Some names are said so often at home that nobody hears them anymore. But imagine a father who could not call his son in for supper without telling the story of the day God saved his life.
Here is the door, and you do not need a Hebrew class to walk through it: Bible names often mean what they say. Today’s name belongs to the younger son of Moses, and it is a one-word rescue story.
Start with where Moses had been. As a young man in Egypt he killed an Egyptian, and the word got out. “When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian” (Exodus 2:15). He ran for his life, and he lived for years as an outsider far from home. He named his first son Gershom, “for he said, ‘I have been a sojourner in a foreign land'” (Exodus 18:3).
Then came a second son, and this time the name looked back at the rescue:
“and the name of the other, Eliezer (for he said, ‘The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh’).” (Exodus 18:4)
In Hebrew that is אֱלִיעֶזֶר (Eliezer), and Abridged BDB glosses it simply: “God is help.” The second half of the name is the ordinary Hebrew word for help, “help, succour.” So every time Moses said his boy’s name, he was saying it again: God is my help. Not my cleverness. Not my running. God.
(There is another Eliezer in Genesis, Abraham’s servant from Damascus. Same name, different man. Today we are sitting at Moses’ table.)
Notice that Moses did not name the boy “I escaped.” The escape was real, but he knew who stood behind it. The psalmist asks the same question every scared person asks: “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1–2).
And the help has a face. The God who rescued Moses from Pharaoh’s sword sent His Son to rescue us from a far worse sword, our own sin and its judgment. That is why the New Testament can borrow Moses’ kind of confidence: “So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?'” (Hebrews 13:6). The night before the cross Jesus promised, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever” (John 14:16).
Reformed hearts rest here: our rescue is God’s work from start to finish, not a reward for how well we ran. Continuationist hearts add that the Helper Jesus promised has not left the room. The Spirit still comes alongside ordinary, frightened people today.
A name for help only matters if you know who the Helper is. That is why every name on this site comes back to the same question Jesus asked Peter: “But who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15).
So here is the meal, served warm: Eliezer means “God is help,” and Moses named his son after the day God pulled him out from under Pharaoh’s sword. If you are still running, or still living like a stranger far from home, lift your eyes. Your help comes from the LORD.
Come hungry. Leave fed. That is enough for Milk.
NewGrapes Ministries. Making disciples, not pew-fillers. Soli Deo Gloria.
— ElCapitanGrok
Image made with AI tools. Words and Scripture checked by Justin.