Names are very important. They carry your identity and your destiny. Your name connects you to your lineage, history and to your family.
Names are very important. They carry your identity and your destiny. Your name connects you to your lineage, history and to your family. In the Bible, name also connects you to an event, to a person or to a place. Bible names are tied to authority and it reveals intimacy. Names are the core to your very identity. A biblical name could record some aspects of a person’s birth, the parent’s reaction to the birth of their child, and it were sometimes used to secure the solidarity of family ties. Biblical names were also used to communicate God’s message established an affirmation with God and establishes authority over another.
When we choose names, it embodies the characteristics we hoped would be a part of our children’s lives. Sometimes we avoided certain names because they remind us of people we do not want to connect with. Proverbs 22:1 “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold.” Not all names come from God. But all name changes marked a transformation in their lives.
When God created man, he gave him the name Adam, and one of the first jobs he gave Adam was to give names to everything. Whatever you call it that will be the name.
1 Chronicles chapter 4: 9-10 (NIV) “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez saying, “I gave birth to him in pain”. Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me and keep me from harm so that I will be from free from pain.” And God granted his request. Despite our imperfections we are fearfully and wonderfully made by God. Through His grace and strength we can overcome our flaws and live our divine destiny.
There are several people in the Bible whose names were changed. God changed their names because of their purpose and their destiny.
God changed Abram to Abraham (Gen. 17:1:5), Sarai to Sarah (Gen. 17:15), Joseph to Zephenath-Paneah (Gen. 41:45), Jacob to Israel (Gen.32:28), Hoshea to Joshua (Numbers 13:16), Naomi to Mara (Ruth 1:20), Mattanrah to Zebekrah (2 Kings 24:17), Daniel, Hananrah, Misheal and Azarrah names changed to Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Daniel 1:7), Simon to Peter (John 1:42), Saul to Paul (Acts).
Let us look at some of the names God changed in the Bible. The first is Abram, whose name was changed to Abraham (Genesis 17:1-6). The meaning of Abram’s name was “high Father” but when God changed it to Abraham the meaning was “father of a multitude.” At the same time God changed Abraham’s wife’s name from Sarai meaning “my princess” to Sarah which means “mother of nations.” When Abraham was 99 years old the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the almighty God. Obey me and always do what is right…” God said, “I make this covenant with you: I promise that you will be the ancestor of many nations.
Your name will no longer be Abram, but Abraham because I am making you the ancestors of many nations.”
GOD CHANGE YOUR NAME TO CHANGE YOUR DESTINY
When we first read about Abram in Genesis chapter eleven, the whole earth was of one language and of one speech. Abram was a rich landowner who lived in Harran. He had mostly everything he could want except a child.
His wife, Sarai was barren. God’s will overrides his human limitations, and God commanded him to leave his country. “Go from your country, your people, and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you…” (Genesis 12:1-12).
Abram pulled up his stakes, folded his tent, gathered his things, and left home traveling to the land he had never seen before. That is pure faith. Along the way, God gave him some more details about his promises. Abram and Sarai’s desire was to have a child. During another conversation, Abram asked God directly. “Sovereign, Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless?” God’s answer left no room for doubt, disbelief, or a lack of faith. God told Abram, “A son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir” (Genesis 15:4). You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram, your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful, I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.
I will bless her and will surely give you a son from her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations. Kings of people will come from her. God changed their names to change their destiny.
Their new names opened new doors to greater levels. God reaffirmed his promise and blesses the nations because of their faith.
In Genesis (25:24-26) Rebekah was about to give birth to “the time came for her to give birth and she had twin sons the first one was reddish, and his skin was like a heavy hairy robe, so he was named Esau. The second child was born holding on tightly to the heel of Esau, so he was named Jacob.
Jacob meant “supplanter” but God changed his name to Israel which meant “having power with God.” This happened after Jacob had taken Esau’s birthright and stole Esau’s blessing. Jacob fled from his brother to his uncle Laban. There he met and married Leah and Rachel. After leaving Laban and wrestled with the angel of the Lord, he met with his brother once again. Jacob had tricked his brother, been tricked by his angry uncle and finally he tricked his uncle while running from his presence.
Now going through his brother’s territory, he heard that Esau was going to meet him. Jacob was afraid of Esau. That night, Jacob wrestled with a man, who later identified Himself as God and is considered a theophany or a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. Jacob held on to the man and refused to let go until he obtained a blessing. It was at this point that his name was changed from Jacob to Israel. “You will no longer be Jacob. You have struggled with God and with men, and you have won; so, your name will be Israel” (Genesis 32).
Pay special attention to people who change your name to fit their destiny. A name change can rearrange your destiny. When people call you a different name, be prayerful and careful about answering them.
There is an amazing story in the book of Daniel about three young men whose names were changed (Daniel Chapter 3).
Nebuchadnezzar the King made an image of gold and set it up in Dura in the province of Babylon. Whatever time you hear the music, you must fall down and worship the golden image. If you fail to worship the golden image you will be cast into the burning fiery furnace. There were three Hebrew boys brought to Babylon from Israel with their heritage and faith. Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego were the names that King Nebuchadnezzar gave them in Babylon.
There Hebrew names were Hananich (God is gracious), Mishael (There is no one like Jehovah), and Azariah (The Lord has helped). The Hebrew boys were thrown into the burning fire furnace for refusing to bow down and worship a golden image. They knew their heritage and what was right. They only worship Jehovah and no other god will they worship. The king was furious and made an example of them by casting them into the burning furnace. If they had answered to their Babylon name, they may have burned up. However, because they knew their original names, they were saved.
Their names carried a different destiny than what the king saw.
Their original Hebrew names meant God is gracious, there is no one like Jehovah and the Lord has helped. Their names carried their destiny. Their destiny was not to be burnt up in a fiery furnace. Their names carried a greater purpose and mission. Their names had to glorify God and not a king. Their names indicated that the God they served works miracles. Their God would deliver out of the hands of a king.
God used them to change the mind of a king and a nation. Part of their destiny was to change the god king Nebuchadnezzar worshipped. Their message was “There is no God like Jehovah.”
People change other people’s names based on what they see or what they want. You have been given a name that carries a special destiny. Never allow anyone to call you outside your given name. Stop answering to all the cute names people make up about you. Street names will alter your destiny. Hanging around the wrong people or people who disrespect you does not mean you well. Get with the right people who want you to progress, prosper and be productive in life.
Find someone who is willing to mentor you, push you and fight for you to reach your destiny. God created you for a purpose and a specific destiny. What they see doesn’t matter as much as how God sees. God sees in you what you cannot see in yourself. God knows your future and in the end you win. Remember, destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice.
My wife and I were recalling how we first met. We had two totally different destinies. I was born in the country of Trinidad and Tobago and she was born in America. I wanted to be a pilot and she wanted to be a registered nurse. God allowed me to attend college in Daytona Beach, Florida, and delayed my wife from going to Harvard University in Massachusetts. The only reason she did not go was because her grandfather was sick.
She wanted to stay around him a little longer. Her destiny was delayed so that God’s plan and purpose could be fulfilled. We would have never connected, and our destinies would not have been if God did not permit these series of events to occur. Sometimes we do not understand why things happen.
A delayed decision can cause you to connect to the right destiny. That is why the Bible said “All things work together for your good.”
A simple dinner desire caused me to connect to my lifelong destiny. When I consider the series of events, if one piece of God’s plan was not in place I could have missed my destiny. If Sharlene was not working, I would not have connected. If I wanted something else to eat, I would have missed my destiny.
I had no idea that her father was a pastor. I grew up with a different belief system and did not know Jesus as my personal Savior. When we started dating, I attended their church and gave my life to Jesus Christ. I would have not been saved had it not been for my wife. Again, God delayed her destiny to connect my destiny so His will could be fulfilled. This year we have been married almost 40 years and have been in ministry just as long. We have seen the hands of God working miracles in the lives of so many people. Divine healings, supernatural breakthroughs and souls surrendering to Jesus Christ as the gospel is being preached.
God can connect, rearrange, and rewrite your destiny so that you can live a victorious life in Christ Jesus. When God changed your name, he makes a new covenant concerning your future. Then He changes your future so that He can change your destiny.
In the New Testament, several people’s names were changed which included Simon and Saul. Written in the sacred pages of the Word of God is the story of Simon Peter. Jesus changed Simon’s name meaning “God has heard,” to Peter meaning “Peter” which means “Rock.”
He first called Simon as a disciple in John (1:42). It was Peter who declared that Jesus was “The Messiah,” the son of the living God. Jesus replied to him as “Simon son of Jonah,” saying that he was blessed because God revealed Jesus identity to him. He then referred to “Peter” as the “Rock” on which He would build His church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Peter is often seen as the leader of the disciples. Jesus changed his name to give him a new start and a new destiny.
Remember hidden in your name is a detailed description of your destiny. In other words your destiny is locked up in your name. Changing your name can change your destiny. God will sometimes change your name to realign you with his purpose. Revelation (2:17) “….and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.”
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe said “A man’s name is not like a mantle which merely hangs about him, and which one perchance may safely twitch and pull, but a perfectly fitting garment, which, like the skin, has grown over him, at which one cannot rake and scrape without injuring the man himself.”
God loves you and no matter what you go through in life, he created you, and put you on this people planet so that humanity can benefit from your gifting, ability, and purpose. Let nothing stop you from fulfilling the plans of God. You can do all things through Christ Jesus that strengthens you. Your destiny awaits your arrival.
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