Section (3) of Ch.6. (The Power of a Parent’s Blessing)

What’s In a Name ?

 

 A third way children can be blessed or cursed at the time of birth is through the impartation of a meaningful name. A good name will contain character qualities as hint at the child’s destiny. In Hebrew culture there is traditionally a ceremony eight days after a child’s birth during which the parents, after seeking the Lord, impart a meaningful name to the child.

 There is a Hebrew saying that goes, “You can‘t really know a man until you know his name.” Why? Because his name contains his character and sometimes a job description. Wouldn‘t it be amazing if you received your adult job description eight days after birth? This is how it was for many people we encounter in the Bible. In contrast, I encounter many Christians who are not certain what they are supposed to do with their lives even at age forty, fifty, or sixty.

Many times we do not know what the names we use in Western culture even mean. Bob, Sue, and Sam have rich meaning in their original languages, but too often parents choose these names without knowing what that meaning is.

It is interesting to note that in the Book of Daniel the first thing the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar wanted to do when he inducted the four Hebrew young men into his service was to change their names. Their Hebrew names directly connected them to the service of Yahweh, the God of Israel. The king wanted to break that connection and link them by name to the service of his idolatrous gods.

Daniel in Hebrew means “Yahweh is my lawgiver or judge.” The king changed his name to Belteshazzar, which means “the one who serves Baal.” Likewise the names fo the other three Hebrew men were changed to break their allegiance to Yahweh and establish their service to Babylonian gods.

 

 Something similar happened to the last son Jacob had with his wife, Rachel. She died in childbirth, but before she passed awy, she named her son Ben-oni, which means “son of my sorrow.” After her death Jacob named his son Benjamin, which means “son of my right hand.” Jacob changed his son’s name from a curse to a blessing. He said in essence, “You are not a son of sorrow. This is not what you shall be known for. You are the son of my right hand.”

The name Jesus in Hebrew is Yeshua. This name actually means, “The Lord [Yahweh] is salvation.” This name is quite descriptive of Jesus’ assignment as an adult – He came to bring the Lord’s salvation to all mankind. His job description was in His name.

 

 One last potent example is that of Elijah. This name means “Yahweh is God.” In Elijah’s day Israel had been at war with a land to the north called Phoenicia. To finally reach a peace accord, they agreed to marry each other’s royalty. So the king of Phoenicia, a man named Eth-baal, made the deal with Ahab, the king of Israel. As you may have figured out, Eth-baal means “servant of Baal.”

Eth-baal had a daughter named Jezebel. She also served Baal, the god of her father, and when she became Israel’s queen, she had one primary purpose in her mind: to trun the nation of Israel from worshipping Yahweh to worshipping Baal. So the message Jezebel continually promoted throughout the land was “Baal is God.”

This is the situation Elijah faced. Fortunately his parents sought the Lord to discover what they should name him, and God told them to give him the name Elijah, which means “Yahweh is God.” When Elijah became a prophet in adulthood, his prophetic message was “Yahweh is God.” His job was to proclaim his name throughout the land and turn the nation back to Yahweh.

 

 To Jezebel, Elijah’s very name was an affront. Every time the name Elijah was spoken, it was a declaration that Baal is not God, but Yahweh is God. Even when Elijzh was a little boy, every time his parents called his name, they were burning into his young soul his prophetic calling. Is it any wonder that in his early adulthood Elijzh stood in Mount Carmel and confronted the prophets of Baal about the identity of the one true God? He slew 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the Asherah while proclaiming his message, which simply was his name (1 Kings 18). I believe the confidence to single-handedly defeat the prophets of Baal and turn the nation of Israel back to Yahweh was in the blessing imparted to Elijah in his name at birth.

On the other hand there are many today whose parents arbitrary choose names for them. I remember hearing about a neighbor boy who loved our family dog so much he gave his firstborn daughter the same name. There was nothing wrong with the name itself, but what a heritage to give a child! Can you imagine ever trying to explain to your daughter that shs was named after a dog you knew while growing up?

 

Potential Cursing Through Birth Trauma

 

 A fourth way the identity of a child may be cursed or blessed at birth is through physical trauma or the lack thereof. In general, a child is blessed when the birth is uneventful and trauma-free. This protects the child from growing up with irrational fears and phobias.

Certainly no mother plans for trauma during birth. Yet I mention this because sometimes fears, phobias, and compulsions are rooted in traumatic birth experiences. I have ministered to various people who have struggled with an irrational fear of choking on food or being in tight, restricted places. When we have asked the Lord to expose the time or events through which the deep emotional lie was imparted, many times He has shown us that the enemy took advantage of birth trauma to impart an irrational fear.

 

 The Bible tells us in Heb. 2:14-15 that the devil uses the “fear of death” to keep people subject to slavery (bondage) all the days of their lives. Thus many compulsive habits and bondages found in adulthood are rooted in a deep fear of death established at birth. Some of the results of a fear of death imparted at birth include fear of choking, fear of flying, irrational fear of being killed, inability to properly bond with mother, learning difficulties, and craving for physical contact.

 

God‘s Protective Measure In Ancient Hebrew Culture

 

 I have observed three protective customs that God established in ancient Hebrew culture to ensure children received His message of identity and destiny at the time of birth.

 

1. The entire community and extended family anticipated the birth of the child with joy and made the birth a priority.

 

2. The family and entire community held a celebration in honor of the child’s arrival on the eighth day after birth. At this 

    time both the rabbi and the parents imparted a spiritual blessing to the child.

 

3. The parents sought the Lord for a meaningful name imbedded with the child’s identity and destiny, and they imparted

    that name to the child at the celebration.

 

 The birth of a child in ancient Hebrew culture was considered a major event. On the eighth day there would be a blessing imparted by both the parents and a spiritual authority. The rabbi would come and bless the child. If the infant were a boy, the covenant of Abraham would be established through circumcision. That boy would then bear a physical mark in his body that declares, “You are not like everybody else. There’s something unique about you, something special. You are a Jew. You are inextricably connected by covenant to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – and don’t you ever forget it! Don’t you ever live like those who have no covenant!”

 

 If the child were a girl, there was no circumcision, but still a party was given to welcome the new family member. A name would still be imparted and a prophetic blessing pronounced over her. Since everyone considered children a blessing from the Lord, they stopped what they were doing to celebrate the arrival of the new family member on the eighth day. I’ve always thought of this sort of as God’s “Welcome Wagon.”

In contrast, many parents today don’t recognize their responsibility to bless, dedicate to God, and impart a meaning-

ful name to their child. They simply take the child to a priest, pastor, or rabbi and leave it to the clergy to dedicate the child to God. Unfortunately the pastor will not stand before God to account for the impartation of identity and destiny to your child. You the parent will. The pastor’s job is to equip the saints for the work of service, not to do the work of service for them (Eph. 4:11-13).

 

 In ancient Hebrew culture there was almost no chance that a child would not be blessed at birth. How different is our culture today! The chances that a child would not be blessed at birth is significant since we don’t have the same protective measures that God placed in Hebrew culture to ensure that every child would be blessed at birth.