If you’ve read “The Old Testament Connection” then you might remember that Israel was the ancestor of the Israelites.  You might also remember that his name was originally Jacob.  Also in that “Did You Know?” article we talked about Abraham.  In a post for the book of Galatians I referred to the story in Genesis 16 where Abraham has a child with a servant of his wife.  In “The Old Testament Connection” I refer to them as Abraham and Sarah but in Genesis 16 you might have noticed that the names are Abram and Sarai.  What’s going on?  Well in Hebrew (which is the language that the Old Testament is mostly written in) name have meaning.  In this example Abram means “exalted father”.  Sarai means “princess”.  Hagar’s name is a little uncertain but may mean “flight” (like “to flee”).  Ishmael means “God hears”.  All of theses name really fit the circumstances of the story.  Make no mistake however, these are real people who lived real lives and these were there real names.  Their names did not make them who they were but they may have been inspired by God who could see the future and know where these lives were headed.  In Genesis 17, after Abram and Sarai have taken matters into their own hands to try to make a family, God comes to Abram and reminds him of the promise from Genesis 12 and Genesis 15.  God will give Abram a child, in fact he will make a very large group of people, a nation, from the promised child.  And that child will come from Sarai.  In Genesis 17:5 God then changes Arbam’s name to Abraham, which means “father of a multitude”.  His name would be a constant reminder of God’s promise and when Sarai had Isaac Abraham would see the power of God as He started to fulfill the promise.  In fact Isaac’s name would be a constant reminder of the power of God.  If you read further in the story in Genesis 17 you will see Abraham’s reaction to the fact that the promise would be fulfilled through Sarai.  God changes Sarai’s (“princess”) name to Sarah (“noble woman” or “queen”).  A very slight difference that may carry the idea of motherhood in it.  When God tells Abraham this falls on his face laughing, a real lol moment.  Then Abraham says to God, “You probably want to just use Ishmael, Sarah is 90 and I’m 100 do you really think we are going to have  a child?”  God’s response is, “Nope, it’s Sarah’s kid.  By the way you will name him Isaac.”  Isaac which means “he laughs”.  Again a reminder of the situation and God’s power.  What about Jacob/Israel.  Jacob was a twin and when he was born he came out behind his brother, Esau, holding onto his heel.  He was given the name Jacob which means “heel grabber” or “supplanter”.  A supplanter is some one who replaces someone else, takes their place.  Maybe the connection is like tripping someone in a race to get ahead of then, you grab their heel and they fall and you pass by.  In the story Jacob steals Esau’s position as the firstborn and therefore leader of the family.  Jacob was always taking matters into his own hands, doing it his way.  In Genesis 32 he is returning from an extended time away from his home country.  He had stolen Esau’s right to be the head of the family and Esau was angry, so Jacob ran a way.  While away he married, twice, and started having children.  He also had become somewhat rich.  Now he was returning home, but he feared his brother.  The day before he is to meet his brother he make a big plan to try to make Esau  not be angry.  He will sends lots of gifts ahead of his arrival.  His servants will go first, then two servants of his wives with the children he had had by them, then his least favorite wife, Leah, and her children, and las of all his favorite wife, Rachel and her one son Joseph.  The night before Jacob is alone and an angel appears to him with whom he wrestles, all night.  At the end of the match the angel messes up his hip joint leaving him with a permanent limp.  the angel changes his name to Israel, “God wins”.  Jacob the schemer rally is under God’s control.  So what’s in a name?  Sometimes nothing, but often in the Bible names were used as reminders of the power and faithfulness of God.  Many Bibles have footnotes telling you the meaning of names.  If you see a little letter or number in the Bible by a name look around to see if there is a translation of it.  Or you might be able to Google the name for a translation.  Take the time and you might just be reminded a little better of the power and faithfulness of God too.