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- 11 Facts About Luke and the Book
- Parents of John the Baptist
- Angel Gabriel
- 10 Promises Prophesied About John the Baptist
- Zechariah Reacts to God’s Message
- Caesar Ruled 50 Years Before Jesus’ Birth
- 7 Children God Named Before Birth
- He is called Most High
- Mary Mother of Jesus
- Servant of The Lord
- In The Beginning Was The Word
- Who Believed in Jesus?
- 10 Messianic Prophecies With Jesus’ Birth
There are seven people that we read of in the Bible who God named before birth.
Are they all Jews? No.
Are they all Christians? No.
Did God have a plan for their lives? Yes.
Isaac and Ishmael
The first two babies we read about in the book of Genesis. Both babies had the same father.
Abram was given the promise by God that nations would come from him. At that time he had no children, his wife Sarai was barren.
They waited 25 years for the promised child, Isaac to be born.
About 13 years before Isaac’s birth, Sarai made a plan. She was barren and old and did not see how God could fulfil his promise. So she “helped God’s prophesy to be fulfilled” by giving her servant Hagar to Abraham to conceive a child.
Things did not go well between Hagar and her mistress Sarai and Hagar left. In the desert she met the Angel of the Lord who told her to go back……
And the Angel of the Lord said to her: “Behold, you are with child, and you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has heard your affliction. (Genesis 16:11 NKJV)
When Abram was 99 years old, God formalized the covenant with Abram. He changed their names from Abram to Abraham and from Sarai to Sarah.
He promised Abraham his long awaited child.
Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. (Genesis 17:19 NKJV)
Solomon
Solomon was the third child God named before his birth.
Solomon was the son of King David and Bathsheba.
He became king and because he asked the Lord for wisdom, the Lord gave him everything.
Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies all around. His name shall be Solomon, for I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days (1 Chronicles 22:9 NKJV).
Josiah
The Lord gave Josiah his name 32 years before his birth.
He became King at the age of 8 years old and reigned for many years.
He was one of the few kings that obeyed God and did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.
Then he cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said, “O altar, altar! Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men’s bones shall be burned on you.’ ” (1 Kings 13:2(NKJV).
Cyrus
Cyrus was not an Israelite; he was king of Persia, but he was a servant of the Lord.
The Lord used him as a mighty tool in the returning of the Jews to Israel to rebuild the temple and the walls of Jerusalem.
His birth and name was prophesied 173 years before he was born.
“Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held— to subdue nations before him and loose the armor of kings, to open before him the double doors, so that the gates will not be shut: ‘I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, tThat you may know that I, the Lord, who call you by your name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob My servant’s sake, aAnd Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.’ (Isaiah 45:1–7 NKJV).
John the Baptist
Then the new era began after 400 years of silence since the last prophet Malachi.
The birth of John the Baptist was announced, who would prepare the way for the Lord.
But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John (Luke 1:13 NKJV).
Jesus
And last but definitely not the least is Jesus Christ our Savior.
Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:30-33 NKJV)
There are other children named by God after birth, for example Hosea’s children.These 7 children God named before they were born.
62 thoughts on “7 Children God Named Before Birth”
Great observation. Cyrus was a surprise entry in the list. I could think of many people to whom God gave a new name for their future purposes (e.g. Jesus giving new name to Peter, Cephas which means Rock), but have not thought of God giving name before the birth.
Thanks, it would be interesting to see who else was named by God.
GOD BLESS YOU. DO MANY MORE…………
thank you for your comment
There are only (5) five, that God names himself. The other two are foretold, or named, in prophesy. Interestingly enough, the fifth and final one named by God himself is The Word., Lord Jesus. And the number (5) in biblical numerics, is grace, which Only Christ provides. .
Hi Student of the Word, thanks for stopping by and for your valuable comment. Yes, 5 is for grace. Which are the 5 names you are referring to?
thankyou much for this article. God bless!
Hi SMV, thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment. I appreciate it a lot.
Informative, thanks. Can we add up to this list 2 sons of Hosea i.e. Jezreel & Lo-ammi, and a daughter Lo-ru-hama (Hoesa 1:4,6,9.).
Hi
You are so right!!!!!!!!!!!!!! God gave their names as well. It is written in Hosea 1. Do you have other names I missed? Who am I speaking to? Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
Blessings
Retha
But this was after their birth. Question says before birth
Hi Retha,
Stumbled upon your page doing research for a book. I found it interesting that God named only seven. However, the book I’m writing involves a family who were told what to name their daughter via the Holy Spirit in their private conversation. Hours later the preacher’s wife told them that she had dreamed they had a daughter and to name her the same name. Thought you might find this fact interesting.
By the way, great article. Did you do the research?
Paul
Hi Paul
That is absolutely awesome!!! It is great to hear testimonies of how God works today. This is so wonderful that the Holy Spirit gave them the name of their child!!!! Thank you for sharing it.
I found only 7 times that God gave names to people in the Bible. If I missed a name, I would love to know about it.
The Bible is my favorite book, so I love doing Bible Study, and reading commentaries. I think I picked up the seven names from the Dakes Bible.
Thank you for stopping by and for your comment.
If you like adventures with quests, puzzles and quizzes about the Bible, visit my other blog Discover Bible Treausures at http://www.discoverbibletreasures.com.
What is your book about? Please tell me more.
Retha
You are doing a great job here.Am satisfy by the information i use to get here.Keep it up.You are great.I will like you to educate me more on how many children were named by God before their birth because some are saying they are eight in the bible that were named by God.Thanks
Hi Austin Peter, I am revising the post. Another reader commented about three other names.
In such a busy, distracting world today, it’s really exciting to still find people who are still addicted to the study of God’s word. I am so happy to read your write-up Retha. I came across this subject of babies named by God before their birth in an amplified bible note many years ago. I just googled the subject last night again and your article was the only I found credible. God bless you real good. More grace and glory to you.
Hi Seyi,
Thank you for your kind words. I was thinking that I should close this blog, because it seems as if there is no need for it. Your words have inspired me!! Thanks.
Retha it’s 2016 and I have googled this subject and found your article. Please don’t close it. It is needed. God Bless you.
Thank you for your inspiring comment. You have inspired me to continue writing these blog posts.
Hi Retha, thanks for this article. I’m writing Bible study notes for Luke at the moment and your site was the only one discussing this subject. Saved2serve mentioned Hosea, but I think Hosea was instructed by God how to name Gomer’s children only after their birth in Hosea 1:4-9. I’m also interested that David’s words to Solomon in 1 Chronicles 22:9 are not verified elsewhere in the OT, and so wonder if he literally meant them to mean ‘God named you before you were born Son’? I tend to agree with the one above comment that notes God ‘foretelling’ names rather than bestowing them, that seems a valid point.
The names Isaac and Ishmael convey something of what God had done in covenant faithfulness for his people – God made Sarai laugh and also heard Hagar’s cry. I wonder if Luke is using this motif to show how Jesus is God’s chosen vessel for ‘doing’ God’s work of saving his people.
Personally I think by the before conception ‘naming’ Luke wants to allude to Jesus’ pre-existence as the eternal son but that is a hard position to defend in current scholarship!
So thanks again and keep sharing your helpful notes!
Mathew
Hi Mathew Bartlett
Thank you for your comments. They are great! As you can see with my comments to the precious reader that I was thinking of closing this blog….thought it didn’t cover a need.
Your comments made me decide to continue.
Children named by God – I agree Hosea’s children were named after their birth. The names in my post God named before their birth.
I like your comment about Sarai laughing and Hagar crying and the Lord hearing both.
Hi Retha,
Could you share your view on the application of this on the naming of children at birth today? Are the names we chose to call our children chosen by God for them before they are born?
Hi GigiHulatt, thanks for visiting and for your very interesting question. I believe God is interested in every aspect of our lives and he talks to us. Why not in naming our children?
My son Mikolas Jessiah was named by God before his birth!
Hi Tosha, that is fantastic! Thank you for sharing this.
My son was named by God as well. My wife and I had been pondering his name for months and one day during her 8th month of pregnancy I was outside when a saw a woman carrying an infant and suddenly I heard a voice like a breeze say “his name is Adrian” which is a name we had never considered before or even thought of. I immediately ran inside to share the news with the family…
Hi Anthony Joseph R. I’ve just read Mia’s comment. Are you talking about the same Adrian? Amazing.
May interesante y entretenido. Cuan grande es Dios! Bendecido sea Su Santo y Poderoso nombre por siempre. Amen!
Hi Irene, please translate I only understood the Amen
Excelente entretenimiento, y a la vez educativo. Thanks for such an excellent information.
Awesome insight! Love reading your posts.
Thank you for this. I am doing a brief little study and forgot Ishmael, but did not know about Solomon, Cyrus or Josiah. Thanks so very much.
Tell me more
Hello, I just came through a web search and found your summary of the 7 children named before birth. There is one more named child – Ephraim, who according to Jeremia 31.9 will be God’s firstborn at the time of the restoration of Israel. (today) Jesus’ parable about the lost son is about Ephraim, as Jesus visits him personally in John 11.54 one of the most prophetic chapters in the Gospels.
As the grandson of Jakob, he is the heir of the true name and character of Israel (Genesis 48) but most overlooked individual in the whole Bible.
Hi Ulf, that is very interesting and I agree with you about Ephraim the firstborn. I’m just not sure I understand your reference to John 11:54. The Bible said Jesus went to the town called Ephraim. Or did you mean it in the prophetic sense?
Ephraim was Joseph’s son but wasn’t named by God before his birth. However, in a prophetic sense, I understand what you are saying.
Sorry Retha, I just see you recommend now 🙁
If you take a look at John 11 you will see that the whole chapter is prophetically, like everything else in the Bible too.
The Gospel of God in the Torah and the Prophets about the son is about Israel and Ephraim.
Isaiah 7 ist the beginning of the Immanuel, where Ephraimis cut-off and the House of David receives the sign of the virgin birth.
That was with Jesus and in the heavens happens right now.
Jesus died for Ephraim – the Immanuel of Isaiah 8 in the resurrection of the dead. (Hesekiel 37 – all Israel).
Jesus came to save the lost sheep of the House of Israel and sent out his disciples to them, but to the firstborn son of God he went personally.
The 40 days of Jesus in the resurrection are 40 years of Jerusalem.
Now we passed 50 and the generation of Zion grew up.
The word of God is true. Ephraim is the firstborn son of God, he is alive and kicking, but so far rejected, because everybody waits for Jesus out of the clouds…
My mom came to visit a while ago and said she never has dreams like I speak of so I said tonight u will dream …so that night she had a dream about the name Jessop (never heard the name before) .. IN the dream she was told to find out what the name means, and it means Jehovah adds, so we knew we had to try for a brother for Axton, and His name will be Jessop.. so we did, so its an amazing testimony as well because Petro is pregnant again 🙂 I would love to hear your wisdom in this matter
Amazing testimony Richard Austin-Hamblin.
One more for your list… God named Isaiah’s 2nd son in Isaiah 8:1-3, Maher-shalal-hashbaz
Hi Philip, thanks for your input. Awesome!!! I read the Scripture you referred to and yes, it seems God gave Isaiah his second son’s name before his birth. Thanks!
Strange as it may sound, Celestial Church of Christ rely solely on God naming their child through prophecy by a prophet. When I had my first child, about 6 weeks before the birth, I had a dream and in the dream I called his name Sam. Funny though, I didn’t tell my wife nor anyone, I was far away at the time he was born. I was anxious to see what name through prophecy he wud be named…..he was named same Samuel. At the time I was having my second child, didn’t have any dream, I decided prophecy or not, I would give a name in addition. My father had written a name in paper, I gave mine to my wife, when she gave d name to my dad, behold it was same with his. Then when the prophecy came at the naming, it corresponded again with the names my dad had kept with him ….. That said, my younger bro Jeremiah was named by a prophet whom we never knew a year before he was born, he was born premature eventually and was at the hospital while the pastor coordinated the naming in d absence of the family. Another prophet gave similar name as to what was given by an unknown person even before pregnancy….. That is God, it still does happen, but no proper collations of data. The bible is not the end of God’s work but a pointer to what was, is and to come.
Shalom
Hi Joseph,
That is an awesome testimony! I agree – the Bible is as relevant today as it was in the OT times.
Prophecies are powerful. Wow, and prophetic name giving…Every time you say that child’s name you are establishing the prophetic promise in his/her life.
Thanks for sharing your personal experience with names and prophecies.
Shalom
Hallo to every one, what happens if a prophet gives you a name of the child and you go ahead to change it?
Hi, Brunhilda, that is an interesting question. I think the answer lies in the reason why a person will change the name.
Read Jeremiah 1:5 and you’ll be surprised!
Hi Pojo. Jeremiah 1:5 is one of my favorite Scriptures. Thanks for sharing.
I believe God named my son! I knew his name well before knowing the gender. My child’s name was going to be Adrian! There was no shaking it and so many people would ask me what the names were that we were looking at and I told them ‘his’ name is going to be Adrian. And they were shocked and was wondering how I was going to name a girl adrian. At the time all I could say is I don’t know, it just know his name is Adrian. I told a lady from my church about this and she told me well that doesn’t make any since, Adrian isn’t a holy name or a name from the Bible. That got a little on my nerves. All I know is his name was chosen well before I even knew the gender and I tried so hard to pick another name. But my mind wouldn’t even let me think of another. It’s just hard to explain. Also, his middle was changed as we were filling out the birth certificate. His name was supposed to be Adrian Lorenzo but while we were filling out his birth certificate my husband said no, his middle name needs to be Israel. So, his name is Adrian Israel.
Hi Mia, that is an amazing testimony!! Love the name Adrian Israel. Have you found out what Adrian means?
Hello Retha Groenewald, Thank you for this blog, it helped to organize what I know about the children named by God and also read the input concerning the children of Hosea in the comments. I would like to add Isaiah (Isaiah 8:3 And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, ‘Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz’)
My mom had a dream about our child’s name before his birth… we r still waiting to see if it’s a boy but we believe it is… in fact she dreamed about the name before conception “Jessop”
Thanks for this great article,it motivates my spirit to read more,surely you are a blessing to me.
Hi Pastor John Nugugi, it is the purpose of this site, to make us hungrier for God’s Word.
Thank You! God Bless!
You too Marilyn Bell.
My husband and I are studying Genesis as our Bible study each morning. After reading about Isaac and Ishmael, we began naming others. We didn’t know about Cyrus so that we’ll have to look at Isaiah 45. Thanks for the info.
Hi Jean, thanks for commenting. It’s always good to hear couples doing Bible study together.
It is rely insightful and inspiring, studying the various people that God named before birth. I used to think it was only John the Baptist and Jesus that God named, But after reading this write up, I gain more knowledge. Thank you. Z.Dauda Michika from Nigeria
Thank you Z.Dauda Michika. Yes, God’s Word always surprise us with new revelations.
What about Maher-Shalal-Hashbaz (Isaiah 8:3)
Hi Roy thanks for the comment. According to the Scripture Maher-Shalal-Hashbaz was named after the baby was born, not before. And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, z“Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz; (Isaiah 8:3 ESV).
I feel empowered knowing the children named by God before they were born. From these, some were named before they were conceived. I love God and want to know Him deeper
Thats awesome Sheila