Meet My Sons, Forgetful and Fruitful

Who names their kids "Forgetful" and "Fruity"? Believe me, my kids can be forgetful and fruity, but I would never name them according to their behavior. (Hey Stinky! Tell Slob and Hyperactive it's time for dinner!) I suppose I might have considered that, if I'd known how they'd turn out, but then I'd have to name each one of my sons "Awesome"......

It's no secret that names in Scripture often bear great significance. Our Savior, for example, bore a common enough name (Yeshua/Joshua/Jesus) which marked His humanity, but it also carried a supernatural meaning: The Lord saves.

Well, when the Vizier of Ancient Egypt, Joseph, was blessed with two sons, he named them, quite cleverly, Ephraim and Manasseh, which roughly mean, "fruitful in suffering" and "forgotten trouble", respectively. If you are familiar with the story of Joseph, you'll understand exactly what those children and their names meant to their adoring father.

For us, it is a simple reminder that sometimes the Lord takes us places we never would have imagined, and in those places that begin as a captivity, God bestows His blessing and causes us to be fruitful in that foreign land and soon forgetful of our former tears.

“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland."

Isaiah 43:18-19