They Called Him Jesus

Advent Day 20

Judges 5:1-31 (The Song of Deborah)

Luke 2:21 ESV

Luke 1:26-33 ESV

In many families names mean something special. 

I vividly remember how my children came to be called by their name. 

That’s because when I carried them in my womb, I had a dream about the child and the child had a name. That also meant I knew the sex of the child.

My daughter’s name means ‘protector of humanity’ and she is definitely a protector. 

My sons all have Hebrew names that have a specific meaning that is accurate to their character and personality. Of course, I did not know that when they were born.

A problem with my dreams and naming my children came about when I was expecting my fourth child. 

I dreamed I had a girl and her name was Angela which means ‘messenger of God’.

My oldest child is a girl and after she was born I had two sons. I was happy about having another girl, but I would have been happy with another son as well.

Then, while I was still in my first trimester I starting having problems that I’d never encountered before. I prayed about it (because I am a pray-er). I miscarried the child. 

I was terribly confused and I grieved the loss of the child. 

My OBGYN advised me to take time to heal because my oldest three children were born in three years. I took his advise. 

Eventually I did conceive again and I had a third son. He is four years younger than my third child. 

While I do not exactly know why I lost my fourth child, I do believe I will see her again. 

I have to admit that when I had dreams about my children and I was told what their name would be, I had no idea what their name meant. They were all born in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s and we didn’t have the resources we have today. (It’s hard to imagine life without the internet). 

At the time my children were given a name it was because that’s what their name was in the dream I had about the child. 

Today, I am amazed that the meaning of their name is so very fitting to each of them! God knew exactly who they would BE even before they were born!

Names have always meant something to the Hebrew people.

My name, Deborah means ‘bee’ and is the name of one of the early Judges in Israel. She was known for being a poetess and for liberating the Hebrew people from the Canaanites. The Song of Deborah can be found in Judges 5:1-31. 

There were many girls named Debra when I was growing up but not many that spelled it Deborah. 

We learn in Luke 2:21, “And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.”

The boy born in a manger in Bethlehem to Mary and Joseph was named Jesus which means ‘the Lord is Salvation’. We know from Luke 1:26-33, “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

The Angel told Mary she would have a son and she was to name Him Jesus and he will be called the Son of the Most High. 

The point is that names mean something to God. Each name is important to God. Your name is important to God. 

Another way of saying that is, you are important to God. 

Even before You were born, God knew You. That’s because God is Omnipresent. According to Merriam-Webster that means, “present in all places at all times”.

While it’s difficult for a human to comprehend that at the same time God can be present in the past, in the present, and in the future, that is exactly how God is in time. 

God knew you before you were created. God knows you in this moment, and in this instant God knows you in the future. 

Regardless of how we view it, God sees everything at the same time. It’s a conundrum. 

The good news is that we don’t have to understand it. We can simply ask God what can be revealed and let God be God. 

Spiritual Practice: Ask God

Ask God to reveal truth to you.

In God, Deborah

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