Biblical Names

So continuing to read through Nehemiah, I came to the chapter where the names of those that committed to help with the rebuilding of the wall are mentioned which is important!Us
 ing the Expositor's Bible Commentary, I have been able to uncover the meanings behind the names of the characters involed. I found an excellent article that explained why names were different in Bible times as far as the meaning being significant. Please see the following which is a direct quote from a Christian leader named  Wes Woodell entitled " The Significane of  Names in the Bible:

. . . a biblical name could record some aspects of a person’s birth. Moses was given his name because his mother drew him out of a river (Exodus 2:10). His name literally means “to draw out. . . ." 

Biblical names sometimes expressed the parents’ reaction to the birth of their child. Examples include Isaac (Genesis 21:6) which means “laughter”, and Abimelech (Judges 8:31) which means “my father is king.”

Biblical names were sometimes used to secure the solidarity of family ties. An example of this is found in Luke 1:59 when John the Baptist was nearly given the name of his father.

Biblical names could be used to communicate God’s message. The prophet Isaiah named his first son Shear-jashub which means “a remnant shall return” (Isaiah 7:3). This was in line with God’s message to the Israelite people that they would be reduced to a mere remnant of what they once were, and would eventually return from exile to the promised land.

Biblical names were also used to establish affiliation with God. All the names ending with -jah or -el(and there are many of those) are saying “with the Lord” or “with God.”

Then you have the giving of a new name. This was used to establish authority over another, or to indicate a new beginning or new direction in a person’s life. For instance, Pharaoh changed Joseph’s name to Zephenath-paneah when Joseph entered his service (Genesis 41:45), another Pharaoh changed the name of the Jewish king Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim (2 Kings 23:24). . . . Name changes indicating a new life direction include Abram to Abraham (Genesis 17:5), Cephas to Peter (Mark 3:16), and some would say Saul to Paul (Acts 13:9).

Here’s the really interesting part: names were often used to express the nature and function of a person. They were used to indicate a person’s purpose in the world, and the greatest example of this type of naming is Jesus.

So as we can see, put here very nicely,people of the Bible's names were of utmost significance and many times revealed God's message to His people. Which brings me to my main point. There is a theme of  "YAHWEH is this or that" in some of those building the wall as well as Nehemiah and His family members. What does YAHWEH really mean? This was a name of God that Hebrews would not even speak because the name had such reverence to it! Anytime you see LORD in all capitals, the reference is to the name YAHWEH. The best example is seen in Exodus 3:15:

15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

YAHWEH means "I AM" and  so God tells Moses, I exist, I have always and will always exist and I AM the one and only supremely powerful God.  I found another article by John Piper entitled " 10 Things Yahweh Means" and while I would disagree with some of Mr. Piper's interpretations in other areas of Scripture, I thought that these 10 items were excellent in thinking through the true meaning of the name:

1. He never had a beginning.
2. God will never end. If he did not come into being he cannot go out of being, because he is being.
3. God is absolute reality. There is no reality before him. There is no reality outside of him unless he wills it and makes it. He is all that was eternally. No space, no universe, no emptiness. Only God.
4. God is utterly independent. He depends on nothing to bring him into being or support him or counsel him or make him what he is.
5. Everything that is not God depends totally on God. The entire universe is utterly secondary. It came into being by God and stays in being moment by moment on God's decision to keep it in being.
6. All the universe is by comparison to God as nothing.
7. God is constant. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He cannot be improved. He is not becoming anything. He is who he is.
8. God is the absolute standard of truth and goodness and beauty. He himself is the standard of what is right, what is true, what is beautiful.
9. God does whatever he pleases and it is always right and always beautiful and always in accord with truth. All reality that is outside of him he created and designed and governs as the absolute reality. So he is utterly free from any constraints that don't originate from the counsel of his own will.
10. God is the most important and most valuable reality and person in the universe. He is more worthy of interest and attention and admiration and enjoyment than all other realities, including the entire universe.

So let's begin with Nehemiah. All of these name meanings are taken from The Expositor's Bible Commentary:

Nehemiah: "the comfort of Yahweh" or "Yahweh has comforted"
Interesting because God sent Nehemiah to unite and lead the people of Israel to rebuild their land. They were therefore comforted by the Lord through the leadership of Nehemiah. Nehemiah himself was first comforted by the Lord as he approached the king only after God's direction and strength was given to him. The Holy Spirit comforted him when he was so distraught after finding out that his people's land was so destroyed. He could've stayed in self pity but allowed the Holy Spirit to comfort Him and move him to action

Hachaliah Chap.1): "wait for Yahweh" This was Nehemiah's father which coorelates to the fact that he would have been part of the Jewish remnant that had been degraded and destroyed. He had known before that the wall had already attempted to be rebuilt and had been stopped so Hachaliah literally knew that he was waiting for the I AM to bless the remnant again.

Hanani (Chap, 1): "Yahweh is gracious" This was Nehemiah's brother and is also intriguing since he was the one who gave Nehemiah the news that God's people were so vulnerable and degraded. Even when giving this news, the people of God knew that God was full of grace and would bless them beyond any level of deserving blessing on their part.

Uzai (chap. 3:25) (thought to be short for Azaniah): " Yahweh has heard" This was simply a name of one of the builders' father. It is interesting to note that none of the builders noted were said to be carpenters, metalsmiths, etc. but were all common people united together to serve the Lord. Also, an interesting note is that the son's name was Palal which possible means "God has judged" so while Yahweh is not used in his name, it is interesting to note that the father's name meant that the I AM has heard their petitions and has judged the people as he said he would for their sin. It shows a level of faith considering Uzai lived through the judgment.

Pedaiah: "Yahweh has ransomed" This was simply one of the builder's names. When looking at the timeline of how these names are put in sequence is interesting. Palal (God has judged) the son of Uzai (Yahweh has heard) now immediately leads to Pedaiah. The great I AM has judged the people and a remanant now remains. Hachaliah knew that he would wait for the great I AM and Hanani knew that Yahweh is gracious even in the judgment. Uzai knew that Yahweh had heard his people even though they were a struggling remnant. God impressed upon Nehemiah to become the leader of His people to accomplish His will by comforting Him in his sorrow and by bringing the comfort of the Holy Spirit to God's people. Lastly, Yahweh has ransomed his people. He promised his intervention and it was given. . They had hope in the Lord that would rebuild Hs people's wall along with His people for His glory to be a testimony to the Lord. They knew Jesus would finally ransom His people in the future and they had hope and faith in that- God would provide the Lamb that would save His people eternally!

While this sequence and the translation of some of these names is difficult, the fact of the matter is that God did do these things, and that Bible Study is important as a whole new layer of understanding via the Holy Spirit is given as a blessing to the student. Praise our Yahweh! Remember who He is! The great I AM!!

Nehemiah's Prayer

I have recently moved my study to the Old Testament for a change in style and have happened upon the unique little book of Nehemiah. God used this man in a great way to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem which was of utmost importance in that day and age as a wall was  a major defense mechanism. What was impressed upon me immediately was that Nehemiah was a man of God, was an effective Christian leader, and was a man of great prayer. Prayer is a foundation of Christian leadership. Why?
1. Prayer is our access to God the Father in personal conversation. Jesus is our literal mercy seat that allows us access to the throne of God (please see my post on the Mercy Seat). Also, Jesus is our Mediator as our Mercy Seat constantly being our advocate (same kind of idea as lawyer) before the Father.
2. Prayer puts us in the right attitude of resting in the Lord and knowing His will to know when action is appropriate.
3. Prayer allows us to thank and praise God like we should.
4. Prayer gives us the opportunity to repent and turn from our sin.
5. Prayer allows us to ask specific requests of the Lord to be answered.

Nehemiah engaged in different prayers- when he spoke to the King (whom he risked angering as he was the king that put a stop to the previous building of the wall of Jerusalem) a very short prayer came from his lips asking for God to help Him-with words, to have bravery to make his request of the king, etc. and the Lord delivered. Nehemiah was blessed by the Lord by putting it upon the heart of the king to approve Nehemiah's request and to approve further help from those who dealt in lumber, etc. The prayer of focus is his initial prayer in chapter 1 which was a longer prayer.

v.5 I beseech thee, O LORD, God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that kept covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments
Beseech meaning begging of the Lord
great and terrible meaning giving the Lord due credit as the Lord of all and a Lord to be feared or respected
Nehemiah knows and believes in the covenant God has made to Israel (including all Christians-see post on circumcision) that if we love him we will obey His commandments and the Lord will have mercy on us and keep his promises to us.
v.6 let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now , day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee:both I and my father's house have sinned:
Nehemiah is getting ready to ask for a specific request and identifies himself in an attitude of submission as "servant." Also, he prayed day and night meaning he lived in an attitude of prayer and so dependence upon God. He also points out that the children of Israel as well as himself and his family have sinned gravely against the Lord. We all have. Sin starts with ourself.
v. 7 WE have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments , which thou commandants thy servant Moses.
Again he points out the depravity of his people in not following OT law which was so critical in this day as Israel was to be the testimony of Christ to other's before the sacrifice of Jesus.
v. 8 Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandants thy servant Moses, saying, If ye  transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: 9 but if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chose to set my name there.
Nehemiah is quoting back to God his  promises  which is quoting the Lord's word back to Himself. Scripture is there for us to use in this way. He also states that Israel is spread apart and defenseless because of their sin which is what God had stated would happen. However, God also promised that repentance would bring the people of Israel back together and would bring them to a place promised and blessed by God. Repentance may seem hard, but once done restores our relationship with the Lord. The Lord does not walk away from us, rather, we walk away from Him and hinder our relationship.

v. 10 Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.
Nehemiah remembers that Israel (again ref. back to my post on circumcision) is God's chosen people that are set apart for the will of God. They have been redeemed alone and made special alone by God's power and will- Nehemiah is again recommitting himself and his people as God's servants and people that the Lord has shown great favor to.

v.11 O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to thy prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. (the king)
Again he is begging the Lord a specific request in the attitude of being a servant of the Lord- He can ask this request in confidence because he knows it is the Lord's will as he says it is the desire of him and the people to fear the Lord's name and live in His will. This is why he is justified in asking the Lord to prosper him and have mercy in the sight of the king- because it is fulfilling the will of God.

Nehemiah's prayers are seen in chapter 1, 2, 4,  5,  6, and 13. Many of the prayers are in regards to his enemies. They are considered enemies because they are the enemies to God's will making them enemies of God. We ourselves are not to take matters in our own hands unless the Lord tells him to do so (e.g. Nehemiah was ready with weapons if God were to tell them to attack their enemies). Otherwise, Nehemiah gave fear, stress, and his enemies with their action to the Lord to deal with. Others were prayers to remember him and prosper him which was because he knew what he was accomplishing was the will of God. Other times it literally says that he was just in a state of prayer meaning He was simply in a constant attitude of prayer to God. Leadership begins and ends with prayer just like this chapter. Take homes for today:

1. Prayer is a constant attitude to be in and essential to the Christian life.
2. The Lord hears and responds to your prayers. Rest in Him and allow Him to call you to any action.
3. Ask for specific requests given that they do not contradict any of God's desires for you.
4. Pour your heart out to the Lord including your emotions- fear, anger, stress, disappointment- He cares. Allow him to go before you and fight your battles.
5. Speak Scripture back to the Lord.
6. Praise the Lord and realize your position in relation to him. Redeemed, a servant, and powerful.
7. Prayers can be short in times of crisis, but true communication comes from a time of dedication to prayer.
8. Remember that acknowledging your sin as wrong is imperative.
9. Remember that yielding to God should be the heart in all our prayers.