What Is In A Name

What is in a name.  Isaac in Hebrew means “he laughs”.  Certainly, Isaac must of brought Abraham and Sarah great joy.  However, it was God that gave him that name as God told Abraham that he and Sarah would have a child and would name him Isaac (Genesis 17:19).  If you remember this account from Scripture, you will know that Abrham and Sarah are well up in years, past the days of bearing children.  At one point, God tells Abraham that He will give him and Sarah a son and that she will “produce nations; kings of people will come from her” (v.16).  At this news, the Bible says that Abraham fell facedown.  Then he “laughed” (v.17).  Later on, there is another encounter with three individuals, who these individuals are specifically I do not know, but they are not earthly.  After they asked where Sarah was, we read “The Lord said, ‘I will certainly come back to you in about a year’s time, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” (Genesis 18:10).  At this news, the Bible says that Sarah “laughed to herself” (Genesis 18:12).  The Lord asked Abraham why Sarah laughed, followed up by the question, “Is anything impossible with the Lord” (v.14).  I recount all of this just to speculate on how often when they saw Isaac or his name was called that they were reminded of the power of God.  The promise of God seemed impossible, so they laughed, but there Isaac was standing before them.  His very name reminded them of man’s weakness, but God’s mighty power and faithfulness.