But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: “ Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. Isaiah 43: 1, NKJV.
Merciful God, we are thankful that You have a name for each of Your children. Please show us our name, as we study Your Word, and by Your grace, please help us to live in accordance with Your name for us. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Today, and for a few days, we will continue with our devotional study, He Called Me by My Name. We will be studying briefly, the names of some Bible characters, and see if we can find similarities between their names and their characters, and behaviors. The first name we will look at is that of Hagar. We know that it is of Semitic origin, but we do not know exactly what it means. A look at some of the root verbs that resemble the name suggests these meanings: “Flight” “The Sojourner” “The Dragged Away One” (One Hour Translation).
But let us look at the way God called her. “Now the Angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. And He said, ‘ “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?” ‘ She said, ‘ “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” ‘ God called her by the only name she apparently knew, “Hagar.” Then He addressed her position, or status, “Sarai’s maid.”
Some of us would have called her, Sarai’s maid. God called her by her name. To many people, we are what we do. (I realize that I am repeating myself in some areas. This is intentional.) If you work for someone, you are that person’s maid. To God, we are individuals with a future. I do not know who gave her the name Hagar. I believe God gave her another name, perhaps known only to her and God. But in the meanwhile, He called her by the only name that she knew. Maybe if He had called her by the special name that He had for her, she would not have responded, because the only name she knew was Hagar.
Remember I said yesterday, that some of our names are “one or two-words prophesies?” Well, I like to think that while God was speaking to Hagar, He was changing her name, by prophesying upon her and her unborn child. Let us listen to some of the prophetic conversation:
“Then the Angel of the LORD said to her, ‘ “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” ‘ And the Angel of the LORD said to her: ‘ “ Behold, you are with child, and you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has heard your affliction” ‘ ” (10, 11). “Today you are Hagar, the one who is fleeing. You are a sojourner. You are considered, the dragged away one. But according to “the plans I have for you,” (Jeremiah 29: 11), you will have a future. I will make you a ‘mother of multitudes.’
I am so glad that we have a just God, who calls us by our names, our real names!
We will continue.