In the Stone a New Name Written (Revelation 2:17)

2022-12-26

People throughout the Bible were given new names when they were appointed to the Lord for a new purpose. Consider a few examples:

  1. Abraham: “As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee” (Genesis 17:4-5). He was called an exalted father; now he is the father of a multitude. How much more is this true when we consider his seed is Jesus Christ, and every believer is Abraham’s seed (Galatians 3:29). The name Abram is only used twice in the entire Bible after this verse.
  2. Sarah: “And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be” (Genesis 17:15).
  3. Israel: “And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed” (Genesis 32:28). Interestingly, he often is called by his old name Jacob, just as his descendants were also sometimes called Jacob.
  4. Joshua: “And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua” (Numbers 13:16). From “salvation” to “Jehovah saves.” The emphasis is that Jehovah is the one who saves.
  5. Jerubbaal: “Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar” (Judges 6:32). He was called Gideon and Jerubbaal because he destroyed the idol of his people.
  6. Peter: “And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone” (John 1:42), where Cephas and Peter mean stone or rock. Because of his confession that Jesus was both Christ and the Son of God, he was the stone that began the building of the church: “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).
  7. Matthew: Matthew was formerly known as Levi. Once a publican that would have had a reputation of sin and corruption, he became a “gift of God.”
  8. Barnabas: “And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet” (Acts 4:36-37). Levites weren’t supposed to own land, so when he converted, he sold it and donated the value of it. He became the encourager, the “son of consolation.”
  9. Paul: “Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him” (Acts 13:9). Paul means “little.” Maybe he was of short stature, but perhaps more importantly he humbled himself before the Lord after years of being a Pharisee who fought against the church. Also, he is first mentioned as having this name when preaching the Gospel to Sergius Paulus, the latter name being the same name as Paul, though the connection is unclear.

These names signified a change when they encountered the Lord. Their parents gave them their original names, but the Lord named them when they became His. They were not the same person once they knew the Lord.

However, a literal new name becomes every Christian’s reality on the day we see the Lord. “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it” (Revelation 2:17).