What's In A Name?

What is it that belongs to you but others use it more often than you?

The answer is your name. Our name is that formal noun that we are to be known, addressed and referred to.

Have you heard that some jurisdictions have banned the name "Lucifer" and "Adolf Hitler" ? This was after someone named their children "Violence" and "Number 16 Bus Shelter".

How about being named Ben-Oni, Son of My Trouble? This was the case of Jacob's youngest when the mother was dying of childbirth. Jacob, whose birth name means usurper/ deceiver, decided that he would not want the same name-calling fate he was a victim of for his baby. He over-ruled the dying mom’s wishes and named the baby boy Benjamin, Son of My Right Hand, instead.

It is no coincidence that Jacob himself was finally renamed prior to Benjamin's birth. After Jacob's epic wrestling match, gone were the days of Jacob the usurper. According to the Angel of the Lord (a theophany according to Biblical scholars), Jacob will now be known as "Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome."

Naming a new born child is one of the greatest privileges of being a dad. If one can recall, naming animals and even members of his own family was Adam's first managerial task in the Garden of Eden. When Adam named Eve, it was not just attaching a label but a declaration of origin, purpose and destiny (Gen. 2:23, Gen. 3:20). Imagine setting up not just a label but direction, purpose and destiny on someone's life even before the person can accomplish or prove anything?

I named my children after the three eternal virtues- Jarlene Faith, Charis Agape (Greek for Love) and Katherine Hope. Each second name a declaration that they are that virtue incarnate and personified. I will be writing more about Jarlene's name in the coming posts.

You can find below a video I made about Katherine. Basically it is the same declaration I was making as she was seeing the first light in the hospital two weeks ago:

"Katherine Hope- reach the summit of mountains of influence, pull down heaven's hope, kingdom & His love to this earth"

How about my good friends Bernard, Ariel and Lester who truly exercised their Adamic mandate in naming their new babies. Kudos to them too!

By the way, you might have already guess that my name Joseph means He Adds. It was a declaration Rachel  (yes the same Rachel that died giving birth to Benjamin) gave when she finally had a son. One of the very first prophecy of a woman in the book of Genesis. We'll my mom will insist that I was named after my grandfather, I will also take that blessing any time!

He Graciously Adds Hope- Josh