Promises, Faith, and a New Name
“The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was mother of all the living.”
When we read the first few chapters of Genesis, we are introduced to God, Who creates all things and pronounces them as good. We also meet Adam and Eve, the first people, and we read about their rebellion which causes all of humanity to now be born with a sinful nature. We often refer to these few chapters as "The Creation and Fall". In fact, just reading “Creation and Fall", you most likely have quickly remembered the main thrust of the first three chapters of Genesis.
Honestly, many of us have become so familiar with the creation account that details begin to slip a bit. We have the main idea, but how exactly God reports the revelation to us often gets lost. We become like the woman in the garden, who adds to or embellishes the command of God a bit. Or we can take a passive mental posture much like Adam, who watches as the woman is tempted and doesn't think much about what has happened until it’s too late. Little details get glanced over, and sometimes, it's those little details that speak volumes to us about faith.
In the above passage, it’s important to take notice that Adam doesn’t give Eve her name until after the fall and after the curse and promise are pronounced by God. Before this moment she was “Woman", that poetic name Adam gave her when he said, “...she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”(See Genesis 2:23.) So, "Woman" became "Eve".
I don’t know about you, but I have had a few nicknames over my years of growing up. I was called “Tiger” by my dad, “Muscles” by a good family friend (I had a half-shirt when I was 5 that said "Muscles" across the chest and that’s what he called me for years), I was “Kaz” or “Little Kaz” all throughout my school years by teachers and coaches, “Kazimoto” by guys on the college baseball team, and “Padda Rob” by youth in the church from which I came in the state of Maryland. Each of those nicknames was significant and had some special meaning behind them. “Eve”, Adam’s wife’s name, is no exception.
God pronounced the curse that Adam and Eve’s rebellion had brought, but God also pronounced that from Adam and Eve’s offspring, One would come and crush the head of the serpent and set things right. Adam took note of that promise. God had spoken truthfully to them that the day they ate the forbidden fruit, they would die spiritually. So, when God said that Another would come and make things new, Adam grabbed hold of that promise and believed it.
In faith, Adam renamed “Woman” as "Eve". She would be the mother of all the living. (See Genesis 3:20.) By faith, Adam made his wife’s very name a remembrance that God would come through for them and bring restoration. So, every time he would call her name, he would be reminded that she is part of God's promise. This speaks to how Adam loved God and how he loved Eve. He would choose to give her a name of blessing and all their offspring and the generations to come would call her by the name of blessing. And whenever anyone would ask why Adam gave her that name, they would have to respond with the story of the fall and the promise. Indirectly, Eve became the mother of all those who would have new life in Jesus Christ, because from her offspring the promise has been and is being fulfilled in Jesus Christ!
And regarding the name of the One Who came to save us, it says, ”She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."(See Matthew 1:21.) All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet Isaiah, who said, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel."(See Isaiah 7:14.) (Note that "Immanuel" means "God with us".)
So, next time you read a familiar passage, take note of the little things, and what they may reveal. In this case: What really is in a name?
