Namesake - Week 2: What name is Given This Child? Part 1 of 2

Good Morning I hope your weekends were great and filled with fun times. My husband and I went out of town for the night, a much needed little getaway. We stayed in a wonderful modern bed and breakfast in Sutter Creek, Ca The Hanford House Inn. Ate great food, went wine tasting and really enjoyed each other's company.

Today's Scripture: Genesis 25:19-26, Exodus 2:1-10, Exodus 3:10

This week we are exploring Jacob and how our name, the meaning, and the circumstance of our naming can have a positive and/or negative power over our lives and character.

We start by reading Genesis 25:19-26 and learn that Isaac's wife Rebekah becomes pregnant. During her pregnancy she learns that she is carrying twins, there are two nations competing in her womb "one will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger."
Rebekah is torn over this situation as she realizes that there will be fighting and animosity in the family, between these two children of hers. There will be anguish and in the end war over these two twins. Normally as we have read that there is more to a name than just what we are called. "Naming stories". When the two boys are born the older Esau is born covered in red hair and so they named him Esau "Hairy" and the younger boy is born holding onto the heel of Esau and so they names him Jacob "Holder of the heel" more importantly Jacobs name also means "to trip over or otherthrow, taker of what is not his". This negative meaning to Jacob's name ends up having a deep impact on Jacob's life.

There are often two purposes in our names: to mark the circumstance around our birth, and to describe a character trait or gift that the child can grow into. For Jacob the double meaning in his name was unintentional.

How do we live up to the dreams of our parents and God without living out the negative connotations that might also be associated with our name?

This is a very long chapter, so I am going to continue it tomorrow with the second half of how to live life with both the negative and positive power our names can have.