The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Say His Name! Name the Baby in the Womb

Episode Date: August 28, 2020

A name given to a baby in the womb says to the world that they are of great value. There’s a change in the relationship with a baby in the womb when we name him or her before birth because we recognize their personhood. Today, Jeff shares with us seven people in the bible who were named before birth, including Jesus! Snippet from the Show A name given to a baby in the womb says to the world that they are of great value, seven people in the Bible were named before birth, including Jesus! Email us with comments or questions at [e-mail] Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email! Or visit ascensionpress.com/thejeffcavinsshow for full shownotes!

You're listening to the Jeff Kavens Show, episode 181. Say his name. Name your baby in the womb. Hey, I'm Jeff Kavans. How do you simplify your life? How do you study the Bible? All the way from motorcycle trips to raising kids, we're going to talk about the faith and life in general. It's the Jeff Kevin Show. Hey, my friends, welcome again to the Jeff Kaven show where we try to talk every single week about issues facing our life in Christ as disciples and as people who have been given the task by the Lord of going out into the world and making disciples and living as Jesus lived, how to read scripture, how to hear God's voice, how to witness to others. These are

a lot of the things that we just absolutely love talking about. We're going to talk about something really important, and in the news these days, say his name. You probably have heard about it. Every time somebody finds out that I live in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, they'll say, oh, wow, because they associate the Twin Cities, specifically Minneapolis, to the epicenter of all this social unrest that's going on today with racial issues and gender equality and kind of everything has been dumped in there to some way, some way or another, but this is the city, yes, where George Floyd was killed, and you all saw it on film. We've been living with this. And there was such an unrest in the Twin Cities

that an entire part of downtown Lake Street was just demolished and burned the days following the killing of George Floyd. And then it spread throughout the world, and the rest is history. I don't need to tell you about what is going on there. Well, one of the things that I saw rising out of this entire period of time was this phrase, say his name, say his name. And so when the African-American community was rehearsing all the people who have died at the hands of police officer, It wasn't enough to say that 120 people have died or 72 people. I don't know, honestly, what the exact statistic is at this point. But when numbers were brought up, the response was very interesting.

And it was, no, no, no, we don't want a number. We don't want five in Minneapolis that have died or six in Phoenix or whatever it might be. I don't know about those numbers, by the way, so I'm just making that up. but they would say, no, say his name. And the emphasis was on everybody knowing the name of people who died or people who were hurt or whatever it might be by police officers. And that's not what this show is about as police officers, but it's about what they said, which I thought was interesting, say his name. Now, why did they want us to say his name? And the answer to that is that the African-American community wanted us to see these people

as more than statistics and as people who had names. George Floyd. Mr. and Mrs. Floyd named their boy George. That was George Floyd. George was in Minneapolis. Now, I don't know George. I don't know anything about George prior to this, but I do know. He was special to his parents, and his parents named him.

And so when we attach a name to someone, the African-American community and by way of association, other groups now are saying, no, you need to know he had a name. She had a name. So having a name says something. Having a name says that this person is very important. this person has value, this person had dignity, this person had a right to live. Did you hear that? This person had a right to live. This was a real person. This person had a name. And so that's what we are hearing from people around the country. Now, I know as well as you, that oftentimes when people find out

they're pregnant. They come up with names between the husband and wife. They come up with names themselves. They go online and they look at names for girls and names for boys. They think about and consider the family lineage and the names, you know, grandma, grandpa, uncles, and so forth. A lot of thought goes into names, doesn't it? Which time out, I would really encourage people to give a lot of thought to naming their children, particularly if it has something to do with the Bible or some virtue that you want them to become, think about it, you know? Think about it. Names mean something. And so we have even naming parties now where people get together and they have a naming party where everybody comes together and they're all excited. They're not going to tell you anything, you know, yet. But it's going to be a gender reveal or it's going to be a naming reveal. And I've been to some of those and you probably have been to some of those as well. so a name given to a person says something to the world that this person is of value,

as I said just a moment ago. All right. Now, this isn't new. This is not new because, oh, by the way, before I get into this next part, I do want to share with you that if you want show notes, because I'm going to give you one, two, three, four, two, I'm going to give you at least seven verses here. How many am I going to give you? I got seven of them, and I'll put them in the show notes and you can just take them. worry about writing these down, and you'll get them, boom, just automatically. And all you've got to do is write my name, Jeff Kavens. And that's one word, and you can send it to 3377. Talk about biblical. 3377, and I'll get you all seven of the verses that I'm going to use today. Okay, so returning. So if this is true of people, say his name, then we know that it is true for animals.

You say, what? Listen, if you have a pet, rabbit, rabbits oftentimes are raised to eat, right? Cattle, raised to eat. But there's something about a cow, a calf, or a rabbit, that is different once you name that animal. And you'll hear people say that once you name the animal, you can't eat it. And you know what? Pretty true. A lot of people would say, there's no way I could bring myself to eat fluffy, my rabbit. There's no way that I could eat, O'Bell, the cow. See, the cow has a name. The rabbit has a name. And so even in our relationship with pets, and I mean this seriously now, there is a change in relationship with that with that animal once we put a name on it. This is even true in great literature. Do you remember

Charlotte's Webb? Do you remember that? Wilbur was named so he wouldn't go to slaughter. Do you remember that? Charlotte's Webb, read it. Wilbur was named so he couldn't and wouldn't go to slaughter. How do we keep this animal from going to slaughter? We give it a name. We don't kill our named pets. And so if this is true, broadly speaking in society, and on the tale of George Floyd being killed, the public is yelling, say his name. I know that a lot of people wait till after their baby is born, and that's fine. And this isn't, I'm not here to tell you what to do in any way. I'm here to give you something interesting to do possibly, and that is that when your baby is in the womb, and you find out you're pregnant, shortly after that, name your baby, especially after you know

if it's a boy or girl. Name your baby. But even if you're not going to go that far to find out if it's a boy or girl, you can still name your baby. You could, both boy and girl, you know, I suppose, but you know where I'm going with this. And so once you name your baby, and once you name your baby, you have a different relationship there. I don't know why that is, but it is, and people tell me this all the time.

I love to hear from you. You can write me at The Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com. I love to know your thoughts about that. Maybe a little story of what you've done in the past, as far as when did you name your baby. but naming the baby is very, very important. I know of nobody, and I would guess that you're the same.

I know of nobody who had a baby and never named it. Never. Have you ever? I have never heard that before. We name what is valuable. And so say his name for George Floyd, but say his name for the unborn. And just like Wilbur, when a baby has a name. name, I would say there is a less chance of going to slaughter, just like Wilbur in Charlotte's

Webb. Do you know what I'm saying? I remember thinking about different names for our children, and each one of them have a real meaning to us, and we have Carly. Carly Janine is our oldest, and no, she wasn't named after Carly Simon, but we loved the name Carly, a little womanly one. and sure she sure turned out to be that. And her middle name is taken after Emily's best friend, Janine, Jeannie. And then Jackie, Jacqueline Joy, is our second daughter. And Jacqueline is just a beautiful name. It's the female version of Jacob.

And her middle name is Joy because she was bringing so much joy to us. And Antonia Teresa, our youngest daughter, Tony, she was named, after St. Anthony and Mother Teresa. And so still to today, they are now in their 30s and 20s, and they are aware of their names, and we still think about them in light of their names. Say his name. I'm going to take a break. When I come back, I'm going to go into seven examples in the Bible with you of people

who were named before birth. And get this. In some of the instances, they didn't even know the gender yet. And they named the baby in the womb. You're listening to The Jeff Kaven Show. You know, I have dedicated my life to teaching the Bible and helping people understand the Bible as a narrative in chronological order. Well, this fall, starting Wednesday, September 16th at 8 p.m. Eastern, I'll be hosting a live virtual Bible study, eight interactive Facebook live. video sessions. I will personally guide you through one of the most popular great adventure Bible studies

unlocking the mystery of the Bible. To get the most out of each live session, get your copy of the unlocking the mystery of the Bible physical workbook. I'll tell you how to do that in a moment. And when you purchase your copy of the workbook, you'll also get immediate access to the eight pre-recorded video sessions to watch before each live session starting September 16th. During each live session, we will pray together, and we're going to go deeper into what I cover in the study videos, and we're going to do a Q&A and more. Now, here's what you do if you want to be a part of this exciting Bible study opportunity, and by the way, it's a great opportunity to invite others to Bible study. Even if they're not part of the Catholic Church, this is an amazing

opportunity to understand the Bible as a whole. Now here's what you do. Text U.M.B. Live. That's all one word. UMB. Live to 33777. It's an easy number to text to 33777. And we'll send you an email update about the event as it gets closer. You'll also get a link to get your workbook. Listeners of the Jeff Kaven Show, get an exclusive discount, use the code Jeff Kaven's podcast, all one word, Jeff Kaven's podcast at checkout, and you'll get $5 off your workbook. So it's very easy, step one, buy your workbook, and you'll get the timeline chart, you'll get video access to unlocking the mystery of the Bible. Step two, watch the first video of the study at ascensionpress. thinkific.com. I'll put this in the show notes in step three.

Tune into the first Facebook live on September 16th at 8 p.m. Eastern Time to pray and to dive deeper and to ask your questions. This is going to be a great opportunity. I look forward to seeing you September 16th. Welcome back. My name is Jeff Re. And that means God's peace. My parents called me Jeffrey Scott when I was born. Still don't know why Scott got in there, but that is my name, Jeffrey Scott, God's Peace. And that's more of a challenge for me to become that than something that I just am. We're talking today about say his name, name your baby in the womb. I'm not telling you that this is the right way to do it. I'm giving you an idea, an idea. Say his name, say her name when they are in the womb, and that could start something.

You never know, because I'll tell you one thing, women who have women and men who have abortions, most likely never ever named their baby in the womb. I doubt that that has happened, seriously. If you name your baby in the womb, honestly, you're going to go and bring your baby to an abortion clinic, and you're going to put them through what Wilbur from Charlotte's Web was afraid of, the slaughter? It doesn't happen. And so I would encourage anybody that you know that's pregnant, and there's any chance at all that they might have an abortion, talk to them about naming their baby, because that will do something to the relationship between the mother, father, and the child.

Trust me, it will. Well, here in the Bible, there are seven people who are named before birth, some of them before the gender was even known. Let me give them to you here, and I'm going to put these in the show notes for you, because these are pretty good. Okay, the first one is Ishmael in Genesis 1611. Ishmael was the son of Abraham. Abraham also had Isaac. Well, in terms of Ishmael, they named him before he was born. It says in Genesis 1611, and the angel of the Lord said to her, behold, you are pregnant, shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael because the Lord has listened to your affliction, which is what his name is related to. Isn't it interesting that before this boy was even born, the angel of the Lord was so caring about this son who was going to end up having some very

big difficulties, the angel of the Lord said, behold, you're pregnant. I don't even know if she knew that at the time, to be honest with you, but you're going to bear a son. Isn't this something? He's predicting not only a baby, but which kind of a baby? It's going to be a boy. She'll bear a son. You're going to call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction. Do you know I know of people who have really struggled with infertility? Emily and I are counted among the minions there, and they really struggle. And it's a real point of pain for people. And if you're in that, I want you to know that I pray for you, and I do understand, and that is difficult. I stand with you in prayer, in agreement, and pray the Lord will bless you

with a child. But what is really, really interesting is that when you become pregnant, your name immediately turns to son or daughter and name, because the name often has to do with the the role that that child plays, the future that that child will have. And so if the Lord is in the business of naming children in the womb, I think we could pick up on that, to be honest with you. And you could, from the, they're not real when they're born. We got to get that straight right away, right? They're not real when they're born. They're real the moment they're conceived. And so you could put a name to this child the moment that they are conceived, because that child is a real person. Ishmael was a real person, and it was the Lord who gave the name in the womb. Number two was his younger

brother, Isaac, too. He was named in the womb in Genesis 17 and verse 19. Only one chapter after Ishmael. God said, no, but Sarah, your wife shall bear you a son, because Abraham was all into, well, I'm going to have the son, you know, through Hagar, and Ishmael will be my, my, my the one who walks in promise and the inheritance, and God said, no. Now, that doesn't mean Ishmael wasn't important, but no, but Sarah, your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. Izzach. Itzach. Remember in the news years ago, Itzach, Rabin, which means it's very funny. His name, his name is very funny. You know what his name means? Laughter. It is funny. Because when Sarah heard earlier in Genesis that she was going to get

pregnant at such an advanced age. She heard it while in her tent with her husband discussing it with some strangers, and she started laughing. And so God has a funny way with names, doesn't he? You think it's funny, Sarah? Well, that's his name. His name is laughter. Isaac. I love it. I love scripture, and I love the way God does these things. It's kind of like the Indians, the American Indians. You know, they name their babies. They did, I don't know anymore, but but they named their babies after something they saw when the child was first born, sitting bull, straight arrow, a flying cloud, whatever it might be. So he says, anyway, let's go back to this.

No, but Sarah, your wife shall bear you a son and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. That's Genesis 17 and verse 19. So both Ishmael and Isaac were named in the womb. The next one was another big, big, big ticket item here, Solomon. In First Chronicles 22, 9, Word of the Lord says, Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies.

For his name shall be Solomon. In Hebrew, you'd say Shlomo. name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. That's the third one. God names them in the womb. Okay, so we got the fourth one now. It's a big king. Actually, it was a kid king, but one of the real famous kings, Josiah. You can find this in 1st Kings chapter 13 in verse 2, and the man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, oh, altar, thus says the Lord. Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David. Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you, the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones, human bones shall be

burned on you. That is 1st. Kings 13, 2. The prediction of Josiah by name. Number 5. Cyrus, king. You may remember that Israel divided into two nations in 930 BC, Israel to the north, Babylon to the south. In 722, Israel to the north, the 10 tribes to the north went into Assyrian captivity, if you will. And then in 587 BC, Judah in the south, two tribes in the south, Judah and Benjamin, they went into captivity in Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar for 70 years. then a new world power took over from the Babylonians, and it was the Persians. And now we're talking off into the future. The future, their king would be called Cyrus. In Hebrew, you would say Koresh. Koresh, there was a guy in Waco a while ago, kind of thought himself something like

David and Koresh, King Cyrus, and named himself that, David Koresh in Waco. They were called the Branch Davidians, but that's a whole other podcast. Cyrus, the king of Persia, as I, as Isaiah writes, in the future, was going to allow Judah to come back to Jerusalem. And so Isaiah 44, 26, or 28, says, who confirms the word of his servant and fulfills the council of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, she shall be inhabited, and of the cities of Judah. They shall be built, and I will raise up their ruins, who says to the deep, be dry. I will dry up your rivers. Who says of Cyrus? He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose, saying of Jerusalem, she shall be built and of the temple. Your foundations shall be laid. You know what's interesting? After about 175 years,

his prophecy was fulfilled. So that is Cyrus, the Persian king in the future. God's going to raise them up. God's going to use him to bring you folks back to Jerusalem. Read all about it. You can read all about it, Ezra Nehemiah in the future. Now, number six is another big, big guy here, and that is John the Baptist. In the New Testament, John the Baptist, I love this. John the Baptist was given a name before he was even born, and he met the Virgin Mary, the new Ark of the Covenant, in utero before he was born. And he did a dance before he was born. Luke, chapter one, that's where we find it, verses 13 through 17. Again, all these will be in the show notes, but the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zechariah, for by our prayer has been heard and your wife,

Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John, and you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord, and he must not drink, wine or strong drink, where we're getting a lot of instructions here before he's born while he's in the womb. And he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared. There he's sort of hinting at Micah, and Micah talks about how Elijah will come before the

the day of the Lord, and John is Elijah who was to come, according to Jesus. But what we're talking about is that John the Baptist was named before he was born. In number seven, and the best, Yeshua, Hamashia, the Messiah. Jesus. Jesus. And you know it. We all know it. You know it. It is Matthew 121. Mary, the Blessed Virgin Mary, she will be. bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Yeshua, Jesus. Wow. You know, sometimes God sends angels to give you this news. He sends his messengers to give you some of this good news, and that is this, is that the son that is in your womb, the daughter who's in your womb, has a responsibility and a mission.

Can I just say that to you, that if you're pregnant right now, that son, that daughter who is in your womb right now, regardless of how you ended up pregnant, that, that son, that daughter is called to a mission, and that is God's amazing plan of sheer goodness, read all about it in the first paragraph of the catechism. That son, that daughter of yours is called to a mission, and the name that you give that son or daughter can be connected to mission and connected to purpose, say his name. You know of someone who's pregnant right now and you don't know if they're going to keep the baby? Stand with them. Encourage them to name the baby. Say her name. Say to your friend. Listen to me. Take them by the shoulders. Look at me.

Say her name. What are you going to name her? What are you going to name him? Say their name. So every time I hear this now in the streets and on the news say his name, I do honor the wishes of the people who have made this phrase very, very popular, and I think we should, but it also means something new to me, in my relationship with the Lord and my relationship with the unborn. When you name a child in the womb, just like Wilbur and Charlotte's Webb, the chances of going to the slaughterhouse become diminished, rapidly diminished. And so I want to pray for you today and pray that the Lord will bless you and that the Lord will bless that child in your womb.

If you're not pregnant, you know of someone who is, would you please share this podcast episode with them? Just share it with them and tell them, I know you're pregnant. I want this to be a blessing to you and give it to them. I know that you're going to give it to a lot of really sound Christians who love God. and they're going to find it a blessing. But I also know you might share this with someone who is trying to make up their mind right now about life and death and the child in their womb.

And if that is the case, may I speak to you who are listening to this for just a moment. I know that the way that you ended up pregnant was not the way you planned. You might have felt a sense of shame in your family. You might have even felt a shock to your entire life in the way that you got pregnant. And maybe the man that got you pregnant is not a part of your life anymore, and you feel alone and abandoned. I want you to know something. God loves you. My dear friend, God loves you and has an amazing plan for your life.

And that plan includes that beating heart in your womb. God loves you and that child, I can't wait to know what the name of your child is going to be. And he loves that child so much that he has a plan. But your child is going to be born into a world that there are going to be some difficulties. And the good news is this, is Jesus Christ died for our sins. There is a solution even before you notice the problem. And all he's going to ask is that we would radically reorient our lives to him. And that's what you need to tell that child when they're born.

And they grow up is that you need to radically reorient your life to Jesus Christ. You need to be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit and join God's amazing family. the church. You see, there's a destiny for your child. There's a plan for your child. And if you'll hang in there and you'll name your child today, you will not regret it. God loves you so much. Let's pray. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord, I thank you today for giving life. I thank you, Lord, for your great plan. I thank you that you have given us an example of naming children even in the womb. I thank you, Lord, for saving children as a result of this individual podcast. Say his name.

Say her name. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen. God bless you, my friend. Have a great week. Thank you.