What’s in a Name? Jeremiah 14

“A rose by any other name smells just as sweet.”,

Juliet said to her lover, Romeo, in Shakespeare's great play. Juliet’s line infers: “So, what if my man’s last name is from my family's rival house of Montague? What matters is love, not the name.” Not so if you’re from another famous English couple—Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Their new baby is named Lilibet 'Lili' Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.

Lilibet is named after her great-grandmother, “Her Majesty the Queen”, whose family nickname is Lilibet because she struggled to pronounce her name properly. Her middle name, Diana, was chosen to honor her beloved late grandmother, "Lady Di", The Princess of Wales. Of course, there is controversy. There is a question whether the motive of the naming was a ploy to mend fences between the Queen and Harry. There is also a question whether the queen was consulted prior to the naming. When it comes to the Royals, it’s obvious, names matter.

No truer than the royal name of God. In it lies His character and judgment as He addresses our great depth of sin according to Jeremiah 14: 7-8. The prophet Jeremiah cries to God to act according to His name:

7 "Although our iniquities testify against us, O LORD, act for Thy name's sake! Truly our apostasies have been many, we have sinned against Thee. 8 "Thou Hope of Israel, Its Savior in time of distress, why art Thou like a stranger in the land or like a traveler who has pitched his tent for the night?

The backdrop is this. Because of fake priests, false prophets and disobedient people, God sent a severe drought over the land. The people were also facing exile to Babylon for all their many sins. Their cries went up to heaven. Would God relent? Jeremiah trusted that He would act according to His name. What is in his name?

First, there is hope in his name: "Thou Hope of Israel (v 8). Here, the word for hope is miqveh. The reference is, not to the faith of Israel which had almost ceased, but to the promise and everlasting covenant of God. None but the true Israel makes God their “hope.” (Jer. 17:13). That everlasting promise is made in the covenant to Abraham.

2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3aAand I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Gen.12:2-3

The hope or promise to Abraham was:

1. God would make Abraham a great nation.

2. God would bless him with a great name.

3. God would bless those who blessed him, and curse those who get in the way of those blessing.

4. God would bless all mankind through him.

A great deal was riding on the promises of God. First and foremost, the name of God would be tarnished as a promise-breaker if He destroyed disobedient Israel. The hope of Israel was that God was good on His word. Like Israel who was deep in sin, you can’t out-sin God’s grace. Our hope is in His name as Miqveh--the "Promise-keeper."

Second, there is salvation in His name: Its Savior in time of distress (v. 8b). Here, the word for Savior is yasha. It literally means to “surely deliver”. There is a certainty of God’s deliverance in uncertain, drought times. When Daniel and his friends were thrown in the fiery furnace for refusing to bow down to an idol god, their confession illustrated their faith in the surety of God’s deliverance:

If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand (Dan.3:17). They came out of the furnace unsinged.

No matter how dry your own sins have parched your hope, trust in God, and the certainty of deliverance that comes with the name—Yasha.

What’s in a name? When it comes to God—Hope and Salvation are His names to call on in a time of drought. As the song goes: “It is the sweetest name I know."