What’s In A Name?

Nicknames have always been a staple in the workplace. And while a few of them were derogatory I have found that the majority of them were quite funny and quite poignant. One well known guy was nicknamed “The Stabiliser”. This was on account of his feet having a pronounced “out-turn”. They were nearly 180 degrees wide when he stood up. Another famous guy was nicknamed “Wingnut” on account of his ears sticking out like a wingnut. It was said of one other guy who had a limp that he had a short leg and an even shorter one.

I remember one guy I worked with was called “Wire-Neck” on account of having bits of metal clamped to his neck after an operation on his vertebrae. He was in a traffic accident in his younger days and had to have his spine stapled together.

“The Hat” just generally referred to anyone who was a manager on account that historically they wore Bowler hats or any other type of hat that distinguished them from the ordinary workers.

But it wasn’t just people who had nicknames. It was locations, too. One factory that I worked in had an area called “The Deep End”. It was an area where the older men sat at teabreak and debated the meanings of life, etc. Some offices had their generic nicknames too. The main corridor through many office blocks was sometimes known as “Royal Avenue”, named after the main road through our city. The board room was usually named after one of the luxury hotels in a town and one engineering office was known as “Carpetland” because it was where workmen went to look for engineers to sort a problem out.

And that’s where we found a lot of workplace humour that made life that little bit more humorous.

Names play a very important part in Hebrew life. Everything, people and places, that is given a name has a meaning. Even God was known by several names at different times all through the Old Testament.

In Genesis ch1 v1 the very first occurrence of God’s name in the ancient manuscripts reveal His name to be El’o’Heem. By the time we get to Exodus ch3 v2 with Moses and the “bush which burned but was not consumed” we find that God’s name was JeHoVah.

And sometimes God’s name was combined with another ancient word to show a particular aspect of His character. In Genesis ch22 v1 He is known as JeHoVah-Jireh which means “The Lord will provide”. And in the Book of The Judges ch6 v24 His name is revealed as JeHoVah-Shalom – “God is our Peace”.

In Genesis ch17 v5 we find that God has changed abram’s name. “…Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee…”.

And God changed Jacob’s name in Genesis ch32 v28 “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel…”

Pharoah’s daughter chose a particular name for Moses. Exodus ch2 v10 “And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. So she called his name Moses, saying, "Because I drew him out of the water."  (It’s interesting to note that the name “Moses” was an Egyptian name. Not a Hebrew one).

And by the time we get to the New Testament God’s name is revealed as Jesus, which is more properly rendered JeHoShua – JeHoVah-Saves. Matthew ch1 v21 tells us “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins”.

This is the ultimate name that God has revealed to us by which we may know Him. Philippians ch2 v9-11 reads (9) Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, (10) that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,  (11) and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Jesus. Name above all names.
Beautiful Saviour. Glorious Lord.
Emmanuel. God is with us.
Blessed Redeemer. The Living Word.


El-Shaddai, El-Shaddai. El-Elyon na Adonai.
Age to age, You're still the same by the power of the name
El-Shaddai, El-Shaddai. Erkamka na Adonai.
We will praise and lift You high, El-Shaddai.

© Amy Grant.

So, when we read about Jesus it helps to remember that these accounts remind us of a long historic line of God’s name. The name by which we are redeemed and kept. Amen.

Location: United Kingdom

Comments

Post a Comment

Like

Popular posts from this blog

The Voyage To The Unknown

In fourteen hundred and ninety two. Columbus sailed the ocean blue. He had three ships and left from Spain; He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain. And so the poem by Jean Marzollo goes. It’s a glamourous and fantastical poem about what was a dangerous and hastily threw together journey. I was listening to a sermon by my favourite online preacher when he spoke of Christopher Columbus. He said…..               When he set out, he didn’t know where he was going.                When he got there, he didn’t know where he was.               When he got home, he didn’t know where he’d been. Our “faith journey” as a Christian is very much like that. Everything starts out at some point in our lives. And we do the things that we do to join in with other Christians and churches. But most of the time our journey leads us on twists, turns and detours that we coul...
Read more

Welcome to St. Goldilocks.

The vast majority of us have heard of the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. And we all know the story of how Goldilocks was walking through the forest when she spied a cabin and went inside. Then the main plot of the story begins. As Goldilocks tried out the porridge, the chair and the bed there was always one that was far too uncomfortable or too cold, one that was not too comfortable or too hot and one that was just right. This story has given rise to something referred to as the “Goldilocks Zone”. It refers to an optimum area where everything is in balance and not too extreme. A comfort zone, if you will. Astronomers refer to our planet’s orbit as being in the Goldilocks zone. Too close to the sun and we would burn up. Too far away from the sun and we would freeze. Some businesses use the Goldilocks theory as a model and balance for their workplaces. Their dilemma is either too many workers but not enough work, or too much work and not enough workers. So the management try to...
Read more

Built In A Hurry.

Many years ago I worked on building site which was building high-end houses. Very expensive, very large and fitted out with all the latest materials. A certain customer walked into the company’s offices one day and asked to see a plan of the new house being built. The builder showed him the plans which showed the various road layouts and where each house would be built on each road. The customer pointed to one of the buildings and said that he wanted to buy that particular house and that he wanted construction to start on it right away. The house couldn’t be built right away as the roadway hadn’t been constructed nor any of the other dwellings built yet. The customer said that he had the cash and that he could pay in full right away. And so the builder started work. The roadway was laid first and the various water, electrical and communication cables were all laid. Within a few days the roadway was built and the ground site cleared to start laying the foundations. After they were layed...
Read more