And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said,"Jacob, Jacob!" Here I am," he replied.- Genesis 46:2
When He saw that he had gone over to look, He called from within the bush,"Moses, Moses." And Moses said,"Here I am."- Exodus 3:4
The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel, Samuel!" Then Samuel said,"Speak, for your servant is listening."- 1 Samuel 3:10
"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried about many things, but few things are needed- or indeed only one.- Luke 10:41-42
"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you all as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."- Luke 22:31-32
"My God, My God! Why have you forsaken me?"- Matthew 27:46 (Psalm 22)
"Saul, Saul, Why do you persecute me?" "Who are you Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. "Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do"- Acts 9:5-6
You may be asking what all these verses have to do with each other. Perhaps you have recognized a pattern between all of them. In case you missed it, here it is. These 8 verses are the only times characters from scripture are called by God one after another. Although it is true that throughout all of scripture we see instances when God calls multiple individuals, these times are given to us in scripture as a learning tool, as the Bible is designed to be. So, lets discuss the lessons learned in these occurrences. Naturally, we'll start with Abraham, Father of many nations. This verse is right after Abraham takes his son, Isaac up to the mountain top in order to sacrifice him to God. Isaac is tied to the altar, everything is in place and Abraham raises his blade to complete the sacrifice. Here, we see God stopping him the blade makes contact. Abraham was promised this child, despite his old age, then he is asked to kill his son. The Bible doesn't give us any thoughts about what was going through Abraham's head, but I can only imagine he did not discuss this with his wife before they left for this "outing". All we see is that despite Isaac being God's promise of a fruitful seed, Abraham agrees to do what God says, because he has walked with God long enough to know that God knows what he is doing. God calls Abraham's name here twice, in order to get his attention, as any parent would when a kid doesn't hear you the first time. There had to have been a huge sigh of relief from Abraham as a ram showed up in the thickets and he didn't have to go home empty-handed. Not only is this scenario prophetic to what Jesus would later do on the cross thousands of years later, it was also, simply, a test of obedience. Lucky for us, Abraham was obedient or else half of the earth's population probably would not be here right now.
Next, we have Jacob. Jacob is one in a small handful of individuals who has a life altering experience and therefore receives a new name, some of which include people like Abraham(Abram), Peter(Simon) and Paul(Saul). Now, Jacob had his share of ups and downs throughout his life. From deceiving his brother for his birthright and father's blessing to work several years for his wives and livestock and then being told his favorite son, Joseph, had been killed, when in actuality, just sold into slavery. When Jacob is called twice by God, it is after Joseph has revealed himself to his brothers in Egypt and has sent a caravan to bring Jacob and his whole family down to Goshen. God appears to him in a vision and tells him that even in Egypt, Israel will still become a great nation and God will continually be with them. I feel as if this circumstance is a reiteration of promise. Like God's way of saying," Those things I promised your grandfather, don't worry, I have not forgotten them. Everything that has lead to this point has happened for a reason so that through it my power will resonate with the people around you. Relax bro, I've got you."
Following Jacob and his people's journey to Egypt, God seems to be silent for a little while, 400 years to be precise. So, the third time God calls an individual twice probably came with great surprise. Moses, a Hebrew child raised in an Egyptian household has just fled for his life from his granddaddy, the Pharaoh, and spent roughly 4 decades in the desert. Tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, he comes upon this bush that appears to be on fire, yet is not being consumed by the flames. With the help of a little curiosity, Moses gets a little closer to the phenomenon and once God sees he has peaked his interest, He calls out to him, this time as a call into leadership. It is at this event that God reveals his plan to Moses and tells him that he is going to be used by God to deliver the children of Israel out of Egyptian oppression. Like most of us, unfortunately, when we are given an assignment by God, Moses tried to set back God with every excuse he could thing of. " I am just a man. I don't talk well and have a stuttering problem. Gee, God that sounds too hard for me." But God in his infinite wisdom and power lays out a battle plan and shows Moses that everything he needs, he has already been given. Finally, through many trials and tribulations, Moses is used to free the Israelites from slavery.
Now we get to the last "twice called Individual" from the Old Testament. A little altar boy by the name of Samuel. Samuel was the first child of Elkanah son of Elihu of the tribe of Ephraim and his wife Hannah. After many years of a barren womb, Hannah decides to pray until something happens. So, when the time came for them to go down to the temple to offer sacrifices, Hannah prayed so hard that the Priest who was serving at the time, Eli, assumed her to be drunk and tried to kick her out of the temple. After she assures Eli that she was in earnest prayer, Eli tells her to go in peace and may God grant her this thing which she asked for. Because of her prayer, God opened her womb and she brought forth Samuel. In the proper time, she dedicated him to the temple to serve under Eli and the priests. After years of waiting for a son, the only logical solution in her mind was to give her son back to the Lord. So Samuel grew in the Lord and one night, He called for him. Thinking it was the priest, the boy ran to him quickly, but was sent back to bed until finally, Eli realized it was indeed the Lord calling him. This calling is one of prophecy and after that night, Samuel became of the most well known prophet in all of scripture.
I love that in these first four instances, the individuals response was, " Here I Am, Lord". It is as if they recognized the voice of God despite all the voices they had heard throughout their lifetime. When God called, they responded and their lives and the lives of those around them were forever changed.
"When God calls you name twice, it is probably wise to listen to what He has to say"- Pastor Mike Holt.
Adam Semple- A Young Man diving into God's Word
