Have You Received Your Prophetic New Name?

This week, Jewish communities will celebrate Simchat Torah (Joy of Torah) all over the world the Torah scrolls will be rolled back from the last reading of Deuteronomy to Genesis and the Torah cycle of readings will begin again with the first portion of Genesis. There is always a time of great rejoicing and dancing during this special service as we remember that Torah is never ending. The Word, as it says in Psalm 119:89 (CJB), “Forever, Adonai, Your word stands firm in the heavens.”

And also in 1 Peter 1:23-25, “You have been born again—not from perishable seed but imperishable—through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All humanity is like grass, And all its glory like a wildflower. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, But the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was proclaimed as Good News to you.

So we are not actually starting over again, but circling back to the beginning in one continuous journey through the never-ending Torah. It is this continuous circling of Torah and time that allows us to see the recurring themes of Scripture, which are often referred to as types and shadows. These events help us to understand the concept spoken of in Isaiah 28:10, “[‘precept by precept, precept by precept, line by line, line by line, a little here, a little there”].

In order for us to understand the writings of the New Testament authors, we must have some understanding of the previous writings of the Scriptures. It is only by reading the Scripture in the circular way of the never-ending that we can get glimpses of the perfect intentionality of God’s Word, which is only complete and understood when we realize every word is interconnected and interdependent.

One example of the interconnecting of Scripture is found hidden in plain sight within the second chapter of the Bible. Inside these very familiar words expressing the history of creation we read Genesis 2:19, “So from the ground Adonai, God, formed every wild animal and every bird that flies in the air, and he brought them to the person to see what he would call them. Whatever the person would call each living creature, that was to be its name.”

While almost every believer knows that Adam was given the task of naming all living creatures, most do not read this verse as prophetic, nor do they see within these words the start of a promise fulfilled through Yeshua (Jesus) in reference to the redemption of mankind.

You may ask, “How is the naming of creation prophetic?”

In order to see how the idea of Adam giving names is fulfilled, let’s start with 1 Corinthians 15:45-49:

 In fact, the Tanakh says so: Adam, the first man, became a living human being; but the last “Adam” has become a life-giving Spirit. Note, however, that the body from the Spirit did not come first, but the ordinary human one; the one from the Spirit comes afterwards. The first man is from the earth, made of dust; the second man is from heaven. People born of dust are like the man of dust, and people born from heaven are like the man from heaven; and just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, so also we will bear the image of the man from heaven.

Notice that in these verses, we see Yeshua being referred to as the last Adam, who became life-giving. As a part of His role as the last Adam, according to Scripture in Revelation 2:17, Yeshua would give a new name: “Those who have ears, let them hear what the Spirit is saying to the Messianic communities. To him winning the victory I will give some of the hidden man. I will also give him a white stone, on which is written a new name that nobody knows except the one receiving it.”

So, we see Adam named all creation, and now we read that Yeshua would give those who overcome a new name. But the prophecies don’t end there. In Isaiah 56:5, we find, “In my house, within my walls, I will give them power and a name greater than sons and daughters; I will give him an everlasting name that will not be cut off.”

And in Isaiah 62:2, “The nations will see your vindication and all kings your glory. Then you will be called by a new name which Adonai himself will pronounce, and also Isiah 65:15, “My chosen will use your name as a curse—May Adonai Elohim strike you dead!’ But to his servants he will give another name.”

So, we see that Adam named all creation and we see that the second Adam, Yeshua, would give believers a new name. How can this happen? The answer is found in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is united with the Messiah, he is a new creation—the old has passed; look, what has come is fresh and new!” (2 Cor. 5:17).

So, you see that the first Adam gave a name to all created beings and we see it was prophesied that a new name would be given to the chosen ones by G-D. We also see that in order for a new name to be given to mankind, he would have to become a new creation so the second Adam could give him a new name. In other words, in order to receive a new name, one must become born anew. {eoa}

Eric Tokajer is author of With Me in Paradise, Transient Singularity, OY! How Did I Get Here?: Thirty-One Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me Before Entering Ministry and #Man Wisdom: With Eric Tokajer.