one who has soverign, creative power. In fact, “Until the time of Moses, when another divine name was revealed, the patriarchs considered El Shaddai the covenant name of God” * (Spangler, 2009). In calling his name El Shaddai, God is revealing something new about himself.
El Shaddai
LORD Almighty
One who has life and pours it out;
life giver; savior; rescuer
To demonstrate that Elohim is El Shaddai, giver of life, he promises Abraham that Sarah his wife would have a son within a year. Reading forward to Genesis 21 we see that Isaac was born a year later. Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90. Only El Shaddai can give an elderly couple a child.
My friend wrote a wonderful blog post if you would like to learn more about the meaning of El Shaddai. In it he said that God added an H to Abram and Sarai’s names so they would always remember that God is El Shaddai.
Name Change=Life Change
After Abraham’s name change you can see evidence that his life changed as well. In Genesis 22 he is tested again and is faithful. The change that happend in Abraham’s life is an example of the change that happens when we come to know Jesus.
In my own life, before I bowed my knee and gave my life to Christ, I was trying to serve God on my own terms. I was interpreting what I knew and trying to work things out in my own strength, like Abram with Hagar. My efforts were doomed to failure because I had not met El Shaddai, the one who gives me life. Jesus told Nicodemus in John chapter 3 that we must be born again, we must be born of “water and the Spirit”. One of the first verses I ever learned about this was also written by John.
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
1 John 5:11
Jesus died so we might have life and he shares it with all who will come just like he shared it with me. Like Abraham, I needed to know God as El Shaddai. I needed him to rescue me and give me new life. Now that I have the life of El Shaddai I can walk by faith in his plan for me like Abraham did. I now have the power to obey and serve Him. Praise El Shaddai who gives life!
*Spangler, Ann. (2009) The Names of God. Zondervan
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