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Yowchanan

Yowchanan

Words of Faith 2-22-18

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2018

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL

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Luke 1

   [57] When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. [58] Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

   [59] On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, [60] but his mother spoke up and said, "No! He is to be called John."

   [61] They said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who has that name."

   [62] Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. [63] He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone's astonishment he wrote, "His name is John." [64] Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God. [65] The neighbors were all filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. [66] Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, "What then is this child going to be?" For the Lord's hand was with him.

 

   It had been about a year since Zechariah had spoken a word. Remember? He had been skeptical of the Angel's message that his wife would have a baby in their old age. As a result he could not speak as he watched his wife grow and glow toward the delivery of their son. These silent months must have been interesting. They probably provided a chance for Zechariah to reflect upon the nature of God and the importance of listening. The consequence he experienced for doubting may seem harsh to us, but Zechariah probably realized that he was very blessed in comparison to folks like Cain (cast out and mark), Lot's wife (turned to salt), Saul (nailed to a door), and others who had not listened to the guidance of God.

     The baby was born amid great joy and several days later the time came to circumcise and name him. It was customary for a firstborn son to be named after the father or the grandfather, but the Angel had been very clear that the name of this baby was to be John. When Elizabeth said this, those present discounted her, probably because she was a woman and it was considered the right of the father to name the child. Now Zechariah knew better than mix this up! When he was asked, Zechariah wrote down clearly that the child was to be called John. There was an immediate confirmation in that Zechariah was instantly healed and he was able to speak for the first time in a year. Great ending to the story!

     Yet one has to wonder if there was even a brief temptation on the part of Zechariah to name the baby after himself. He could have done that. He had no assurance that he would be given back his voice. This was the long-awaited son who represented the only legacy in life for them. With a quick stroke of the pen, he could have had "Little Zach", that namesake he had always wanted, but instead, he was faithful to the directive from the Angel.

     This all may seem like a silly conjecture, but the truth is we are often tempted to put our name on God's work. There is a part of our human nature that would like to claim "credit" for the things that God has promised and delivered into our lives. It may be in the form of claiming a material blessing as our own rather than as a trust from God or it may be the simple temptation of receiving accolades for something we know was purely a gift from God.

     The name John ties into this in an interesting way. We may think of John simply as a fairly common name but the Hebrew form Yowchanan actually means "favored of Jehovah". It contains a form of God's name! In the time of Zechariah, one could not be named after God, but this was as close as you could come! John means "favored by the grace of God".

     The name was important because it needed to be clear that this Prophet came from God to announce the coming of Messiah. It is, after all, an easy thing to take credit for those things delivered to us by the grace of God. The arrogance of pride can creep in when we least expect it. Zechariah had learned his lesson about listening to God. Both Elizabeth and Zechariah were clear on where this blessing came from in their old age.

 

       Father God, forgive me for those times that I have taken your blessing as if it came from my hands. Forgive me the times I have named blessings you gave into my life after myself. Forgive me for even wavering in pointing to You. Look what the Lord has done. In Jesus' name.