The Eunuch's Name

Every once in awhile while reading the Scriptures, we come across a man who is a eunuch, or a reference to the eunuch. This is not an idea that we're very familiar with in our contemporary times, so let's start by establishing what a eunuch is. 

A eunuch was a man who was castrated very young so that he could be dedicated to some kind of service. Many eunuchs were in the service of royal households, although other households probably also had eunuchs if they were wealthy enough to do so. The idea was that if you take away a man's ability to have his own family, he will be more committed to yours. He will be indebted to you because you will be his only source of stability and provision. Additionally, you can then trust him around your young girls because he will not have a sex drive or the ability to woo them away (no girl wants a man who cannot give her children, not in a society defined by the family unit). 

Eunuch were typically honored, in that they were entrusted with a lot and often ran households more than their masters did, but let's not kid ourselves - that kind of honor, when everything else has been stripped away from you, is not really honor at all. 

Then, in Isaiah 56, something beautiful happens. The prophet talks about God giving His name to the eunuchs. 

God sees them. He sees these men who have had so much taken away from them. He sees these men who are never going to have their own name in the world. Whatever name they have, it dies with them; they will have no sons nor daughters to carry it on for them. That has been stripped away from them from a very young age, so young that they might not have ever had the chance to even dream about such a thing. They have known, from before they could even consider it, that their name was done. 

So God gives them His. He gives them a name, and not just a name, but the name - His own. He calls them by His name, recognizing them with all the honor and dignity they deserve as men created in the image of God, bearing Him into the world. Their faithful service, their sacrifice (though not willing), their honor does not go unnoticed by Him. 

Sure, maybe their households are just like, "Oh, him? That's Bill. He's mine; I own him." But God...but God is like, "Him? That's William. He's mine. And I love Him." 

No, Bill may not ever have children, but thanks be to God, William...William is going to have a legacy. 

Isn't it beautiful? Do you see how big of a difference that makes? 

And we're not just talking about the eunuchs; we're talking about you and me, too. Whatever it seems like we don't have of our own, God gives us of His and it's greater than we could ever have imagined. 

Just ask the eunuchs.