THE NAME GAME (Genesis 29-30)

Finally the Patriarchs had children. Children in abundance. Twelve sons and at least one daughter, enough, in fact,  to found the 12 Tribes of Israel. 

But who named them?

The question is not an idle one. God changed Abram's name to Abraham. He told Abraham to name his son Isaac, and He changed Jacob's name to Israel. 

With Jacob, the training period of the Patriarchs came to an end.  One of the first responsibilities He left to them was choosing names for their children. Jacob, in turn, let his wives choose. And oh, what names they came up with: names full of joy and hope, rivalry and tension, man and God. Consider:

• Judah - Praise God
• Levi - Connect with my husband
• Asher - Happy
• Dan - Vindication

Including the poignant names of Rachel's two sons, Joseph, "May God add another son to me," and Ben-oni, "son of my pain," on her deathbed. (Jacob changed Ben-oni to Benjamin, son of my good fortune.)

My son and daughter-in-law waited until after my grandson was born to choose his name: Isaiah Jaran Franklin. My son said "Our prayer is that he will grow up to cry out (Jaran) 'The Lord is salvation' (Isaiah) so that all may be free men (Franklin)." I love it!

Jordan's (granddaughter's name) is equally thoughtful. Born nine months after my daughter Jolene's death, she was given Jolene's initials and her middle name: Jordan Elizabeth Franklin. Her birth was a life-affirming gift from God in the midst of grief, and her name reflects that.

Like Abram and Jacob, God has chosen a new name for all of His children (Revelation 2:17). 

What name did your parents choose for you? What name(s) did you choose for your children? How does the name reflect on you, your personality, the circumstances of your birth? What name would you choose for yourself? 

TWISTS AND TURNS (Genesis 27-28)

Today I read the passages where Jacob stole Esau's birthright, fled Canaan in fear for his life, and received a vision of a ladder reaching up to heaven. 

The sense I received in reading this passage was that the covenant God gave Abraham hinged on Jacob. Isaac asked God to pass the blessing on to Jacob, before he left on his journey. Jacob recognized that he had a choice to make. After the vision of the ladder, he said he would call God his God if He did everything He promised.

God's plan to bless the world through Abraham's descendants hinged on a series of events beginning in Rebekah's womb and lasting for years to come. What a complex, human, personal twisting and turning of God's plan to benefit all of mankind took through Isaac and Jacob.

God knew all of that. . .and He risked it anyway.

It makes me wonder where the twists and turns of my journey will lead. I'm no Abraham nor Jacob. But God has plans for me and my influence beyond the confines of the nursing home. Only He knows how long and how far my life--and yours--will reach.