“…I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor…”

                 Ever since the division of the kingdom, both of them had been willful, stubborn and rebellious.  After King Solomon’s disobedience in multiplying his wives and seeking after the gods they worshipped, Israel and Judah never reunited.  In fact, such an idea never crossed their collective minds.  Solomon’s foolish behavior became the example that set the spiritual tone in both countries.  And after constant pleading and warning from the prophets that God sent, he sent punishment.  First on Israel, then on Judah.  Israel never recovered, Judah barely did.

But before that occurred, Isaiah penned the above words.  They specifically refer to a man named Cyrus, called and named by God as the king of Persia 150 years before his birth.  He would order the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem and the foundation of the temple (Isa. 44:28).  This indicated that the future was not completely bleak for the Jews.  A restoration was already predicted, but only after the national punishment was completed.

God also called Cyrus “my shepherd (44:28) and his “anointed” (45:1), the latter being a Messianic title used of Jesus (Ps. 2:2, Dan. 9:25, 26).  Being named as “his anointed,” Cyrus would fulfill God’s purposes as they related to God’s people and the nations, similar to what Jesus would do centuries later.  That is why he said above, “I summon [call] you by name and bestow on you a title of honor.”  Chapter 45 goes on to describe some of God’s other blessings to Cyrus, including his purpose: “so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me.  I am the Lord, and there is no other” (v. 6).  Interestingly, the name Cyrus means “sun” and was a picture of God’s Son.

The naming of objects, creatures and people in Scripture has profound implications.  It usually means that the name giver has responsibility and authority for the thing or person named.  In obedience to God as steward-manager of the earth, Adam named the animals (Genesis 2:19-20).  Not to be confused with animals, Adam also “named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living” (3:20).  While both receive their names from Adam, there is no comparison between Eve and the animals.  Animals remained under the responsibility of man, but Eve now equally shared in that responsibility.

In John 17:11-12 we read that God the Father gave his name to Jesus.  Jesus said he protected his followers “by that name you gave me.”  Besides showing authority, a name is meant to reveal something about the character, behavior and/or strength of an individual.  Jesus kept us by his Father’s name, and in this prayer in John 17 hours before his death he asked the Father to keep us by his supernatural power while he was gone.  1 Peter 1:4-5 says God has done just that!

In Philippians 2:9 it says that “God gave [Jesus] the name that is above every name…”  Verses 10-11 say that it will be “at that name” that “every knee should bow…and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord…”  Again, God gives the name and title Lord to Jesus.  And while he is also called “Word of God” (Rev. 19:13), there is still a name he has “that no one knows but he himself” (v. 12).  This unknown name obviously describes qualities and strength that words simply can’t begin to describe.  Our God is awesome, and it is he who named Cyrus, Jesus and yes, even us!

Do you know your name?  No, not the name your parents gave you; the name your Heavenly Father gives you.  Specifically, do you know his names for you?  How about a few examples, such as blessed, beloved, chosen, redeemed, saints, his body, his church, living stones, children of God, reconciled, fellow citizens and members of God’s household, a chosen people, the temple of the Lord, joint-heirs with Christ, a holy nation, friends [of God], free, justified, adopted, alive in Christ, seated in the heavenlies, saved, witnesses, sons of the light, a royal priesthood, strangers in the world…  And this does not begin to exhaust the list!

Do you know your name(s) from the Name Giver?  Does your life reflect those names he has given to you?  Do those around you know that he wants to name them too?