At around this time yesterday (2pm NZ time) Anna began getting established labor pains. A few hours before the contractions began we went to the hospital for a check up after what appeared to be some waters breaking. At the hospital we found out that it was what the midwife called the “hind-waters” behind the baby and that the waters had not yet fully broken. So we returned to our house to wait.
Around 3pm we headed to the hospital and it was obvious the baby was coming. At 4:22pm our midwife broke Anna’s waters and at 4:33pm he was cuddled up in Anna’s arms. And by around 9:30pm we were all home and in bed – including happy, healthy Momma and Elisha.
As you’ve probably guessed by now, his name is Elisha Enoch. He weighs 6 pounds and 15 ounces and was born 24 January 2011; 5 days before his due date. (below the pictures we explain why we chose to name him Elisha Enoch)
We chose these names for a number of reasons. In the middle of last year the Lord began impressing upon me the phrase “the spirit and power of Elijah.” The phrase (or variations of it) can be found in 2 Kings 2:15, Malachi 4:5-6, Luke 1:13-17 and Matthew 17 (as well as a few other places). The spirit of Elijah rested upon John the Baptist as he proclaimed the first coming of Jesus and prepared his nation and generation for their role in the drama. And then both Malachi and Jesus prophesied that before the second coming the same power would be manifest in the lives and ministries of those who are mandated to, like John at the first coming, prepare the earth for Jesus’ appearing.
And we chose Enoch because “Enoch walked with God” in intimacy and fellowship (Genesis 5:24) and “God took him;” that is, he was caught up to meet the Lord before death.
Our prayer for our son is that he would walk in the spirit and power of Elijah before the return of Jesus and that he, like Enoch, would walk in intimate fellowship with God never to taste the sting of death. It’s very possible that many of our sons and daughters being born across the earth in this hour of history will see with their own eyes the coming of the Lord. And if they do, they, along with Elijah and Enoch, will be the only people in all of history to never die. These two men, and the surviving saints of the final generation will have received resurrected bodies before death. What an incredible thought!
“Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him opposite them, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.” (2 Kings 2:15)
“Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” (Genesis 5:24)
